PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY ASSESMENT EXAM 1 2025
GRADED A (100% CORRECT ANSWERS) MUST PASS
psychological triad - how people feel, think, and behave
personality - an individual's characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling
basic approach (to personality) - a theoretical view of personality that focuses on some phenomena
and ignores others. The basic approaches are trait, biological, psychoanalytic, phenomenological,
learning, and cognitive (the last two being closely related)
trait approach - an approach to studying personality that focuses on how individuals differ in
personality and behaviour, and the psychological processes behind them
biological approach - an approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the brain and
nervous system
psychoanalytic approach - psychological perspective concerned with how unconscious instincts,
conflicts, motives, and defences influence behaviour
phenomenological approach - a research approach that seeks in-depth explanations of human
experiences
learning - in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of experience
Funder's First Law - great strengths are usually great weaknesses and vice versa
Why have personality psychologists not combined all paradigms into "one big theory"? - A theory
that tries to explain everything would probably not provide the best explanation for any one thing
AND the different basic approaches to psychology address different sets of questions
Personality psychology's biggest advantage over other areas of psychology is that: - The psychology
of whole persons and real-life concerns is taken into account
,A psychologist who is concerned primarily with how a person's genes, physiology, and brain anatomy
are related to their personality follows the ___________ approach. - biological
When patterns of behavior are extreme, unusual, and problematic, personality psychology overlaps
with: - Clinical psychology
How people feel, think, and behave are parts of: - The psychological triad
A psychologist who is concerned primarily with a person's conscious experiences follows the
___________ approach. - phenomenological
Personality psychology primarily looks to: - Explain whole persons
Which of the following answers is an example of a basic approach, or paradigm, of personality
psychology? - The psychoanalytic approach
How do clinical psychology and personality psychology overlap? - Clinical and personality psychology
share a common responsibility to understand every feature of an individual, not just single aspects
about them.
To which other branch of psychology does personality psychology most closely align? - Clinical
psychology
The three parts of the psychological triad: - Are not always consistent at all times
When defining personality, we could say that an individual's personality is best described as: - Their
characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior together with the psychological
mechanisms—hidden or not—behind those patterns
The trait approach to personality psychology best describes what situation? - A psychologist focusing
on ways that people differ from one another in behavior and disposition, and how these differences
might be measured
A personality psychologist that is concerned primarily with people's unconscious mind and internal
conflict follows what approach? - Psychoanalytic approach
, Behaviorism, social learning theory, and cognitive personality psychology comprise which of the
following approaches to psychology? - Learning and cognitive approach
Personality psychology emphasizes individual differences. How does this focus serve as one of the
discipline's strengths? - It leads personality psychologists to be extremely sensitive to the fact that
people really are different from each other.
Is stubbornness a good personality trait to have? - Yes and No; it can be a strength in some situations
and a weakness in others.
paradigms - a set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that make up a way of understanding
social reality
Pigeonholing - classifying persons in psychology into a limited number of categories; stereotyping
The basic approaches or paradigms of personality psychology... - are useful because one approach
cannot sufficiently explain all of personality.
Which of the following is a strength of personality psychology?
a) It uses pigeonholing.
b) It treats all people as if they were the same.
c) The basic approaches ignore areas they cannot explain.
d) It is inclusive, interesting, and important. - d) It is inclusive, interesting, and important.
What are the goals of personality psychology? - The goal of personality psychology is to explain the
whole person in his/her daily environment.
research - Exploration of the unknown; finding out something that nobody knew before one
discovered it.
Funder's Second Law - There are no perfect indicators of personality; there are only clues, and clues
are always ambiguous
GRADED A (100% CORRECT ANSWERS) MUST PASS
psychological triad - how people feel, think, and behave
personality - an individual's characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling
basic approach (to personality) - a theoretical view of personality that focuses on some phenomena
and ignores others. The basic approaches are trait, biological, psychoanalytic, phenomenological,
learning, and cognitive (the last two being closely related)
trait approach - an approach to studying personality that focuses on how individuals differ in
personality and behaviour, and the psychological processes behind them
biological approach - an approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the brain and
nervous system
psychoanalytic approach - psychological perspective concerned with how unconscious instincts,
conflicts, motives, and defences influence behaviour
phenomenological approach - a research approach that seeks in-depth explanations of human
experiences
learning - in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of experience
Funder's First Law - great strengths are usually great weaknesses and vice versa
Why have personality psychologists not combined all paradigms into "one big theory"? - A theory
that tries to explain everything would probably not provide the best explanation for any one thing
AND the different basic approaches to psychology address different sets of questions
Personality psychology's biggest advantage over other areas of psychology is that: - The psychology
of whole persons and real-life concerns is taken into account
,A psychologist who is concerned primarily with how a person's genes, physiology, and brain anatomy
are related to their personality follows the ___________ approach. - biological
When patterns of behavior are extreme, unusual, and problematic, personality psychology overlaps
with: - Clinical psychology
How people feel, think, and behave are parts of: - The psychological triad
A psychologist who is concerned primarily with a person's conscious experiences follows the
___________ approach. - phenomenological
Personality psychology primarily looks to: - Explain whole persons
Which of the following answers is an example of a basic approach, or paradigm, of personality
psychology? - The psychoanalytic approach
How do clinical psychology and personality psychology overlap? - Clinical and personality psychology
share a common responsibility to understand every feature of an individual, not just single aspects
about them.
To which other branch of psychology does personality psychology most closely align? - Clinical
psychology
The three parts of the psychological triad: - Are not always consistent at all times
When defining personality, we could say that an individual's personality is best described as: - Their
characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior together with the psychological
mechanisms—hidden or not—behind those patterns
The trait approach to personality psychology best describes what situation? - A psychologist focusing
on ways that people differ from one another in behavior and disposition, and how these differences
might be measured
A personality psychologist that is concerned primarily with people's unconscious mind and internal
conflict follows what approach? - Psychoanalytic approach
, Behaviorism, social learning theory, and cognitive personality psychology comprise which of the
following approaches to psychology? - Learning and cognitive approach
Personality psychology emphasizes individual differences. How does this focus serve as one of the
discipline's strengths? - It leads personality psychologists to be extremely sensitive to the fact that
people really are different from each other.
Is stubbornness a good personality trait to have? - Yes and No; it can be a strength in some situations
and a weakness in others.
paradigms - a set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that make up a way of understanding
social reality
Pigeonholing - classifying persons in psychology into a limited number of categories; stereotyping
The basic approaches or paradigms of personality psychology... - are useful because one approach
cannot sufficiently explain all of personality.
Which of the following is a strength of personality psychology?
a) It uses pigeonholing.
b) It treats all people as if they were the same.
c) The basic approaches ignore areas they cannot explain.
d) It is inclusive, interesting, and important. - d) It is inclusive, interesting, and important.
What are the goals of personality psychology? - The goal of personality psychology is to explain the
whole person in his/her daily environment.
research - Exploration of the unknown; finding out something that nobody knew before one
discovered it.
Funder's Second Law - There are no perfect indicators of personality; there are only clues, and clues
are always ambiguous
