PSYC 387 Practice Questions
. Mischel's original argument was that the correlations between personality and behavior, or between behavior in one situation and behavior in another situation, seldom exceeded ______. Topic: n/a a. .20 b. .30 c. .50 d. .80
A
3. A psychologist who is concerned primarily with how a person's genes, physiology, and brain anatomy are related to their personality follows the ___________ approach. Topic: n/a a. biological b. humanitarian c. psychoanalytical d. behavioral
A
A psychologist who is concerned primarily with a person's conscious experiences follows the ___________ approach. Topic: n/a a. phenomenological b. superego c. learning-cognitive d. psychoanalytic
A
According to psychologist Jonathan Haidt, conservatives are likely to strongly value ______. Topic: n/a a. In-group loyalty b. Self-monitoring c. Agreeableness d. Openness to experience
A
Adolescents who were using drugs at age 14 were described as children as being _______. Topic: n/a a. Emotionally unstable and disobedient b. Charming and likeable c. Mature and passive d. Quiet and conservative
A
Behaviorism, social learning theory, and cognitive personality psychology comprise which of the following approaches to psychology? Topic: n/a a. Learning and cognitive approach b. Social learning approach c. Trait approach d. Biological approach
A
Beyond simply pigeonholing individuals into convenient categories, measuring personality traits can be thought of as having two larger purposes. One is to predict behavior. Another is: Topic: n/a a. To understand behavior. b. To control behavior. c. To intercept dangerous behavior. d. To manipulate behavior.
A
Even with carefully and systematically recorded B data, it is hard to construct a perfect picture of an individual's behavior. Which of the following natural B-data methods is often used to fill in the gaps when psychologists are unable to observe their participants at every moment of the day? Topic: n/a a. Experience-sampling methods, in which participants provide data on their feelings and activities in response to random prompts over a period of time b. Personality testing, in which participants answer questionnaires about their general opinions, favorite activities, and feelings c. Hiring private detectives to report in detail everything a participant said and did over the course of the study d. Psychoanalysis, where a participant's unconscious mind is analyzed as a balance to their conscious choices, feelings, and activities
A
Humanistic psychology pursues how conscious awareness can produce uniquely human attributes such as________. Topic: n/a a. existential anxiety, creativity, and free will b. eating, drinking, and sleeping c. thoughts, feelings, and biology d. id, ego, and superego
A
In Funder and Ozer's reanalysis of several famous studies of cognitive dissonance, bystander intervention, and obedience, what did their algebraic comparison reveal? Topic: n/a a. The sizes of the effects of the person and of the situation were much more similar than many had assumed. b. Neither personality variables nor situational variables have much of an effect on behavior. c. There is cause to doubt the influence of the situational variables even in these crucial social psychology experiments. d. Personality variables were the important determinants of behavior in these experiments.
A
Informant-report data can best be defined as: Topic: n/a a. Judgments by knowledgeable human informants of general attributes of the individual's personality made through observation. b. Concrete statistics about real-life outcomes, based upon verifiable records. c. Information given by a participant about how he is feeling at some given point in the day. d. Data provided by other psychologists working on similar studies.
