Download - WHY WE ARE WHAT WE ARE
WHY WE ARE WHAT WE ARE
Read the title of the text and guess the main topic.
• What do you expect to read about in this text?• What are the most remarkable personal
characteristics of you?• What adjectives would you use to describe
yourself? • If you were asked to classify people in terms of
their personality, how would you categorize them?
Two Major Personality Dimensions
1- being introverted or extraverted (reserved or outgoing)
2- being stable or unstable (fixed or changeable)
These can also be called as supertraits.
Traits (Characteristics)• moody: temperamental• rigid: inflexible, stiff, strict• sober: serious, controlled, restrained• sociable: outgoing• reserved: silent, quiet, unsociable• touchy: sensitive, easily offended• restless: moving about, nervous• impulsive: who acts without thought• even-tempered: easygoing, unruffled• responsive: quick to react, active
In Eysenck’s model there are two levels of behaviors:
• specific response level• habitual response level
• Can you find the examples for each in the text?
Physiological differences of extraverts and introverts
• cerebral cortex arousal: related with language, memory and thinking
• Extraverts have a lower level of cortical arousal• Introverts have an above-optimal cortical
arousal• How do they behave differently regarding this
physiological makeup?
Target Vocabulary
• hierarchy (n) arrangement of people in a group in order of rank, importance
• hierarchical (adj) ranked, graded, ordered• hierarchically (adv)
• a hierarchical structure, organisation
a hierarchical structure-
dimension (n)
the length, height, width, depth of something• We'll need to know the exact dimensions of
the room.
impulsive (adj)
• motivated by emotion,rather than thought
uninhibited (adj)
free and easy,relaxed,unrestrained
an uninhibited laughter
retiring (adj)
• one who doesn’t want to be with other people
As a child, Elizabeth was very shy and retiring.
introspective (adj)
• Inward-looking, intraverted, contemplative,self-examining
• He is very introspective and shy.
stimulation (n)encouraging someone by making them excited about and interested in something
Children need variety and stimulation.
aversive (adj)causing avoidance of a thing, sth that you dislike
In psychology, aversive conditioning is the use of something unpleasant, or a punishment, to stop an unwanted behavior.
ample (adj)
• more than necessary, plentiful
subtle (adj)
• not easy to notice
• The pictures are similar, but there are subtle differences between them.
• The warning signs of the disease are so subtle that they are often ignored.
in-
• inoffensiveindecisive• inflexible inelegant• indiscreet injudicious• infallible• inefficient• insincere• inconsistent• incorruptable
ir-
• irreproachable• irrational• irresponsible
im-
• impractical• impatient• impersonal
un-
• unenlightened• unbending• unpretentious