For Exam 1

Question 1

Personality psych shares w/ clinical psych

Answer 1

a. common obligation to try to understand the whole person

Question 1

Personality is an individual’s characteristic patterns of

Answer 1

Emotion, behavior, thought

Question 2

The personality paradigm that focuses on rewards and punishments is known as the …

Answer 2

behaviorist paradigm

Question 3

The task of an employer who attempts to identify dependable, conscientious, and hard-working job applicants is similar to the task of the …. psychologist, who attempts to identify and assess the individual differences

Answer 3

trait

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic approaches to personality?
- assessment
- psychoanalytic
- learning
- phenomenological

Answer 4

Assessment

Question 5

A major advantage of personality psychology is that it focuses on the whole person and real-life concerns, yet this can often lead to over inclusive and unfocused research. Which of the following is a major theme of your textbook that speaks to this conflict?
- The One Big Theory (OBT) can account for everything in personality.
- Great strengths are usually great weaknesses
- the personality puzzle will never be solved
- a single basic approach must be chosen on the basis of rigorous data analysis

Answer 5

Great strengths are usually great weaknesses.

Question 6

According to the text, personality’s greatest strength, understanding the whole person, is also its greatest weakness. Which term describes this fundamental observation?
- Funder’s First Law
- One Big Theory
- Psychological triad
- Pigeonholding

Answer 6

Funder’s First Law

Question 7

Which of the following is an expression of Funder’s First Law?
- Individual differences should not be put into the “error” term in statistical analysis
- There are no perfect indicators of personality.
- Characteristics that are strengths in one sense are weaknesses in other ways.
- People vary in terms of their trait levels

Answer 7

Characteristics that are strengths in one sense are weaknesses in other ways.

Question 8

What is one of personality psychology’s biggest advantages over other areas of psychology?

Answer 8

It appreciates the uniqueness of the individual

Question 9

Why haven’t personality psychologists combined all paradigms into One Big Theory?

Answer 9

A theory that tries to explain everything would probably not provide the best explanation for any one thing

Question 10

What’s the largest and most dominant approach in personality psych?

Answer 10

Trait

Question 11

Which subfield of psychology uses personality psych to understand vocational interests and occupational success and leadership?

Answer 11

Organizational

Question 12

Which of the following MOST closely represents a focal topic of the psychoanalytic approach to personality?
- understanding mental conflicts
- applying principles of behaviorism and social observation
- discovering how conscious awareness produces uniquely human characteristics
- measuring and conceptualizing individual differences.

Answer 12

measuring and conceptualizing individual differences

Question 13

Researchers must use clues to personality in their research because personality…

Answer 13

is something difficult to measure that resides inside an individual

Question 14

when gathering data or clues about personality, the best policy is to

Answer 14

collect as many clues as possible

Question 15

what is one advantage of collecting descriptions of a participant’s personality from his or her acquaintances?

Answer 15

The acquaintances’ descriptions of the participant are likely based on many behaviors in many situations

Question 16

… data are fairly easily verifiable, concrete, real-life outcomes of possible psychological significance.

Answer 16

L (Life out comes)

Question 17

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be considered B data?
a. measures of heart rate and other physiological measurements
b. a participant’s records of his daily activities in a daily research “diary”
c. a psychologist’s interpretation of a participant’s responses to an unstructured clinical interview
d. observation of how many times a participant spoke during a five-minute conversation

Answer 17

c. a psychologist’s interpretation of a participant’s responses to an unstructured clinical interview

Question 18

According to the principles on enhancing reliability described in the text, it would be relatively difficult to create a reliable measure of attitudes toward:
a. the self (like self-esteem).
b. outgroup members.
c. casual sexual encounters.
d. lumber tariffs.

Answer 18

lumber tariffs

Question 19

If measurement errors are truly random, then they should

Answer 19

sum to 0

Question 20

The MOST important and generally useful way to enhance reliability is to

Answer 20

aggregate your measurements

Question 21

In simple language, questions about reliability concern ________, whereas questions about validity concern ________.

Answer 21

consistency; accuracy

Question 22

What is the big disadvantage of the case study method?

