Personality Psych

Personality

a system of enduring, inner characteristics that contributes to consistency in thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

Enduring

Long-lasting, persists over long periods of time

States

The way we feel right now

Traits

The way we typically feel

Inner Characteristics: things inside of ourselves

-       Traits

-       Goals

-       Motives

-       Needs

-       Level of arousal

Consistency

how steady and often these traits show up

Issues

-       When does personality form?

-       Does personality ever go away?

-       Do all living creatures have a personality?

-       How stable is personality?

Humans have been investigating personality for a long time

A.  Hippocrates: personality based on the balance bodily fluids (“humors”)

B. Pythagoras: Personality determined by season of birth

How old is personality?

100 years old

Why is personality research important?

A. Personality predicts important outcomes

B. Personality research helps us change our environments in positive ways

C. Assumptions about personality and behavior are often wrong

                        - Opposites attract

                        - Absence makes the heart grow fonder

                        - Drug testing and welfare recipients (Florida law)

Three types of research studies

experiments, correlation/nonexperimental designs, and case study

Experiment

• Researchers change/manipulate 1 variable and see whether the change affects the other variable

• Test the relationship between two or more variables

Independent Variable

Variable that experimenter manipulates

Dependent Variable

Variable experimenter thinks might be affected (outcome; what we measure)

Hypothesis

Educated guess about what will happen in an experiment

A hypothesis must be…

Testable

Confounds

Variables besides the IV that may explain study results

Way to address confounds:

Random assignment

Define Random Assignment

the process of assigning people to groups in such a way that each person has an equal chance of being placed in any group i.e. Coin flip, computer program, etc.

What does Random assignment do?

Ensures that subject in experimental groups balance each other out. To ensure there is no bias. i.e. similar number of males and females, old/young, etc.

Correlation Studies

• No manipulation of variables

• Examines relationship between variables as it occurs in nature

• Useful when you can’t assign people to groups (random assignment is impossible)

• When 2 variables are related, they are correlated. When 2 variables are unrelated, they are uncorrelated.

Positive Correlation

When 1 variable goes up, the other goes up as well

Negative Correlation

When 1 variable goes up, the other goes down

Correlation Coefficient

Number that ranges from -1 to +1 that represents the direction (-,+) and strength (#) of a correlation

Rules for correlation

-       CCs is close to 0 the correlation is weak

-       When close to one it is strong

-       If 0 it is uncorrelated

Advantages of correlational studies

o   Useful when you can’t assign people to groups

o   Often cheaper and easier than experiments, especially for large #s of subjects

Disadvantages of correlational studies

• No random assignment leads to confounds

• Don’t know about cause and effect (does stress cause headaches or do headaches cause stress?)

• Because we’re not actively manipulating variables, we can’t conclude that 1 variable causes a change in another

Case Study

Type of research in which a single person is studied in great detail

When to use a case study

For studying rare phenomenon

Limitation

Hard to draw firm conclusions, lack comparison groups

Researchers collect

Behavioral observations, psychological test data, and biographical info

What are the six ways to assess personality

A.  Self-report measures

            B. Observer measures

            C. Laboratory tests

            D. Physiological data

            E. Projective tests

           F. Life Outcome data

Self Report Measures

People report on aspects of their own personality

What are the three kinds of Self Report?

Interviews, Questionnaires, Experience Sampling (ES)

What is Experience Sampling

 People answer questions about themselves multiple times per day for an extended period of time

Advantage of Experience Sampling

It doesn’t rely on short term memory

Advantage of Self Report Measures

it’s easy to afford and administer, no trained staff, they are about the individual (we are the expert on ourselves)

Disadvantage of Self Report measures

·      We lack self-knowledge in certain areas

·      Sometimes people are dishonest on self-report measures

·      Hard to remember experiences accurately

What is Social desirablity

people lie to make themselves look better (talented, smarter, kinder)

Retrospective Bias

when pts remembers or interprets past events in an accurate way

Laboratory Data

It can be used to assess personality

What is Laboratory Data?

Bringing people to the lab and having them complete certain tasks

Taylor Aggression Paradign

people think they are competing against an opponent. There is no opponent the test is designed to see how aggressive the pt is.

The bridge building test

Leadership ability build bridge, are told to be rude and bad

The Balloon Analogue Risk TaskThe

balloon on the computer, it gets bigger, gets money, it measures risk taking.

The Marshmallow Task

Kids are given a marshmallow asked them to eat it now or wait five minutes and get two. Teaches delay of gratification. Be able to forgo immediate rewards for a better reward.

Physiological Measures

provide info about a persons level of arousal and physiological reactivity to stimuli

What are some Physiological measures

A.   Heart rate 

B.    Skin conductance response: how much were sweating

C.    EEG: observes how patterns of brain waves changes under different circumstances

Projective Test

Subject “projects” unconscious thoughts, motives, desires onto ambiguous stimul

Examples of Projective test

Rorschach Inkblot test

Thematic Apperception test

Sentence Completion test

Rorschach Inkblot Test

-       Most common used projective test

-       10 inkblots presented one by one to subject

-       Subject asked, “what do you see?”

