Ch.14 Personality

Question 1

Nomothetic approach

Answer 1

Approach to personality that focuses on identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all behaviors

Question 2

Idiographic approach

Answer 2

Approach to personality that focuses on identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences within an individual

Question 3

Shared environmental factors

Answer 3

Experiences that make individuals within the same family more alike

Question 4

Nonshared environmental factors

Answer 4

Experiences that make individuals in a family less alike

Question 5

Molecular genetic study

Answer 5

Investigation that allows researchers to pinpoint genes associated with specific characteristics, including personality traits

Question 6

Repression

Answer 6

Motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses

Question 7

Denial

Answer 7

Motivated forgetting of distressing experiences

Question 8

Regression

Answer 8

Returning psychologically to a younger and safer time

Question 9

Reaction formation

Answer 9

Transforming an anxiety producing experience into its opposite

Question 10

Projection

Answer 10

Unconscious attribution of our negative qualities onto others

Question 11

Displacement

Answer 11

Directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target onto a more acceptable one

Question 12

Rationalization

Answer 12

Providing reasonable sounding explanations for unreasonable behaviors or failures

Question 13

Intellectualization

Answer 13

Avoiding the emotions associated with anxiety provoking experiences by focusing on abstract and impersonal thoughts

Question 14

Identifying with the aggressor

Answer 14

Adopting the psychological characteristics of people we find threatening

Question 15

Sublimation

Answer 15

Transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired and socially valued goal

Question 16

Neo Freudian theories

Answer 16

Derived from Freud model but with less emphasis on sexuality as a driving force in personality and more optimism regarding the prospects for long term personality growth

Question 17

Style of life

Answer 17

according to Alfred Adler each person’s distinctive way of achieving superiority

Question 18

Inferiority complex

Answer 18

Feelings of low self esteem that can lead to overcompensation for such feelings

Question 19

Alfred Adler the striving for superiority

Answer 19

The principle motive in human personality is striving for superiority. Our overall goal in life is to be better than others.

Question 20

Carl Jung collective unconscious

Answer 20

Our shared storehouse of memories that ancestors have passed down to us across generations. It’s our shared storehouse ancestral memories that accounts for cultural similarities in myths and legends.

Question 21

Archetypes

Answer 21

Cross culturally universal symbol

Question 22

Karen horney: feminist psychology

Answer 22

Women’s sense of inferiority stems not from anatomy but from their excessive dependency on men, which can society has ingrained in them from an early age.

Question 23

Behavioral theories of personality

Answer 23

Reject notion that the first few years of life are not especially critical in personality development. Personality consists of behaviors doesn’t cause them. Personality under control of genetic factors and contingencies in the environment that is reinforcers and punishers

Question 24

Behavioral views of determinism

Answer 24

All our actions are products of preexisting causal influences. Free will is an illusion.

Question 25

Behavioral views of unconscious processing

Answer 25

Don’t understand the reasons of our behavior often. We are unconscious or many things because we are often unaware of immediate situational influences on our behaviors.

Question 26

Locus of control

Answer 26

Extent to which people believe that reinforcers and punishers lie inside or outside their control

Question 27

Trait model: the big five

Answer 27

1. Extroversion- tend to be social and lively
2. Neuroticism- neurotic people tend to be tense and moody
3. Agreeableness- sociable and easy to get along with
4. Conscientiousness- people tend to be careful and responsible
5. Openness to experience- intellectually curious and unconventional in their interests and outlook on the world.

Question 28

Structured personality test

Answer 28

Paper and pencil measure consisting of questions that respondents answer in on of a few fixed ways.

Question 29

Minnesota Multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI)

Answer 29

Widely used structured personality test designed to assess symptoms of mental disorders

Question 30

Empirical method of test construction

Answer 30

Approach to building tests in which researches begin with two or more criterion groups and examine which items best differentiate them.

Question 31

Face validity

Answer 31

Extent to which respondents can tell what the items are measuring

Question 32

Rational/ theoretical method of test construction

Answer 32

Approach to building tests that requires test developers to begin with a clear cut conceptualization of a trait and then write items to assess that conceptualization.

Question 33

Projective hypothesis

Answer 33

Hypothesis that in the process of interpreting ambiguous stimuli, examinees project aspects of their personality onto the stimulus.

Question 34

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Answer 34

Projective test consisting of 10 symmetrical ink blots

Question 35

Incremental validity

Answer 35

Extent to which a test contributes information beyond other more easily collected measures

Question 36

Thematic Appreciation Test TAT

Answer 36

Projective Test requiring examinees to tell a story in response to ambiguous pictures

Question 37

Graphology

Answer 37

Psychological interpretations of handwriting