Chapter 2: How Is Personality Studied and Assessed?

Question 1

What are the strenghts and weaknesses of subjective assessment?

Answer 1

Subjective assessment relies on interpretation. The problems revolve around the fact that different observers may make different judgments, and such judgments are fallible. A group of experts can, however, often see through the complexities of a rich phenomenon and gain insights.

• In personality assessment, we must walk the line between being so objective that our information is sterile and being so subjective that our observation is idiosyncratic and our inference is unscientific.

Question 2

Define:

reliability

2.1.1 Reliability

Answer 2

The consistency of scores that are expected to be the same.

Question 3

Define:

error variance

2.1.1 Reliability

Answer 3

Also known as errors of measurement, error variances are variations that are caused by irrelevant, chance fluctuations.

Question 4

Define:

internal consistency reliability

2.1.1 Reliability

Answer 4

Measuring the degree of consistency by seeing whether subparts or equivalent parts of a test yield the same results.

Question 5

Define:

test-retest reliability

2.1.1 Reliability

Answer 5

Measuring the degree of consistency by seeing if the test yields consistent results over time.

• How can we have a reliable measure of personality over time if it is constantly changing?
• First, the basic underlying patterns of personality remain relatively stable.
• Secondly, to allow that personality may change over the long term (or after a major trauma) and to expect personality stability only over shorter periods of perhaps several years.

Question 6

Define:

validity

2.1.2 Construct Validity

Answer 6

The degree to which something measures what it purports to measure.

Question 7

Define:

construct validity

2.1.2 Construct Validity

Answer 7

The extent to which a test truly measures a theoretical construct.

Question 8

Define:

convergent validation

2.1.2 Construct Validity

Answer 8

The degree to which an assessment is related to what it should theoretically be related to.

Question 9

Define:

discriminant validation

2.1.2 Construct Validity

Answer 9

The degree to which an assessment is not related to what it should not be related to.

Question 10

Define:

criterion-related validation

2.1.2 Construct Validity

Answer 10

Whether a measure predicts to outcome criteria.

Question 11

Define:

multitrait-multimethod perspective

2.1.2 Construct Validity

Answer 11

An approach that involves assessing various traits and utilizing multiple assessment methods.

Question 12

Define:

content validity

2.1.2 Construct Validity

Answer 12

Whether a test is measuring the domain that it is supposed to be measuring.

Question 13

Define:

ethnic bias

2.2 Bias

Answer 13

When tests fail to take into account the relevant culture or subculture of the person being tested; theories and measures developed in one culture are often improperly applied to another culture.

Question 14

Define:

response sets

2.2.1 Response Sets

Answer 14

Biases unrelated to the personality characteristic being measured.

Question 15

Define:

acquiescence response set

2.2.1 Response Sets

Answer 15

Including items that are worded in the reverse direction to combat the responses of those people who are likely to agree with anything you ask them.

Question 16

Define:

social desirability response set

2.2.1 Response Sets

Answer 16

People want to present themselves in a favorable light or respond to please the experimenter or test administrator, thus skewing the responses they give.

Question 17

What is the:

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

2.3.1 Self-Report Tests

Answer 17

Responding to about 500 statements, the test-taker answers either “true,” “false,” or “cannot say.” The MMPI was created using criterion-related item selection. That is, the selected items distinguished between a target group such as people with depression and a normal control group. It was thus focused on assessing psychopathology (mental illness).

Question 18

What is:

factor analysis

2.3.1 Self-Report Tests

Answer 18

Factor analysis starts with the correlations among a
number of simple scales and then reduces this information to a few basic dimensions. Primarily descriptive, the factors must then be explained by a theory.

Question 19

What is the:

Personality Research Form (PRF)

2.3.1 Self-Report Tests

Answer 19

The PRF starts out with an attempt to measure the basic needs and motivations proposed by Henry Murray (1938). The test is thus driven by theory but was developed using correlational techniques.

