UBC PSYC 305 - Midterm 1 Test
Questions with All Actual Detailed
Answers 2026-2027 Updated.
Acquiescence - Answer (also known as yea saying) A response set that refers to the tendency
to agree with questionnaire items regardless of the content of those items.
Active Genotype-Environment Correlation - Answer Occurs when a person with a particular
genotype creates or seeks out a particular environment
Actometer - Answer A mechanical motion-recording device, often in the form of a watch
attached to the wrist. It has been used, for example, in research on the activity level of children
during several play periods. Motoric movement activates the recording device.
Adjacency - Answer In Wiggins circumplex model, adjacency indicates how close the traits
are to each other on the circumference of the circumplex. Those variables that are adjacent or
next to each other within the model are positively correlated.
Adaptations - Answer Inherited solutions to the survival and reproductive problems posed by
the hostile forces of nature. Adaptations are the primary product of the selective process. An
adaptation is a "reliably developing structure in the organism, which, because it meshes with
the recurrent structure of the world, causes the solution to an adaptive problem"
Adjustment Domain - Answer Personality plays a key role in how we cope, adapt, and adjust
to the ebb and flow of events in our day-to-day lives. In addition to health consequences of
adjusting to stress, certain personality features are related to poor social or emotional
adjustment and have been designated as personality disorders
Adoption Studies - Answer Studies that examine the correlations between adopted children
and their adoptive parents, with whom they share no genes. These correlations are then
compared to the correlations between the adopted children and their genetic parents, who had
no influence on the environments of the children. Differences in these correlations can indicate
the relative magnitude of genetic and environment contributions to personality traits.
Agreeableness - Answer is the second of the personality traits in the five-factor model, a
model which has proven to be replicable in studies using English-language trait words as items.
Some of the key adjective markers for ______ are "good natured," "cooperative," "mild/gentle,"
"not jealous." 80
Average Tendencies - Answer Tendency to display a certain psychological trait with regularity.
For example, on average, a high-talkative person will start more conversations than a low-
, talkative person. This idea explains why the principle of aggregation works when measuring
personality.
Biological Domain - Answer The core assumption of biological approaches to personality is
that humans are, first and foremost, collections of biological systems, and these systems provide
the building blocks (e.g., brain, nervous system) for behavior, thought, and emotion. Biological
approaches typically refers to three areas of research within this general domain: the genetics
of personality, the psychophysiology of personality, and the evolution of personality.
Bipolarity - Answer In Wiggins circumplex model, traits located at opposite sides of the circle
and negatively correlated with each other. Specifying this bipolarity is useful because nearly
every interpersonal trait within the personality sphere has another trait that is its opposite.
Case Study Method - Answer Examining the life of one person in particular depth, which can
give researchers insights into personality that can then be used to formulate a more general
theory that is tested in a larger population. They can also provide in-depth knowledge of a
particularly outstanding individual. Case studies are useful when studying rare phenomena,
such as a person with a photographic memory or a person with multiple personalities—cases
for which large samples would be difficult or impossible to obtain
Cognitive-Experiential Domain - Answer This domain focuses on cognition and subjective
experience, such as conscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires about oneself and others.
This domain includes our feelings of self, identity, self-esteem, our goals and plans, and our
emotions.
Cohort Effects - Answer Personality change over time as a reflection of the social times in
which an individual or group of individuals live. For example, American women's trait scores on
assertiveness have risen and fallen depending on the social and historical cohort in which they
have lived. Jean Twenge has posited that individuals internalize social change and absorb the
cultural messages they receive from their culture, all of which, in turn, can affect their
personalities
Combinations of Big Five Variables - Answer "Traits" are often examined in combinations. For
example, two people high in extraversion would be very different if one was an extraverted
neurotic and the other was extraverted but emotionally stable.
Compatibility and Integration across domains and levels - Answer A theory that takes into
account the principles and laws of other scientific domains that may affect the study's main
subject. For example, a theory of biology that violated known principles of chemistry would be
judged fatally flawed.