Answer 22

it’s not generalizable

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT an example of something that can limit how reliable a measure is?
a. A research assistant dozes off when they should be observing participants’ behavior.
b. A study is conducted during finals and all college student participants are sleep-deprived.
c. After comparing the self-report to informant reports, a researcher realizes their measure isn’t accurate.
d. A fire alarm goes off in the middle of an experiment.

Answer 23

c. After comparing the self-report to informant reports, a researcher realizes their measure isn’t accurate.

Question 24

According to the text, correlational and experimental methods are not entirely different. For example, they both

Answer 24

assess the relationship btwn 2 variables

Question 25

Which design is best suited for addressing the third-variable problem?
- experimental
- correlational
- case study
- repeated measures

Answer 25

experimental

Question 26

___tests aim to gain insight into personality by interpreting individuals’ open-ended responses, whereas ___tests evaluate individuals’ responses to specific questions with predetermined response options.
a. subjective; objective
b. quantitative; qualitative
c. clinical; nonclinical
d. projective; objective

Answer 26

d. projective; objective

Question 27

The factor analytic technique of test construction is designed to..
a. identify groups of test items that seem to be alike.
b. create projective tests
c. identify items that mean the same thing to the respondent as they do the researcher
d. identify individuals who are attempting to lie or sabotage a test.

Answer 27

a. identify groups of test items that seem to be alike.

Question 28

The primary criterion for item selection in the empirical method of test construction is determining whether the item
a. loads highly on its primary factor
b. is cross-validated between two known groups
c. makes the scale more reliable
d. will be challenged in a legal context.

Answer 28

b. is cross-validated between two known groups

Question 29

the ___ method is NOT a basic method for constructing objective personality
a. empirical
b. rational
c. consensus validation
d. factor analytic

Answer 29

c. consensus validation

Question 30

The Big Five
a. are the primary methods of test construction used by personality psychologists
b. are the five key steps in the process of factor analysis
c. are steps in the construction of rational tests.
d. factor analytically derived dimensions of personality.

Answer 30

d. factor analytically derived dimensions of personality

Question 31

What is the correct definition of a p-value?
a. probability that the observed result occurred by chance given that the null hypothesis is true.
b. probability that the null hypothesis is false.
c. probability that the null hypothesis is true.
d. probability that the observed result occurred by chance given that the null hypothesis is false.

Answer 31

a. probability that the observed result occurred by chance given that the null hypothesis is true.

Question 32

Which of following is NOT one of the concerns associated with the practice of null-hypothesis significance testing?
a. the p-value is easy to interpret and its logic is easy to describe.
b. the criterion for a significant result (p<.05) is arbitrary.
c. the smaller the sample size, the easier it is to find a significant effect.
d. A statistically significant result is not necessarily important or meaningful.

Answer 32

c. the smaller the sample size, the easier it is to find a significant effect.

Question 33

A researcher computes a correlation coefficient between variables X and Y using a handheld calculator. Which of the following values would automatically tell the researcher that he or she made a mistake?
a. 2.50
b. -9.8
c. .75
d. 0

Answer 33

2.50

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT an open science practice?
a. describing all aspects of all studies
b. reporting studies that failed and succeeded
c. freely sharing data with other scientists
d. refraining from using deception in experimental studies

Answer 34

d. refraining from using deception in experimental studies

Question 35

In addition to serving as a way for psychologists to construct objective tests, the factor analysis method has also been used to
a. design experimental studies
b. determine reliability
c. decide how many fundamental traits exist
d. construct projective tests

Answer 35

c. decide how many fundamental traits exist

Question 36

Eliminating the use of personality tests in employment screening will
a. not prevent traits from being judged but will change the ways traits are judged.
b. decrease the likelihood that women and minorities will be discriminated against in hiring.
c. prevent biases from affecting hiring decisions.
d. increase the use of lie detector tests and drug tests in employment screening.

Answer 36

a. not prevent traits from being judged but will change the ways traits are judged.

Question 37

The Binomial Effect Size Display is a method for illustrating the size of…
a. validity coefficients.
b. p-values.
c. reliability coefficients.
d. correlation coefficients.

