Novelty Seekers: Negative Consequences
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, talks about the potential for negative consequences among those who are genetically inclined to seek thrills. Some of these consequences can include tak...
Nature vs. Nurture (Part One)
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, takes a fresh look at the nature vs. nurture controversy. Dr. Hamer contends that personality consists of two different components: temperament and char...
Novelty Seekers
Dean Hamer, Director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute, talks about efforts to learn more about the role genetics plays in the personality trait that motivates novelty seeking (sometimes known as sensation se...
The Most Amazing Machine: Brain Specialization: What It Involves and Does Not Involve
The brain has developed clever strategies to invest more in the development of specific abilities on one side than the other. Because the brain engages in this kind of specialization some people ask where the elements of our personalities are ...
Sales Talk
We examine communication styles bias - often a barrier to selling success. Communication style bias occurs when salespeople contact customers whose communication styles are different.
The Enduring Self: Genetic Links to Personality
There is growing evidence that many personality traits have a genetic basis. Human neuromodulatory systems have set points that regulate such dimensions as how active a person is and whether or not they tend to avoid new experiences. These set point...
The Enduring Self: Social-Cognitive Perspective, The
The social-cognitive perspective on personality takes into consideration the interplay between behavior, cognition and the environment. Albert Bandura shares his own background to illustrate why he sees human beings as contributors to their life cir...
Codes of Life: Temperament Studies
Temperament, or behavioral style, seems to be genetically influenced, as parents with several children will attest. Jerome Kagan highlights three areas in which researchers find temperamental biases: reaction to things that are new or unfamiliar...
Character
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about character, which he describes as the collection of phenomena, behavior and activity that is unique to each of us.
Psychology of Prediction, The
Nobel Prize winning professor of psychology Daniel Kahneman talks about his experience working for the Israeli armed forces, trying to identify military personnel who had the leadership skills necessary to become officers. Dr. Kahneman explains that...