CAPS

Question 1

summarize the person situation debate

Answer 1

is the person or the situation more influential in determining behaviour?

personality psychology: behaviour is determined by personality

social psychology: behaviour is determined by social situation

Question 2

person argument

Answer 2

knowing someone’s traits allows us to predict their behaviour

personality is consistent over time and should result in consistent behaviour across situations

thinks that personality consistency paradox can be resolved by taking the average of people’s behaviours across situations to estimate a “true” personality score

any variation is a result of measurement error/noise

Question 3

personality consistency paradox

Answer 3

we intuitively see personality as stable over time and across situations but behaviour is actually inconsistent across situations (within-person variability)

Question 4

situation argument

Answer 4

correlation between person’s personality traits and specific behaviour tested is 0.3 - means that only about 15% of behaviour can be predicted by personality

inconsistency in behaviour across situations is evidence of the power of the situation

Question 5

what are the strengths and weaknesses of the person argument personality score method

Answer 5

• predicts behaviour in general

but less accurate at predicted behaviour at any one given time for a specific individual (within person variability)

and cannot explain why people with similar personality scores react differently in a given situation (between person variability)

Question 6

caps

Answer 6

cognitive affective processing system

variation in behaviour across situations is not evidence of the non existence of personality or meaningless ‘noise’, but meaningful and predictable

that is, specific situations predictably elicit specific behavioural responses in specific people - to understand variation in people’s behaviour, we need to understand how they’re interpreting the situation

Question 7

according to cognitive affective processing system theory, what are the cognitive affective units that make up our mind

Answer 7

• encoding and construals (way that self, other people, situation is being perceived)
• expectancies and beliefs (expectations about outcomes, self efficacy)
• affective and physiological responses (emotions, physical sensations)
• goals (relevant to the situation, values)

-behavioural scripts and self regulatory strategies (how to go about achieving desired goals)

Question 8

CAUs

Answer 8

cognitive affective units that make up our mind
- organized in an associative network - some linked while others not
- strength of links is stable across situations
- organization of CAUs is unique to each person (determined by past experiences and biological predispositions)

Question 9

situational activation of CAUs

Answer 9

situations activate a particular set of CAUs
- not all CAUs are active at the same time
- specific CAUs become temporarily accessible based on features of the situation

Question 10

if…then behavioural profiles

Answer 10

different situations activate different CAUs causing different behaviours
- each person’s unique CAUs network results in predictable and stable if…then behavioural profiles

Question 11

what are the important parts of a situation (what counts)

Answer 11

• psychological features, not context
• relates to other people
• perceived/imagined features
• ex. being praised, criticized, asked out etc

Question 12

what forms the core of the personality system according to CAPS

Answer 12

organization of CAUs - everyone has a distinct organization

Question 13

wediko summer camp study

Answer 13

observed kids behaviour in various situations at summer camp
- found that each kid had their own unique if…then profile and these profiles were highly stable over time

suggests that behaviour is systematically related to features of the situation

Question 14

how does CAPs explain within person variability

Answer 14

because different situations activate different CAUs causing different behaviours - we aren’t always gonna do the same thing every time

Question 15

how does CAPs explain between person variability

Answer 15

different networks of CAUs between people result in differences in behaviour when faced with the same situation - this because of everyone has different patterns of activation

Question 16

implications of CAPs

Answer 16

knowing a persons “mind” (CAUs), not traits, allows us to make specific predictions about how that person is likely to behave in a novel situation

we can use a person’s observable if…then behavioural profile to infer what’s going on in their unobservable mind (CAUs)

Question 17

strengths of CAPS

Answer 17

• provides an interactionist consensus for the person situation debate
• accounts for within person variability - useful to understand underlying personality system
• accounts for between person variability

Question 18

paradox of rejection sensitivity

Answer 18

• people who are dispositionally sensitive to social rejection tend to be very accomodating of others but also occassionally aggressive, which creates a self fulfilling prophecy where aggressive behaviour leads to actual rejection

Question 19

CAPS approach to the paradox of rejection sensitivity

Answer 19

CAUs - fearing rejection but also expecting it leads to stable if them profiles

if rejection isn’t perceived: then accommodate (engage behaviours to prevent rejection and remain vigilant)

if rejection is detected: then hostility and aggression (failure in achieving goal/attempt at self protection)

Question 20

rejection sensitivity and anxious expectations

Answer 20

studies have shown that people that are more sensitive to rejection are more likely to feel rejected but only in ambiguous situations - not all situations!

confederate chat then doesn’t want to continue study

Question 21

rejection sensitive and aggression

Answer 21

studies have shown that people higher on rejection sensitivity are more likely to respond to rejection with aggression

• dating service study - hot sauce in food experiment
• ps get turned down for a date by a potential partner, and then design a study for others, rejection sensitive people gave more hot sauce to someone who hates spicy food

Question 22

rejection sensitivity and hostility in relationships

Answer 22

found that in people high in rejection sensitivity, feelings of rejection predict relationship conflict