A
One critique of personality psychology is that it "pigeonholes" people. What does this mean? Topic: n/a a. Categorizing and labeling people b. Statistically analyzing results c. Prescribing medication d. Psychoanalyzing people
A
One method for answering the question "What are the chances I would have found this result if nothing were really going on?" is called_____. Topic: n/a a. Null-hypothesis significance testing b. The population c. Correlational method d. P-level
A
Openness is related to___________. Topic: n/a a. Forgiveness, political liberalism, artistic interests b. Religious beliefs, family satisfaction, political conservatism c. Psychological health, peer acceptance, job attainment d. Poor coping, poor family relations, criminal behavior
A
People who score high on the openness to experience/intellect trait are_____. Topic: n/a a. More prone to play a musical instrument b. More likely to be involved in religious activities c. Likely to be on time to appointments d. Successful in the workplace
A
Personality psychology's unique mission is to: Topic: n/a a. Explain whole persons. b. Examine a person's behavior and consciousness. c. Explore brain structure for clues about behavior. d. a and b e. b and c
A
S data have ______________, meaning they ask questions that are directly and obviously related to the construct they are designed to measure. Topic: n/a a. face validity b. content validity c. construct validity d. internal consistency
A
Tests of integrity, conscientiousness, and most other personality tests do not ________. Topic: n/a a. Show racial or ethnic differences b. Predict workplace outcomes c. Use modern personality theory d. Make fiscal sense to companies
A
The concept of self-monitoring states that some individuals have very different ''inner'' and ''outer'' selves. _______ are individuals who really do vary in their inner and outer selves, and who modulate their personalities greatly depending on their setting; _________ are largely the same outside as they are inside and do not vary much from one setting to another. Topic: n/a a. High self-monitors; low self-monitors b. Low self-monitors; high self-monitors c. Self-monitors; situation-monitors d. Situation-monitors; self-monitors
A
The distinction between reliability and validity is not always easy. To better distinguish between the two notions, we now tend to view them as aspects of a single broader concept called ________. Topic: n/a a. Generalizability b. Objectivity c. Trait specificity d. Multideterminism
A
The fact that women are more likely than men to sign up for a study affects the _____________ of the study. Topic: n/a a. Generalizability b. Validity c. Reliability d. Psychometrics
A
The idea that people are psychologically different, and it is important and interesting to note these differences is evident by: Topic: n/a a. New words arising to describe individual differences. b. Making mistakes when judging personality traits. c. Observing people in naturalistic situations. d. Comparing situations to personality traits.
A
The principle behind the Spearman-Brown formula in psychometrics states that because random errors tend to cancel one another out, the ____ error-filled your measurements are, the ____ of them you need. Topic: n/a a. More; more b. More; less c. Less; less d. Less; more
A
Unhappiness, poor family relations, and occupational dissatisfaction characterize which of the Big Five personality traits? Topic: n/a a. Neuroticism b. Extraversion c. Introversion d. Agreeableness
A
Validity can most simply be defined as: Topic: n/a a. The degree to which a measurement actually reflects what it is supposed to be measuring. b. The degree to which a test gives us the same results each time we measure it. c. The degree to which extraneous errors in an experiment undermine its reliability. d. The degree to which a test applies equally well to both men and women.
A
What method of research examines the behavior patterns of certain types of individuals? Topic: n/a a. The single-trait approach b. The many-trait approach c. The essential-trait approach d. The typological approach
A
Which is NOT a type of laboratory B data? Topic: n/a a. Experience sampling b. (Certain) personality tests c. Physiological measures d. Experiments
A
Which of the Big Five Personality traits relate to being happy, healthy, living a long life, and grateful? Topic: n/a a. Extraversion b. Agreeableness c. Neuroticism d. Openness e. Conscientiousness
A
Which of the Big Five personality traits is associated with a tendency to be cooperative? Topic: n/a a. Agreeableness b. Extraversion c. Conscientiousness d. Neuroticism e. Openness
A
Which of the following answers is an example of a basic approach, or paradigm, of personality psychology? Topic: n/a a. The psychoanalytic approach b. When one theory must be used to explain a certain aspect of another theory c. When two theories overlap each other d. Funder's First Law
A
Which of the following correlational coefficients shows the strongest relationship? Topic: n/a a. -.94 b. .83 c. 0 d. .72
A
Which of the following is an example of a construct? Topic: n/a a. Intelligence b. The brain c. A laboratory d. A personality psychologist
A
Which of the following sentences describes a Type I error in significance testing? Topic: n/a a. A Type I error involves deciding that one variable has a relationship with another, when really it does not. b. A Type I error involves misinterpreting a nonsignificant result to mean "no result." c. A Type I error involves deciding that one variable does not have a relationship with another, when really it does. d. A Type I error involves misinterpreting a significant result—i.e., one that did not occur by chance—for one that is strong or importan
A
Why might adults tend to be more stable when it comes to personality and decision making, whereas adolescents and children tend to be more erratic and fluctuating? Topic: n/a a. Adults tend to be more consistent than younger people because they have undertaken adult responsibilities and have established consistent identities. b. Adults make fewer judgments about other people's decisions and actions, therefore making their personalities more consistent. c. Younger people enjoy living in the moment, while adults strive to predict the outcome of a given situation. d. All of the above.
A
The biggest disadvantage of L data is that: Topic: n/a a. They are usually more related to social psychology than to personality psychology. b. It is extremely difficult to establish connections between personality and life outcomes, because life outcomes can have so many causes. c. It is extremely difficult to establish connections between personality and life outcomes, because life-outcome data itself is so subjective and unreliable. d. People are able to lie when giving this data.
