George Kelly

What were Kelly's parents like

Strict in religious beliefs but had a healthy relationship, devoted parents, Kelly was an only child.

What was Kelly's education like

Did great in college, had an interest in psychology and switched to clinical psychology during economic depression

What did Kelly teach himself

How to conduct therapy

Who were Kelly's initial clients

His students at a clinical psychology service he developed at a public college

What did Kelly do during World war 2

Joined US NAVY. Served as psychologist in bureau of medicine and surgery in DC

What did Kelly think about behaviorism

Thought it was to simplistic, and it was just passive responders to environmental stimuli. he didn't agree with psychoanalysis

What did Kelly think of people

A form of motion, we propel ourselves and no one or no thing can do it for us

Experiential based theory

Psychologists and clients were on the same level

What is the video of the world based off according to Kelly

Experience

Personal construct theory

How we see our world and interpret events is how we make sense of life and people

What did Kelly believe life to be

A construct. Intellectual hypothesis used to interpret life events

What did he think of constructs

Bipolar in nature. Ex: friendly vs not friendly

Constructive alternativism

Idea of freedom , Constructs can be revised or replaced with alternatives

Mnemonic for corollaries of personal construct theory

Cool Iguanas On Donkeys Call Rabbits Emotional Monsters For Cooking Sheep

Role construct repertory test (R.E.P.)

Captured constructs we apply to important people in our life.

We list people who are significant in groups of 3 then pick two to compare who are most alike

What is R.E.P. Used for

Industrial organizational psychology, personal constructs, and used to examine psychological wellbeing vs distress

The repertory grid

Diagram that reflects info from REP test.

Client judges 3 people and forms a construct

Dichotomies help uncover anticipations and expectations

What is cognitive complexity

Ability to see differences in people, better able to predict others behaviors too

What is cognitive simplicity

Less ability to perceive differences among people

What do high scores of Attributional complexity tend to have

They attribute behaviors of others to complex causes, more empathy, less prejudice, political liberalism

-business leaders are more effective in management

What do personal constructs tend to be

They tend to remain stable and not swing majorly from poles

What shapes cognitive complexity

Childhood experiences

-adults with high cognitive complexity had diverse child experiences and parents supported autonomy

What do people with higher cognitive complexity have healthier patterns of

Coping

Primary assessment in Kelly's theory

The interview

Describe Kelly's interview

Accepting clients word at face value this helps determine persons constructs. Even if client lies they must be respected

Self characterization sketches

Sketch character of themselves as if main character in play, helps infringe how they perceive themselves to others .

Can potentially help understand individual or family's personal constructs

Fixed role therapy

Client describes themselves as a fictional character yet after they drew themselves as a lead in a play.

Therapist rewrites play that differ from clients maladaptive perceptions

Client is told that the rewrite is a fictitious character , and client is asked to act out that character in everyday life

Kelly's key points

Free will we are our own authors, focus is on present and future, moderate uniqueness, emphasized growth process

Who tends to show more cognitive complexity

People with more education or older people

What are the corollaries of personal construct theory

CONSTRUCTION: repeated events are similar so we can predict

INDIVIDUALITY: people see things differently

ORGANIZATION: our constructs are in patterns according to similarities or diffs

DICHOTOMY; constructs are bipolar

CHOICE: we choose construct best for us to predict events

RANGE: constructs can apply to many things or people or be limited to one person or thing

EXPERIENCE: we test our constructs in experiences to make sure they're useful still

MODULATION: modify constructs because new experiences

FRAGMENTATION: contradictory or inconsistent constructs

COMMONALITY: constructs are unique to us but compatible groups may have similar ones too

SOCIALITY: we try to understand others and modify behavior accordingly

How does Kelly describe personality

Through cognitive processes