Question 20

What is a:

Q-sort

2.3.2 Q-Sort Tests

Answer 20

In the Q-sort, a person is given a stack of cards naming various characteristics and asked to sort them into piles on a dimension such as least characteristic to most characteristic of oneself.

Question 21

Define:

forced normal distribution

2.3.2 Q-Sort Tests

Answer 21

When a researchers ensure that data collected will produce a normally curved distribution.

Question 22

Define:

phrenology

2.3.4 Biological Measures

Answer 22

Assessing personality by feeling the position and shapes of bumps on people’s skulls.

Question 23

What is an:

electroencephalogram (EEG)

2.3.4 Biological Measures

Answer 23

EEGs measure electrical potentials at the scalp that are caused by large populations of neurons becoming active simultaneously. It is used to study neuronal activity within the neocortex (higher level functioning).

Question 24

What is a:

positron emission tomography (PET) scan

2.3.4 Biological Measures

Answer 24

PET scans show brain activity by recording the brain’s use of radioactive glucose in certain tasks. We can watch brain activity while people think or cope, or compare levels of brain activity across individuals.

Question 25

Define:

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

2.3.4 Biological Measures

Answer 25

An fMRI assesses brain activity by measuring changes in oxygenated blood flow, as blood flow will be directed to regions of the brain where activity is highest.

Question 26

Define:

experience sampling method of assessment

2.3.5 Behavioural Observations

Answer 26

A systematic way of having participants provide samples of their ongoing behavior (e.g. text messages or phone calls).

Question 27

Define:

psychotherapeutic interview

2.3.6 Interviews

Answer 27

In this setting, the client (patient) talks about important or troubling parts of his or her life.

Question 28

Define:

structured interview

2.3.6 Interviews

Answer 28

The interviewer follows a definite plan in hopes that similar types of information can be elicited from each interviewee so that the assessment can become more valid. The participant is given clear instructions about the types of events to address, such as turning points, earliest memories, positive influences, favorite books, and so on.

Question 29

Define:

typology

2.3.6 Interviews

Answer 29

A categorical scheme in which people are in either one group or another.

Question 30

Define:

expressive style

2.3.7 Expressive Behavior

Answer 30

The nonverbal cues of behaviour. Expression, particularly emotional expression, seems closely tied to dynamic, motivational aspects of personality.

Question 31

Define:

document analysis

2.3.8 Document Analysis and Biographical Studies

Answer 31

Using letters and diaries, or other personal writings, as a source of information for the study of personality change (since they continue across time).

Question 32

Define:

projective tests

2.3.9 Projective Tests

Answer 32

Assessment techniques that attempt to study personality through use of a relatively unstructured stimulus, task, or situation (e.g. draw-a-person).

Question 33

What is the:

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

2.3.9 Projective Tests

Answer 33

In a TAT, an assessor tells the participant to make up a story about a picture that will be presented, including a prediction of what will happen next. The assessor then holds up the first picture (e.g. a young boy contemplating a violin). The TAT attempts to see how a person places order on a vague stimulus. For example, if the participant decides that the boy is distressed because he has just dropped the violin down the stairs and is afraid his father will beat him, the assessor may begin to look for clues of latent aggression.

Question 34

What are the advantages and disadvantages to each style of personality testing?

2.3.12 Is There One Best Method of Assessment?

Answer 34

Table 2.4 Advantages and Limits of Personality Measures

Question 35

Define:

case study design

2.5.1 Case Studies

Answer 35

A flexible, in-depth study of an individual.

Question 36

What is a:

correlational study

2.5.2 Correlational Studies

Answer 36

In this type of study, we assess the degree of relationship between two variables, and then among more variables.
Correlations do not tell us anything about the causal direction of the associations.

Question 37

What is the importance of demographic information in personality testing?

2.3.10 Demographics and Lifestyle

Answer 37

If we are to gain an accurate understanding of an individual, we need to know the person’s cultural milieu and cultural identity. This is especially true if the culture is outside the mainstream. For example, silly attempts have been made to assess personality in African Americans without sufficient attempts to understand African American culture.