B
The different approaches to studying personality _____ rather than _______ each other. Topic: n/a a. compete with; complement b. complement; compete with c. prove; disprove d. disprove; prove
B
The number that reflects the size of a result is called the ________. Topic: n/a a. P-level b. Effect size c. Significance test d. Type I error
B
The three parts of the psychological triad: Topic: n/a a. Are not related to one another. b. Are not always consistent at all times. c. Are always consistent with one another. d. Are called the id, the ego, and the superego.
B
The trait approach to personality psychology best describes what situation? Topic: n/a a. A psychologist studying the ways in which people alter their behaviors because of rewards or punishments b. A psychologist focusing on ways that people differ from one another in behavior and disposition, and how these differences might be measured c. A psychologist trying to understand personality in terms of anatomy, physiology, inheritance, and evolution d. A psychologist studying the role of gene expression in babies, children, and young adults
B
Using the typological approach, research has focused on which three personality types? Topic: n/a a. Appreciated, underappreciated, overappreciated b. Well-adjusted, maladjusted overcontrolling, maladjusted undercontrolling c. Extraverted, introverted, agreeable d. Political orientation, narcissism, depressed
B
What are the Big Five personality traits? Topic: n/a a. Anger, greed, generosity, love, creativity b. Extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness c. Introversion, avarice, integrity, open-mindedness, and courage d. Strength, toughness, wisdom, intelligence, and perception
B
What does the correlational coefficient measure? Topic: n/a a. The likelihood of a result occurring b. The magnitude of an effect or the strength of a relationship c. The degree to which a result is generalizable d. The level of causality that can be established between two variables
B
What method of research seeks to explain the pattern of correlation between certain traits and specific behaviors? Topic: n/a a. The single-trait approach b. The many-trait approach c. The essential-trait approach d. The typological approach
B
When patterns of behavior are extreme, unusual, and problematic, personality psychology overlaps with: Topic: n/a a. Cognitive psychology. b. Clinical psychology. c. Social psychology. d. Biological psychology.
B
Which of the four sentences below is NOT one of the three main facets of interactionism; that is, the way in which persons and situations produce behavior together? Topic: n/a a. The effect of a personality variable may depend on the situation, or vice versa. b. People's personality traits are often in opposition of the situation. c. Situations tend to be self-selected; in other words, certain types of people tend to find themselves in certain types of situations. d. People change situations by virtue of the actions they take in them.
B
Which statement accurately reflects the nature of L data? Topic: n/a a. The information collected is exempt from privacy laws. b. L data are the results or "residue" of personality. c. It is hard to verify L data. d. L data does not have much psychological relevance.
B
Which trait refers to excess self-love? Topic: n/a a. Depression b. Narcissism c. Self-monitoring d. Extraversion
B
Your boss begins to praise your abilities after only a single day of your new job. In turn, you become more confident about your job and more certain of yourself, and your productivity goes up. What concept is at play here? Topic: n/a a. Real-world basis b. Expectancy effect c. Causal force d. Common sense
B
. Let's say that when you are at work, your office is always spotless. The papers are always filed, no folders are lying around, and everything is neat and tidy. But when you are at home, your bedroom is a mess, clothes are all over the floor, and dirty dishes are all over the room. This is an example of the concept that: Topic: n/a a. People tend to be confused when in different contexts. b. People are more likely to try and impress their boss than someone at home. c. People often vary their actions and behavior depending on the situation. d. People have a tendency to be deceptive about their true personalities.
C
. Which is not an advantage of the case study method? Topic: n/a a. Sometimes the method is absolutely necessary. b. It can be a source for new ideas. c. It is not controlled. d. It describes the whole phenomenon.
C
18. A systematic, self-imposed limitation of observations, patterns, and ways of thinking about these patterns is called: Topic: n/a a. The trait approach. b. Personality. c. The basic approach. d. The psychological triad.
C
2. Why might older people be more inclined to believe that individuals generally possess consistent personality traits? Topic: n/a a. Statistical analysis reveals that people tend to grow more conservative with age; therefore, older persons are more likely to take a more static view of trait personality. b. Younger individuals benefit from keeping an open mind about the various possibilities in store for them as they develop into adults. c. As people age, they develop consistent personalities for themselves through embarking on a career track, starting families, and undertaking roles and responsibilities. d. Younger people themselves are more consistent than older ones
C
A personality psychologist faces some of the same challenges as a crime-scene detective, because: Topic: n/a a. Each works to uncover the dangerous flaws in a person's character. b. Each tries to see how the clues in any situation would apply to a particular theory of personality. c. Each must gather as many clues as possible while keeping in mind that some or all of the information might be misleading. d. Each must gather clues in the shortest amount of time.
