12c - Personality Flashcards
What are projective tests? (psychodynamic perspective)
Tests involve interpretations of an ambiguous stimulus to access the unconscious mind.
Describe the thematic apperception test.
Asked to make up a story about an
ambiguous scene (picture).
Describe the Rorschach (inkblot) test.
Shown a series of 10 “inkblots” and asked to indicate what they look like to you.
What are some criticisms of projective tests? (3)
- Subjective scoring
- Low validity and reliability
- People may say what they think they should see
What is a personality inventory?
Paper and pencil questionnaires designed to assess various aspects of personality.
Give some facts about the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2
(MMPI-2) (5).
- Useful in assessing abnormal personality tendencies
- 576 questions (long)
- Several scales - questions shown to distinguish various clinical population
- Many questions for each scale (like intelligence tests)
- Includes validity items to account for response patterns that may compromise the test
Describe the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) (4).
- Evaluates traits of 5 superfactors
- 240 questions, self-rating on 5 point scale
- High consistency (.85 - .9)
- Derived from factor analysis (seems to be valid)
What are some criticisms of the NEO-PI-R? (3)
- Accuracy of self-appraisal (wanting to see yourself in a positive light)
- Social desirability (no validity questions)
- Misuse in employment/hiring decisions
Describe the nature-nurture debate.
To what extent are the differences in personality due to variations in genetic make-up (nature) and to what extent are they due to variations in environmental factors (nurture)?
Give some facts about the Minnesota twin studies (4).
- Found and studied 59 pairs on identical twins separated at birth an raised in different families (and 47 fraternal twins raised in the same families)
- Jim Lewis and Jim Springer
- Separated at birth, re-united at 39
- Had remarkable similarities
What did Franz Joseph Gall study?
Phrenology
What is phrenology?
- Assumes personality traits are localized to specific brain regions
- Size of brain region determines the strength of trait
- Size of brain could be inferred from bumps on the skull
- So personality can be assessed by examining skull bumps
What are the brain regions currently implicated in personality? (2)
Amygdala and reticular activating system
What is the amygdala’s function and what personality trait may it explain?
- Reacts to threatening or stressful stimuli
- Reactivity varies in people
- May explain introversion (avoid stressful social situations)
- May contribute to neuroticism (emotional instability)
What are two neurotransmitters linked to personality?
Dopamine and serotonin