-       Elaborate scoring system for interpreting answers (Exter system, 197)

-       Gives valid information, but you can find out the answers using a questionnaire

Thematic Apperception Test

-       Subjects presented with 31 cards depicting people interacting

-       Subjects asked to report:

o   What’s happening in the picture?

o   What led up to the events in the picture?

o   What will occur in the future?

o   What are the characters thinking and feeling?

Why is the TAT not used often?

Gives valid information, but you can find out the answers using a questionnaire

Sentence Completion Test

-       Many versions

-       Subjects asked to fill in a series of incomplete sentences (e.g. “I am a…”)

-       Draw a person test

-       Not reliable across time

Life Outcome Data

Data having to do with major life events or outcomes

Examples of Life Outcome Data

A.   Marriage

B.    Parenthood

C.    Criminal behavior

D.   Education

E.    Employment

F.    Hospitalization

Reliability

The degree to which a measurement is consistent

Test-retest reliability

the degree to which the same test, taken repeatedly, yields the same scores

Inter-rater reliability

the degree to which multiple raters assign the same score (e.g. if multiple clinics diagnose a patient with the same disorder)

Validity

The degree to which something measures what it’s designed to measure

How do we know if something is valid?

Predictive Validity and Concurrent Validity

Predictive Validity

how well an assessment predicts what will happen in the future (e.g. do sat scores predict college performance?)

Concurrent Validity

the degree to which a test yields the same results as better known, well established tests.

If a measure is not reliable it can’t be valid

true

If a measure is reliable, it can either be valid or invalid

true

Institutional Review Board IRB

-       Reviews research proposals at an institution to protect subjects

-       Contain at least 5 members with differing expertise

-       At least 1 member not affiliated with institution

-       Can accept, reject, or change a study 

What are the three levels of review

Exempt, Expedited, and Full Board Review

Exempt

study poses no known risks and does not involve vulnerable populations. EX. Using healthy college students. Reviewed by the chair.

Expedited

Study poses minimal risk and does not involve vulnerable population Ex. Using people who had pervious feelings of depression. Reviewed by the chair and one other member on the review board

Full Board Review

Study poses greater than minimal risk OR involves vulnerable populations. Ex. Use of children, old people, prisoners, alcohol, drugs. Reviewed by the entire board

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee IACUC

Committee that reviews animal research to make sure it follows ethical guidelines

What does the IACUC do?

a.     Makes sure that researcher’s labs are inspected every 6 months

b.     Makes sure animals have proper housing, food, care, etc.

c.     Must have at least 5 members including a vet, & scientist experienced in animal research

What should subjects understand when informing them of their consent?

1.     Nature of research being conducted

2.     Why they’re eligible

3.     Risks/benefits

4.     How confidentiality is protected

5.     Compensation they’ll receive

6.     That they can leave the study without penalty

7.     Should be written in a fifth grade reading level or below

When should deception be used?

Only when necessary like when research is deemed important and there is no way to conduct it without deception

What should happen if deception is used?

A full debriefing is necessary after

What is debriefing?

Once the study is over you have to tell the participant what the study was actually about

What is Participant Safety?

safety plan for participants when assessing mood or risk behaviors

What are the two problems that can interfere with personality assessment?

Problems caused by respondents and Problems caused by assessment interpreters

What are the problems caused by Respondents?

Carelessness, faking, response set

What is carelessness?

• Participants filling out questionnaires may not be motivated to answer carefully.

• Participants filling out questions may make technical errors

How to solve carelessness?

Duplicate items and Infrequency items

What is an infrequency item?

questions that pretty much everyone answers the same way

What are some examples of Infrequency items?

I do not believe that wood really burns, I make all my own clothes and shoes, whenever I walk upstairs, I do so on my hands

What is faking good?

try to present themselves in a positive light

What is faking bad?

portray themselves in a negative light. They do it to gain sympathy and get drugs or they could be a hypochondriac. 

Solutions to faking good

social desirability items

What are social desirability items?

Misdeeds that everyone commits. For example:  I’m always willing to admit when I make a mistake, I never lie, and I like to gossip at times

Solutions to faking bad

Create questions about fake bad symptoms

For example: faking schizophrenia someone would say “I sometimes see things that other people can’t”

What are response set?

Tendency to answer questions on a survey in a way that’s unrelated to question content

What is yea saying?

agree with all of the items on the survey

What is nae saying?

disagree with all of the items on the survey

What is extreme responding?

only chooses extreme responses and there is no solution, you have to eye ball this

Solution to faking

Reverse coded items (ask contradicting questions)

What are reverse coded items?

Questions in which disagreeing with a statement means that you have more of a trait being assessed

Examples of reverse coded items

·      I like to live on the edge

·      I never take risk

·      I love excitement and adventure

·      U like to feel my heart race

·      I always play it safe

What are Barnum Statements?

Personality descriptors that could apply to anyone (they’re broad and general)

Examples of Barnum Statements

• you have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage

• at times you are extroverted and sociable while other times you are introverted wary reserved

• at times your attention span can be short

What are the factors that strengthen the Barnum Effect?

Generality vs. specificity of descriptors, Locus of control, Type of test from which description supposedly derives

Generality vs. specificity of descriptors

People are more likely to believe personality descriptors that they think are especially for them like horoscopes.

What is locus of control?

How much control a person THINKS they have over events in their lives