C
Correlational coefficients are measured between a range of +1 and -1. Which of the following is true? Topic: n/a a. The closer the number is to zero, the more closely the two variables are associated. b. A number below zero shows a negative correlation, meaning that the two variables are not related to each other. c. The further the number is from zero in either direction, the stronger the effect. d. The further the number is from zero in either direction, the more measurement error is present in the experiment.
C
Data gathered from direct observations of participants' behavior as they go about their daily activities is what type of B data? Topic: n/a a. Normal B data b. Life B data c. Natural B data d. Laboratory B data
C
Generalizability allows us to do what? Topic: n/a a. Draw the conclusion that some future attempt to exactly replicate an experiment will yield the same results b. Write hypotheses for two separate experiments from different theories c. Apply our results to populations or situations outside of an experiment d. Make a summary of the results of an experiment
C
How do clinical psychology and personality psychology overlap? Topic: n/a a. Clinical psychologists and personality psychologists do not overlap because clinical psychologists are not interested in personality. b. Clinical and personality psychology do not overlap because personality psychologists have never had clinical training. c. Clinical and personality psychology share a common responsibility to understand every feature of an individual, not just single aspects about them. d. Clinical and personality psychology are the same thing.
C
How people feel, think, and behave are parts of: Topic: n/a a. The study of social-person cognition. b. Psychological conflict. c. The psychological triad. d. The sensation-perception-cognition triad.
C
Is "stubbornness" a good personality trait to have? Topic: n/a a. No, being resistant to change is always a weakness. b. Yes, being resolute is always a strength. c. Yes and no; it can be a strength in some situations and a weakness in others. d. It is not necessarily scientific or relevant to look at traits as being good or bad.
C
Let's say that when you are at work, your office is always spotless. The papers are always filed, no folders are lying around, and everything is neat and tidy. But when you are at home, your bedroom is a mess, clothes are all over the floor, and dirty dishes are all over the room. This is an example of the concept that: Topic: n/a a. People tend to be confused when in different contexts. b. People are more likely to try and impress their boss than someone at home. c. People often vary their actions and behavior depending on the situation. d. People have a tendency to be deceptive about their true personalities.
C
One disadvantage of creating "One Big Theory" of personality psychology is: Topic: n/a a. Psychologists would no longer need several approaches. b. It would simplify human behavior. c. It would explain some parts of behavior well and other parts not as well. d. It would nullify the definition of personality.
C
One of the main tenets of the situationist argument is the matter of predictability: Situationists argue that personality traits are useless because they cannot be used to predict behavior. What point do situationists make regarding predicting behavior from personality traits? Topic: n/a a. There is no trait you can use to predict someone's behavior with enough accuracy to be useful. b. The literature they reviewed did not cover a fair sample of research studies. c. The accuracy and applicability of behavioral predictions have a small upper limit of .40. d. Situations are more important than personality traits.
C
Personality psychology can be organized into ____ basic approaches. Topic: n/a a. 3 b. 4 c. 5 d. 10
C
Reliability is important to successful research, but every measurement involves a certain amount of error. Which of the following lists describes some factors that commonly undermine reliability? Topic: n/a a. Deception, informed consent, blind studies b. Negative correlational values, low significance, Type I errors, Type II errors c. Low precision, variation in the participant and environment, state of the experimenter d. all of the above
C
The Binomial Effect Size Display (BESD) is a way to think about the size of ___________. Topic: n/a a. Type II errors b. Scatter plots c. Correlation coefficients d. Case studies
C
The idea of reliability in psychological research refers to: Topic: n/a a. The quality of the data that has been collected. b. The degree to which participants report honest responses during studies. c. The level to which your measurements reflect what you are trying to assess and are not affected by anything else. d. The ability of research assistants to replicate the instructions of the primary researcher.
C
The level of analysis that the trait approach employs is that: Topic: n/a a. Certain psychological properties and processes are universal. b. Properties of people differ, but in ways that allow people to be grouped. c. Each individual is unique and cannot be meaningfully compared with anyone else. d. Situations are stronger predictors of behavior than personality traits.
