Psychophysiological Factors

"I propose to define the psychology of personality as the study of traits. I argue against both social and biological conceptions of personality in the context of the psychological subdiscipline of personality."

"Most of the research with humans on the biological basis of personality has come from the filed oif psychophysiology, primarily because these non-invasive bioelectrical recordings techniques are more accessible to psychologists than biochemical methods" (Zukerman, 1991, p.133). Fahrenberg (1994) proposes that the activation processes are,

"...higher order nervous system functions of varying intensity and synergystic patterning; their study requires a complimentary and multivariate psychological-physiological approach. Autonomic and cortical activation (arousal) are essential concepts in theories of temperament because dimensions of emotionality (neuroticism), extraversion-introversion, sensation-seeking, etc." (p.319).

Fahrenber states that personality traits and abilities,

"...like any psychological phenomenon, must have a physiological basis in brain function. This statement may seem trivia; however, there is obvious disagreement about the nature and specificity of their representation in the central nervous system. Individual differences in temperament could be represented in rather diffuse, essentially semantic activity in the associative neurocortex and all areas where symbolic-semantic analysis, for example, problem-solving, oral and aesthetic evaluations, and the like take place" (p.319).

Fahrenberg challendes that psychophysiological personality research is in need of critical reevaluation of traditional research questions and methodology. "Empirical evidence indicates that we need multimodal assessments, i.e., multi-method and multisituation data to depict an individual's patterned behavior in the relevant context of the laboratory, clinic, or field" (p.331). Fahrenberg concludes that constitutional research that relates temperament, physiological-biochemical features, and physique has a long but disapointing history. "Empirically, the assumed psychomorphological as well as psychophysiological and psychochemical correlation proved to be generally low, and inconsistent at best"(p.331)

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Peter L. Heineman
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