Theory In Personality Psych Flashcards
Define Personality according to Allport
Personality is a dynamic organisation, inside the person, of psychological systems that create THE PERSON’S CHARACTERISTIC PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOUR, THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS - Allport 1961
What part of Allport’s definition of personality do personality psychologists focus on?
The last part. Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of behaviour, thoughts and feelings. - American psychology association
The definition of personality is broad and encompasses the so-called “psychological triad”. The existence of these characteristics implies?
Both similarities and differences (and that these differences and similarities can be organised along a measurable continuum).
What does the “psychological triad” encompass?
Thoughts, feelings and behaviours
What is a scientific theory according to Previn (1980)?
A scientific theory consists of a set of assumptions and concepts that tie together various empirical findings and suggest new relations among them that should obtain under certain defined conditions.
Pervin’s definition of a scientific theory identifies what 2 basic functions?
Synthesising function (explaining)
Heuristic function (predicting)
Discuss the synthesising function identified in Pervin’s definition of a scientific theory.
A scientific theory consists of a set of assumptions and concepts that tie together various empirical findings..
- Through reason, logic and sometimes insight, one looks for a pattern or theme that organises, synthesises or explains various empirical observations.
What is meant by a comprehensive theory?
A comprehensive theory is a theory that synthesises a broad and diverse range of empirical findings. A comprehensive theory is sometimes considered better and more useful than a theory that is more limited in scope.
Comprehensive theories have greater applied value.
Discuss the heuristic function identified in Pervin’s definition of a scientific theory.
The organisational scheme one uses to tie together empirical findings should also … Suggest new relations among them that should be obtained under certain defined conditions.
A scientific theory should go beyond what is known and make predictions about phenomena that, as yet, have not been empirically linked to the theory.
Discuss why it is important to establish whether or not the theory makes predictions that are empirically supported.
- we need to be able to specify what evidence would support a theory and what evidence would refute it
- the scientist is obliged to indicate the conditions under which a theoretical prediction might be proven incorrect ( a theory that does not have this potential for falsification is a poor theory)
What are the 2 key conditions for a theory to be open to falsification?
- Operational definition - theoretical constructs need to be clearly related to observable behaviour through operational definitions
- Relational statements - the theory must contain relational statements about these operational measures that are consistent and logically related to one another
Falsifiable Theory: Eysenck (1967) theorised that, compared to extroverts, introverts have higher cortical arousal levels in any given situation.
It is widely held that cortical arousal is related to task performance (in a curve-linear manner)
However, researchers have sometimes set up their research in a way that cannot possibly falsify the theory, with every conceivable outcome being deemed, post hoc, as support for Eysenck’s position.
Thinking back to the lecture example, why was the example discussed impossible to falsify!
It was assumed that extroverts have lower cortical arousal than compared to introverts. So even if the performance on a task was the same for both introverts/extroverts, the curve-linear manner off cortical arousal level allowed for the assumption that extrovert cortical arousal level was just under the optimal level, whereas introvert cortical level was just over optimal level. Simply put, researchers were free to interpret the data in any which way that proved their hypothesis as actual cortical arousal level was never operationalised.
Meta-Theory: William James (1890) observed that we prefer theories that are most interesting… appeal most urgently to our aesthetic, emotional and active needs.
In terms of meta-theoretical assumptions, why is this problematic?
Meta-theoretical assumptions are problematic when they serve as the sole criteria for evaluating theories - then we move outside the realm of scientific theory to mere opinion and dogma.
Personality theories can be broken down into 2 fundamentally different types. These are?
- Descriptive theories
- Causal theories
What is a descriptive theory and give an example as to why a descriptive theory cannot also be a casual theory?
Descriptive theories (trait theories) are static and non-causal, concerned with HOW individuals differ.
- The central goal is to identify and measure the most important ways in which people differ from one another (these are taxonomic theories)
- It is sometimes held that traits directly influence behaviour. If a person initiates a lot of conversations we might try and explain this behaviour by saying he or she has a talkative disposition. This argument is inherently circular!!
