psy 340 midterm

personality psych

personality psychology shares with clinical psychology

a common obligation to try to understand the whole person

one reason why behaviorism is so effective at changing behavior is that it ignores the possibility of

free will

________ theories of personality apply the insights and methods derived from the study of perception, memory, and thought to the study of personality

cognitive

the phenomenological approach leads to which two directions of research?

humanistic and cross-cultural perspectives on personality

what is a major advantage of using a basic approach to study personality psychology?

it is a systematic way to study specific patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

personality psychologists who adhere to the ________ approach try to understand people by way of identifying, conceptualizing, and measuring the ways in which people differ psychologically from one another

trait

which of the following MOST closely represents a focal topic of the biological approach to personality?

understanding the heritability of behavior and personality

in observing human behavior, it is impossible to

understand everything about a person all at once

which of the following MOST closely represents a focal topic of the trait approach to personality?

measuring and conceptualizing individual differences

which of the following MOST closely represents a focal topic of the phenomenological approach to personality?

discovering how conscious awareness produces uniquely human characteristics

one critique of personality psychology is that it “pigeonholes” people, what does *pigeonholing* someone mean?

categorizing and labeling people

which subfield of psychology uses personality psychology to understand vocational interests and occupational success and leadership?

organizational

which of the following is NOT part of the psychological triad?

psychological health

which of the following MOST closely represents a focal topic of the psychoanalytic approach to personality?

understanding mental conflicts

Jeff suspects that his roommate’s sexist jokes may indicate that his roommate has some hidden, unconscious hostility toward women or that he feels very insecure around women. Jeff’s analysis suggests a ________ approach to personality

psychoanalytic

the purpose of a basic approach (or paradigm) is to

limit inquiry to certain kinds of observations and patterns

advocates of any particular basic approach to personality historically

claimed that their approach explains everything worth explaining

\n a major advantage of personality psychology is that it focuses on the whole person and real-life concerns, yet this can often lead to overinclusive and unfocused research, which of the following is a major theme of your textbook that speaks to this conflict?

great strengths are usually great weaknesses

personality psychologists adhering to the ________ approach try to understand people by way of psychic energy, the workings of the unconscious mind, and the nature and resolution of internal mental conflict

psychoanalytic

according to Funder, in what way do personality psychologists appreciate individual differences?

they appreciate rich individual differences because the person is the starting point of personality psychology

what does Funder mean when he says that personality is coherent?

each aspect of one’s personality depends on the other parts

which of the following MOST closely represents a focal topic of the learning and cognitive approaches to personality?

applying principles of behaviorism and social observation

is narcissism always a bad trait?

no, narcissists are highly persuasive and often make competent leaders

personality psychology and clinical psychology overlap most often when approaching which topic?

personality disorders

Funder writes that there are good reasons why personality psychologists have distinct theories versus One Big Theory, which is NOT one of those reasons?

One Big Theory would undermine the smaller theories

which of the following is NOT one of the basic approaches to personality?

assessment

psychologists following the phenomenological approach

are concerned with our conscious experience of the world and the consequences of having free will

personality is an individual’s characteristic patterns of

thought, emotion, and behavior

according to the text, personality’s greatest strength, understanding whole persons, is also its greatest weakness, which term describes this fundamental observation?

Funder’s first law

personality psychologists adhering to the ________ approach try to understand people by way of psychic energy, the workings of the unconscious mind, and the nature and resolution of internal mental conflict

psychoanalytic

which formula in psychometrics quantifies the principle of aggregation?

spearman-brown

which of the following is NOT an advantage of B data?

direct observations require little in the way of psychological interpretation

which of the following is NOT likely to undermine the reliability of a survey?

aggregation of responses to different items

validity is the degree to which a measurement

actually reflects or measures what you think it does

records of employee absenteeism are what type of data?

