Chapter Two - Scientific Study of People

Question 1

Define:

Case Studies

Answer 1

An approach to research in which one studies an individual person in great detail. This strategy commonly is associated with clinical research, that is, research conducted by a therapist in the course of in-depth expereinces with a client.

Question 2

Define:

Computerized Text Analysis Methods

Answer 2

Software tools that take, as their input, words and sentences and analyze linguistic features that may, in the context of personality researc, by revealing of personality and individual differences.

Question 3

Define:

Correlational Coefficient

Answer 3

A numerical index that summarizes the degree to which two variables are related.

Question 4

Define:

Correlational Research

Answer 4

An approch to research in which existing individual differences are measures and related to one another, rather than being manipulated as in experimental research.

Question 5

Define:

Demand Characteristics:

Answer 5

Cues that are implicit [hidden] in the experimental setting and influence the subject’s behavior.

Question 6

Define:

Electroencephalography [EEG]

Answer 6

• Uses electrodes placed on the scalp to record electrical activity in neurons.
• Each eletrode is sensitive to brain acti city in regions it is closest to.

Question 7

Define:

Experimental Research

Answer 7

An approach to research in which the experimenter manipulates a variable of interest, usually by assigning different resesarch participants, at random, to diffrent experimental conditions.

Question 8

Define:

Experimenter Expectancy Effects:

Answer 8

Unintended experimenter effects involving behaviors that lead subjects to respond in accordance with the experimenter’s hypothesis.

Question 9

Define:

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging [FMRI]

Answer 9

A brain imaging tehcnqiue that identifies specific regions of the brain that are involed in the processing of a given stimulis or the performances of a given task; the technique relies on recordings of changes in blood flow in the brain.

Question 10

Define:

Idiographic [Strategies]

Answer 10

Strategird og sddrddmrny snf research in which the primary goal is to obtain a portrait of the potentially unique, idiosyncratic individual.

Question 11

Define:

Implicit Measures:

Answer 11

People are not asked to explicitly describe themselves.
T-tasks are normally refered to as implicit measures.

Question 12

Define:

L-data:

Answer 12

Life record data or information concerning the person that can be obtined from their histroy or life record.

Question 13

Define:

Nomothetic [Strategies]:

Answer 13

Strategies of assessment and research in which the primary goal is to identify a common set of principles or laws that apply to all members of a population of persons.

Question 14

Define:

O-data

Answer 14

Observer data or information provided by knowledgeable observers such as parents, friends, or teachers.

Question 15

Define:

Reliability

Answer 15

The extent to which observations are stable, dependable, and can be replicated.

Question 16

Define:

Response Style

Answer 16

The tendency of some subjects to respond to test items ina consistent, patterned way that had to do with the form of the questiosn or answers rather than with their content.

Question 17

Define:

S-data:

Answer 17

Self-report data or information provided by the subject.

Question 18

Define:

T-data:

Answer 18

Test data or information obtaiend from experimental procedures or standardized tests.

Question 19

Define:

Validity:

Answer 19

The extent to which observations relfect the phenomena or constucts of interest to us [construct validity].

Question 20

Limitations of Self-Reports?

Answer 20

• People can be unaware of their psychological characteristics.
• People may be motivated to present themsevles positively.

Question 21

2 Points of LOTS?

Answer 21

1. Researchers can combine data sources, adding to one’s confidence in research findings.
2. Some forms of data do not easily fit into this four-catgory LOTS scheme.

Question 22

Language Based Assessments: Language and Social Media?

Answer 22

• Language = computerized text analysis methods, software that can identify and count frequency of features.
• Social Media = combined with the text analysis to assess personality characteristics in popoulations.

Question 23

Relationship Between S and T Data?

Answer 23

• Often discrepant.
• Broad judgment vs. specific contexts.

Question 24

Relationship between S and O Data?

Answer 24

• Self perception biases.
• Relativr observability of certain characteristics.
• Ease of which people can be judged.

Question 25

Define:

Self Perception Bias?

Answer 25

• The tendency of high socially anxious individuals to perceive their social performance as more negative than observers do

Question 26

Fixed vs. Flexible Measures?

Answer 26

• Fixed = exactly the same measures are administered to all the people in a study; scores computed the same.
• Flexible = unstructured personality tests, describe in your own words.

Question 27

Limitations of Fixed Variables?

