Lecture 3: Personality, Stability and Change

Question 1

internal changes

Answer 1

changes that occur within a person and not in the external environment

Question 2

permanent changes

Answer 2

changes that are enduring over time, not temporary

Question 3

what can cause short term fluctuations

Answer 3

• situations
• time
• mood
• current goals
• substances

Question 4

what can cause long-term trait change

Answer 4

• age
• life events
• change in life goals

Question 5

absolute change/change at mean level

Answer 5

change in population/group mean

Question 6

differential/ rank change

Answer 6

change in the position of individuals within the group

Question 7

plaster hypothesis

Answer 7

traits develop in childhood and reach a mature form in adulthood, then are stable in cognitively intact individuals

Question 8

plasticity hypothesis

Answer 8

personality is malleable throughout life and can changed by:
- change of environment
- change in social roles
- life events

Question 9

five factor theory

Answer 9

personality traits are dispositions from within the individual that follow genetically predetermined paths over which the environment has very little influence

Question 10

maturation across age

Answer 10

agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability increase with age

Question 11

temperament

Answer 11

early personality traits or individuals that arise very easily in life, are largely hereditary and have to do with emotionality or irritability

Question 12

temperament factors

Answer 12

• activity level
• fear
• calmness
• duration of orientation
• need for restrictions
• smiling and laughing

Question 13

reasons for personality stability and change

Answer 13

• new social roles
• change in goals
• biological maturation

Question 14

why we stop changing

Answer 14

• genes
• stable roles
• personality-environment transactions

Question 15

heritability

Answer 15

degree to which genetic differences among individuals (=genotypic variance) cause differences in an observational trait or property (=phenotypic variance)

Question 16

twin studies

Answer 16

estimates heritability by examining whether identical twins are more alike than fraternal twins

Question 17

adoption studies

Answer 17

one can examine the correlations between adopted children and their adoptive parents, with whom they do not share genes

Question 18

difficulties of twin/adoption studies

Answer 18

• heritability studies based on correlations: indicate the heritability of only personality differences
• difficult distinction between shared and non-shared environment
• possible overestimation of personality differences between siblings

Question 19

social learning

Answer 19

we imitate and learn from behavior of other people we consider successful