L-data

which of the following is NOT an example of something that can limit how reliable a measure is?

after comparing the self-report to informant reports, a researcher realizes their measure isn’t accurate

________ data are fairly easily verifiable, concrete, real-life outcomes of possible psychological significance

L-data

according to a study reported in the text, researchers were able to predict individuals’ level of conscientiousness and openness to experience based solely on various aspects of their bedrooms. This study used ________ data to assess personality

L-data

Dr. Low is interested in studying the effect mood has on the willingness to help a stranger. She randomly assigns half of her participants to the pleasant mood condition and shows them funny film clips. The other half of her participants is assigned to the unpleasant mood condition and is forced to watch boring film clips. She then gives every participant an opportunity to donate money to a homeless stranger. Dr. Low is using a(n) ________ design

experimental

to obtain S data, a psychologist can

recruit informants

in order to examine the relationship between early life experiences and adult criminality, Dr. Robbins asks his research participants to fill out questionnaires describing their early lives. He then obtains copies of their arrest records from the county courthouse. The questionnaires used in Dr. Robbins’s study would be ________ data, whereas the arrest records would be ________ data

S-data; L-data

to assess the personality traits of a group of 5-year-olds, researchers use puppets to illustrate different personality traits. Children are then asked to pick the puppet that best matches their personalities, this is an example of ________ data

S-data

\n if you can get the same answer repeatedly, then your measure is

reliable

what is the best way for a researcher to judge the face validity of items on a measure?

read and consider the content of the items

\n Janelle recently completed a new test that was designed to measure her IQ. She took the test twice and each time received the same score. The test administrator told her that her scores indicate she is extremely intelligent. However, Janelle scored well below average when she completed the Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), two well-established intelligence tests. Based on this pattern of results, it appears that the new measure of IQ was a

reliable but not valid measure of intelligence

which of the following types of personality data is the MOST objective and verifiable?

L-data

a researcher is interested in investigating what people do to make others happy on a daily basis. To do so, she asks participants to provide an account of their prosocial behavior at the end of each day, this is an example of ________ data

B

what term describes computer-assisted methods to measure thoughts and feelings that occur during normal daily activities?

\n ambulatory assessment

the typical experimental psychologist in a testing situation collects ________ data

B

there is a possibility that individuals are so accustomed to certain aspects of their personality that they might not be aware of those traits, this is called the ________ effect

fish-and-water

Dr. Liao is interested in studying the relation between mood and willingness to help a stranger. Every participant in her study completes a mood-rating questionnaire and is then given an opportunity to donate money to a homeless stranger. Dr. Liao is using a(n) ________ design

correlational

Dr. Lane has just created a new measure to assess individuals’ levels of optimism. To make sure her measure is actually assessing optimism, she gives a set of participants her measure, and then asks each of the participant’s friends to rate how optimistic they are on the same scale. Dr. Lane is testing the ________ of her new measure

face validity

\n which of the following sampling methods affords a researcher the greatest generalizability?

collaborating with researchers from other countries to recruit participants from outside the country

what kinds of behaviors by an acquaintance would MOST likely be remembered?

an atypical behavior that was emotionally evocative

which type of data is likely to be the most judgmental, subjective, and irreducibly human?

I-data

which kind of data would be the easiest way to obtain information about the content of dreams?

S-data

a researcher asks participants to imagine that they have been excluded from their circle of friends and then takes images of their brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning technology, the images generated in this study would be considered ________ data

experimental B

the major difference between the experimental and correlational methods is that in the experimental method the presumed causal variable is ________, whereas in the correlational method the same variable is ________

manipulated; measured

because Jesse’s teacher believes that he is intelligent, she challenges him with extra assignments and generally encourages his curiosity. At the end of the school year, Jesse performs better on the school’s achievement test than any other student, Jesse’s enhanced performance is likely due to the

expectancy effect

what is one advantage of collecting descriptions of a participant’s personality from his or her acquaintances?

the acquaintances’ descriptions of the participant are likely based on many behaviors in many situations

\n I data are

\n judgments made by knowledgeable observers

the MOST important and generally useful way to enhance reliability is to

aggregate your measurements

\n which design is best suited for addressing the third-variable problem?

experimental

the technical meaning of reliability refers to

how much measurement error is present in your assessment instrument

________ data derive from the researcher’s direct observation of what the subject does

B

As part of a research project, a participant uses a smart phone application that signals her at random times throughout the day. At those times, the application presents a series of questions for her to answer regarding her current activities, this is an example of ________ data

experience sampling

the most important advantage of B data is that they are based on

direct observations of behavior, so they are more objective and quantifiable

according to the text, the goal of a scientific education is to

question what is known and how to find out what is not yet known

which kind of data is the LEAST expensive to collect?

