Psych Exam 3

personality

the scientific study of stable characteristics that differentiate people

trait/state distinction

distinguishing between a personality trait (ex: aggressive person) and a temporary state (ex: being aggressive)

Darwin’s contribution to psychology

introduced the idea of variability in traits that are often inherited among families

Galton‘s contribution to psychology

studied individual differences between people, including mental abilities

Binet’s contribution to psychology

developed the Binet-Simon Scale

Binet-Simon Scale

used for students in France to determine who had trouble learning

Stanford-Binet Scale

improved Binet-Simon Scale created by Terman in USA

Formula for IQ for kids

mental age / chronological age x 100

Army Alpha

intelligence test used to determine which recruits can learn to do new more complicated things

Army Beta

same as army alpha but for illiterate / non-English speaking people

Weschler tests and their corresponding ages

WAIS: 16+

WISC (6-16)

WPPSI (4-6)

reliability

consistency

test-retest reliability and cons

participants take test more than once; they will know what’s on the test the second time which may make them do better

split-half reliability

splits test into two subscores and calculates the correlation

content validity

item analysis to ensure that all content is fair

predictive criterion validity

tests used to predict things such as college readiness

concurrent criterion validity

evaluates how accurately a new test or measure works

construct validity

the degree to which a test measures what it’s intended to measure

standardization

everyone must get the same instructions, time limits, and testing conditions

why is adding up subscores not always an accurate reflection of the traits that were tested?

causes some info to get lost bc you could be good at one thing and bad at another, and it isn’t reflected in score

Spearman’s Two-factor theory

1. noted that some subjects consistently scored high on all tests, regardless of what they’re testing

2. g-factor and s-factor

g-factor

general intelligence, which is largely genetically determined

s-factor

specific abilities or skills

thurstone’s 7 primary mental abilities

1. verbal comprehension

2. numerical ability

3. spatial relations

4. perceptual speed

5. word fluency

6. memory

7. inductive reasoning

Guilford’s structure of intellect

1. intelligence consists of 180 separate abilities, with no overall general intelligence factor

2. any intelligence task can be analyzed in terms of how we think, what we think about, and how those thoughts interact with our environment

Sternberg’s successful intelligence

good problem solvers who score high on intelligence tests spend more time analyzing a question in the encoding stage

Sternberg’s successful intelligence: ENCODING

identifying key terms or concepts in the problem and retrieving relevant information from long-term memory

Sternberg’s successful intelligence: INFERRING

determining the nature of relationships that exist between these terms and concepts

Sternberg’s successful intelligence: MAPPING

clarifying the relationship between previous situations and the present one

Sternberg’s successful intelligence: APPLICATION

deciding if the info about known relationships can be applied to the present problem

Sternberg’s successful intelligence: JUSTIFICATION

deciding if the answer can be justified

Sternberg’s successful intelligence: RESPONSE

providing the answer that seems best based on proper information processing at each of the previous stages

Arthur Jensen and controversy

80% nature, 20% nurture ; “why bother with special programs to help poor people bc they’re genetically lower IQ and that’s why they struggle”

The Bell Curve book and controversy

60% nature, 40% nurture ; “why bother with special programs to help poor people bc they’re genetically lower IQ and that’s why they struggle”

culture fair test

tests take into account culture (ex: american SAT predicts success at english-speaking schools)

bias

differential predictive validity

if one group does better than other on a test, is there bias and how do you know?

not necessarily; you have to check predictive validity (regression lines)

Id and guiding principle

biological component of personality that consists of life and death instincts; pleasure principle

Ego and guiding principle

shaped with rewards and punishments; reality principle

superego and guiding principle

consists of an individual’s conscience as well as the ego-ideal; morality principle

Ego defense mechanisms: repression

pushing uncomfortable thoughts into unconscious awareness

Ego defense mechanisms: rationalization

seeking a more acceptable reason for your unacceptable behavior

Ego defense mechanisms: projection

imagining that your motivations belong to someone else

Ego defense mechanisms: displacement

shifting the blame from the true source of emotion to a safer target

Ego defense mechanisms: regression

going back to an earlier, safer time in your life

Ego defense mechanisms: reaction formation

doing the opposite of what your unconscious mind tells you to do

reactance

doing the opposite of what someone tells you to do in order to maintain the illusion of being in control

