Chapter 1

Question 1

What are the roles and purpose of theories

Answer 1

Theories address these questions about personality and others ask, they help us answer questions about individuals

Question 2

When can we see a persons personality psychology

Answer 2

When they are born

Question 3

When do we start assigning a personality

Answer 3

As soon as the baby is born

Question 4

Gordon Allport’s definition of personality

Answer 4

Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that determines her unique adjustments to the environment (1973)

Question 5

Why do we use the word personality as a concept

Answer 5

Consistency, Internal causality, Distinctiveness

Question 6

What is consistency

Answer 6

Across time, similar situations, different situations

Question 7

What is internal causality

Answer 7

Behaviour originates from within and it allows for prediction

Question 8

What is distinctiveness

Answer 8

A few key qualities that can summerize a personality

Question 9

Indivdualized patterns

Answer 9

One person can be adventurous and introverted, another can be adventurous and extroverted

Question 10

What are the two fundamental themes in personality psychology

Answer 10

Individual differences and Interpersonal functioning (between people)

Question 11

Individual differences personality psychology

Answer 11

No two people are exactly alike.
- Psychologists think twins are the closest we would get to two people being exactly alike

Question 12

Interpersonal functioning personality psychology

Answer 12

Involves processes and a sense of continuity

Question 13

What do theories do in personality psychology

Answer 13

Theories are summary statements, including a set of principals, or explaining a class of events

Question 14

What is Explain Phenomena

Answer 14

The fundamental purpose of this is to explain what is already known

Question 15

What is a paradigm

Answer 15

This is a set of assumptions that determine what kinds of theories one develops, related to our worldview

Question 16

What does a paradigm determine

Answer 16

Paradigms determine the kind of questions we ask, our worldview and what we want to know determines questions we ask

Question 17

What are grand theories in perspective aimed at

Answer 17

Aimed at total complexity of theory, an example being Freud’s theory

Question 18

How valid are personality tests

Answer 18

There is no right or wrong answers to the test and sort people into fitting traits for validity

Question 19

When was the myers-brigg developed

Answer 19

Developed in 1944

Question 20

What does each letter mean in the myers-brigg

Answer 20

E - extroversion
I - introversion
N - intuiting
S - sensing
T - thinking
F - feeling
J - judging
P - perceiving

Question 21

Problems with validity or accuracy about the MBTI

Answer 21

The scoring format places individuals into one end of each pair - introversion and extroversion - regardless of how extreme the score is

Question 22

What is the issue with gender and the MBTI

Answer 22

The thinking vs feeling dimension is scored differently depending on if you are female or male

Question 23

Why does the MBTI have inadequate test-retest reliability

Answer 23

You can test on multiple occasions and receive different personality types, even if you have not changed drastically in real life