S-data

according to Cronbach and Meehl’s (1955) terminology, psychological attributes such as intelligence and sociability are examples of ________, whereas an IQ test and an extraversion questionnaire are examples of specific tests or measurements

constructs

if test scores decrease as anxiety increases, then

test scores and anxiety are negatively correlated

based on what you know about the distinction between technicians and scientists, a therapist would require ________ training, whereas a research psychologist would require ________ training

technical; scientific

according to the text, correlational and experimental methods are not entirely different; for example, they both

assess the relationship between two variables

what is a major advantage of conducting a case study above all other methods?

it describes the whole phenomenon and not just isolated variables

the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) is a recording device worn in participants’ pockets that records samples of audio the participant hears throughout the day. The EAR collects what type of data?

B-data

on Friday, Terence completes the Self-Monitoring Scale and receives a score of 49. On the following Tuesday, he fills out the scale again and receives a score of 28. Terence’s scores on the Self-Monitoring Scale do not appear to be

reliable

in a priming study, participants solved puzzles that included words such as *gray*, *wise*, *retired*, and *Florida*. After solving these puzzles, participants were observed as they walked down a hallway. The observation of participants’ speed of walking would be considered ________ data

laboratory B

researchers must use clues to personality in their research because personality

is something difficult to measure that resides inside an individual

many psychologists tend to use college students as participants in their research and then assume that what they learn applies to people in general. However, this common practice may limit the

generalizability of their findings

a behavioroid measure is a combination of which two types of data?

S and B

integrity tests administered in employment screening provide good measures of

conscientiousness

inventories derived from the empirical method sometimes have items that seem strange or even objectionable to test takers

because those items correlated with outcomes of interest to the test developers

which of the following is a limitation of projective tests?

projective tests are relatively inefficient, lacking in validity, and expensive to administer

in addition to serving as a way for psychologists to construct objective tests, the factor analysis method has also been used to

decide how many fundamental traits exist

which of the following methods of objective test construction involves creating questions that are directly and obviously related to what the test developer wishes to measure?

a combination of factor analytic and empirical methods

a test created using the rational method yields what kind of data?

S data

imagine that you want to develop a test to measure depression. You gather a set of 100 potential test items and ask a sample of people diagnosed with clinical depression and a sample of nondepressed people to respond to the items. For your final version of the test, you decide to keep only the 15 items that the depressed and nondepressed groups answered differently, you are using a(n) ________ method of test construction

empirical

which of the following approaches to test construction is the MOST atheoretical?

empirical

the ________ is the most widely used personality inventory in the world

MMPI

according to the text, which of the following is NOT one of the conditions that must hold for an S data personality test to accurately measure an attribute of personality?

the test must contain both positively and negatively worded items

which of the following is NOT an open science practice?

refraining from using deception in experimental studies

increasing the number of items on a test makes it a better instrument according to which principle?

aggregation

if you were shown an inkblot and asked to describe what you saw, you would be taking the

rorschach test

the basis of the ________ method of test construction is to come up with items that seem directly, obviously, and logically related to what it is you wish to measure

rational

faking responses in order to influence test results is MOST difficult on ________ constructed tests

empirically

the Woodworth Personality Data Sheet was designed to measure psychiatric problems in what group?

U.S. army recruits

if everybody read, interpreted, and answered an item in exactly the same way, then that item

would not be very useful for the assessment of individual differences

which of the following is the best explanation for why publication bias is a major concern in science?

strong effects are published more, leading to a literature that does not represent the actual strength of an effect

Dr. Fritz just ran an experiment testing the effects performing acts of kindness has on gene expression. She is currently analyzing the data and is interested in knowing the magnitude or importance of her study’s findings. What aspect of her analyses should Dr. Fritz be evaluating?

the effect size

imagine that you could draw a line through the points on a scatter plot depicting the relation between X and Y that slopes upward from left to right. Which of the following is a possible value for the correlation coefficient that you would compute from these data?

1\.0