Personality Assessment and Psychological Disorders

These flashcards cover key terminology and concepts related to personality assessment methods, psychological theories, and mental disorders.

Phrenology

The belief that personality traits could be determined by the bumps on a person’s skull.

Physiognomy

The idea that facial features reveal a person's character.

William Sheldon

Psychologist known for his body type theory linking physique with personality traits.

Somatotypes

William Sheldon’s classification of body types: ectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphs.

Ectomorph

A body type characterized as thin and tall, often associated with shyness and intellectualism.

Mesomorph

A muscular body type thought to be confident, assertive, and adventurous.

Endomorph

A rounder body type believed to be sociable, easygoing, and relaxed.

Reliability

The consistency of results obtained from a personality test across multiple administrations.

Validity

The degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure.

Structured Personality Tests

Objective questionnaires with fixed responses used to assess personality traits.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A personality assessment categorizing individuals into 16 types based on four pairs of dichotomies.

Projective Tests

Tests that use ambiguous stimuli to reveal inner thoughts and feelings.

Criminal Profiling

The practice of inferring a criminal's personality and motives based on crime scene evidence.

Statistical Rarity

One of the criteria for identifying a mental disorder, indicating a disorder is uncommon.

Subjective Distress

Emotional pain often associated with mental disorders, though not all disorders cause distress.

Biological Dysfunction

Impairments linked to malfunctions in the brain or body associated with mental disorders.

Culture-Bound Syndromes

Mental disorders that are specific to certain cultural contexts and expressions.

Koro

A culture-bound syndrome characterized by the fear that genitals are shrinking or disappearing.

Amok

A culture-bound syndrome involving sudden violent outbursts after deep sadness or stress.

DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)

A handbook used by psychologists for classifying and diagnosing mental disorders.

P.T. Barnum Effect

The tendency for individuals to believe vague statements personally apply to them.