PSY 352 MIDTERM 1 QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS
what is personality? - Answers - individual way of thinking/acting/feeling
focuses on individual traits
implies consistency across situations (intuitive appeal)
traits - Answers - characteristics that make people different from each other
situationism - Answers - view that personality is function of context
not internal traits
Ex: Milgram's experiment on obedience in social psychology
Walter Mischel - Answers - said personality too minimal to focus on
idea of multiple selves
situationally elicited
Hartsome and May - Answers - gave grade-school kids opportunities for undetected
deceit
dishonesty in one domain is a poor predictor of dishonesty in another
person-situation debate - Answers - behavior as function stable traits or changing
situations?
interactionism - Answers - view that person and situation drive behavior
personality traits are the average tendencies (tend to shape the situation)
situations vary in strength (tend to shape the person)
6 approaches to personality - Answers - psychoanalytic
traits
biological
humanistic
behavioral/social learnings
cognitive
psychoanalytic approach - Answers - focuses on unconscious forces
trait approach - Answers - stable defining characteristics
biological approach - Answers - inherited predispositions, physiological processes
, humanistic approach - Answers - self-actualization, growth potential, feelings of self-
worth
behavioral/social learnings approach - Answers - conditioning, learned expectation
cognitive approach - Answers - info processing
grand theories of personality vs. contemporary approaches - Answers - historically it
has been grand theories
grand theories focus on broad, human nature analyses
Ex: Freud and psychoanalysis
contemporary personality psychology focuses on individual differences
Ex: men vs. women, individualistic vs. collectivist
what is self-report data? - Answers - the information a person reveals
can be obtained through interviews, periodic reports and questionnaires
Strengths of self-report data - Answers - individuals have access to a wealth of
information about themselves that is inaccessible to anyone else
can report on self-esteem, feelings, emotions, desires, beliefs, fears, fantasies, private
experiences, emotions, etc.
Likert rating scale - Answers - type of self-report data
individual is able to express with numbers the degree to which a particular trait
describes him or her
weaknesses of self-report data - Answers - participants may not be able or willing to
answer the questions
people aren't always honest
participants may lack accurate self-knowledge
observer report data - Answers - capitalize on sources of observations
we form impressions and make evaluations of each other
strengths of observer report data - Answers - observers may have access to information
not obtainable through other sources
multiple observers can be used to assess each individual
the use of multiple observers allows investigators to evaluate the degree of agreement
amongst observers (inter-rater reliability)
weaknesses of observer report data - Answers - selecting observers
naturalistic or artificial setting
selecting observers for observer report data - Answers - 2 types of observers:
1. Professional personality assessors
2. People who actually know the target person
ANSWERS
what is personality? - Answers - individual way of thinking/acting/feeling
focuses on individual traits
implies consistency across situations (intuitive appeal)
traits - Answers - characteristics that make people different from each other
situationism - Answers - view that personality is function of context
not internal traits
Ex: Milgram's experiment on obedience in social psychology
Walter Mischel - Answers - said personality too minimal to focus on
idea of multiple selves
situationally elicited
Hartsome and May - Answers - gave grade-school kids opportunities for undetected
deceit
dishonesty in one domain is a poor predictor of dishonesty in another
person-situation debate - Answers - behavior as function stable traits or changing
situations?
interactionism - Answers - view that person and situation drive behavior
personality traits are the average tendencies (tend to shape the situation)
situations vary in strength (tend to shape the person)
6 approaches to personality - Answers - psychoanalytic
traits
biological
humanistic
behavioral/social learnings
cognitive
psychoanalytic approach - Answers - focuses on unconscious forces
trait approach - Answers - stable defining characteristics
biological approach - Answers - inherited predispositions, physiological processes
, humanistic approach - Answers - self-actualization, growth potential, feelings of self-
worth
behavioral/social learnings approach - Answers - conditioning, learned expectation
cognitive approach - Answers - info processing
grand theories of personality vs. contemporary approaches - Answers - historically it
has been grand theories
grand theories focus on broad, human nature analyses
Ex: Freud and psychoanalysis
contemporary personality psychology focuses on individual differences
Ex: men vs. women, individualistic vs. collectivist
what is self-report data? - Answers - the information a person reveals
can be obtained through interviews, periodic reports and questionnaires
Strengths of self-report data - Answers - individuals have access to a wealth of
information about themselves that is inaccessible to anyone else
can report on self-esteem, feelings, emotions, desires, beliefs, fears, fantasies, private
experiences, emotions, etc.
Likert rating scale - Answers - type of self-report data
individual is able to express with numbers the degree to which a particular trait
describes him or her
weaknesses of self-report data - Answers - participants may not be able or willing to
answer the questions
people aren't always honest
participants may lack accurate self-knowledge
observer report data - Answers - capitalize on sources of observations
we form impressions and make evaluations of each other
strengths of observer report data - Answers - observers may have access to information
not obtainable through other sources
multiple observers can be used to assess each individual
the use of multiple observers allows investigators to evaluate the degree of agreement
amongst observers (inter-rater reliability)
weaknesses of observer report data - Answers - selecting observers
naturalistic or artificial setting
selecting observers for observer report data - Answers - 2 types of observers:
1. Professional personality assessors
2. People who actually know the target person
