Taxonomies Flashcards
Name the 3 taxonomic methods.
- lexical approach
- theoretical approach
- factor analytic approach
The adoption of the available taxonomic methods is important as it allows for ….
With over 18000 personality trait terms available, how does one then measure personality in a way that incorporates the entire range of available personality attributes. The current three taxonomic methods have thus been adopted for isolating this set of defining traits.
What is the lexical approach according to Galton (1884)?
According to the lexical hypothesis the most important personality traits are the ones with the most words to describe different levels of variation in the trait.
What personality trait has the highest synonym frequency in the English lexicon?
Extraversion
What is the theoretical approach?
A “top down” approach which uses a given theoretical perspective to guide trait selection.
Theoretical approach; Jungian theory identifies two fundamental attributes to the external object and objective facts. What are these two fundamental attitudes!
Extraversion is an outward-turning of libido or interest away from one’s own subjective inner experience towards the external objective world.
Introversion is the inward-turning of libido or interest that sets the self and the subjective psychological process above the objective.
According to Jungian theory, what would Extraversion at the extreme end of the continuum look like?
Borderline personality disorder: lacks the ability to form an abstract sense of themselves. Leads to feelings of dysphoria & emptiness.
According to Jungian theory, what would introversion at the extreme end of the continuum look like?
Marked by a dangerous tendency to coerce facts into the shape of the idea of the subjective image (becomes a reality). An example is obsessive compulsive personality disorder.
- They loose sight of the objective due to the need to protect oneself from the projected idea.
Eysenck observed that contemporary models of personality derived from factor analytic techniques suggest a four tiered hierarchical approach to taxonomy. What are these 4 levels?
Level 1: Individual Thoughts Feelings Behaviours (States)
Level 2: Habitual Thoughts Feelings Behaviours
Level 3: Traits
Level 4: Dimensions
The distinction between traits (level 3) and dimensions (level 4) is not always made clear in the literature. What alternate terminology is used?
Level 3: narrow trait; first order factor; primary factor; facet
Level 4: broad trait; second order trait; type; domain
Factor analysis; when looking at the inter-correlations of the items, if you have for example, three clusters, these 3 clusters are said to be …..
Orthogonal
What are factor loadings?
The degree to which an item (in this case, a trait) correlates with or “loads on” the underlying factor.
The question, “do we pitch our analysis at level 3 or level 4 according to the 4 tier hierarchy of taxonomy ?“ highlights the what dilemma?
Bandwidth-fidelity dilemma
What is the bandwidth-fidelity dilemma?
The disagreement as to whether or not analysis at the dimensional level as opposed to the level 3 trait level results in a loss of information (increasing the % of unexplained variance).
Contemporary taxonomic models of personality tend to utilise the technique of factor analysis in combination with……..?
Either a lexical approach or theoretical approach for first identifying potential items before FA
