Personality

Question 1

Dispositional theory

Answer 1

Personality is enduring and consistent

Question 2

Situationalism

Answer 2

Personality is influenced by situations

Question 3

Nomothetic traits

Answer 3

Personality traits are shared and comparable

Question 4

Idiographic traits

Answer 4

Traits are unique to the individual and not shared

Question 5

Allport’s theory

Answer 5

• analysed 18000 adjectives used as ‘trait labels’
• described 3 types of traits
  1. Cardinal traits- influential, core traits
  2. Central traits: 5-10 traits, less general
  3. secondary traits: least important, things only close friends would notice

Question 6

Cattell’s approach

Answer 6

• selected 4500 traits from Allport’s work and reduced to 171 elements before coming up with 16 dimensions
• Surface traits are linked to one another but not important for understanding one’s personality
• Source traits- basic building blocks of personality and make up the 16 PF questionnaire
• also found 3 types of personality data: 1. Q-data: questionnaires, 2. L-data: obtained from lifetime records and 3. T-data: test based data

Question 7

Eysenck’s approach

Answer 7

-3 dimensional traits
1. psychoticism
2. extraversion
3. neuroticism
PENS
-Eysenck’s personality scale contains a lie scale

Question 8

Extraversion

Answer 8

• related to arousal and the ascending reticular activating system
• introverts are easily aroused-easily conditionable
• extroverts have low arousal state- not easily conditionable

Question 9

Cloninger’s psychobiological model of personality

Answer 9

• includes 4 dimensions of temperament (each 50-60% inheritable)- born with
• also 3 components of character: shaped by environment

Question 10

Cloninger’s 4 dimensions of temperment

Answer 10

1. Novelty seeking
2. Harm-avoidance
3. Reward-dependence
4. Persistence

Question 11

Cloninger 3 dimensions of character

Answer 11

1. self-directedness
2. cooperativeness
3. self-transcendence

Question 12

DSM personality disorder clusters

Answer 12

• 3 clusters
  Cluster A: associated with low reward dependence
  Cluster B: associated with high novelty seeking
  Cluster C: high harm avoidance traits

Question 13

Rotter’s locus of control theory

Answer 13

• single trait theory
• external and internal loci are used to measure personality attributes
• Cattell and Eysenck are multitrait theories

Question 14

Big 5 traits- McCrae &Costa 1992

Answer 14

1. Openess
   2.Conscinetiousness
2. Agreeableness
3. Neuroticism
   OCEAN
   -unified framework for trait research
   -NEO decreases with age
   -AC increases with age

Question 15

Kelly’s personal construct theory

Answer 15

• humanistic school
• person;s relationships must be observed
• uses repertory grid- list of important people are generated (elements). 2 ‘elements’ are chosen and contrasted with a third one to see what themes emerge- constructs
• this technique is continued down the people and a list of constructs is made

Question 16

Humanistic or phenomenological school of personality

Answer 16

• focuses on a person’s view of the world not their unconscious impulses
• focuses on uniqueness not shared traits
• Roger’s Client Centred Therapy originied from humanistic school
• alternative is trait based approach

Question 17

Interactionism

Answer 17

• proposes that personality and environment interact with each other to produce the observed behaviour
• Magnussen and Endler 1977

Question 18

Typology

Answer 18

-Sheldon and Kretschmer theorised that body shape describes personality traits and disposition to psychosis

Question 19

Asthenic

Answer 19

• thin body, aloof, correlated with schizophrenia

- Kretschmer 1921

Question 20

Pyknic

Answer 20

• plump people, childish with mood swings, manic depression

- Kretschmer 1921

Question 21

Athletic

Answer 21

-well built individuals with a steady temperament

Question 22

Sheldon’s body types

Answer 22

• endomorphic- plump people who are relaxed and outgoing ‘bubbly’
• mesomorphic- strong people who are energetic and assertive
• ectomorphic- tall thin people who are fearful and restrained- associated with schizophrenia

Question 23

Friedman and Rosenman

Answer 23

• Type A and type B personalities
• Type A: originally described as risk for MI but MRFIT study concluded there was no association. impatient, time conscious, insecure, competitive, hostile, aggressive, incapable of relaxation
• Type B: relaxed and easy going, creative, often self- analyse and evade stress, cope poorly under stress

Question 24

Projective personality tests

Answer 24

• project emotion
• tests to obtain information about emotional functioning
• open ended situations
• Murray was major player
• Rorschach’s inkblots were first
• not often used in contemporary practice

Question 25

Classification of projective tests

Answer 25

1. Association inducing: verbal response to stimuli e.g Rorschach ink blot 2. Completion tests: completing unfinished stimulus e.g sentence completion test 3. Choice or ordering: rank order or categorise stimuli 4. Construction: develop or construct story or narration e.g Thematic apperception Test (Murray- TAT) 5. Self- expression: create so ething without stimulus e.g draw a man (Goodenough), House Tree Person (Buck)

Question 26

Rorschach ink blot

Answer 26

- 10 ink blots - asked to describe - has two phases 1. free association and 2. inquiry - scored using Exner's system - needs lots of training to use

Question 27

Thematic apperception test (TAT)

Answer 27

- Murray (TAT) - 20-30 pictures and one blank card - subject has to make up a story using the pictures

Question 28

Word association test

Answer 28

- Jung - WAT - time pressure is applied

Question 29

Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory

Answer 29

- has 10 scales with labels - not projective - self-reported - developed by Hathaway and McKinley - most researched - 567 statements - 10 scales: hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviance, masculinity-femininity, paranoia, psychasthenia, schizophrenia, hypomania, social interversion - also has lie scale

Question 30

Q-sort technique

Answer 30

- involves a person sorting cards with self descriptive statements on and have to put in ordered piles under the headings 'self' and 'ideal' - numerical discrepancy score between ideal and real self can be computed - developed from client centred therapy

Question 31

International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE)

Answer 31

- used in clinical assessment of personality disorder for those over 5 years of age - self-report screening questionaire (77 true/false) followed by a semi-structured diagnostic interview by trained clinician - compatible with ICD 10 and DSM 4 - allows for definite, probably or negative diagnosis for each personality disorder - allows a past personality disorder prior to the past 12 months - allows a late onset diagnosis when criteria met only after the age of 25 - ratings can be informant or patient's answers