Psych of Personality Mid Term

Question 1

Interactionism

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Constructivism

Answer 2

The philosophical view that reality, as a concrete entity, does not exist and that only ideas of reality exist

Question 3

critical realism

Answer 3

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

Question 4

convergent validation

Answer 4

The process of assembling diverse pieces of information that converge on a common conclusion

Question 5

interjudge agreement

Answer 5

The degree to which two or more people making judgments about the same person provide the same description of that person’s personality

Question 6

behavioral prediction

Answer 6

The degree to which a judgment or measurement can predict the behavior of the person in questions

Question 7

predictive validity

Answer 7

The degree wo which one measure can be used to predict another

Question 8

moderator variable

Answer 8

A variable that affects the relationship between tow other variables

Question 9

judgability

Answer 9

The extent to which an individual’s personality can be judged accurtley by others

Question 10

single-trait approach

Answer 10

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

Question 11

many-trait approach

Answer 11

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

Question 12

essential-trait approach

Answer 12

The research strategy that attempts to narrow the list of thousands of trait terms into a shorter list of the ones that really matter

Question 13

typological approach

Answer 13

The research strategy that focuses on identifying types of individuals. Each type is characterized by a particular pattern of traits.

Question 14

California Q-set

Answer 14

A set of 100 descriptive items that comprehensively covers the personality domain

Question 15

lexical hypothesis

Answer 15

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

Question 16

rank order consistency

Answer 16

The maintenance of individual differences in behavior or personality over time or across situations

Question 17

temperament

Answer 17

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

Question 18

heterotypic continuity

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

person-environment transaction

Answer 19

The processes by which people respond to, seek out, and create environment that are compatible with, and may magnify, their personality

Question 20

active person-environment transaction

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

reactive person-environment transaction

Answer 21

The process by which people with different personalities may react differently to the same situation

Question 22

evocative person-environment transaction

Answer 22

The process by which a people may change situations they encounter through behaviors that express their personality

Question 23

comuluative continuity principle

Answer 23

The idea that personality becomes more stabile and unchanging as a person gets older

Question 24

personality developmet

Answer 24

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

Question 25

cross-sectional study

Answer 25

A study of personality development in which people of different ages are assessed at the same time

Question 26

cohort effect

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

longitudinal study

Answer 27

A study of personality development in which the same people are assessed repeatedly over extended periods of time, sometimes many years.

Question 28

maturity principle

Answer 28

The idea that traits associated with effective functioning increase with age

Question 29

social clock

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

narative identity

Answer 30

The story one tells oneself about who one is

Question 31

Neurons

Answer 31

A cell of the nervous system that receives and transmits information also called nerve cell

Question 32

hypothalamus

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

hormones

Answer 33

A biological chemical that affects parts of the body some distance from where it is produced

Question 34

amygdala

Question 35

hippocampus

Answer 35

A complex structure deep within the brain, behind the hypothalamus, that plays in important role in memory processes

Question 36

cortex

Answer 36

The outside portion of an organ in the context of this book the outside of the brain.

Question 37

neocortex

Answer 37

The outer layer of the cortex of the brain, regarded as uniquely human

Question 38

frontal cortex

Answer 38

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

Question 39

electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 39

A technique for measuring the brain's electrical activity by placing electrodes sensors on the outside of the scull

Question 40

magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Answer 40

A technique for using delicate magnetic sensors on the outside of the skull to detect brain activity

Question 41

positron emission tomography (PET)

Answer 41

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

Question 42

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 42

A technique for imaging brain activity by using powerful magnet to help detect blood flow in the brain

Question 43

somatic marker hypothesis

Answer 43

Neurologist Antonio Damasio's idea that bodily, emotional component of thought is a necessary part of problem solving and decision making

Question 44

corpus callosum

Answer 44

The thick bundle of nerve fibers connecting the right and left halves of the brain

Question 45

anterior cingulate

Answer 45

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

Question 46

neurotransmitters

Answer 46

The chemicals that allow one neuron to affect, or communicate with another

Question 47

synapse

Answer 47

The space between two neurons across which impulses are carried by neurotransmitters

Question 48

Central nervous system

Answer 48

The brain and spinal cord

Question 49

Peripheral nervous system

Answer 49

The system of nerves running throughout the body, not including the brain and spinal cord

Question 50

endorphins

Answer 50

The body's own pain-killing chemicals, which operate by blocking the transmission of pain message to the brain

Question 51

serotonin

Answer 51

A neurotransmitter within the brain that plays an important role in the regulation of emotion and motivation

Question 52

gonads

Answer 52

The glands, testes in men and ovaries in women, that produce the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen.

Question 53

adrenal cortex

Answer 53

The outer layer of the adrenal gland, atop the kidneys, that secretes several behaviorally important hormones

Question 54

epinephrine

Answer 54

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

Question 55

norepinephrine

Answer 55

An important neurotransmitter in the brain that is associated with responses to stress; also called noradrenaline

Question 56

oxytocin

Answer 56

A hormone that may have specific effects in women of emotional attachment and calming

Question 57

testosterone

Answer 57

The male sex hormone

Question 58

estrogen

Answer 58

THe female sex hormone

Question 59

cortisol

Answer 59

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

Question 60

personality trait

Answer 60

A pattern of thought emotion or behavior that is relatively consistent over time and across situations

Question 61

alleles

Answer 61

A particular variant, or form of a gene; most genes have two or more alleles

Question 62

epigenetics

Answer 62

Nongenetic influences on a gene's expression such as stress, nutrition, and so forth