Chapter 2- How is Personality Studied and Assessed?

Question 1

What is a subjective assessment?

Answer 1

A measurement that relies on interpretation

Question 2

What is the weakness/strength of subjective assessments?

Answer 2

weakness: diff observers can make diff judgements
strength: experts can gain valuable insights

Question 3

What is reliability?

Answer 3

consistency of scores that are expected to be the same or similar

Question 4

What is test-retest reliability?

Answer 4

instrument’s degree of consistency on different occasions

Question 5

What is internal-consistency reliability?

Answer 5

correlation between 2 halves of a test

Question 6

internal-consistency reliability is measure by what?

Answer 6

cronbach’s coefficient alpha- average of all possible split-half correlations

Question 7

What is construct validity?

Answer 7

the extent of test truly measuring a construct

Question 8

Construct validity involves what two factors?

Answer 8

construct validity and discriminant validity

Question 9

What is construct validity?

Answer 9

measure is related to what it should be

Question 10

What is discriminant validity?

Answer 10

measure is not related to what it should not be related to

Question 11

What is criterion-related validity?

Answer 11

measure can predict important outcome criteria

Question 12

What is content validity?

Answer 12

measure has items that represent the entire domain of the theoretical construct

Question 13

What are items?

Answer 13

questions or statements in surveys

Question 14

What are 5 things items should do?

Answer 14

be clear/relatively simple, discriminate among test takers, total score should have normal distribution, be intercorrelated (relate to each other), avoid ceiling/floor effect

Question 15

T/F: ceiling/floor effect is when answers skew the scales

Answer 15

T

Question 16

What is an objective assessment?

Answer 16

measurement depends on measuring observations that are quantifiable

Question 17

What are the weaknesses and strengths of an objective assessment?

Answer 17

weakness: same factors are difficult to interpret in terms of research
strengths: results based on concrete data; more reliability

Question 18

What are response sets?

Answer 18

bias in responding to test

Question 19

What are 2 examples of response sets?

Answer 19

acquiescence response set and social desirability

Question 20

What is an acquiescence response set?

Answer 20

response remains relatively the same
ex. always checking yes

Question 21

What is social desirability in terms of response sets?

Answer 21

answering in a way that reflects well on the test-taker

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways you can reduce response sets by:
1. use several different methods of assessment
2. include lie-scales (used to pick up lies in survey)
3. reverse code some items (make 4 into 2)
4. watch the test-taker in person

Answer 22

4. correct answer: use neutral wording

Question 23

What is ethnic and gender bias?

Answer 23

a strong characteristic in one group may be perceived as a weakness in another

Question 24

What are the 10 personality measures?

Answer 24

self-report tests, q-sort test, expressive behaviors, life stories, projective tests, demographs/lifestyle, judgments by others, biological measures, behavioral observations, and interviews

Question 25

Which personality measure is the most common?

Answer 25

self-reports

Question 26

What are self-report tests?

Answer 26

usually a pencil/paper test to encourage authenticity (ex. MMPI)

Question 27

What is a q-sort test?

Answer 27

person makes comparisons among own characteristics

Question 28

Sorting cards that have characteristics on them into piles based on how descriptive the card is of the person describes which personality measure?

Answer 28

q-sort test

Question 29

The personality measure of judgements by others is when ____ answers questions about the person being measured

Answer 29

someone else

Question 30

Biological measures for personality assumes what?

Answer 30

that the nervous system is an important element of personality

Question 31

Behavioral observations records what?

Answer 31

the actual behavior of the person

Question 32

What are 3 types of behavioral observations?

Answer 32

1. simple counts of specific behavior
2. coding videotaped interactions
3. electronic beeps (randomly beeps + participants record their behavior at the time of the beep)

Question 33

What are the pros and cons between unstructured interviews and structured interviews?

Answer 33

unstructured:
pros- have rich info, con- validity is questionable
structured:
pro- more valid, con- don’t reveal individual nuances

Question 34

What is expressive behaviors as a personality measure?

Answer 34

an analysis of how people stand, move, speak, etc

Question 35

What is life story/document analysis as a personality measure?

Answer 35

careful analysis of writings like letters/diaries
-can be very rich source of info

Question 36

What are projective tests?

Answer 36

present person with ambiguous stimulus, task, or situation and test taker interprets it

Question 37

The goal of projective tests is to:

Answer 37

gain insight into unconscious motives/concerns

Question 38

What is the use of demographics as a personality measure?

Answer 38

uses info about a person’s age, place of birth, gender, and family size to understand people based on their everyday lives

Question 39

We must be careful when doing what?

Answer 39

interpreting test results and choosing how to apply the results

Question 40

What are 3 common designs in personality?

Answer 40

case study, correlational study, and experimental study