Psych 100 - Personality - Final exam Flashcards
Somatology
Based on the idea that we could determine people’s personality based on their body types.
Rounder and plumper (endomorphs) were more likely to be assertive and bold.
Thinner (ectomorphs) were more likely to be introverted and intellectual.
Discredited in modern day psychology.
Physiognomy
The idea that it is possible to assess personality from facial characteristics.
Some evidence that people are able to tell whether someone is gay or straight, or liberal or conservative.
MMPI test
Widely used personality test - Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
First published in 1943. 504 true-false questions, and updated to the MMPI-2 in 1989, with 567 questions.
Composed of 10 scales: hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviance (i.e., social deviance), masculinity versus femininity, paranoia, psychasthenia (i.e., obsessive-compulsive qualities), schizophrenia, hypomania, and social introversion.
Originally developed for psychological disorder diagnosis, now used in occupational screening, such as in law enforcement, and in college, career, and marital counselling.
Projection testing
Relies on the Freud defence mechanism, projection to assess unconscious processes.
During this type of testing, a series of ambiguous cards is shown to the person being tested, who then is encouraged to project their feelings, impulses, and desires onto the cards — by telling a story, interpreting an image, or completing a sentence
Rorschach Inkblot Test, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), the Contemporized-Themes Concerning Blacks Test (C-TCB), the TEMAS (Tell-Me-A-Story), and the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (RISB).
The Rorschach inkblot test has been standardized using the Exner system and is effective in measuring depression, psychosis, and anxiety.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) - shown eight to 12 ambiguous pictures and is asked to tell a story about each picture. Storytelling format is used to lower a person’s resistance for divulging information.
Standardization of test admin is virtually nonexistent among clinicians, and the test tends to be modest to low on validity and reliability. Despite these shortcomings, the TAT has been one of the most widely used projective tests.
RISB - Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank - three forms: school, college and adult. 40 incomplete sentences that are to be completed as fast as possible.
Used in screening college students for adjustment problems and in career counselling.
C-TCB - Personality test
When the TAT was used with African-American test-takers, the result was often shorter story length and low levels of cultural identification.
Contemporized-Themes Concerning Blacks Test (C-TCB), which contains 20 colour images that show scenes of African-American lifestyles.
Use of the C-TCB led to increased story length, higher degrees of positive feelings, and stronger identification.
Lexical hypothesis
States that all important personality characteristics should be reflected in the language that we use to describe other people.
Superego
Our moral compass. Strives to live up to demands, and when we don’t, we feel guilty.
Reality principle
The idea that we must delay gratification of our basic motivations until the appropriate time with the appropriate outlet
Ego
Largely conscious controller or decision-maker of personality.
The ego serves as the intermediary between the desires of the id and the constraints of society contained in the superego.
We may want to scream, yell, or hit, and our ego tells us to wait and choose a more appropriate response.
Defence mechanisms
Unconscious psychological strategies used to cope with anxiety and maintain a positive self-image
Sublimation - Freud defense mechanism
Channeling unacceptable sexual or aggressive desires into acceptable activities
Reaction formation - Freud defense mechanism
Making unacceptable motivations appear as their exact opposite
Displacement - Freud defence mechanism
Diverting threatening impulses away from the source of the anxiety and toward a more acceptable source
