1. What are the four moderators of accuracy?
The Judge, The target, The trait that is being judged, and The information on which the judgement is being based
2. Person-situation debate
Which is more important for determining what people will do: The person or the situation?
· Triggered by the publication of a book by Walter Mischel: Personality and Assessment
· He believed behavior is too inconsistent to be characterized accurately in terms of global personality traits
Three Parts:
· The upper limit as to how well a person can predict another’s behavior is low
· Situations must be more important than personality traits
· Everyday intuitions about people are wrong, because people see others as being more consistent across situations that they really are
3. Single trait approach (chapter 5)
Examines behaviors associated with a particular trait
4. Many trait approach
Looks for traits associated with a particular behavior
5. Essential trait approach
Identifies which traits are most important
6. Typological approach
Focuses on the patterns of traits that characterize a person
7. The Big Five
Also known as OCEAN:
· Openness
· Conscientiousness
· Extraversion
· Agreeableness
· Neuroticism
8. The Myers’ Briggs Assessment
Items are choices between two options of 4 opposing tendencies:
- Extroversion vs. introversion
- Sensing vs. intuition
- Thinking vs. feeling
- Judgment vs. perception
A big business: certified trainers, lots of marketers
Items are choices between two options: which word appeals to you more? Sociable or detached?
Insightful because many items are vague and difficult to answer
16 possible personality types: from combining each pair of opposing traits (ESTJ, INFP)
9. California Q set
100 personality descriptions
Sort into:
- Forced choices
- Symmetrical
- Normal distribution to identify the most important and least important traits in that person
- Can only choose 3 bad or 3 good
10. Lexical Hypothesis
Important aspects are labeled with words
Important and universal there will be many words for it in all languages
Allport identified 4500 words
Cattell identified 35 traits later narrowed to 16
Fiske found 5 factors – The Big Five
11. The Marshmallow test
One marshmallow now or wait however long and then you will get Two marshmallows. Shows patience and something else
12. How do genes affect behavior
influencing the development and function of the brain, which in turn impacts how we think, feel, and act
13. Evolutionary psychology (refer to your practice questions)
Placing human thought, motivation, and behavior into a broad natural context
14. Sociometer Theory
Feelings of self-esteem evolved to monitor the degree to which a personal is accepted by others
If we are not valued and accepted, it may cause our self-esteem to go down
Motivates us to do things that will cause others to think better of us so that we can think better of ourselves
15. Fast vs slow life history strategies
Fast: the animal reproduces multiple times at a young age but does not devote many or any resources to protecting offspring. Better for reproductive success
Slow: the animal does not reproduce until relatively late in life, has fewer offspring. Safe, predictable environments promote individuals who marry late, have few children, and put extensive resources into raising them.
16. Behavioral observation
When research is based on direct observation instead of self-reports, most traits are influences by shared environment
17. Genome Wide Association Studies
Look for associations between hundreds of thousands of genes or patterns of genes and personality in large samples.
Many and maybe nearly all the results that arise will be due merely to chance
Three studies of more than 100,000 people each found patterns of genetic variation associated with traits related to happiness, depression, and anxiety
18. Changing Personality
Personality can change throughout life, especially during adolescence and young adulthood
19. Personality Stability
the consistency of a person's personality traits over time
20. Plasticity in personality
the ability of a person's personality traits to change and adapt over time
21. Social clock
Places pressure on people to accomplish certain things by certain ages
22. Narrative
the personal story an individual constructs about their life
23. Redemption
the narrative theme where a person constructs a personal story that portrays a significant negative experience as a turning point leading to positive growth and transformation
24. Causes of personality
Some change over time, involving physical development
Increases in intelligence and linguistic abilities
Hormone-level changes
Changing social roles at different stages of life
Conscientiousness also changes over time
25. Person environment transactions
People tend to respond to, seek out, and create environments that are compatible with, and may magnify, their personality traits
- Active: people seek out compatible environments and avoid incompatible ones
- Reactive: people respond differently to the same situation
- Evocative: people change the situation
26. Cohort effects
People of different ages may differ because they grew up in different environments
- May contribute to age differences in cross-sectional studies
- Aspects of personality can be affected by the historical period in which one lives
27. Systematic desensitization
A behavioral therapy that helps people overcome phobias, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD
28. What can accelerate neurological decline
Sedentary behavior, lack of proper sleep, unhealthy diet
29. Part of the brain that grows in response to exercise
Hippocampus
30. How to strengthen your memory
Try new things, emotional resonance, working on your conscious mind, mindful activities, engaging in challenging activities
31. Sleep hygiene
Sleep environment, limit screen time, pre-sleep routine, avoid stimulants, regular exercise, relaxation techniques, healthy habits, dark and quiet, sun exposure, and a consistent schedule
32. Frontal lobes and neocortex system and what they play a role in
Social understanding and self-control, emotions and decision making, and how people respond to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli
34. Research methods to study the brain
Make it possible to observe which parts of the brain are most active
- CT scan, PET, fMRI
Practice Problems:
Ch. 4:
1. The person-situation debate________? was based on a disagreement about whether the personality coefficient had an upper limit of about .30
2. Traits that are easy to judge are referred to as_______? Good traits
3. Those who are consistent and well-adjusted make________? Good targets
Ch. 5:
1. Which of the Big 5 traits is the best predictor of relationship problems, criminal behavior, and mental illness? Neuroticism
2. Focuses on patterns of traits that characterize a person. Typological
3. Which acronym stands for the Big 5 personality assessment? OCEAN
4. Which of the Big 5 Traits is this? One’s willingness to try new things as well as engage in imaginative and intellectual activities. It includes the ability to “think outside of the box. Openness
5. If you are high in this Big 5 trait then you may be soft hearted, trusting, well liked as well as helpful and cooperative. Agreeableness
6. The California Q-set is best used for which approach? Many trait
7. If the California Q set has raters who are acquaintances what type of data is this? Informant-report data (I-data)
8. A researcher who is interested in the construct of cooperativeness and wants to discover what behavior this trait can predict should use which approach? Single trait
9. Looks for traits associated with a particular behavior. Many trait
10. Identifies which traits are the most important. Essential trait
11. High self-monitors are less adaptable, flexible, popular, sensitive, and able to fit in wherever they go. False
12. Important aspects of life will be labeled with words if they are truly important according to the lexical hypothesis. True
Ch. 6:
1. Research has shown that: Longitudinal studies reveal different patterns of development from what have been found in cross-sectional studies
2. Personality stability: increases as people get older
3. Which statement about personality development is true? Rank-order stability tends to be high AND the mean levels of traits change over time.
Ch. 7:
1. The research methods used to study the brain: make it possible to observe which parts of the brain are most active.
2. The frontal lobes and neocortex seem to play a role in: social understanding and self-control, emotions and decision making, and how people respond to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli
3. The chemical that is released in response to stress and prepares the body for fight-or-flight is: epinephrine
Ch. 8:
1. According to evolutionary personality psychology: One way to explain personality and behavior is to look at how behaviors might have been adaptive for our ancestors
2. Genes affect behavior: Genes affect behavior by influencing the propensities or tendencies toward certain behaviors.
3. One criticism of evolutionary personality theory is that it: Does not explain how people living now decide to behave.