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For more information see Uher,
2008a and 2008b.
Mapping the population-level structure of
between-individual variations of individual-specific patterns
Two bottlenecks: Comprehensive selection and systematic reduction
Taxonomy of methodological approaches to identify domains
of variations of individual-specific patterns
The Behavioural Repertoire x Environmental Situations
Approach
Mapping the population-level structure of
between-individual variations of individual-specific patterns
To decide what to study in a species, it is important to know that
dimensions of certain individual-specific patterns tend to go together.
Their shared variance can be summarised statistically into synthesised, higher-order
variables, often called personality
factors. The patternings of this empirical covariation can be described in
hierarchical taxonomic models; at their top are broad, abstract factorial
dimensions that each summarise the shared variation of more
specific and narrow dimensions at the bottom. Factors and the empirical
intercorrelating structure they describe are therefore particularly informative for
descriptions of complex between-individual variations. To construe personality factors
that describe the populations' variations of individual specific-patterns in ecologically
valid and comprehensive ways, two crucial bottlenecks must be overcome (Uher,
2008b).
Two bottlenecks: Comprehensive selection and systematic reduction
First, all potential kinds of individual-specific behavioural patterns should be selected
comprehensively to avoid
missing out important domains of variation. Second, these potential kinds should be analysed empirically for
stable individual-specific behavioural patterns, that are then reduced
systematically to the underlying structure of between-individual
variation. It is obvious that
bias and arbitrariness in either of these bottlenecks can reduce the
representativeness of
the identified major dimensions of variation (personality factors), and thus the possibilities to explain
complex between-individual variation in behavioural data (Uher,
2008a).
Taxonomy of methodological approaches to
decide what to study
Different types of methodological approaches are used in human and nonhuman
research in order to decide what to study in a population. In
nomination approaches, concepts and measures are generated based on the perceptions and implicit theories of human observers.
Top-down approaches import concepts and measures from other
poupulations or species; they are analogous to etic approaches in cross-cultural psychology.
Adaptive approaches start from interactions of the population with past or present adaptive problems to identify domains of
individual variation.
Bottom-up approaches use naturally evolved, complex systems inherent to the species, such as language, behavioural or neurobiological systems, as a starting point to derive
concepts and measures; they are analogous to emic approaches in cross-cultural psychology.
Eclectic approaches capitalise on findings and methodologies of the other
approaches.
All these approaches were developed for different aims and purposes; they therefore
differ in their suitability to identify the major dimensions of variation in a population
comprehensively (Uher,
2008a).
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The Behavioural Repertoire x Environmental
Situations Approach
The Behavioural Repertoire x Environmental Situations Approach is a systematic bottom-up/
emic
approach that derives concepts of personality differences systematically from the known behavioural
repertoire of a population and the typical environmental situations
its members encounter. Its rationale is grounded in psychological trait theory and
is based on the notion that concepts of personality denote inter-individual differences in stable
individual-specific patterns of conditional probabilities to display particular categories of behaviours in particular categories of
situations (Uher,
2008a, 2008b).
It thus considers the triad of behaviour, situation and personality
(Funder, 2006) explicitly.
The Behavioural Repertoire x Environmental Situations Approach has already been successfully applied to
great ape species in which it could yield empirical evidence for
important dimensions of individual-specific patterns beyond those identified with any
previous approaches (for details and discussions see Uher,
2008a, 2008b; Uher
& Asendorpf,
2008; Uher et al.,
2008). 
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References:
- Funder, D. C. (2006). Towards a resolution of the personality triad: Persons, situations and behaviors.
Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 21–34.
- Uher, J. (2008a). Comparative
personality research: Methodological approaches (Target article). European
Journal of Personality, 22, 427-455. [pdf]
DOI
- Uher, J. (2008b). Three
methodological core issues in comparative personality research
(Author's reply). European Journal of Personality, 22, 475-496.
[pdf]
DOI
- Uher, J., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2008). Personality assessment in the Great Apes: Comparing
ecologically valid behavior measures, behavior ratings, and adjective ratings.
Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 821–838. [pdf]
DOI
- Uher, J., Asendorpf, J. B., & Call, J. (2008). Personality in the behaviour of Great Apes: Temporal
stability, cross-situational consistency and coherence in response. Animal Behaviour, 75, 99–112.
[pdf] DOI
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