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Reading Comprehence

According to the document: 1. Hippocrates believed that black bile caused depression and irritability, while blood made people brave and hopeful. 2. In the 19th century, some people consulted phrenologists about job applicants and marriage partners, as phrenologists believed they could determine personality from the shape of someone's head. 3. The Stanford Prison experiment showed how easily environment can influence personality, as normal men took on cruel roles when asked to play guards or prisoners in a simulated prison.

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58 views

Reading Comprehence

According to the document: 1. Hippocrates believed that black bile caused depression and irritability, while blood made people brave and hopeful. 2. In the 19th century, some people consulted phrenologists about job applicants and marriage partners, as phrenologists believed they could determine personality from the shape of someone's head. 3. The Stanford Prison experiment showed how easily environment can influence personality, as normal men took on cruel roles when asked to play guards or prisoners in a simulated prison.

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khoadpla
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Handout 2

Read the 7 paragraphs (on pages 2 and 3) in detail. Identify the answers to the
following questions:

1. According to Hippocrates, what personality traits were bile and blood


responsible for?

2. Why do you think people consulted phrenologists about job applicants and
marriage partners?

3. How does the phrase ‘we are all born as blank slates’ relate to the quote
from Skinner?

4. How does the Stanford Prison experiment support the nurture theory?

5. According to the nurture theory, should identical twins who grow up apart
be similar? Why/Why not? What happens in practice?

Page | 1
1
Two and a half thousand years ago,
the ancient Greeks believed that your
personality was the result of different
fluids, or 'humors', in your body, like
2
blood, phlegm, and bile.
By the late 19th century, personality
had been correctly linked to the
According to Hippocrates, the 'father
brain. This was a big advance, but
of modern medicine', black bile
some people took it too far and
caused depression and irritability,
phrenology emerged as a new
while blood made you brave and
‘science’.
hopeful. These ideas spread all over
the world and in the 18th century,
Phrenologists believed that the brain
people with mental illnesses were
affected the shape of the head, and
sometimes treated with leeches in
so by feeling someone’s head, they
order to restore the balance of their
could discover the shape of their
humors.
brain and therefore their personality
– including, for example, how likely
It was only in the 19th century that
someone was to commit murder.
scientists began to doubt the theory
of humors, although patients may
At the height of its popularity,
have noticed much earlier that they
phrenologists were consulted about
weren’t getting any better!
possible marriage partners or to give
3 a background check on job applicants.
Job interviews must have been
interesting in those days!
More recently, scientists have looked
to our genes as the source of
personality. While there is certainly a
link, it is far from simple. For a start, a
single gene might be involved in many
different aspects of our personality –
and we have around 25,000 genes in
our body.

And when even a simple thing like the


colour of your skin is the result of
more than 100 different genes,
imagine how may are involved in a
character trait like being open,
extrovert, agreeable, conscientious,
or neurotic (the ‘big five’ traits that
psychologists nowadays use to
Cunningham, Moor & Bygrave, 2013, pp. 38-39
describe human personality).

Page | 2
4
If it’s hard to find the roots of
personality in nature, then can we
find them in nurture? The nurture
theory says that we are all born as
‘blank slates’.

Our personality develops as the 5


results of our parents, our peers, our
environment, and so on. As the Nurture theory has even been
famous psychologist BF Skinner once enforced by law. In Ancient China, if a
said, ‘give me a child and I’ll shape young man committed a serious
him into anything’. crime and was sentenced to death,
then his parents might be executed,
too – because they were responsible
6 for the character of their son. Even in
However, there’s more to nurture modern Britain, if a child plays truant
than parents, there’s environment, from school, her parents can be
too. One shocking example of how prosecuted.
easily environment can affect
personality comes from the infamous
1971 Stanford Prison experiments.
7
These experiments took 24 normal,
healthy men and asked them to play Some studies of twins, however,
the role of prisoners or guards in a challenge the importance of nurture.
pretend prison. The experiment had
According to nurture theory, identical
to be ended after just six days
because the guards became very twins (who have the same genes)
cruel, locking one prisoner in a should only have similar personalities
cupboard and forcing the others to if they grow up together, but
bang on the cupboard door. different personalities if they grow up
apart, due to different upbringing and
In a new environment, it seems that experiences.
‘normal’ people can completely
change their behaviour. However, studies show the same
striking similarities in personality,
whether these twins are brought up
separately or together.

Cunningham, Moor & Bygrave, 2013, pp. 38-39

Page | 3
References

1. Cunningham, S., Moor, P. & Bygrave, J. (2013). Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate: Students’
Book with DVD-ROM (3rd ed.). Pearson.

Page | 4

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