variations in psychology Flashcards
define individual differences
Individual differences refer to distinctiveness and variations among people’s characteristics and behaviour patterns. Eg. People differ in height, weight, intelligence, interests, etc.
explain situationism
Situationism states that situations and circumstances in which one is placed influence one’s behaviour. The situationist perspective views human behaviour relatively more as a result of influence of external factors. Eg. A person, who is generally aggressive, may behave in a submissive manner in the presence of her/his boss.
what are the factors influencing behaviour
- personal traits
- situational factors
what is meant by assessment? define.
Assessment is the first step in
understanding a psychological attribute.
Assessment refers to the measurement of
psychological attributes of individuals and
their evaluation, often using multiple
methods in terms of certain standards of
comparison
what are the 2 types of assessment?
assessment may
be informal or formal. Formal assessment
is objective, standardised, and organised.
On the other hand, informal assessment
varies from case to case and from one
assessor to another and, therefore, is open
to subjective interpretations.
The attribute chosen for assessment
depends upon our____________
purpose
Psychologists
are trained in making _________ assessment
of psychological attributes
formal
Psychological
assessment uses __________________ to evaluate abilities, behaviours,
and personal qualities of individuals
systematic testing
procedures
“Psychological attributes are not linear or
unidimensional.” comment
They are complex and
expressed in terms of dimensions
list the attributes of psychological testing.
- intelligence
- aptitude
- interest
- personality
- values
attributes are
categorised on the basis of________________
varieties of tests
used in psychological literature.
define intelligence
Intelligence is the global capacity to
understand the world, think rationally,
and use available resources effectively
when faced with challenges.
describe the role of intelligence tests
Intelligence
tests provide a global measure of a
person’s general cognitive competence
including the ability to profit from
schooling. Generally, students having
low intelligence are not likely to do so
well in school-related examinations, but
their success in life is not associated
only with their intelligence test scores
define aptitude
Aptitude refers to an individual’s
underlying potential for acquiring skills
describe the role of aptitude tests
Aptitude tests are used to predict what
an individual will be able to do if given the proper environment and training. A
person with high mechanical aptitude
can profit from appropriate training and
can do well as an engineer.
define interest.
Interest is an individual’s preference for
engaging in one or more specific
activities relative to others
how is interest assessment helpful?
Assessment
of interests of students may help to
decide what subjects or courses they
can pursue comfortably and with
pleasure. Knowledge of interests helps
us in making choices that promote life
satisfaction and performance on jobs.
define personality
Personality refers to relatively enduring
characteristics of a person that make
her or him distinct from others
role of personality tests
Personality tests try to assess an
individual’s unique characteristics, e.g.
whether one is dominant or submissive,
outgoing or withdrawn, moody or
emotionally stable, etc. Personality
assessment helps us to explain an
individual’s behaviour and predict how
she/he will behave in future
define values
Values are enduring beliefs about an
ideal mode of behaviour
role of value assessment
In value assessment,
we try to determine the dominant
values of a person (e.g., political,
religious, social or economic)
list the several methods used for psychological assessment
- psychological testing
- interview
- case study
- observation
- self-report
define psychological test
A psychological Test is an objective
and standardised measure of an
individual’s mental and/or behavioural
characteristics
explain the 2 types of tests under psychological test
- Objective tests have
been developed to measure all the
dimensions of psychological attributes
(e.g., intelligence, aptitude, etc.)
described above. These tests are widely used for the purposes of clinical diagnosis, guidance, personnel selection, placement, and training. - psychologists have also developed certain projective tests, especially for the assessment of personality
explain the 2 types of tests under psychological test
- Objective tests have
been developed to measure all the
dimensions of psychological attributes
(e.g., intelligence, aptitude, etc.)
described above. These tests are widely used for the purposes of clinical diagnosis, guidance, personnel selection, placement, and training. - psychologists have also developed certain projective tests, especially for the assessment of personality
explain interview with an example.
Interview involves seeking information
from a person on a one-to-one basis.
for eg- when a
counsellor interacts with a client, a
salesperson makes a door-to-door
survey
explain case studies
- Case Study is an in-depth study of the
individual in terms of her/his
psychological attributes, psychological
history in the context of her/his psychosocial and physical environment. - Case studies are widely used by
clinical psychologists. - Case analyses of the lives of great people can also be highly illuminating for those willing to learn from their life experiences.
- Case studies are based on data
generated by different methods, e.g.
interview, observation, questionnaire,
psychological tests, etc.
explain observation with an example
Observation involves employing
systematic, organised, and objective
procedures to record behavioural
phenomena occurring naturally in real
time.
Certain phenomena such as
mother-child interactions can be easily
studied through observation
what are the major
problems with observational methods
The major
problems with observational methods
are that the observer has little control
over the situation and the reports may
suffer from subjective interpretations of
the observer
what is self-report
Self-Report is a method in which a
person provides factual information
about herself/himself and/or opinions beliefs, etc. that s/he holds.
Such information may be obtained by
using an interview schedule or a
questionnaire, a psychological test, or
a personal diary
how does the oxford dictionary define intelligence
Oxford Dictionary explains intelligence as
the power of perceiving, learning,
understanding, and knowing
how did alfred binet define intelligence
Alfred Binet was one of the first psychologists
who worked on intelligence. He defined
intelligence as the ability to judge well,
understand well, and reason well
how did wechsler define intelligence
Wechsler, whose intelligence tests are most
widely used, understood intelligence in
terms of its functionality, i.e. its value for
adaptation to environment. He defined it as
the global and aggregate capacity of an
individual to think rationally, act
purposefully, and to deal effectively with
her/his environment.
how have gardner and sternberg defined intelligence?
Gardner and Sternberg have suggested that an intelligent individual not only adapts to the environment, but also actively modifies or shapes it.
Theories can be broadly classified as either representing a _________ approach or an _________approach.
psychometric/ structural or information-processing approach
The psychometric approach considers intelligence as an_______
aggregate of abilities
describe the psychometric approach
The psychometric approach considers intelligence as an aggregate of abilities. It an expresses the individual’s performance in
act terms of a single index of cognitive abilities.
describe the info processing approach
the information-processing approach describes the processes people use in intellectual reasoning and problem solving. The major focus of this approach is on how an intelligent person acts. Rather than focusing on structure of intelligence or its underlying dimensions, information-processing approaches emphasise studying cognitive functions underlying intelligent behaviour.
where did binets theory of intelligence arise from?
Binet’s theory of intelligence was rather simple as it arose from his interest in differentiating more intelligent from less intelligent individuals.
write a note on one/uni factor theory
Binet’s theory of intelligence was rather simple as it arose from his interest in differentiating more intelligent from less intelligent individuals. He, therefore, conceptualised intelligence as consisting of one similar set of abilities which can be used for solving any or every problem in an individual’s environment.
His theory of intelligence is called Uni or one factor theory of intelligence. This theory came to be disputed when psychologists started analysing data of individuals, which was collected using Binet’s test.
why did uni factor theory came to be disputed?
This theory came to be disputed when psychologists started analysing data of individuals, which was collected using
Binet’s test.
