Test Bank for Theories of Personality, 12th Edition by Duane P. Schultz.pdf

CHAPTERw1—PERSONALITYwANDwTHEwSCIENTIFICwOUTLOOK



CHAPTERwOUTLINE



I. Whywstudywpersonality?w Thewstudywofwhumanwpersonalitywhelpswuswunderstandwourselveswan
dwotherwpeoplewbetterwandwgiveswuswawgreaterwappreciationwforwthewcomplexitywofwhumanwex
perience.
II. Definitionw ofwPersonality:wPersonalitywiswthewdynamicwandworganizedwsetwofwcharacteristic
swpossessedwbywanwindividualwthatwuniquelywinfluenceswhisworwherwcognitions,wmotivationsw
andwbehaviorswinwvariouswsituations.
III. PersonalitywandwScience:wPersonalitywiswawscientificwenterprisewconcernedwwithwthewdescriptio
n,wexplanation,wprediction,wandwcontrolwofwevents.
A.wComponentswofwScience:wTheorieswandwResearchwMethods
1. Whatwarewtheories?w Awtheorywiswawsystemwofwinterrelatedwconceptualwstatementswthatwar
ewcreatedwbywinvestigatorswtowaccountwforwawphenomenonworwawsetwofwphenomena.
2. Kindswofwtheories
a. inductive-setswofwgeneralwsummarywstatementswaboutwphenomenawderivedwfromwfacts.
b. deductive-
theorieswinwwhichwspecificwhypotheseswarewderivedwfromwabstractwpropositionswandwthenw
testedw bywthewcollectionwofwdata.wDeductivewtheorieswconsistwofwpostulates,wpropositions
,wconceptualwdefinitions,woperationalwdefinitions,whypotheses,wandwempiricalwobservatio
ns.
1. postulates-
thewfundamentalworwcorewassumptionswofwawtheory.wTheywarewtakenwaswself-
wevidentlywtruewinworderwtowprovidewawclearwandwfocusedwdirectionwforwtheorizingwand

wresearch.


2. propositions-
wgeneralwrelationalwstatementswthatwmaywbewtrueworwfalse.wTheywarewnotwtestedwdirectly; wins

tead,whypotheseswarewderivedwfromwthem.
3. hypotheses-
specificwpropositionswcontainingwconstructswthatwarewconceptuallywdefinedwandwoperationa
lizedwsowtheywcanwtestedwandwconfirmedworwdisconfirmedwthroughwempiricalwtesting.wHypo
theseswarewtentativewtheoreticalwstatementswaboutwhowweventswarewrelatedwtowonewanother,w
oftenwstatedwaswpredictions.
a. awpriorwpredictions-predictionswmadewbeforewthewcollectionwofwdata.
4. conceptualwdefinitions-
wconcepts winwthewhypotheses warewdefinedwpreciselywsowthat waccuratewmeasureswofwthewconce

ptswcanwbewdevised.
5. operationalwdefinitions-wproceduresw(orwoperations)wusedwtowdefinewparticularwconstructs.
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,6. empiricalwobservations-observationswofwphenomenawmadewbywinvestigators.




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,1V.wResearchwMethodswUsedwtowTestwTheories
A.Experimentalw Method-techniquewforwstudyingwcause-and-
weffect wrelationshipswbetweenwvariables.wItwinvolves wthewmanipulationwofwindependent wva

riableswandwobservationwofwtheweffectswofwthewmanipulation(s)wonwdependentwvariables.
1. independentwvariables-
thewvariableswactivelywmanipulatedwbywthewexperimenterwsowthatwtheirweffectswonwindivi
dualwbehaviorwcanwbewobserved.
2. dependentwvariables-
changeswinwbehaviorwthatwoccurwaswawresultwofwthewmanipulationwofwconditionswbywanwex
perimenter.
3. controlwgroup-
thewgroupwthatwdoeswnotwreceivewthewexperimentalwtreatment.wItwiswdesignedwtowprovidewba
selinewdatawagainstwwhichwtheweffectswofwthewexperimentalwmanipulation(s)wonwthewdepend
entwvariable(s)wcanwbewaccuratelywjudged.
B. Correlationalw Method-
generalwprocedurewforwestablishingwanwassociationworwrelationshipwbetweenwevents.
1. positivewcorrelation-
increaseswinwthewscoreswonwonewvariablewarewassociatedwwithwincreaseswinwthewscoreswonwthe
wotherwvariable.


2. negativewcorrelation-
increaseswinwthewscoreswonwonewvariablewarewassociatedwwithwdecreaseswinwthewsco
reswonwthewother.
3. nowrelation-thewdistributionswofwscoreswonwthewtwowvariableswarewrandom
C. Casew StudywMethod-
techniquewinvolvingwthewintensivewstudywofwawsinglewpersonwinworderwtowunderstandwhisworwh
erwuniquewpersonalitywandwbehavior.
1. post-hocwexplanation-explanationwofwawphenomenonwgivenwafterwitswoccurrence.
V.wEthicswforwConductingwResearch
A.informedw consent-
thewpracticewofwtellingwstudywparticipantswaboutwthewnaturewofwtheirwparticipationwinwaw
proposedwexperimentwandwthenwobtainingwtheirwwrittenwagreementwtowparticipate.
B. debriefing-
informingw studywparticipantswofwthewtruewnaturewandwpurposewofwawstudywafterwitwiswcomplete
d.
VI.wCriteriawforwEvaluatingwTheories
A.Comprehensiveness-
theoriesw arewjudgedwaswmorewadequatewandwusefulwifwtheywencompasswandwaccountwforwaww
idewrangewandwvarietywofwphenomena.
B. Precisionw andwtestability-
wadequatewtheorieswshouldwcontainwconstructswandwrelationalwstatementswthatwarewclearl

ywandwexplicitlywstatedwandwmeasured.wUnderwsuchwconditions,wtheorieswcanwbewmorewa
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, ccuratelywtested.
C. Parsimony-
w adequatewtheorieswshouldwbewasweconomicalwaswpossible,wwhilewstill wadequatelywaccountin

gwforwthewphenomenawinwtheirwdomain.
D.Empiricalw validity-
wthewhypotheses wofwtheorieswarewtestedwbywthewcollectionwofwdatawtowdeterminewwhether

worwnotwtheywarewaccurate.




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