Ch 1 + Ch 15

Question 1

Personality definition

Answer 1

A dynamic organisation of psychological systems inside a person, creates the persons characteristics patterns of behaviour, feelings and thoughts.

Question 1

Psychological Construct

Answer 1

It is a mental concept that influences behaviour via the mind and body interaction.

Question 2

What do personality theorists do?

Answer 2

The seek to explain motivational basis of behaviour.

Question 3

What are the aims of studying personality?

Answer 3

• Measures Behaviour
• Asses heredity vs. environment
• Explain the motivational basis of behaviour
• Ascertain the basic nature of human beings
• Provide categorisations of how humans behave.
• Understands how personality develops.
• Fosters a deep understanding of human beings to assist in the development of interventions of human bahviour.

Question 4

What are the approaches to studying personality?

Answer 4

• Idiographic vs. Nomothetic

Question 5

Idiographic vs. Nomothetic

Answer 5

Infographic: It is an approach that focuses on the individual and variables within an individual’s personality. The approach produces a unique understanding of the individual, it also focuses on the differences more than the similarities.
Nomothetic: It states there is a finite number of variables that can be used to underpin and describe human behaviour.

Question 6

What did Charles Carver and Micheal Scheier argue?

Answer 6

The both argue that psychologists who use the nomothetic approach appreciate the individuals uniqueness, however, struggle to believe that there is an infinite number of variables that can make up a personality. But rather that the uniqueness come from the different ‘mix and match’ variables that have already been set.

Question 7

Population Norms

Answer 7

It represents the mean (average) score that a particular age group scored on a test.

Question 8

Private vs public persona

Answer 8

Private persona is conceptualised (seen) as the real ‘inner person’ while the public persona is what the person presents themselves as.

Question 9

Phrenology or Craniology was developed by Dr Gull, what was the theory?

Answer 9

The theory hypothesised that different human functions were located in different structures in the brain and that the relevant size of these structures was reflected in the cranium. Therefore, the individual’s characteristics is determined by the shape of the cranium.

Question 10

Who is the founder of individual differences?

Answer 10

Francis Galton