Personality Psychology Exam 1 ACTUAL
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Things Personality Psychologists Study - CORRECT ANSWER - -Psychological triad
--Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. (It's not enough just to look at behavior).
-The whole person
--Not just one trait or characteristic (also needs consistency).
Personality (Definition) - CORRECT ANSWER - An individual's unique and relatively
consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving
Goals of Personality Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER - -Explain the whole person in
his or her daily environment
-Mission: Impossible
Trait Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - How people differ psychologically (e.g.,
extraversion - introversion = we categorize into more or less introverted)
Biological Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - Understand the mind in terms of the body
Psychoanalytic Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - Understand irrationality (why we
forget, slips), fantasies, dreams, conscious and unconscious conflicts.
Humanistic Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - -How conscious awareness produces
uniquely human attributes; meaning and happiness
-How we choose to see the world
Cross-Cultural Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - How the experience of reality is
shaped by culture
,Self and Self-Concept - CORRECT ANSWER - Beliefs about himself or herself, including
the person's attributes and who and what the self is
Personality Processes - CORRECT ANSWER - Perception, emotion, memory, motivation
Psychopathological Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - Mental health, personality
disorders
Approaches to Personality Address Key Questions - CORRECT ANSWER - -How do our
personalities develop?
-What are the core driving forces in our personalities, or more informally, what makes us tick?
-What accounts for individual differences?
Why are There so Many Approaches to Personality? - CORRECT ANSWER - -Focus on
different questions / aspects of a question
-Focus on different phenomena
--E.g., trait approaches say nothing about dreams; psychoanalysis barely mentions learning;
humanistic psychology does not even acknowledge biology, etc.
-Other areas of psychology treat all people as if they were the same
-Personality psychologists emphasize individual differences
The Scientific Method - CORRECT ANSWER - -The systematic procedure of observation
and measurement
--Systematic Study: Has rules. An example would be seeing how many people smile at you when
they leave.
The Scientific Method: Answers Questions to... - CORRECT ANSWER - - To describe
what happens
- To predict when it happens
- To explain why it happens
,- To control what causes it to happen
Clues to Personality - CORRECT ANSWER - -All parts of the psychological triad matter!
(thoughts, feelings, behaviors)
--But, this can't just be measured = "There are no perfect indicators of personality; there are only
clues, and clues are always ambiguous"
--Psychologist's job: put together the clues
-"Something beats nothing"
Funder's BLIS - CORRECT ANSWER - -B Data = Behavioral Observations
-L Data = Life Outcomes
-I Data = Informants' Reports
-S Data = Self-Reports
S Data - CORRECT ANSWER - -Rationale = The world's best expert about your
personality is very probably you!
-Usually questionnaires
-Most frequent data source
--Ex: Big Five Inventory:
--I see myself as someone who...
---- ...is talkative.
---- ...tends to find fault with others.
---- ...does a thorough job.
S Data: Advantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Based on a large amount of information
--You are always with yourself
--People are usually their own best expert
-Access to thoughts, feelings, and intentions
, -Definitional truth: Something only the individual can answer (e.g., self-esteem: Ask "do I like
myself," only I can answer)
-Simple and easy data
S Data: Disadvantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Maybe they won't tell you
-Maybe they can't tell you
--Fish-and-water effect ~ Can't ask a fish if they're wet.
--Active distortion of memory (Freud)
--Lack of self-insight
-Too simple and too easy
I Data - CORRECT ANSWER - -Acquaintances, coworkers, clinical psychologists...
-No training or expertise needed
-Based on observing people in whatever context they know them from
-Used frequently in daily life
I Data: Advantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Based on a large amount of information
--Many behaviors in many situations
--Judgments from multiple informants are possible (and this way this can help us see if people
are faking).
-Based on observation of behavior in the real world
--Not from contrived tests or constructed situations
-Definitional truth (charm, likeability)
--Ex: I can't say if I'm popular but other people can.
I Data: Disadvantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Limited information
-Lack of access to private experience
-Error: more likely to remember behaviors that are extreme, unusual, or emotionally arousing
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Things Personality Psychologists Study - CORRECT ANSWER - -Psychological triad
--Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. (It's not enough just to look at behavior).
