Ch2: Methods in the Study of Personality Flashcards
Gathering Information
1.1 Sources-Observe Yourself & Observe Others:
A) Introspection
- looking at your own experiences
- problem: special relationship between you and your memories can distort information
B) Observing others:
- looking at someone else’s experiences
problem: impossibility of really knowing what is going inside the person’s mind
2.1 Seeking Depth: Case studies
Point 1: Personology
-need to study the person as coherent entity
Point 2: Case study
in depth study of one person
- usually over a long period of time
- multiple observations
- rich in detail; compelling examples illustrate broader themes
2.2 Depth from Experience Sampling
Point 1: Experience Sampling
- diary studies
- conducted over a long period of time
- person prompted to repeatedly report own experience
- reduces distortion of faulty memory
Point 2: Idiographic method: the specifics and characteristics of individuals
-focuses on individual: NOMOTHETIC
2.3 Seeking Generality: studies of many people
Point 1: Generality or generalizability
- how widely a conclusion can be applied
- generalizable conclusions based on study of many people
- need to study many types of people
Point 2: Limits to generalizability
- types of people used in the sample
- cultural or sociodemographic differences
Correlation
- as variables are assessed over many instances, the values on one tend to go together with values on the other in a systematic way
- direction & strength are two independent aspects of a correlation
Direction
positive correlation: if low values on one variable tend to go with low values on the other variable/ or high values match with high values
negative correlation: if high values on one variable to go with low values on the other variable
Strength
degree of accuracy that values of one variable can be predicted with values on another variable
-expressed by a number or correlation coefficient
Variable
- dimension along which there are at least two values or levels
- no cause & effect/ inferential correlated
- suggests a certain level of difference
2 kinds of Significance
- Statistical significance: when there is a very small probability of obtaining a correlation that is as large or larger than the correlation observed due to chance
- statistical significance is less than 5% - Clinical significance: when effect is both statistically and clinical significant and its large enough to have practical imporance
Causality
relationship between a cause & an effect
Experimental method
- manipulate and create at least two levels of independent variables
- use of random assignment
Experimental control
where all conditions are the same except the variable being manipulated
Correlational studies
- a study that makes comparisons between groups
- groups represent naturally occurring differences
Advtanges & Disadvantages of Experiments
can show cause and effect
disadvantages: unclear with aspect of manipulation produced the effect
- results may have something to do with personality
Advantages & Disadvantages of Correlational studies
advantage: allows study of complex events & conditions that would be unethical to manipulate
disadvantage: cannot show cause and effect
Multifacto studies
2 or more variables are varied separately
- uses all combinations of levels of predictor variables
- can include experimental manipulations & personality variables
Experimental personality research
-combines experimental procedures and individual differences
Main effect
-when a predictor variable is linked to the outcome in a systematic way, completely separate of the other predictor
Interaction
- when the effect of one predictor variable differs across the levels of the other predictor variables
- need to study more than one factor at a time