Ego defense mechanisms: denial

refusing to accept the truth about your thoughts, feelings, and motivations

Ego defense mechanisms: sublimation

converting unacceptable impulses into more socially acceptable behaviors

Psychosocial development: oral stage

• suck, swallow, digest, eliminate waste

• age 0-2

• if you breastfeed too long or too little, oral fixation can be developed

Psychosocial development: anal stage

• potty training

• age 2-3

anal retentive

if children are made to feel bad about not being potty trained, they will retain and hide things away; obsessively neat, organized, clean

anal expulsive

if children are made to feel bad about not being potty trained, they will let things out; messy

Psychosocial development: phallic stage

• when kids take interest in difference between boys and girls

• ages 3-7

• oedipus and electra complexes

oedipus complex

young boys form strong bond with mother and see father as threat to that relationship

electra complex

young girls form strong bond with father and see mother as threat to that relationship

Psychosocial development: latency

• non-stage; nothing important happens

• ages 7-puberty

Psychosocial development: genital

sexual energy shifts from self-focused interests to external individuals

penis envy

incorrect theory that claims when little girls realize they don’t have a penis, they spend the rest of their life trying to make up for it

How does Erik Erikson’s theory differ from Freud?

Erikson claimed the ego was ever-evolving and ongoing throughout the whole life, while Freud thought it was only as a young child

collective unconsciousness and who?

• we have a shared ancestral past that connects our unconscious minds (Carl Jung)

Archetype and who?

specific descriptions that characterize personalities (Carl Jung)

Mandala and who?

symmetrical, central figure that represents something; meaningful symbol (Carl Jung)

Anima and who?

feminine side of every person (Carl Jung)

Animus and who?

masculine side of every person (Carl Jung)

who created analytical psychology?

Carl Jung

behavioral model of personality

personality is learned through classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning

humanistic model of personality

people should always find their own way and not just follow what others say

Carl Rogers’ contribution to psychology

shifted focus from diagnosing clients with mental illness to focusing on self-growth

unconditional positive regard

• help people move forward and create a sense of belonging

• if everyone was raised with this, they would reach self-actualization

active listening 5 responses

1. evaluate

2. interpret

3. reassure

4. probe

5. reflect

which active listening response is best?

reflect

What does biology have to offer about the personality differences between animals and people?

animals can be bred with certain personalities, while in humans personality development is much more complex

Jerome Kagen’s contribution to psychology

• hung a toy above baby crib and watched how they reacted to it

• watched how kids grew up and developed personality

• children who react strongly to stimulus become more shy as they get older

• children who are more passive to stimulus are more outgoing as they get older

identical twin studies

• preferable bc genetics are the same but they were raised differently

• ideally twins are separated at birth and raised by different people

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

10 clinical scales designed to measure conditions such as depression and paranoia, as well as 4 validity scales

16 Personality Factor (16-PF)

for the ordinary person looking for psychological guidance

Millon Clinical Multiaxial inventory

25 total scales: 15 clinical personality scales, 7 clinical syndrome scales, and3 severe clinical syndrome scales

NEO Personality Inventory (NEO_PI)

assesses an individual on 5 dimensions of personality

is MMPI objective, projective or a research measure?

objective

is 16-PF objective, projective or a research measure?

objective

is MCMI objective, projective or a research measure?

objective

is NEO-PI objective, projective or a research measure?

objective

is Rorschack ink blot test objective, projective or a research measure?

projective

is TAT objective, projective or a research measure?

projective

is incomplete sentence blank objective, projective or a research measure?

projective

are word association tests objective, projective or a research measure?

projective

are draw-a-picture tests objective, projective or a research measure?

projective

is Type A/B objective, projective or a research measure?

research measure

is the I/E scale objective, projective or a research measure?

research measure

are the optimism/pessimism scales objective, projective or a research measure?

research measure

is the Need for Achievement scale objective, projective or a research measure?

research measure

Rorschach ink blot test

subject is asked to examine ink blots and say what they look like or bring to mind

thematic apperception test (TAT)

subject is shown cards depicting various scenes and is asked to describe what is happening in each scene

Type A/B

determines whether individuals are competitive, ambitious, impatient, and driven (type A), or relaxed and easygoing (type B)

I/E scale

• internal locus of control: belief that one’s own actions determine life’s outcome

• external locus of control: belief that life’s outcome is out of their control

optimism/pessimism scales

some questions are worded optimistically, pessimistically, and neutral to determine how an individual sees the world

need for achievement

correlated with success in lower-level management jobs in which promotions were influenced by individual contributions

original sin

goal of childrearing was to save child from original sin

tabula rasa

blank slate; we are born with the ability to become anyone