-The whole person
--Not just one trait or characteristic (also needs consistency).
Personality (Definition) - CORRECT ANSWER - An individual's unique and relatively
consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving
Goals of Personality Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER - -Explain the whole person in
his or her daily environment
-Mission: Impossible
Trait Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - How people differ psychologically (e.g.,
extraversion - introversion = we categorize into more or less introverted)
Biological Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - Understand the mind in terms of the body
Psychoanalytic Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - Understand irrationality (why we
forget, slips), fantasies, dreams, conscious and unconscious conflicts.
Humanistic Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - -How conscious awareness produces
uniquely human attributes; meaning and happiness
-How we choose to see the world
Cross-Cultural Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - How the experience of reality is
shaped by culture
,Self and Self-Concept - CORRECT ANSWER - Beliefs about himself or herself, including
the person's attributes and who and what the self is
Personality Processes - CORRECT ANSWER - Perception, emotion, memory, motivation
Psychopathological Approach - CORRECT ANSWER - Mental health, personality
disorders
Approaches to Personality Address Key Questions - CORRECT ANSWER - -How do our
personalities develop?
-What are the core driving forces in our personalities, or more informally, what makes us tick?
-What accounts for individual differences?
Why are There so Many Approaches to Personality? - CORRECT ANSWER - -Focus on
different questions / aspects of a question
-Focus on different phenomena
--E.g., trait approaches say nothing about dreams; psychoanalysis barely mentions learning;
humanistic psychology does not even acknowledge biology, etc.
-Other areas of psychology treat all people as if they were the same
-Personality psychologists emphasize individual differences
The Scientific Method - CORRECT ANSWER - -The systematic procedure of observation
and measurement
--Systematic Study: Has rules. An example would be seeing how many people smile at you when
they leave.
The Scientific Method: Answers Questions to... - CORRECT ANSWER - - To describe
what happens
- To predict when it happens
- To explain why it happens
,- To control what causes it to happen
Clues to Personality - CORRECT ANSWER - -All parts of the psychological triad matter!
(thoughts, feelings, behaviors)
--But, this can't just be measured = "There are no perfect indicators of personality; there are only
clues, and clues are always ambiguous"
--Psychologist's job: put together the clues
-"Something beats nothing"
Funder's BLIS - CORRECT ANSWER - -B Data = Behavioral Observations
-L Data = Life Outcomes
-I Data = Informants' Reports
-S Data = Self-Reports
S Data - CORRECT ANSWER - -Rationale = The world's best expert about your
personality is very probably you!
-Usually questionnaires
-Most frequent data source
--Ex: Big Five Inventory:
--I see myself as someone who...
---- ...is talkative.
---- ...tends to find fault with others.
---- ...does a thorough job.
S Data: Advantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Based on a large amount of information
--You are always with yourself
--People are usually their own best expert
-Access to thoughts, feelings, and intentions
, -Definitional truth: Something only the individual can answer (e.g., self-esteem: Ask "do I like
myself," only I can answer)
-Simple and easy data
S Data: Disadvantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Maybe they won't tell you
-Maybe they can't tell you
--Fish-and-water effect ~ Can't ask a fish if they're wet.
--Active distortion of memory (Freud)
--Lack of self-insight
-Too simple and too easy
I Data - CORRECT ANSWER - -Acquaintances, coworkers, clinical psychologists...
-No training or expertise needed
-Based on observing people in whatever context they know them from
-Used frequently in daily life
I Data: Advantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Based on a large amount of information
--Many behaviors in many situations
--Judgments from multiple informants are possible (and this way this can help us see if people
are faking).
-Based on observation of behavior in the real world
--Not from contrived tests or constructed situations
-Definitional truth (charm, likeability)
--Ex: I can't say if I'm popular but other people can.
I Data: Disadvantages - CORRECT ANSWER - -Limited information
-Lack of access to private experience
-Error: more likely to remember behaviors that are extreme, unusual, or emotionally arousing
