The Cognitive Foundations Of Personality Traits

Hardly anything in psychology is as irking as the trait concept. Psychologists and laypersons alike use primarily adjective trait-names to characterize and even concep tualize the individuals they encounter. There are more than a hundred well-defined personality traits and a great many questionnaires for their assessment, some of which are designed to assess the same or very similar traits. Little is known about their ontogenetic development and even less about their underlying dynamics. Psy choanalytic theory was invoked for explaining the psychodynamics underlying a few personality traits without, however, presenting sufficient empirical evidence for the validity of these interpretations. In a reductionistic vein, behaviorally inclined psy chologists have propounded the thesis that all traits are acquired behaviors. Yet, this view neither reduces the number of personality tests nor explains the resistance of traits to modification by means of reward and punishment. Dissatisfied with these and some other less well-known approaches to person ality traits, we decided to explore whether applying our psychosemantic theory of cognition to the trait concept would do better. The way we had to follow was anything but easy.

A CHOICE Magazine Outstanding Academic Title of 2018. A novel approach to understanding personality, based on evidence that we share more than we realize with other mammals. This book presents the wealth of scientific evidence that our personality emerges from evolved primary emotions shared by all mammals. Yes, your dog feels love—and many other things too. These subcortically generated emotions bias our actions, alter our perceptions, guide our learning, provide the basis for our thoughts and memories, and become regulated over the course of our lives. Understanding personality development from the perspective of mammals is a groundbreaking approach, and one that sheds new light on the ways in which we as humans respond to life events, both good and bad. Jaak Panksepp, famous for discovering laughter in rats and for creating the field of affective neuroscience, died in April 2017. This book forms part of his lasting legacy and impact on a wide range of scientific and humanistic disciplines. It will be essential reading for anyone trying to understand how we act in the world, and the world’s impact on us.

Differences between people are a fascinating and long-standing area of psychological inquiry. However, previous research has largely been confined to studies at the descriptive level. This book tries to explain individual difference, rather than merely describe them. Explanations are derived from two major competing frameworks: the biological and social approaches to individuality. The book is based on the contributions of specialists from Europe and North America invited to represent the biological and social points of view. Thus, a direct confrontation is obtained of two approaches that, hitherto, have proceeded with virtually no reference to each other. Attention is paid to behavior genetics, psychophysiology and temperament, as well as to social learning, behavioral strategies and person-environment interactions. Differences and commonalities between the biological and social approaches are scrutinized and a common framework is outlined to stimulate future research. Due to its innovative character, the book is particularly relevant for investigators in the field. In addition, it may be fruitfully used in advanced graduate level courses in personality psychology.

Personality Psychology: Foundations and Findings is an evidence-based text with integrated cultural references and excellent coverage of the key building blocks of the subject matter--namely, the "foundations"(traits, genetics, self and identity, neuroscience, intrapsychic aspects, regulations and motivation, and cognition as it applies to the human personality) and the "findings" (the cutting edge research in each of these areas in which personality psychologists are actively engaged every day).

This volume reveals how social-cognitive structures and processes serve as a basis of personality coherence--the unique patterns of experience and action that make each of us who we are. In doing so, the volume demonstrates how a personality theory can be built on psychology's broader foundation of knowledge about cognitive and affective systems and the interactions between persons and the sociocultural environment. Presenting novel theoretical developments from leaders in personality, social, cultural, and developmental psychology, chapters show how personality coherence arises from the ways people assign meaning to social information, gain causal agency over their lives through self-knowledge and self-reflective processes, and organize multiple life events within a framework of goals and life tasks. The book stands as the most definitive presentation to date of the social-cognitive theories of personality.

The most comprehensive single volume ever published on the subject, the Handbook of Personality Psychology is the end-all, must-have reference work for personality psychologists. This handbook discusses the development and measurement of personality as well as biological and social determinants, dynamic personality processes, the personality's relation to the self, and personality in relation to applied psychology. Authored by the field's most respected researchers, each chapter provides a concise summary of the subject to date. Topics include such areas as individual differences, stability of personality, evolutionary foundations of personality, cross-cultural perspectives, emotion, psychological defenses, and the connection between personality and health. Intended for an advanced audience, the Handbook of Personality Psychology will be your foremost resource in this diverse field. Chapter topics include:* Nature of personality psychology* Conceptual and measurement issues in personality* Developmental issues* Biological determinants of personality* Social determinants of personality* Dynamic personality processes* Personality and the self* The Five Factor Model* Applied psychology

Originally published in 1988, this was the first textbook to review and integrate the cognitive theories underlying the practice of modern clinical psychology. Written in a clear and readable way, it uses many clinical examples to relate the theories to what therapists actually do. It describes the strengths and weaknesses of the theories and develops a common framework drawn from research in social and cognitive psychology to explain the mechanisms of behavioural and cognitive therapy. Among the topics covered are the validity of self-reports; experimental investigations of nonconscious processes; cognitive theories of conditioning; the relation between cognition and emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression; self-esteem and the development of self-schema; self-efficacy; explanation and causal attribution; personal values and goals; self-regulation and the techniques of cognitive therapy. This textbook is designed for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses in clinical and abnormal psychology. Its practical focus will also make it of particular interest to practising clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals.

This book aims to highlight the vigour, diversity and insight of the various cognitive science perspectives on personality and emotion. It aims also to emphasise the rigorous scientific basis for research to be found in the integration of experimental psychology with neuroscience, connectionism and the new evolutionary psychology. The contributors to this book provide a wide-ranging survey of leading-edge research topics. It is divided into three parts, on general frameworks for cognitive science, on perspectives from emotion research, and on perspectives from studies of personality traits.

The second edition of this popular textbook builds on the strengths of the first, continuing its reputation for clarity, accessibility, conceptual sophistication and panoramic coverage of personality and intelligence. The authorship team is enriched by the addition of two high-profile international scholars, Luke Smillie and John Song, whose expertise broadens and deepens the text. New to this edition: Chapters exploring the neurobiological, genetic and evolutionary foundations of personality; and emotion, motivation and personality processes An enhanced coverage of personality disorders A thoroughly revised and extended section on intelligence which now addresses cognitive abilities and their biological bases; the role of intelligence in everyday life; and emotional intelligence A brand new companion website that includes a substantial test bank and lecture slides. An Introduction to Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence, Second Edition is a key textbook for all psychology students on a personality or individual differences course.

This collection of articles pays homage to the creativity and scientific rigor Jerome Singer has brought to the study of consciousness and play. It will interest personality, social, clinical and developmental psychologists alike.