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
life outcomes using big-5 ANSWERS happiness - high extroversion, low
neuroticism
good grades - high conscientiousness, low neuroticism
alcohol consumption - high extroversion, low conscientiousness
personality development ANSWERS defined as the continuities, consistencies,
stabilities in people over time and the way in which people change over time
rank order stability ANSWERS the maintenance of individuals position within the
group
-rank order stability increases with age with a peak at around after 50 years of age
mean level stability and change ANSWERS population that maintains a consistent
average level of a trait or characteristic over time
, 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
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
life outcomes using big-5 ANSWERS happiness - high extroversion, low
neuroticism
good grades - high conscientiousness, low neuroticism
alcohol consumption - high extroversion, low conscientiousness
personality development ANSWERS defined as the continuities, consistencies,
stabilities in people over time and the way in which people change over time
rank order stability ANSWERS the maintenance of individuals position within the
group
-rank order stability increases with age with a peak at around after 50 years of age
mean level stability and change ANSWERS population that maintains a consistent
average level of a trait or characteristic over time
, 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
