Psychology of Personality Exam 1 - ch. 1-3 PPT-s
Questions and Answers
personality - Answers-refers to an individual's characteristic patterns of thought,
emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms - hidden or not -
behind those patterns
.characteristic - Answers-general qualities that persist over time
.patterns - Answers-complex and organized
.mechanisms - Answers-interest in underlying causes and motives
.trait, biological, psychoanalytic, phenomenological, learning & cognitive - Answers-
basic approaches to personality
.trait approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on conceptualization of
individual differences & measurement of individual differences
.biological approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on anatomy,
physiology, genetics, and evolution
.psychoanalytic approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on the
unconscious mind and internal mental conflict
.phenomenological approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on
conscious awareness and experience, humanistic psychology, and cross-cultural
psychology
.learning and cognitive approaches - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on
behaviorism, social learning theory, and cognitive personality psychology
.science - Answers-generating hypotheses, subject them to a rigorous empirical test,
then modify theory based on empirical results
.falsifiable, testable, parsimonious, use clear and precise language - Answers-4
characteristics of a good scientific theory
.S - Answers-self-rating data
type of data that uses a person's own evaluation of his/her personality
usually questionnaire-based
most frequent, widely-used data source
high face validity
, .I - Answers-informant data/reports
judgments made by others who know the individual
best informants are usually spouses or romantic partners if you have known them for a
long time
.L - Answers-life data: archival records
verifiable, concrete real-life outcomes that may hold psychological significance
uses arrest records, GPA, divorce certificates, etc...
is objective and verifiable, but can be interpreted in many different ways
.B - Answers-behavioral data
direct observation of a person's behavior
either controlled laboratory observation or real-life observation
.face validity - Answers-the degree to which an assessment instrument appears to
measure its intended target
.causal force - Answers-the force that states that you act on your beliefs and
expectations, and thus may become life how you believe you are
(for S data, this is an advantage)
.definitional truth - Answers-if you think you have high self-esteem, then you do
(for S data, this is an advantage)
.case method, correlational - Answers-2 types of research methods
.reliability, validity, generalizability - Answers-3 types of data quality
.case method - Answers-research design involving closely studying a particular event or
person in order to find out as much as possible
.correlational method - Answers-research design in which variable is tested as it already
exists
.low, weak - Answers-correlation of |.00| to |.19|
.moderate - Answers-correlation of |.20| to |.49|
.strong - Answers-correlation of |.50| to |.74|
.very strong - Answers-correlation of |.75| to |1.00|
.reliability - Answers-consistency (precision) of scores across assessments
increases as you aggregate more observations
Questions and Answers
personality - Answers-refers to an individual's characteristic patterns of thought,
emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms - hidden or not -
behind those patterns
.characteristic - Answers-general qualities that persist over time
.patterns - Answers-complex and organized
.mechanisms - Answers-interest in underlying causes and motives
.trait, biological, psychoanalytic, phenomenological, learning & cognitive - Answers-
basic approaches to personality
.trait approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on conceptualization of
individual differences & measurement of individual differences
.biological approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on anatomy,
physiology, genetics, and evolution
.psychoanalytic approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on the
unconscious mind and internal mental conflict
.phenomenological approach - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on
conscious awareness and experience, humanistic psychology, and cross-cultural
psychology
.learning and cognitive approaches - Answers-approach to personality that focuses on
behaviorism, social learning theory, and cognitive personality psychology
.science - Answers-generating hypotheses, subject them to a rigorous empirical test,
then modify theory based on empirical results
.falsifiable, testable, parsimonious, use clear and precise language - Answers-4
characteristics of a good scientific theory
.S - Answers-self-rating data
type of data that uses a person's own evaluation of his/her personality
usually questionnaire-based
most frequent, widely-used data source
high face validity
, .I - Answers-informant data/reports
judgments made by others who know the individual
best informants are usually spouses or romantic partners if you have known them for a
long time
.L - Answers-life data: archival records
verifiable, concrete real-life outcomes that may hold psychological significance
uses arrest records, GPA, divorce certificates, etc...
is objective and verifiable, but can be interpreted in many different ways
.B - Answers-behavioral data
direct observation of a person's behavior
either controlled laboratory observation or real-life observation
.face validity - Answers-the degree to which an assessment instrument appears to
measure its intended target
.causal force - Answers-the force that states that you act on your beliefs and
expectations, and thus may become life how you believe you are
(for S data, this is an advantage)
.definitional truth - Answers-if you think you have high self-esteem, then you do
(for S data, this is an advantage)
.case method, correlational - Answers-2 types of research methods
.reliability, validity, generalizability - Answers-3 types of data quality
.case method - Answers-research design involving closely studying a particular event or
person in order to find out as much as possible
.correlational method - Answers-research design in which variable is tested as it already
exists
.low, weak - Answers-correlation of |.00| to |.19|
.moderate - Answers-correlation of |.20| to |.49|
.strong - Answers-correlation of |.50| to |.74|
.very strong - Answers-correlation of |.75| to |1.00|
.reliability - Answers-consistency (precision) of scores across assessments
increases as you aggregate more observations
