Lecture 2

Question 1

four ways people misunderstand personality

Answer 1

1. confirmation bias (seek information consistent with out beliefs, ignore the inconsistent)
2. limited information (base inferences on little information, people’s behavior vary a lot between contexts)
3. overlook comparison group (we need control condition for our observations)
4. the pleasant truth problem: we tend to believe an idea is true if the idea makes us feel good, if feel wrong it is wrong.

Question 2

according to professor what part of science is missing in astrology or homeopathy

Answer 2

there is no correction. science should be self-correcting
theory about how something works - predictions based in theory - observations - testing & comparing the observations with the theory. Correct theory with new observations. THAT PART IS MISSING.

Question 3

True or false: personality is set before we develop our attitudes, values, and beliefs.

Answer 3

true

Question 4

True or false: personality can drive health outcomes like type A personality mystery, optimism, cancer

Answer 4

personality can’t cause cancer

Question 5

Type A personality

Answer 5

• exaggerated sense of time urgency
• competitive and ambitious
• hostile and aggressive

Question 6

whats the vicious cycle of hostility

Answer 6

• hostility undermines social support (people won’t be nice to you back)
• that provokes conflicts
• and then your whole environment is stressful

Question 7

why is there no more research on type A personality with heart disease

Answer 7

Because hostility explains the whole thing. Hostility damages the heart by increasing cardiovascular reactivity

Question 8

techniques to reduce hostility

Answer 8

1. cognitive reappraisal training
2. progressive muscle relaxation
3. self-talk: repeating calming statements to yourself to prevent yourself from erupting

Question 9

true or false: optimism is robustly associated with health

Answer 9

true. Better health, because when you are excited for a future you will take care of yourself: go run in the morning, eat well

Question 10

true or flase: myers-briggs personality measure predicts outcomes or behaviors (health, social status, relationship quality)

Answer 10

false. that test was based on ungrounded theories, developed by non-scientists, marketed and sold for profit. doesn’t work

Question 11

apply the 4 mistakes to the harry potter house test

Answer 11

1. confirmation bias: categories are vague enough to apply to anyone
2. limited information: people’s behaviour vary a lot depending on context, can’t put them just in one house
3. base rates/lack of comparison group: ok Griffondors would lead to that outcome, but what about non-Griffondors, would they also lead to that outcome
4. if we like that house, we’ll want to be in that house

Question 12

true or false: big five personality index has scientific method and has strong reliability over time.

Answer 12

true

Question 13

big five

Answer 13

OCEAN

• openness
• conscientiousness
• extraversion
• agreeableness
• neuroticism (experiencing irritability, anger, sadness, anxiety. worry, hostility, self-consciousness, and vulnerability)

Question 14

nomethetic vs ideographic

Answer 14

nomethetic = between-persons

ideographic = within-persons (measure variables within a person over time)

Question 15

which of the big five show the most pro-environmental behaviour

Answer 15

(the 3 first) openness, conscientiousness, extraversion

Question 16

which of the big five traits were not linked to emissions reducing behaviours

Answer 16

agreeableness & neuroticism

Question 17

theory of general intelligence

Answer 17

performance on a variety of tasks, people whos core highly on one type of item typically score highly on other items

Question 18

theory of general intelligence: what is the positive manifold of g

Answer 18

the observation that if one scores well on one test, they are likely to score well on the other tests as well.

Question 19

fluid intelligence vs crystallized intelligence

Answer 19

fluid intelligence: information processing (reasoning, analogies). independent of education.

crystallized intelligence: knowledge acquired through experience, culture-based.

Question 20

examples of crystallized intelligence

Answer 20

vocabulary, general knowledge

Question 21

Outcome of study on blook donation/self-interest

Answer 21

people underestimated how prosocial people were, aka people are not as selfish as expected

Question 22

dictator game

Answer 22

a (the dictator) freely decides how much x of an endowment to give to B (the recipient)

Question 23

ultimatum game

Answer 23

a (the proposer) decides how much x of an endowment to give to B (the responder). B has veto power to accept or reject a’s offer.

Question 24

trust game

Answer 24

a (the trustor) decides how much x of an endowment to give to B (the trustee). b can return any amount to A

Question 25

prisoner’s dilemma

Answer 25

a and b decide independtly whether to cooperate or defect.

Question 26

public goods game

Answer 26

each number of a group decides how much of an individual endowment to contribute to a group account. contributions are multiplied by a constant and share equally across groups members

Question 27

commons dilemma

Answer 27

each member of a group decides how much x to take from a common resource.

Question 28

which economic game best represents taking out the trash in a shared flat

Answer 28

Public Goods Game.

Players: The flatmates.

Contributions: Represent the act of taking out the trash.

Common Pool: Represents the clean and pleasant living environment.

Outcome: If all players contribute (take out the trash regularly), everyone benefits from a clean flat.

Question 29

True or false: personality is fairly stable over the lifespan and predicts important outcomes and behaviours like health, social status, relationship quality

Answer 29

True