Answer 37

d. correlation coefficients

Question 38

Imagine that a researcher conducts a study and fails to find a statistically significant correlation between exercise and weight loss. However, there is a real association between exercise and weight loss in the population. What kind of error has this researcher made?
a. correlational
b. Type I
c. Type III
d. Type II

Answer 38

d. Type II

Question 39

The trait approach is based on empirical research that is mostly from____
a. case
b. experimental
c. correlational
d. archival

Answer 39

c. correlational

Question 40

Situationism is the position that
a. trait words are more than mere descriptions of situations.
b. situations are less important than personality traits in determining behavior.
c. the ability of personality traits to predict behavior is severely limited.
d. situations do not influence behavior.

Answer 40

c. the ability of personality traits to predict behavior is severely limited.

Question 41

According to the text, which of the following is NOT part of the situationist argument?
a. Everyday intuitions that people have about personality are wrong.
b. Persons and situations interact to predict behavior.
c. There is an upper limit to how well we can predict behavior based on a personality trait measure.
d. Situations are more important than traits for determining behavior.

Answer 41

b. Persons and situations interact to predict behavior.

Question 42

Someone who is ________ is likely to express his or her personality consistently from one situation to the next.
a. high in self-efficacy
b. low in self-efficacy
c. high in self-monitoring
d. low in self-monitoring

Answer 42

d. low in self-monitoring

Question 43

According to recent research, individuals high in ________ might actually be more consistent.
a. extraversion
b. self-esteem
c. preference for consistency
d. self-control

Answer 43

c. preference for consistency

Question 44

Which of the following behaviors would be the easiest to predict accurately?
a. None of the answer options is correct; each of these behaviors would be equally easy to predict.
b. David will generally be on time for work most days next week.
c. Mary will smile at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow.
d. At a party on Friday, Susan will talk to at least 10 people.

Answer 44

b. David will generally be on time for work most days next week.

Question 45

Which of the following is NOT one of the responses to the situationist argument?
a. Personality researchers searched for certain kinds of people who were more consistent than others.
b. Personality researchers argued that Mischel’s literature review was selective.
c. Personality researchers started to think more carefully about the importance of a correlation of .40.
d. Personality researchers worked harder to find single traits that could strongly predict single responses at a particular point in time.

Answer 45

d. Personality researchers worked harder to find single traits that could strongly predict single responses at a particular point in time.

Question 46

Funder and Ozer (1983) converted the results of three classic social psychological studies to effect sizes. After comparing those effect sizes with those typically obtained by personality psychologists, Funder and Ozer concluded that
a. the three studies were so fundamentally flawed that they do not allow us to conclude anything about the predictability of behavior from situational variables.
b. situational variables, like personality variables, cannot predict behavior.
c. the upper limit for a situation coefficient is only .20.
d. both situational and personality variables are important determinants of behavior.

Answer 46

d. both situational and personality variables are important determinants of behavior.

Question 47

Funder notes that the person who is most talkative at a party is also likely to be the most talkative at the department of motor vehicles (DMV). Which of the following terms describes this principle?
a. absolute change
b. relative consistency
c. absolute consistency
d. relative change

Answer 47

b. relative consistency

Question 48

Which of the following conclusions does Funder draw about the role of persons versus situations in affecting behavior?
a. Situations matter more than persons, because people tend to be inconsistent.
b. Situations matter, but only under particular conditions, because people tend to be inconsistent.
c. Situations have a minimal influence on behavior, because people tend to be consistent.
d. Situations have an important influence on behavior, but people also tend to be consistent.

Answer 48

d. Situations have an important influence on behavior, but people also tend to be consistent.

Question 49

Peer acceptance is associated with what trait?
a. conscientiousness
b. self-monitoring
c. extraversion
d. openness to experience

Answer 49

c. extraversion

Question 50

Which of the following does NOT describe a type of person-situation interaction?
a. People react differently to the same situation.
b. People generally prefer situations that are pleasant.
c. People choose the situations they occupy.
d. People change the situations they occupy.

Answer 50

b. People generally prefer situations that are pleasant.

Question 51

What dramatic conclusion did some psychologists and non-psychologists draw from Mischel’s claims regarding personality and behavior?
a. that correlations cannot test the link between the person and the situation
b. that people are in some ways similar and in some ways different than other people
c. that personality does not change over the life span
d. that personality did not exist

Answer 51

d. that personality did not exist