PSY1001 WEEK 9

Question 1

explain the origin of personality (Ancient Greece)

Answer 1

balance of fluids
yellow bile: volatile
black bile: sad
blood: optimistic
phlegm: calm

Question 2

explain phrenology

Answer 2

pseudoscience predicting personality through size, shape and bumps of skull. personality only nature, each brain ‘organ’ controlled aspects of personality

Question 3

what part of phrenology is still present today

Answer 3

idea that localisation of brain occurs

Question 4

what was the psychograph (1900’s)

Answer 4

wire helmet with wires and probes to match bumps on head, print out brain personality profile
disposition identified in head, nose, chin

Question 5

define personality

Answer 5

consistent and enduring patterns of thoughts, emotions and behaviours that influence interaction with environment, involving internal traits, external expression, motivation and social tendencies

Question 6

name 4 theories of personality

Answer 6

psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioural/socio-cognitive, trait

Question 7

outline psychodynamic theory of personality

Answer 7

influenced by childhood, unconscious mind: id (needs and urges), ego, superego (ideals and morals) with personality developed between conflict between them

Question 8

explain the humanistic theory of personality

Answer 8

emphasised importance of free will, role of own conscious experience, people are inherently good, motivated to pursue goals, look for ways to improve and learn

Question 9

explain the behavioural approach toward personality

Answer 9

influenced by association, reward, punishment

Question 10

explain the social-cognition approach toward personality

Answer 10

viewed through lens of social interactions and learning, Bobo doll study (learnt aggression). both behavioural and social-cognitive view environment having strong influence

Question 11

define trait

Answer 11

relatively stable personality characteristic that cause individual to behave certain way, stable across time, situ

Question 12

why is trait continuous, not categorical

Answer 12

people have more or less of trait by demonstrating specific behaviours with more frequency, intensity and across wider range of situations

Question 13

what is the lexical hypothesis for personality (trait)

Answer 13

personality differences can be derived from total number of descriptor in any language system (fear, timid..)

Question 14

outline Eysenck big 3 main continuums

Answer 14

linked personality to physiological substrates, personality resulting from differing levels of arousal
extroversion-introversion
neuroticism-emotional stabilities
psychoticism-ego

Question 15

explain neuroticism

Answer 15

autonomic arousal (regulate involuntary function like Hr, BP, fight or flight)

Question 16

explain extraversion

Answer 16

cortical arousal (responsible for higher order cognitive processes - perception, memory, alertness, wakefulness)

Question 17

explain RAS

Answer 17

respond to stimuli like food and social contact
introverts have high RAS baseline so need lower stimulus

Question 18

explain history of big 5

Answer 18

Allport reduced 18,000 traits to 4500
futher (Cattell) reduced to 16

Question 19

outline OCEAN (big 5 trait continuum)

Answer 19

openness - willingness to try new things, engage in imagination
conscientiousness - ability to regulate own impulses, goal-directed behav, control, inhibition, behavioural persistency
extroversion - tendency and intensity to seek interaction, social, and comfort
agreeableness - how they treat relationship with others
neuroticism - overall emotional stability of individual, interpretation of threatening event

Question 20

critically evaluate big 5

Answer 20

describe personality (not a theory), developed to organise different traits
each traits useful for personality overviews, however more specific traits needed for outcome prediction
good cross-cultural validity

Question 21

can personality predict behaviour? (situationism)

Answer 21

low correlation of personality/behaviour indicating situation determinism
created theory of interactionism (behaviour = person x situation)

Question 22

does personality change across lifetime? (research)

Answer 22

mean stability levels for big 5=
intially decline between 10-15, then 15+ increase in overall conscientiousness and openness, neuroticism decreases

Question 23

can personality change due to experiences? (research)

Answer 23

divorce = more conscientiousness (no divorce = less)
retirement = less conscientious (unretire still decreased)
first job increased in conscientious

Question 24

can we change personalities (research)

Answer 24

expressing goal to increase any of big 5 traits increased self-reports of said trait

Question 25

explain the Barnum/Forer effect (online personality tests)

Answer 25

cognitive bias occuring when we believe generic personality description

Question 26

explain projective test, and give 2

Answer 26

giving ambiguous stimuli and ask description. Inkblot - psychoanalysis
Thematic Apperception Test - show series of pictures, depicts variety of ambiguuous characters, scenes and situ

Question 27

give advantages and weaknesses of self-report questionnaire

Answer 27

Likert scales
advantage = lots of self info in varying situations, direct access to feelings
disadvantage = SDB

Question 28

give advantages and disadvantages of informant report questionnaires

Answer 28

advantage = lot of info on many situ, known for a long time, some traits define by how others see them
disadvantage = not convenient

Question 29

outline behavioural measures for personality test

Answer 29

observe and categorise behaviour into trait category

Question 30

give advantage and disadvantage of behavioural measures

Answer 30

advantage = easily observed, quantified in meaningful way
disadvantage = some behaviours hard to link to one specific traits