C
The person-situation debate focuses on which question? Topic: n/a a. Are people inherently good or evil? b. What is the correct number of personality traits? c. Which is more important for determining what people do, the person or the situation? d. Which approach should receive more scientific funding, the person or the situation?
C
The pro-personality response to the situationist argument hinged on three points. Which of the following was NOT among their counterarguments? Topic: n/a a. If research methods were improved, they could yield higher correlational coefficients. b. Mischel's review of personality research did not present a fair representative sample of the aggregated literature. c. Situations overemphasize the level of consistency in people's behavior. d. A correlation of .40 is not small.
C
The trait approach to personality psychology can best be described as: Topic: n/a a. The categorization of personality types to help clinicians diagnose disorders. b. Pigeonholing individuals into categories. c. Translating the natural, informal language of personality and processing it quantitatively to predict and explain human behavior. d. Analyzing dreams and other indicators of unconscious psychic activity.
C
The trait most closely associated with integrity tests is________. Topic: n/a a. Extraversion b. Agreeableness c. Conscientiousness d. Emotional stability
C
The use of a questionnaire or interview to find out what a person is like is called: Topic: n/a a. A cohort report. b. Behavioral data. c. A self-report. d. Life data.
C
The__________ is that the important aspects of human life will be labeled with words, and that if something is truly important and universal, many words for it will exist in all languages. Topic: n/a a. Single-trait approach b. Cross-sectional study c. Lexical hypothesis d. Essential-trait approach
C
This type of data is objective and quantifiable because the information that the psychologist uses is based on his own direct observations: Topic: n/a a. Analyzed data. b. Applied data. c. Behavioral data. d. Life data.
C
What is the difference between S data and B data? Topic: n/a a. In a B-data test, if a psychologist wants to know something about you, she asks you about it. b. S data are time-consuming to collect, whereas collecting B data is fast and efficient. c. If a psychologist wants to know your answer to a question she asks, then it is an S-data test; if she is more interested in how you answer the question, then it is likely to be a B-data test. d. In an S-data test, the psychologist will use what you say about yourself as an indicator of another aspect of your personality, which he is really studying.
C
What is the purpose of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) at research universities? Topic: n/a a. To review and edit psychologists' research paper submissions prior to publication b. To analyze and make modifications to the ethical guidelines established by the American Psychological Association (APA) c. To review the procedures of all research experiments and ensure that they comply with ethical guidelines set by the federal government or the APA d. To interpret and analyze data for researchers after data collection has ended
C
What method of research examines which traits are the most important? Topic: n/a a. The single-trait approach b. The many-trait approach c. The essential-trait approach d. The typological approach
C
When defining personality, we could say that an individual's personality is best described as: Topic: n/a a. How they interact in a social setting combined with how the individual reasons and solves complex problems. b. How they express their emotions through verbal and nonverbal communication. c. Their characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior together with the psychological mechanisms—hidden or not—behind those patterns. d. Their behavioral patterns only.
C
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of self-report data? Topic: n/a a. It is easy to collect. b. It is cost-effective. c. Participants always provide accurate accounts of their personalities. d. The person being questioned is the best expert on their own behavior.
C
Which of the following is a disadvantage of I data? Topic: n/a a. They are not based on a large amount of information. b. They are simply counts and mathematical combinations of the behaviors the informant has seen. c. Their accuracy is limited because individuals often behave differently in different contexts. d. They expose a person's private, inner life without gaining consent.
C
Which of the following sentences describes a Type II error in significance testing? Topic: n/a a. A Type II error involves deciding that one variable has a relationship with another, when really it does not. b. A Type II error involves misinterpreting a nonsignificant result to mean "no result." c. A Type II error involves deciding that one variable does not have a relationship with another, when really it does. d. A Type II error involves misinterpreting a significant result—i.e., one that did not occur by chance—for one that is strong or important.
C
. In studies on the delay of gratification in children, it was found that girls and boys showed certain similar patterns and also some key differences in trait correlation. What is one easy way of summarizing these findings? Topic: n/a a. In both sexes, the children who delayed the longest had high levels of ego resiliency, but in boys only, ego control was also related to the delay. b. In both sexes, the children who delayed the longest had high levels of ego resiliency, but in girls only, ego control was also related to the delay. c. In both sexes, the children who delayed the longest had high levels of ego control, but in boys only, ego resiliency was also related to the delay. d. In both sexes, the children who delayed the longest had high levels of ego control, but in girls only, ego resiliency was also related to the delay.