Questions with All Actual Detailed
Answers 2026-2027 Updated.
Acquiescence - Answer (also known as yea saying) A response set that refers to the tendency
to agree with questionnaire items regardless of the content of those items.
Active Genotype-Environment Correlation - Answer Occurs when a person with a particular
genotype creates or seeks out a particular environment
Actometer - Answer A mechanical motion-recording device, often in the form of a watch
attached to the wrist. It has been used, for example, in research on the activity level of children
during several play periods. Motoric movement activates the recording device.
Adjacency - Answer In Wiggins circumplex model, adjacency indicates how close the traits
are to each other on the circumference of the circumplex. Those variables that are adjacent or
next to each other within the model are positively correlated.
Adaptations - Answer Inherited solutions to the survival and reproductive problems posed by
the hostile forces of nature. Adaptations are the primary product of the selective process. An
adaptation is a "reliably developing structure in the organism, which, because it meshes with
the recurrent structure of the world, causes the solution to an adaptive problem"
Adjustment Domain - Answer Personality plays a key role in how we cope, adapt, and adjust
to the ebb and flow of events in our day-to-day lives. In addition to health consequences of
adjusting to stress, certain personality features are related to poor social or emotional
adjustment and have been designated as personality disorders
Adoption Studies - Answer Studies that examine the correlations between adopted children
and their adoptive parents, with whom they share no genes. These correlations are then
compared to the correlations between the adopted children and their genetic parents, who had
no influence on the environments of the children. Differences in these correlations can indicate
the relative magnitude of genetic and environment contributions to personality traits.
Agreeableness - Answer is the second of the personality traits in the five-factor model, a
model which has proven to be replicable in studies using English-language trait words as items.
Some of the key adjective markers for ______ are "good natured," "cooperative," "mild/gentle,"
"not jealous." 80
Average Tendencies - Answer Tendency to display a certain psychological trait with regularity.
For example, on average, a high-talkative person will start more conversations than a low-
, talkative person. This idea explains why the principle of aggregation works when measuring
personality.
Biological Domain - Answer The core assumption of biological approaches to personality is
that humans are, first and foremost, collections of biological systems, and these systems provide
the building blocks (e.g., brain, nervous system) for behavior, thought, and emotion. Biological
approaches typically refers to three areas of research within this general domain: the genetics
of personality, the psychophysiology of personality, and the evolution of personality.
Bipolarity - Answer In Wiggins circumplex model, traits located at opposite sides of the circle
and negatively correlated with each other. Specifying this bipolarity is useful because nearly
every interpersonal trait within the personality sphere has another trait that is its opposite.
Case Study Method - Answer Examining the life of one person in particular depth, which can
give researchers insights into personality that can then be used to formulate a more general
theory that is tested in a larger population. They can also provide in-depth knowledge of a
particularly outstanding individual. Case studies are useful when studying rare phenomena,
such as a person with a photographic memory or a person with multiple personalities—cases
for which large samples would be difficult or impossible to obtain
Cognitive-Experiential Domain - Answer This domain focuses on cognition and subjective
experience, such as conscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires about oneself and others.
This domain includes our feelings of self, identity, self-esteem, our goals and plans, and our
emotions.
Cohort Effects - Answer Personality change over time as a reflection of the social times in
which an individual or group of individuals live. For example, American women's trait scores on
assertiveness have risen and fallen depending on the social and historical cohort in which they
have lived. Jean Twenge has posited that individuals internalize social change and absorb the
cultural messages they receive from their culture, all of which, in turn, can affect their
personalities
Combinations of Big Five Variables - Answer "Traits" are often examined in combinations. For
example, two people high in extraversion would be very different if one was an extraverted
neurotic and the other was extraverted but emotionally stable.
Compatibility and Integration across domains and levels - Answer A theory that takes into
account the principles and laws of other scientific domains that may affect the study's main
subject. For example, a theory of biology that violated known principles of chemistry would be
judged fatally flawed.
