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AA Personality Psychology > 1. Personality Psychology Introduction > Flashcards

1. Personality Psychology Introduction Flashcards

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1
Q

the distinctive character or qualities of a person, often as
distinct from other (attractive personality)…
personal existence or identity; the condition of being a
person…
character, nature, temperament, disposition, make-up,
persona; identity.

A

Dictionary definition of personality

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2
Q

the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that
is organised and relatively enduring and that influences a persons interactions with,
and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social
environment).

A

Psychological Defination of personaity

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3
Q

The process of personality – for example, information processing

A

Mechanisms

(of personality)

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4
Q

4 ways Personality influences our interactions…

A

■ Perceptions – how we see things
■ Selection – how we select our environment or people we engage with
■ Evocation – how we evoke responses from others, intentionally or unintentionally
■ Manipulation – how we purposely influence others or our environment

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5
Q

Personality has an ———- function, making it useful in helping us interact with our
environment

A

adaptive

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6
Q

Domain of personality that Deals in ways in which individuals differ from one another

A

Dispositional

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7
Q

Domain of personality that deals with Behavioral genetics of personality
* Psychophysiology of personality
* Evolutionary personality psychology

A

Biological Domain

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8
Q

Deals with mental mechanisms of personality, many of
which operate outside conscious awareness

A

Intrapsychic domain

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9
Q

conscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires about
oneself and others
– Self and self-concept
– Goals we set and strive to meet
– Emotional experiences, in general and over time are part of what persoanlity domain

A

Cognitive-Experiential Domain

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10
Q

ndividual differences within cultures—how personality plays
out in the social sphere, including work on sex differences
and gender differences in personality processes, traits, and
mechanisms would be what personality domain

A

Social and cultural domain

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11
Q

Personality plays key role in how we cope, adapt, and adjust
to events in daily life is a part of what domain

A

Adjustment Domain

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12
Q

psychological mechanisms have three essential ingredients:

A

inputs, decision rules, and outputs

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13
Q

Someone who is extraverted, for example, may look for
and notice opportunities to interact with other people.
That is, an extraverted person is prepared to notice and
act on certain kinds of social information this is an example of a

A

Psychological mechanisms

this one involves a information-processing activity

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14
Q

Anger is more of a —– than a trait

A

state

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15
Q

Psychological traits are also relatively —– over time,

A

enduring

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16
Q

influential forces of personality means that

A

personality
traits and mechanisms can have an effect on people’s lives

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17
Q

the nature of
person–environment interaction is ——-.

A

complex

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18
Q

Three Levels of Personality Analysis

A
  1. like all others (the human nature level);
  2. like some others (the level of individual and group differences); and
  3. like no others (the individual uniqueness level).
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19
Q

ways in which each person is like some other people
(e.g., extraverts, sensation seekers).

A

individual differences,

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20
Q

people in one group may have
certain personality features in common, and these common features make that group of people different from
other groups.

A

differences among groups

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21
Q

typically involves statistical comparisons of individuals or
groups, requiring samples of subjects on which to conduct research

A

Nomothetic research

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22
Q

typically focuses on a single subject, trying to observe
general principles that are manifest in a single life over time.

A

Idiographic
(translated literally as “the description of one”) research

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23
Q

Most of the empirical research in contemporary personality addresses

A

the ways in which individuals and
groups differ.

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24
Q

Q: What is the definition of personality in this textbook?

A

A: Personality refers to an individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour, along with the psychological mechanisms behind those patterns.

