PSYC 290 UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS COMPLETE
STUDY GUIDE
●● personality psychology
Answer: the study of characteristic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in
people and how they vary across social situations
●● every human is...
Answer: 1. like all others (human nature)
2. like some others (individual/group differences)
3. like no others (individual uniqueness)
●● psychological triad
Answer: conflict between how people feel, think, and behave
●● approaches to personality psychology
Answer: 1. psychoanalytic
2. disorder
3. culture (phenomenological)
4. cognitive
5. trait
,6. biological
●● Trait approach
Answer: an approach to studying personality that focuses on how
individuals differ in personality dispositions
●● Example:Trait Approach:Which childhood personality traits predict
disordered gambling in adulthood (age 23)?
Answer: Undercontrolled (restless, impulsive)
●● Biological approach
Answer: an approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the
brain and nervous system (physiology, genes, evolution) ex: different
parts of brain contribute to personality
●● Example:Biological Approach:What do different parts of the brain
contribute
to personality?
Answer: • Phineas Gage (1848)
• Iron rod lodged in frontal lobe
• Personality changes: impatient, impulsive,
lack of discipline
• Importance of frontal lobe in self-regulation
,●● Psychoanalytic Approach
Answer: psychological perspective concerned with how unconscious
instincts, conflicts, motives, and defenses influence behavior...nature and
resolution of internal conflict
●● Example:Psychoanalytic Approach:How are perceptions of new
people
influenced by resemblance to romantic
partners?
Answer: Women (not men) were more positive toward
morphed faces
• People who were more satisfied with their
relationships were more positive toward
morphed faces
●● Transference
Answer: We (mis)attribute personality
characteristics to those who resemble
significant others
●● Cognitive Approach
, Answer: An approach to psychology emphasizing the mental processes
involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember,
think, and solve problems.
●● Cultural(Phenomenological) Approach
Answer: how social/cultural context influence... i.e. cultures (indv. vs
collectivism), families (birth order), peer groups (delinquency), dyads
(interdependence)
●● positive illusions
Answer: unrealistically favorable attitudes that people have towards
themselves or to people that are close to them
●● Are "positive illusions" adaptive or maladaptive?
Answer: College students who overestimated their
academic ability classified as "self-enhancers"
• Well-being measured before and after college
Self-enhancers were better adjusted when
entering college
• But, their self-esteem & well-being
decreased over 4 years
●● Preferences for Uniqueness Example
AND CORRECT ANSWERS COMPLETE
STUDY GUIDE
●● personality psychology
Answer: the study of characteristic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in
people and how they vary across social situations
●● every human is...
Answer: 1. like all others (human nature)
2. like some others (individual/group differences)
3. like no others (individual uniqueness)
●● psychological triad
Answer: conflict between how people feel, think, and behave
●● approaches to personality psychology
Answer: 1. psychoanalytic
2. disorder
3. culture (phenomenological)
4. cognitive
5. trait
,6. biological
●● Trait approach
Answer: an approach to studying personality that focuses on how
individuals differ in personality dispositions
●● Example:Trait Approach:Which childhood personality traits predict
disordered gambling in adulthood (age 23)?
Answer: Undercontrolled (restless, impulsive)
●● Biological approach
Answer: an approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the
brain and nervous system (physiology, genes, evolution) ex: different
parts of brain contribute to personality
●● Example:Biological Approach:What do different parts of the brain
contribute
to personality?
Answer: • Phineas Gage (1848)
• Iron rod lodged in frontal lobe
• Personality changes: impatient, impulsive,
lack of discipline
• Importance of frontal lobe in self-regulation
,●● Psychoanalytic Approach
Answer: psychological perspective concerned with how unconscious
instincts, conflicts, motives, and defenses influence behavior...nature and
resolution of internal conflict
●● Example:Psychoanalytic Approach:How are perceptions of new
people
influenced by resemblance to romantic
partners?
Answer: Women (not men) were more positive toward
morphed faces
• People who were more satisfied with their
relationships were more positive toward
morphed faces
●● Transference
Answer: We (mis)attribute personality
characteristics to those who resemble
significant others
●● Cognitive Approach
, Answer: An approach to psychology emphasizing the mental processes
involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember,
think, and solve problems.
●● Cultural(Phenomenological) Approach
Answer: how social/cultural context influence... i.e. cultures (indv. vs
collectivism), families (birth order), peer groups (delinquency), dyads
(interdependence)
●● positive illusions
Answer: unrealistically favorable attitudes that people have towards
themselves or to people that are close to them
●● Are "positive illusions" adaptive or maladaptive?
Answer: College students who overestimated their
academic ability classified as "self-enhancers"
• Well-being measured before and after college
Self-enhancers were better adjusted when
entering college
• But, their self-esteem & well-being
decreased over 4 years
●● Preferences for Uniqueness Example
