Chapter 2

Question 1

What is S data?

Answer 1

self-report data; information a person reveals about themselves

Question 2

What are the 3 forms of administering self-report data questions?

Answer 2

1. unstructured (open ended) questions
2. structured (response provided) questions
3. Likert rating scale (participants indicate the degree to which they are)

Question 3

What are some limitations to S data? (5)

Answer 3

1. respondents must be willing and able to answer the questions
2. resp. must be honest
3. people may lack self-knowledge
4. reactivity (changing when aware being watched)
5. positive impression management
6. malingering

Question 4

What is O data?

Answer 4

observer-report data; when other people observe a subject

Question 5

What are some pros of having O data?

Answer 5

• can provide unique info
• can help avoid reactivity
• different points of view to gain big picture
• can evaluate degree of agreement among observers

Question 6

What are the 2 types of observers in O data?

Answer 6

• trained observer who does know know participant

- friends and family

Question 7

What are the 2 types of observation environments?

Answer 7

naturalistic and artificial

Question 8

what is an artificial environment? what is the advantages of testing here? disadvantages?

Answer 8

• controlled environment, usually in a lab
• PRO: elicits relevant behaviour
• CON: may not generalize to real world

Question 9

What is test data?

Answer 9

data collected through standardized testing

Question 10

What was the main finding in the Megargee dominance study?

Answer 10

women express their dominance differently than men

Question 11

What are some limitations of test data?

Answer 11

• participants may try to guess what they are being tested on and alter their responses
• participants may misinterpret situation & distort responses
• experimenter effects

Question 12

What is life outcome data?

Answer 12

information from the events, activities, & outcomes in a person’s life that are available to the public

Question 13

What are some examples of life outcome data?

Answer 13

marriages, clubs joined, gun licence, divorces, speeding tickets

Question 14

How is personality related to life outcome data?

Answer 14

personality characteristics measured in early life are often linked to important life outcomes several decades later (eg. childhood temper tantrums and unsuccessful marriages)

Question 15

What are some issues in personality assessment?

Answer 15

the more difficult it is to observe, the easier it is to test

Question 16

What is triangulation?

Answer 16

gathering data from multiple sources and hopefully getting some results

Question 17

Define reliability

Answer 17

the degree to which an obtained measure represents the true level of the trait being measured

Question 18

What are some ways to estimate reliability?

Answer 18

• repeated measurements (test retest reliability)
• internal consistency reliability
• inter-rater reliability (multiple observers agree)

Question 19

Define response sets

Answer 19

the tendency of some people to respond to the question on a basis that is unrelated to the question content

Question 20

What is acquiescence

Answer 20

tendency to agree with the questionnaire items regardless of the content

Question 21

What is extreme responding

Answer 21

tendency to give end point responses and avoid the middle of scales

Question 22

What is social desirability

Answer 22

tendency to answer items in such a way to come across as socially attractive

Question 23

Define validity

Answer 23

the extent to which a test measures what its supposed to measure

Question 24

Define generalizability

Answer 24

the degree to which the measure retains its validity across various contexts (people and conditions)

Question 25

What is experimental research typically used to determine?

Answer 25

causality

Question 26

What are the 2 requirements of a good experimental design?

Answer 26

1. manipulation of 1 or more variables

2. ensuring the participants in each condition are equivalent to each other at the beginning

Question 27

What is correlational research?

Answer 27

statistical procedure used for determining whether there is a relationship between two variables

Question 28

What is the correlation coefficient range? What does the - and + mean?

Answer 28

-1.00 to 1.00 (0.0 means unrelated)
+ means positively related (as A increases, B increases)
- means negatively related (as A increases, B decreases)

Question 29

What is the directionality problem?

Answer 29

We do not know if A causes B or B causes A

Question 30

What is the third variable problem?

Answer 30

2 variables may be correlated because a 3rd, unknown variable is causing both