Personality Psychology exam #1 questions and answers

Personality Psychology exam #1 questions and
answers

personality - Answers-set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual
that are organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with,
and adaptations to the intrapsychic, physical, and social environments

.psychological traits - Answers-characteristics that describe ways in which people are
different from each other

.psychological mechanism - Answers-like traits but refers more to the process of
personality (ex: most psychological mechanisms involve and information-processing
activity

.person-situation interaction - Answers-focusing on interactionism as a response to
Mischel's challenge to trait consistency
2 possible explanations for behaviors
- behavior is a function of personality
- behavior is a function of situational forces

.strong situation - Answers-refers to situations in which nearly all people react in similar
ways

.situational specificity - Answers-in which a person acts in a specific way under
particular circumstances

.reliability - Answers-the degree to which an obtained measure represents the true level
of the trait being measured

.validity - Answers-the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure

.generalizability - Answers-the degree to which a measure retains its validity across
different contexts

.response sets - Answers-tendency of some people to respond to the questions on
some basis that is unrelated to the question content

.social desirability - Answers-refers to the tendency to answer items in such a way as to
come across as socially attractive or likable

.4 sources of personality data - Answers-1. self report (S)
2. observer report data (O)
3. life outcome data (L)

, 4. test data (T)

.self report data (S) - Answers-info is provided by the person such as through a survey
or interview
-unstructured item --> open ended
-structured item --> response options provided

.observer report data (O) - Answers-info is provided by someone else about a person
- who observes --> trained observers vs close others
-where to observe --> naturalistic vs artificial observation

.tests data (T) - Answers-info is provided by behavior in testing situations
-elicited behavior is "scored" without reliance on inference
-observable behavior
-physiological response, brain activities

.life outcome data (L) - Answers-info can be obtained from events, activities, and
outcomes in a persons life that is available for public scrutiny (ex: social media,
marriage, speeding tickets)

.test-retest reliability - Answers-doing the same test twice

.internal consistency reliability - Answers-how questions on questionnaires consistently
measure personality

.inter-rater reliability (observation data) - Answers-degree in which multiple observers
agree with results

.face validity - Answers-look at statements to see if they make sense

.predictive (criterion) validity - Answers-extent to which score on scale scores on some
criterion measure

.convergent validity - Answers-how your questions converge with other questions

.discriminant validity - Answers-tests whether concepts or measurements that are
supposed to be unrelated are actually unrelated

.construct validity - Answers-degree to which a test measures what it claims

.measurement issues - Answers-- response sets --> tendency to response to questions
in a way that is unrelated
- acquiescence bias --> say yes to all questions
-extreme responding --> to give end-point responses
-moderacy bias --> to give middle part responses
-social desirability bias --> people answer to make themselves look more favorable