Chapter 2

Question 1

Technical training focuses on what is known. What does scientific training focus on?

Answer 1

Questioning what is known

Question 2

What is Funder’s second law?

Answer 2

There are no perfect indicators of personality. There are only clues, and clues are always ambiguous.

Question 3

Is it prudent to pick and choose what clues to accept or reject?

Answer 3

No, instead you should gather all the clues you can with the resources you have.

Question 4

What is Funder’s third law?

Answer 4

Something beats nothing, two times out of three

Question 5

What are the four levels of reports that give clues about personality?

Answer 5

They are Self reporting (S data), Informant reporting (I data), life outcomes (L data), and behavioral reporting (B data.)

Together they form the acronym BLIS.

Question 6

In self reporting, how is a large amount of info an advantage?

Answer 6

Can provide complex aspects of character that no other source can provide.

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of self reporting?

Answer 7

Maybe they won’t tell you
Maybe they can’t tell you
Too simple and easy

Question 8

In self reporting, how is access to thoughts, feelings and intent an advantage?

Answer 8

The psychological meaning of a behavior often lies in what was intended; others can infer this, but only the individual can verify it.

Question 9

In self reporting, how is definitional truth an advantage?

Answer 9

If you think you have a trait then you do. No one else’s opinion matters. (Ex: self esteem)

Question 10

In self reporting, how is causal force an advantage?

Answer 10

Efficacy expectations are goals you believe you can achieve.

Self verification means that you want others to see you how you see yourself. (If you’re friendly, you want others to see you as such)

Question 11

What are the advantages of self reporting?

Answer 11

Large amount of info
Access to thoughts, feelings and intent
Definitional truth
Causal force
Cost effective

Question 12

What are the advantages of I data?

Answer 12

A large amount of info
Real world basis
Common sense
Definitional truth
Causal force

Question 13

In I reporting, how is a large amount of info an advantage?

Answer 13

Average is better than one judgement, which gives I data a strong advantage.

Question 14

In I reporting, how is real world basis an advantage?

Answer 14

You see the individual in their environment and this can give great clues about life outcomes

Question 15

In I reporting, how is common sense an advantage?

Answer 15

They can consider both an immediate situation and the person’s behaviors

Question 16

In I reporting, how is definitional truth an advantage?

Answer 16

Some traits can only be seen “in the eye of the beholder.”

The difficulty we have seeing ourselves as others do may be a reason I data is better at predicting outcomes such as academic achievement and occupational success.

Question 17

In I reporting, how is causal force an advantage?

Answer 17

It can reflect reputation, may be unfair but produces consequences and the expectancy effect- we tend to become what others think of us.

Question 18

What are the disadvantages of I data?

Answer 18

Limited behavioral info
Lack of access to prior experience
Error
Bias

Question 19

In I reporting, how is limited behavioral info a disadvantage?

Answer 19

Know only parts of a persons personality, not holistically. A co worker will not know how you behave at a family Christmas party.

Question 20

In I reporting, how is lack of access to thoughts and feelings a disadvantage?

Answer 20

Fantasies, hopes, fears, and dreams can only come from S data or what is shared.

Question 21

In I reporting, how is error a disadvantage?

Answer 21

Humans make mistakes
May not remember everything
We remember emotionally charged, unusual or extreme experiences
People tend to take a singular event and assume it’s applicable broadly, but it might have been an isolated incident
Consistent behavior is more informant about personality

Question 22

In I reporting, how is bias a disadvantage?

Answer 22

Differs from error because it is systematic, seeing someone either more positively or negatively than they deserve.

Most people will choose others who describe them positively

Includes racism, sexism or judgements about thier job/career

Question 23

What are some examples of L data?

Answer 23

Archival records such as arrest reports, medical files, web pages, also directly asked questions about life events, also social media.

Question 24

What are the advantages of L data?

Answer 24

Objective and verifiable
Intrinsic importance (the goal of psychology is often to affect positive life outcomes)
Psychological relevance (quantifiable and measurable attributes

Question 25

What are the disadvantages of L data?

Answer 25

Hard to link cause to multiple traits
(Ex college success finance or ability)
Predictions based on L data have a high chance of being inaccurate
A scientist can only predict a particular outcome to the degree it is psychologically caused
L data are only psychologically caused to a small degree

Question 26

What are the two types of B data?

Answer 26

Natural and laboratory data

Question 27

What are some examples of natural b data?

Answer 27

Diaries, experiential sampling (beeper study) and ambulatory assessment (computer assisted)

Question 28

What are the types of laboratory b data?

Answer 28

Experiment and physiological measure

Question 29

What are the two advantages of B data?

Answer 29

Range of contexts ( can create an environment to observe events that don’t often occur in real life)

Appearance of objectivity (psychologist doesn’t have to take someone’s word, and direct gathering increases precision)

Question 30

What are the disadvantages of B data?

Answer 30

Difficult and expensive
Uncertain interpretation ( numbers don’t interpret themselves)

Question 31

What are the advantage and disadvantage of B data?

Answer 31

Each type provide info missed by the other and each raises its own distinct possibilities of error

Question 32

What three questions should we ask to assess data quality?

Answer 32

Are the data reliable?
Are the data valid?
Are the data generalizable?