D
. What are important advantage(s) of the Q-sorting method? Topic: n/a a. It forces a judge to compare all of the test items directly against each other within one individual. b. It restricts the judge to identifying only a few items as those most important to characterizing a particular individual. c. It allows a judge to identify the ways in which a person is all good or all bad. d. a and b
D
1. Why have personality psychologists not combined all paradigms into "One Big Theory"? a. A theory that tries to explain everything would probably not provide the best explanation for any one thing. b. The manageability of research programs would be lost. c. The different basic approaches to psychology address different sets of questions. d. a and c
D
A hybrid of S data and B data is called ______, in which participants report what they think they would do under various circumstances. Topic: n/a a. Face validity b. Self-verification c. Research methods d. Behavioroid
D
A personality psychologist that is concerned primarily with people's unconscious mind and internal conflict follows what approach? Topic: n/a a. Trait approach b. Biological approach c. Social approach d. Psychoanalytic approach
D
According to research on personality development over the life span, which of the following research findings are true? Topic: n/a a. Neuroticism increases for women as they get older. b. Openness decreases in middle age. c. Extraversion levels are quite low in early childhood. d. Conscientiousness increases with age.
D
Because any piece of L data can have many different causes, it is extremely difficult to directly connect life outcomes with specific personality traits. This key disadvantage to L data is referred to as: Topic: n/a a. Causal force. b. Error. c. Intrinsic importance. d. Multidetermination.
D
Experiments and personality tests such as the Rorschach test are ways to yield: Topic: n/a a. S data. b. I data. c. L data. d. B data.
D
In the context of psychological research, what does the word significant mean? Topic: n/a a. A significant result is one that has implications generalizable to most of humanity. b. A significant result is one that has a correlational coefficient of .5 or above. c. A significant result is one that is reliable and valid. d. A significant result is one that is unlikely to occur by chance.
D
In the end, what might be a good way of understanding the relationship between situational variables and personality traits? Topic: n/a a. Situational variables tell us about how people will act in general; personality traits tell us about how people act under specific circumstances. b. Personality traits tell us about how people will act in general; situational variables are not as statistically relevant to predicting behavior. c. Because of the ongoing debate between the situationist and trait approaches, it remains difficult to determine which factor is more important in determining behavior. d. Situational variables tell us about how people will act under certain circumstances; personality traits tell us about how people act in general.
D
In the end, which is more important for determining what people do, the individual's personality or the situation? Topic: n/a a. The individual's personality b. The situation c. Behavior is usually inconsistent. d. Both factors are important to any individual's behavior.
D
Of the four types of data, which ones call for individuals to directly answer questions about themselves or other people? Topic: n/a a. Informants' reports and life outcomes b. Behavioral observations and self-reports c. Life outcomes and behavioral observations d. Informants' reports and self-reports
D
Personality psychology draws heavily from which other branch(es) of psychology? Topic: n/a a. Developmental psychology b. Biological psychology c. Social psychology d. All of the above
D
Personality psychology emphasizes individual differences. How does this focus serve as one of the discipline's strengths? Topic: n/a a. It allows personality psychologists to conduct experiments in which people have no idea they are being observed, letting psychologists observe true personality patterns. b. Pigeonholing people has no advantages and, in fact, is a great weakness of personality psychology. c. It creates valid labels for individuals so clinicians can better diagnose their difficulties and prescribe treatment plans. d. It leads personality psychologists to be extremely sensitive to the fact that people really are different from each other.
D
Research on narcissism has discovered a long list of negative behaviors associated with people who score high on narcissism, including: Topic: n/a a. Not handling failure well. b. Driving like jerks. c. Swearing a lot. d. All of the above.
D
S data are used very frequently because: Topic: n/a a. People are generally honest about describing their behavior. b. People are often unfamiliar with self-questionnaires, so they will usually provide reliable responses. c. Questionnaires can trick people into revealing secret information about themselves. d. People are the best experts on their own opinions and behaviors.
