Raymond Cattell - A True Empiricist

“The statistical technique of factor analysis is a research tool as important to psychology as the microscope was to biology.”

Raymond Cattell: Background

• Born in 1905 in England

  • Graduated college at 19!

  • Became interested in mental testing

• Education

  • Majored in chemistry at U. of London

  • Did graduate work in Psychology (respect for Freud)

    • Interested in heritability of intelligence

• Moved to U.S. after failed marriage and floundering career

  • Worked with Edward Thorndike

• Worked at:

  • Columbia, Clark, Harvard, Duke, U. of Illinois

• Retired in 1973

  • Wrote books while living in Hawaii until 1998, when he passed away

Definition of Personality

• Is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation

Definition of Traits

• The units of personality that have predictive value

Factor Analysis

• A procedure for analyzing a set of correlations among various measures into a simpler underlying pattern, termed a “factor structure.”

  • Gather information via observations

  • Compute correlations between variables

  • Identify significant correlations

  • Name the factors!

• Interpretation may be difficult

• High correlations may not mean that they are directly related

  • Price of milk over the years

  • My age

  • Average temperature of the globe

Two ideas regarding the research approach - Data Types

• Q-data

  • Questionnaire

• L-data

  • “Life” data

  • Behavioral observation

• T-data

  • “Test data”

  • Lab tests, like physiological data

Two ideas regarding the research approach - Data Analysis

• R-technique

  • Usually With Q-data

  • Hundreds of people take questionnaires and then F. A. the data

• dR-technique

  • Same as R, but people take the test twice to assess change. See how changes relate to one another

• P-technique

  • One person over and over; used to study STATES, not TRAITS

Types of Traits - Surface Trait

• Traits that are at the level of observable behavior

Types of Traits - Source Trait

• A primary factor derived from factor analysis

  • Ability Trait – how a person works to a desired goal (e.g., intelligence)

  • Temperament Trait – General style with which someone carries out tasks (e.g., positive affect)

  • Dynamic Trait – Provides energy and direction to action; motivations and interests (i.e., Ergs and Metaergs)

Diagram

A Special Ability Trait: Intelligence

• Fluid Intelligence (e.g., Raven’s Progressive Matrices)

  • The innate ability to learn

  • “Fluid” because it can be expressed in different types of learning, depending on opportunities presented to the individual

• Crystallized Intelligence (e.g., SAT)

  • Includes the effects of opportunity or education

  • Cattell was particularly interested in trying to learn about Fluid intelligence, outside of the domain of education

Dynamic Traits - Ergs

• Constitutional dynamic source traits (like instincts)

  • Innate motivational traits (include anger, curiosity, fear, greed, hunger, loneliness, pity, pride, sensuousness, and sexual interest)

    • Expression of “instincts” is learned

      • Sex —> mating

      • Food —> eat what?

Dynamic Traits - Metaergs

• Environmentally-molded source traits

• Learned motivations

  • Sentiments: Formed early and are enduring

    • E.g., religion, politics

  • Attitudes: More specific

    • E.g., value of Mother’s/Father’s Day

Subsidiation

• A type of meta-erg

• Basic drives are met by multi-step sequences

  • E.g., in part because we need to eat, we work!

  • They are “means-end” activities

Cattell’s 16PF

• Measures that Cattell saw as the most important source traits

  • Each is measured dimensionally (1 to 100 as opposed to yes/no)

List of Cattell’s 16PF

• Cool

• Concrete Thinking

• Affected by feelings

• Submissive

• Sober

• Expedient

• Shy

• Tough-Minded

• Trusting

• Practical

• Forthright

• Conservative

• Group-Oriented

• Undisciplined

• Relaxed

• Self-Assured

• Warm

• Abstract Thinking

• Emotionally Stable

• Dominant

• Enthusiastic

• Conscientious

• Bold

• Tender-Minded

• Suspicious

• Imaginative

• Shrewd

• Experimenting

• Self-sufficient

• Controlled

• Tense

• Apprehensive

The Big Five (Costa & McCrae)

• Openness to Experience

  • Wide interests, original, curious, artistic, imaginative

• Conscientiousness

  • Thorough, reliable, persevering, efficient

• Extraversion

  • Talkative, energetic, enthusiastic, outgoing

• Agreeableness

  • Helpful, trusting, forgiving, considerate, cooperative

• Emotional Stability vs. “Neuroticism”

  • Relaxed, stable, confident, calm

• Research

  • Fiske (1949): Reported 5 factors from 16PF

  • 1960: More replications

  • 1980s: Revived, with many studies showing 5 factors.

    • Differ on naming

Heritability

• The extent to which two people with similar genetic status have similar personality, even when they have developed in different environments

  • Twins who are raised apart

  • Each of The Big 5 have been found to be significantly acquired from genetics

The Big-Five Inventory - Scoring

• STEP 1: “Reverse score” items

  • 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 26, 27, & 29

• Emotional Stability

  • Add responses to questions 1-5

  • M=13.95, SD=4.83

• Extraversion

  • Add responses to questions 6-11

  • M = 21.99, SD = 5.24

• Openness

  • Add responses to questions 12-17

  • M=20.87, SD=4.68

• Agreeableness

  • Add responses to questions 18-23

  • M=22.48, SD=4.34

• Conscientiousness

  • Add responses to questions 24-29

  • M=21.19, SD=4.03