Answer 27

• Some items may be irrelevant to some individuals taking the test.
• There may be feautres of you personality that are not on the test.

Question 28

What 2 Types of Evidence about Brain Functioning are Valuable?

Answer 28

1. EEG.
2. FMRI.

Question 29

Four Targets of Assessment in Personality Psychology?

Answer 29

1. Average Behaviour.
2. Variability in behaviour.
3. Conscious Thought.
4. Unconscious Mental Events.

Question 30

Factors Affecting Reliability?

Answer 30

• Test aspects.
• Care in scoring a test.
• Ambiguous rules for interpreting scores.

Question 31

Define:

Test-Retest Reliability

Answer 31

• If people take the test at two different times, do their scores corrleate with one another?

Question 32

Define:

Internal Consistency

Answer 32

• Do different items on the test correlate with one another, as one would expect if each is a reflection of a common psychological construct.

Question 33

Limitations to Case Studies?

Answer 33

• Generalizability.
• Time consuming.

Question 34

What are the 3 General Approaches to Research?

Answer 34

1. Personality Tests & Questionnaires.
2. Laboratory Studies & Experimental Research.
3. Verbal Reports.

Question 35

Personality Assessment?

Answer 35

Two efforts:
1. To measure personality aspects of individuals in order to make applied or practical decisions.
2. To arrive at a comprehensive understanding of individuals by obtaining a wide variety of information about them.

Question 36

Strengths & Limitations with Case Studies and Clinical Research?

Answer 36

• Strengths: (1)avoids lab artificiality, (2) can lead to in-depth studies of individuals, (3) and allows for a full & complex study of person-environment relationships.
• Limitations: (1) can lead to unsystematic behaviour, (2) can envourage subjective data interpretation, (3) and does not establish causal relationsihps.

Question 37

Strengths & Limitations with Questionnaires and Correlation Research?

Answer 37

• Strengths: (1) study a wide range of variables, (2) study relatinships among many variables, (3) and large samples are easy to obtain.
• Limitations: (1) establishes relationships that are associated rather than causal, (2) reliability & validity issues with self-report, (3) and individuals are not studied in depth.

Question 38

Strengths & Limitations with Laboratory Studies and Experimental Research?

Answer 38

• Strengths: (1) manipulate specific variables, (2) record data objectively, (3) and establish cause-and-effect.
• Limitations: (1) excludes phenomen that can’t be studied in the lab, (2) create an artificial setting that limits the generality of findings, (3) and fosters demand characteristics and experimenter expectancy effects.

Question 39

Define:

Implicit Measures

Answer 39

• T-data tasks are often called this.
• People are not explicitally asked to describe themselves.

Question 40

Language use can serve as an assessment of…?

Answer 40

Depression.

Question 41

Fill in the Blank:

Personality theorists need ____ to complement their psychological LOTS data.

Answer 41

Brain data.

Question 42

Define:

Average Behaviour

Answer 42

• Some personality theorists target for study people’s typical, average behavior.
• Thought to reveal inner personality strucutre.

Question 43

Variability in Behaviour?

Answer 43

• Other theories suggest that assessing average tendencies in behaviour is insufficient. One also must explore variations in behaviour across social settings.

Question 44

Define:

Conscious Thought

Answer 44

• A third target for assessment is conscious experience, such as a person’s flow of conscous thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Question 45

Define:

Unconscious Mental Events

Answer 45

• Thoughts and feelings that are not conscious.

Question 46

Three General Strategies of Research?

Answer 46

1. Case Studies.
2. Correlational Studies.
3. Experiments.

Question 47

Example of a Correlational Research Study?

Answer 47

• Whether birth order is related to aggressiveness.
• Individuals who experience a relatively high level of positive emotions tend to live longer.

Question 48

Response Styles?

Answer 48

1. Acquiescene, the tendency to agree consistently.
2. Social Desirability.

This is a limitiation of self-report questionnaires.

Question 49

Defending Lab Experiments?

Answer 49

1. Research is the basis of testing causal hypotheses.
2. Some phenomena would not be discovered outside a lab.
3. Lab studies may be difficult to study elsewhere.
4. Little empirical support for the contention that subjects typicially try to confirm the experimenter’s hypothesis.

Question 50

The Case of Jim?

Answer 50

• Agreed to report on his life experiences and to take some additioanl tests 5, 20, and 25 years later.
• Outline of a person was provided through this.