Psych of Personality Mid Term Flashcards
Interactionism
The principle that aspects of personality and of situations work together to determine behavior; neither has an effect by itself nor is one more important than the other.
Constructivism
The philosophical view that reality, as a concrete entity, does not exist and that only ideas of reality exist
critical realism
The philosophical view that the absence of perfect. infallible criteria for determining the truth does not imply that all interpretations of reality are equally valid; instead, one an use empirical evidence to determine which views of reality are more or less likely to be valid
convergent validation
The process of assembling diverse pieces of information that converge on a common conclusion
interjudge agreement
The degree to which two or more people making judgments about the same person provide the same description of that person’s personality
behavioral prediction
The degree to which a judgment or measurement can predict the behavior of the person in questions
predictive validity
The degree wo which one measure can be used to predict another
moderator variable
A variable that affects the relationship between tow other variables
judgability
The extent to which an individual’s personality can be judged accurtley by others
single-trait approach
The research strategy of focusing on one particular trait of interest and learning as much as possible about its behavioral correlates, developmental antecedents, and life consequences
many-trait approach
The research strategy that focuses on a particular behavior and investigates its correlates with as many different personality traits as possible in order to explain the basis of the behavior and to illuminate the workings of personality
essential-trait approach
The research strategy that attempts to narrow the list of thousands of trait terms into a shorter list of the ones that really matter
typological approach
The research strategy that focuses on identifying types of individuals. Each type is characterized by a particular pattern of traits.
California Q-set
A set of 100 descriptive items that comprehensively covers the personality domain
lexical hypothesis
The idea that, if people find something is important, they will develop a word for it, and therefore the major personality traits will have synonymous terms in many different languages
rank order consistency
The maintenance of individual differences in behavior or personality over time or across situations
temperament
The term often used for the personality of very young, pre-verbal children. Aspects of temperament include basic attributes such as activity level, emotional reactivity, cheerfulness
heterotypic continuity
the reflection of the consistency of fundamental differences in personality that change with age: e.g. the emotionally fragile child will act differently than the emotionally fragile adult, but the underlying trait is still the same.
person-environment transaction
The processes by which people respond to, seek out, and create environment that are compatible with, and may magnify, their personality
active person-environment transaction
The process of social influence by which people seek out situations that are compatible with their personalities, or avoid situations that they perceive as incompatible.
reactive person-environment transaction
The process by which people with different personalities may react differently to the same situation
evocative person-environment transaction
The process by which a people may change situations they encounter through behaviors that express their personality
comuluative continuity principle
The idea that personality becomes more stabile and unchanging as a person gets older
personality developmet
Change in personality over time, including the development of adult personality from its origins in infancy and childhood, and changes in personality over the life span
cross-sectional study
A study of personality development in which people of different ages are assessed at the same time
cohort effect
The tendency for a research finding to be limited to one group, or cohort, of people, such as people all living during a particular era or in a particular location.
longitudinal study
A study of personality development in which the same people are assessed repeatedly over extended periods of time, sometimes many years.
maturity principle
The idea that traits associated with effective functioning increase with age
social clock
The traditional expectations of society for when a person is expected to have achieved certain goals such as starting a family or getting settled into a career.
narative identity
The story one tells oneself about who one is
Neurons
A cell of the nervous system that receives and transmits information also called nerve cell
hypothalamus
A complex structure near the lower center of the brain that has direct connections to many other parts of the brain and is involved in the production of psychologically important hormones, thought to be important for mood and motivation.
hormones
A biological chemical that affects parts of the body some distance from where it is produced
amygdala
hippocampus
A complex structure deep within the brain, behind the hypothalamus, that plays in important role in memory processes
cortex
The outside portion of an organ in the context of this book the outside of the brain.
neocortex
The outer layer of the cortex of the brain, regarded as uniquely human
frontal cortex
The front part of the cortex of the brain. Divided left and right into the two frontal lobes, this part of the brain is associated with cognitive functioning such as planning, foresight, and understanding
electroencephalography (EEG)
A technique for measuring the brain’s electrical activity by placing electrodes sensors on the outside of the scull
magnetoencephalography (MEG)
A technique for using delicate magnetic sensors on the outside of the skull to detect brain activity
positron emission tomography (PET)
A technique for creating images of brain activity by injecting a radioactive tracer into the blood, then using a scanner, finding where in the brain the blood is being metabolized
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
A technique for imaging brain activity by using powerful magnet to help detect blood flow in the brain
somatic marker hypothesis
Neurologist Antonio Damasio’s idea that bodily, emotional component of thought is a necessary part of problem solving and decision making
corpus callosum
The thick bundle of nerve fibers connecting the right and left halves of the brain
anterior cingulate
The front part of the cingulate, a brain structure that runs from the front to the back of the brain in the middle, just above the corpus callosum. The anterior cingulate is believed to be important for the experience of normal emotion and self control
neurotransmitters
The chemicals that allow one neuron to affect, or communicate with another
synapse
The space between two neurons across which impulses are carried by neurotransmitters
Central nervous system
The brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system
The system of nerves running throughout the body, not including the brain and spinal cord
endorphins
The body’s own pain-killing chemicals, which operate by blocking the transmission of pain message to the brain
serotonin
A neurotransmitter within the brain that plays an important role in the regulation of emotion and motivation
gonads
The glands, testes in men and ovaries in women, that produce the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen.
adrenal cortex
The outer layer of the adrenal gland, atop the kidneys, that secretes several behaviorally important hormones
epinephrine
A neurotransmitter in the brain and also a hormone that is released by the adrenal gland as part of the body’s response to stress, also called adrenaline
norepinephrine
An important neurotransmitter in the brain that is associated with responses to stress; also called noradrenaline
oxytocin
A hormone that may have specific effects in women of emotional attachment and calming
testosterone
The male sex hormone
estrogen
THe female sex hormone
cortisol
A collective term for the glucocorticoid hormones, which are released into the blood stream by the adrenal cortex as a response to physical or psychological stress
personality trait
A pattern of thought emotion or behavior that is relatively consistent over time and across situations
alleles
A particular variant, or form of a gene; most genes have two or more alleles
epigenetics
Nongenetic influences on a gene’s expression such as stress, nutrition, and so forth