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25
Q: What are the three levels of personality analysis?
A: 1. Human Nature (like all others), 2. Individual and Group Differences (like some others), 3. Individual Uniqueness (like no others).
26
Q: What is a psychological mechanism?
A: A process of personality involving inputs (triggering situations), decision rules (options considered), and outputs (behavioural responses).
27
Q: What are the six domains of knowledge about personality?
A: 1. Dispositional, 2. Biological, 3. Intrapsychic, 4. Cognitive-experiential, 5. Social and cultural, 6. Adjustment.
28
Q: What is the dispositional domain concerned with?
A: Identifying personality traits and how they differ across individuals.
29
Q: What are the four main sources of personality data?
A: 1. Self-report (S-data), 2. Observer-report (O-data), 3. Test data (T-data), 4. Life-history/outcome data (L-data).
30
Q: What is test-retest reliability?
A: The consistency of a test over time.
31
Q: What is internal consistency reliability?
A: The degree to which items on a test measure the same construct.
32
Q: What is inter-rater reliability?
A: The degree to which different raters provide consistent assessments of the same individual.
33
Q: What is validity in personality assessment?
A: The degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure.
34
Q: What are the types of validity?
A: Face validity, Predictive validity, Convergent validity, Discriminant validity, Construct validity.
35
Q: What are the three levels of personality analysis (Kluckhohn & Murray)?
A: Like all others – Human Nature Like some others – Individual and group differences Like no others – Individual uniqueness
36
Q: What types of environments does personality help us adapt to?
A: Physical, social, and intrapsychic environments.
37
Q: What is the role of adaptation in personality?
A: Personality helps individuals cope with life challenges and pursue goals.
38
Q: What is the biological domain?
A: Explores genetic, psychophysiological, and evolutionary influences on personality.
39
Q: What is the intrapsychic domain?
A: Focuses on mental mechanisms, often unconscious (e.g., motives, defences).
40
Q: What is the cognitive-experiential domain?
A: Examines subjective experience, including self-concept, goals, and emotions.
41
Q: What is the social and cultural domain?
A: Investigates how social roles, culture, and gender influence personality.
42
Q: What is the adjustment domain?
A: Explores how personality contributes to coping, health, and psychological disorders.
43
Q: What are the three purposes of a good personality theory?
A: Guide for researchers Organises known findings Makes predictions
44
Q: What are the five scientific standards for evaluating personality theories?
A: Comprehensiveness Heuristic value Testability Parsimony Compatibility and integration across domains
45
Q: What is the current state of personality theory?
A: There is no grand unifying theory; instead, progress is made across the six domains.
46
Q: What are structured and unstructured formats of S-data?
A: Structured: Forced-choice or Likert-scale items Unstructured: Open-ended, like the Twenty Statements Test (TST) Q: What is experience sampling? A: A method where participants report feelings/behaviours multiple times a day over weeks to detect patterns over time.
47
O-data: Observer-Report Data Q: What are the two types of observers in O-data?
A: Professional assessors (e.g., at research centres) Intimate observers (e.g., friends, family) Q: What are naturalistic and artificial observation? A: Naturalistic: Observing behaviour in real-world settings Artificial: Controlled lab settings to elicit specific behaviours
48
Q: What is T-data?
A: Information obtained from standardised testing situations (e.g., performance tasks, physiological measures, fMRI, actometers).
49
Q: What are the three key ingredients of psychological mechanisms?
A: Inputs, decision rules, outputs
50
Q: What are projective techniques?
A: Ambiguous stimuli (e.g., inkblots) used to reveal unconscious personality features.
51
Q: What is L-data?
A: Information from life events/outcomes such as marriage, job status, or criminal record, often used to validate personality traits.
52
Q: Example of L-data study?
A: Caspi et al. found that temper tantrums in childhood predicted lower military rank, higher divorce rates, and job instability.
53
Q: What is reliability?
A: The degree to which a measure reflects a person’s true level of a trait.
54
Q: Name three types of reliability.
A: Test-retest Internal consistency Inter-rater reliability
55
Q: What are response sets?
A: Patterns of responding unrelated to item content (e.g., acquiescence, extreme responding, social desirability).
56
Q: How can social desirability bias be managed?
A: Use social desirability scales Use items unrelated to social appeal Use forced-choice format
57
Q: What is validity?
A: The degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure.
58
Name five types of validity. A: Face Predictive (Criterion) Convergent Discriminant Construct
Name five types of validity. A: Face Predictive (Criterion) Convergent Discriminant Construct
59
Q: What is generalisability?
A: The degree to which a measure retains its validity across populations, settings, cultures, and conditions.
60
Q: What are the three types of research designs?
A: Experimental: Establishes causality via manipulation and control Correlational: Assesses naturally occurring variable relationships Case Study: In-depth examination of a single person or event
61
What is the correlation coefficient range and meaning?
A: Range: -1 to +1 Positive = direct relationship, negative = inverse, 0 = no relationship
62
Q: Why can’t correlational studies prove causation?
A: Due to directionality problem and third variable problem.
63
Q: What is a psychological mechanism?
A: A process of personality involving inputs (triggering situations), decision rules (options considered), and outputs (behavioural responses).
64
Q: Why might personality tests be misunderstood or misused?
A: Due to overreliance on self-report, cultural bias, misuse in hiring, or belief they predict behaviour with absolute accuracy.
65
Q: What is social desirability in personality assessment?
A: A response bias where participants answer in a way they believe is socially acceptable or desirable.
66
Q: How do researchers address social desirability bias?
A: By using forced-choice formats, adding validity scales, or statistically correcting scores.
67
Q: What is acquiescence bias?
A: A tendency to agree with statements regardless of content.
68
Q: What is the danger of assuming personality tests provide absolute truths?
A: It neglects the context-dependency of behaviour and the probabilistic nature of personality predictions.
69
Q: What are the three approaches to identifying important traits?
A: 1. Lexical Approach, 2. Statistical Approach, 3. Theoretical Approach.
70
Q: What is the Lexical Approach based on?
A: The assumption that the most important personality traits have become encoded in language.
71
Q: What is the Statistical Approach?
A: Using factor analysis or similar techniques to identify groups of items that covary.
72
Q: What is the Theoretical Approach?
A: Starting with a theory that determines which variables are important.
73
Q: How does factor analysis work in identifying traits?
A: It identifies underlying relationships between variables by grouping correlated items together.
74

AA Personality Psychology (10 decks)

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