PSY 352 REVIEW EXAMS UPDATED QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔experimental research - ✔✔measures causality
one variable influences the other
✔✔independent variable - ✔✔the manipulated variable
✔✔dependent variable - ✔✔the measured variable
✔✔strengths of experimental research - ✔✔establishes causation
groups start the same, treated differently, groups end up different
random assignment
random sampling
there is control of the situation
✔✔random assignment - ✔✔assigning participants to condition by chance (reduces role
of individual differences)
✔✔random sampling - ✔✔draw experiment sample from population at random
(generalize)
✔✔weakness of experimental research - ✔✔can't experimentally control everything
, artificial situations
✔✔act frequency approach - ✔✔views traits as descriptions
act nomination
prototypicality judgment
recording of act performance
✔✔act nomination - ✔✔procedure designed to identify which acts belong in which trait
categories
researchers can identify hundreds of acts belonging to various trait categories
✔✔prototypicality judgment - ✔✔identifying which acts are the most central to each trait
category
✔✔recording of act performance - ✔✔consists on securing information on the actual
performance of individuals in their daily lives
✔✔lexical approach to a trait taxonomy - ✔✔all traits listed and defined in the dictionary
form the basis of describing differences among people
logical starting point is the natural language
starts with its hypothesis
yields two criteria: synonym frequency and cross-cultural universality
✔✔lexical hypothesis - ✔✔all important individual differences have become encoded
within natural language
over time, differences among people that are important are noticed, and words are
invented to talk about those differences
✔✔synonym frequency - ✔✔if an attribute has not merely one or two trait adjectives to
describe it, but rather many words, then it is a more important dimension of individual
differences
✔✔cross-cultural universality - ✔✔if a trait is sufficiently important in all cultures, that its
members have codified terms to describe this trait, then the trait must be universally
important in human affairs
✔✔problem with the lexical approach - ✔✔personality is conveyed through different
parts of speech, including adjectives, nouns and adverbs
✔✔importance of the lexical approach - ✔✔it's a good starting point for identifying
important individual differences but should not be used exlusively
✔✔statistical approach to a trait taxonomy - ✔✔starts with a pool of personality items
can be trait words or a series of questions about behavior, experience, or emotion
once there is a large and diverse pool of items, this approach is applied
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔experimental research - ✔✔measures causality
one variable influences the other
✔✔independent variable - ✔✔the manipulated variable
✔✔dependent variable - ✔✔the measured variable
✔✔strengths of experimental research - ✔✔establishes causation
groups start the same, treated differently, groups end up different
random assignment
random sampling
there is control of the situation
✔✔random assignment - ✔✔assigning participants to condition by chance (reduces role
of individual differences)
✔✔random sampling - ✔✔draw experiment sample from population at random
(generalize)
✔✔weakness of experimental research - ✔✔can't experimentally control everything
, artificial situations
✔✔act frequency approach - ✔✔views traits as descriptions
act nomination
prototypicality judgment
recording of act performance
✔✔act nomination - ✔✔procedure designed to identify which acts belong in which trait
categories
researchers can identify hundreds of acts belonging to various trait categories
✔✔prototypicality judgment - ✔✔identifying which acts are the most central to each trait
category
✔✔recording of act performance - ✔✔consists on securing information on the actual
performance of individuals in their daily lives
✔✔lexical approach to a trait taxonomy - ✔✔all traits listed and defined in the dictionary
form the basis of describing differences among people
logical starting point is the natural language
starts with its hypothesis
yields two criteria: synonym frequency and cross-cultural universality
✔✔lexical hypothesis - ✔✔all important individual differences have become encoded
within natural language
over time, differences among people that are important are noticed, and words are
invented to talk about those differences
✔✔synonym frequency - ✔✔if an attribute has not merely one or two trait adjectives to
describe it, but rather many words, then it is a more important dimension of individual
differences
✔✔cross-cultural universality - ✔✔if a trait is sufficiently important in all cultures, that its
members have codified terms to describe this trait, then the trait must be universally
important in human affairs
✔✔problem with the lexical approach - ✔✔personality is conveyed through different
parts of speech, including adjectives, nouns and adverbs
✔✔importance of the lexical approach - ✔✔it's a good starting point for identifying
important individual differences but should not be used exlusively
✔✔statistical approach to a trait taxonomy - ✔✔starts with a pool of personality items
can be trait words or a series of questions about behavior, experience, or emotion
once there is a large and diverse pool of items, this approach is applied
