Exam 1 - Psych 7

Psychological Triad

refers to the interrelation between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, illustrating how these three components influence an individual's psychological functioning.

Personality

is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character, influencing their patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Basic Approach

to personality psychology that focuses on specific aspects such as traits, motivations, and cognitive processes.

Trait Approach 

is a theoretical perspective in personality psychology that emphasizes measuring and describing individual differences in traits that are stable over time and across situations.

Biological Approach

is a perspective in personality psychology that examines the influence of biological factors, such as genetics and neurobiology, on personality traits and behaviors.

Psychoanalytic Approach

is a theory of personality that emphasizes the influence of unconscious motivations, early childhood experiences, and inner conflicts, primarily developed by Sigmund Freud.

Phenomenological Approach

is a perspective in personality psychology that focuses on individuals' subjective experiences and personal perceptions, emphasizing the importance of self-concept and personal meaning in understanding behavior.

Humanistic Psychology

is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person and the uniqueness of each individual, focusing on self-actualization and personal growth.

Learning

is a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience, practice, or study.

Personality Processes

refers to the dynamic interactions among an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that shape their unique personality over time.

Funder’s First Law

states that "great theory is great," emphasizing the importance of robust theoretical frameworks in understanding personality.

Constructivism

Psychology’s Emphasis on Method

emphasizes method in the ways that knowledge can be obtained.

also for understanding the results of research done by others.

Technical Training

necessary education for administering assessments and interpreting data accurately.

S Data

Constructivism

is a theory in education and epistemology that emphasizes the learner's active role in constructing knowledge through experiences and reflections rather than simply receiving information.

Critical Realism

is a philosophical approach that combines a realist ontology with a constructivist epistemology, asserting that the world exists independently of our perceptions, yet human understanding is socially constructed.

Convergent Validation

is a method used in research to assess the validity of findings by examining whether different sources or methods yield similar results, reinforcing the credibility of the conclusions drawn.

Interjudge agreement 

is the degree to which different judges or raters give consistent estimates of the same phenomenon, indicating reliability in assessments or evaluations.

behavioral prediction

is the process of using observations and data to forecast an individual's future actions or responses based on past behavior, often applied in psychology and social sciences.

predictive validity

refers to the extent to which a score on a test or assessment forecasts future performance on a related outcome, demonstrating how well it predicts behavior or results.

moderator variable

is a factor that influences the strength or direction of the relationship between an independent and dependent variable, often altering the effects of the independent variable on the outcome.

Judgability

is the degree to which judgments about a person or situation can be made reliably and validly, often influenced by context and available information.

Walter Mischel

Personality Assessment

• behavior too Inconsistent → to allow individual differences to be characterized 

• Global Traits:

  • argued that personality does not remain constant across different situations, emphasizing situational factors over stable traits.

Situationist has 3 parts 

• upper limit

• Situations are more important

• professional evaluations of personality are a waste of time

Predictabilty

indexed by correlation coefficent +1 to -1 

Difficult Point to prove

• another complicated → some behaviors might be more consistent than others 

• elements of expressive behavior 

• situations you encounter may vary in life 

Situationists

situation not person is important in the determination of behavior

Variables

predict behavior

• doesn’t act the same way all the time 

• Individual differences 

• one size does not fit all 

personality variable to predict behavior are …..

limited

Accuracy of Personality Judgment

Basic Reason → Stemming from findamental prob

• constructivism 

• All that does exist are human ideas or constructions 

• all interpretations are mere social constructs 

• Critical Realism

  • about accurately assessing personality traits in diverse situations.

  • Criteria for accuracy 

Situationist critique of personality traits, you need to do two things:

1. Correlation of .40 represents true upper limit

   1. one can predict behavior from one situation from another

2. Limit is a small upper limit

Standard of Comparison - Two standards are possible

• absolute

• relative

Simple Statistical tool

Display (BESD) EVALUATION OF .40 CORRELATION

Binomial Effect Size 

Display (BESD) to evaluate the effect size of a correlation coefficient.

BESD becomes equivalent to assessing validity of a personality test…

• Convergent Validation 

  • is a method used to evaluate the validity of a test by examining the correlation between the test results and other measures that assess similar constructs.

• Interjudge agreement 

• behavioral prediction 

• predictive validity 

Psychological research

evaluate personality judgements by asking them two questions

1. Do judgements agree with one another? 

2. Can they predict behavior 

First Impressions 

BESD involves evaluating how initial perceptions influence subsequent judgments about a person.

Moderators of Accuracy 

• Moderator Variables 

• that influence the relationship between personality judgments and their accuracy, affecting how well observers can predict behavior 

• make accurate judgment of personality 

Moderator Variables

1. judge

2. target

3. trait that is judged 

4. info on which judgements 

The good judge

is someone who accurately perceives others' traits, behaviors, and intentions, often characterized by empathy and understanding.

Cardiac Vagal Flexibility

refers to the ability of the heart's vagus nerve to adaptively regulate heart rate in response to stress and emotional stimuli, often linked to emotional regulation and social behavior.

Dark Triad 

a set of three negative personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

The Good Target

• Judgable - reach a agreement most easily 

Transparent Self

Conceal as little as possible

Realistic Accuracy Model

1. Relevant - informative about the trait to be judged

2. Availability → info must be avail. to judge

3. Detection → detect information

4. Utilization → utilize information 

• A good trait is one that is displayed in a wide range of contexts

Accuracy of personality Judgment

1. Judges to think better

2. use good logic 

3. avoid inferential errors 

Accurate Self Knowledge

hallmark of mental health

1. people who are healthy and wiser enough to see the world as it is, without need to distort anything

2. person with accurate self knowledge

RAM

is a framework that explains how observers can accurately assess traits based on the availability and relevance of information, along with the ability to detect and utilize that information.

• problems arise → in both relevance and detection stages 

Improving Self Knowledge

1. Look at own mind 

2. feedback from others 

3. observe behaviors 

Accurate tests ____ matter?

do