D
Situationists have claimed that situations are important and yet do not measure the effects that situations have upon behavior. This is: Topic: n/a a. understandable because until recent advances in statistics, the effects of situations were thought to be too difficult to test. b. understandable because testing the effects of situations falls into a different discipline of psychology—social psychology—and is not the business of personality psychologists. c. difficult to understand because personality traits do not determine behavior—situations do. d. difficult to understand because there is already a large body of research dedicated to calculating the effects of situations on behavior.
D
The idea that persons and situations constantly work together to produce behavior is called ________. Topic: n/a a. The person-situation debate b. The trait approach c. Situationism d. Interactionism
D
The main difference between state and trait reliability is that: Topic: n/a a. States are consistent, giving reliable measurements across time and situations, whereas traits lack consistency and are unreliable across time and situations. b. Traits are generally more valid measurements, while states are more reliable. c. States and traits have both the same measures of reliability and validity when measuring across time and situations. d. States lack consistency across time and situations, whereas traits produce reliable measures across time and situations.
D
Three of the following four sentences about effect size are true. Which is false? Topic: n/a a. The BESD is a concrete display of what the correlational coefficient means in terms of specific outcomes. b. Squaring the correlation coefficient shows what percent of the data can be explained by the correlation between variables; for example, a coefficient of .4 shows us that 16 percent of the data can be explained by the correlation (a rather strong effect size). c. To interpret a correlation coefficient, it is enough to just use statistical significance. d. The BESD shows how much of an outcome we can predict from an individual measurement of difference.
D
We use psychological research methods to: Topic: n/a a. Confirm things we already suspect to be true. b. Train us how to observe people without being noticed. c. Weed out the students who are bored or confused by technical terms and numbers. d. Gather information in order to learn more about questions of interest.
D
What method of research focuses on the patterns of traits that characterize whole persons, rather than focusing on the traits directly? Topic: n/a a. The single-trait approach b. The many-trait approach c. The essential-trait approach d. The typological approach
D
Which is true of the strengths and weaknesses of the trait approach to personality? Topic: n/a a. It is based on empirical research that mostly uses correlational designs. b. It focuses on comparisons of individual differences. c. It tends to neglect the ways in which each person is unique. d. All of the above.
D
Which of the following statements is false? Topic: n/a a. Experiments require deception. b. Experiments can create variables that do not exist in real life. c. You can never be sure exactly what you manipulated. d. All experiments are possible to conduct.
D
Which personality trait is associated with poor coping, criminal behavior, and poor family relations? Topic: n/a a. Conscientiousness b. The id c. Extraversion d. Neuroticism
D
Which personality trait is most closely identified with integrity? Topic: n/a a. Agreeableness b. Emotional stability c. Acrobatics d. Conscientiousness e. Wisdom
D
Which personality trait is related to happiness, attractiveness, and leadership? Topic: n/a a. Agreeableness b. Neuroticism c. Openness d. Extraversion
D
Which personality variable tends to predict the degree to which people have successful and nonabusive relationships? Topic: n/a a. Constraint b. A low level of negative emotionality c. A high level of positive emotionality d. All of the above
D
Which type of data is an infallible indicator of personality? Topic: n/a a. S data b. B data c. L data d. None of the above
D
One of personality psychology's biggest advantages over other areas of psychology is that it: Topic: n/a a. Uses rigorous research methods. b. Has a broad mandate to account for the psychology of whole persons. c. Created One Big Theory to explain whole persons. d. Uses the psychological triad.
B
Personality is the baggage you carry with you. It affects life outcomes in _____, but not always in_______. Topic: n/a a. The past; the future b. The long run; the short run c. Some situations; other situations d. Relationships; the workplace
B
Self-verification, or the idea that people work hard to cause others to treat them in a manner that confirms their self-conception, is associated with: Topic: n/a a. L data. b. S data. c. B data. d. I data.
B
The ________ says under the right circumstances, anybody could be rich, popular, and successful. The _______ says that some people possess characteristics that make bad outcomes relatively likely. Topic: n/a a. Trait approach; situationist view b. Situationist view; trait approach c. Nature view; nurture view d. Nurture view; nature view
B
. Personality psychology's biggest advantage over other areas of psychology is that: Topic: n/a a. It employs a diverse set of research methods. b. The psychology of whole persons is taken into account. c. It does not need to rely on scientific evidence as much. d. The information it uses to construct theories is easier to collect.
B
A _______ study is where people of different ages are surveyed at the same time, while a _____ study is where the same people are repeatedly measured at different ages. Topic: n/a a. Longitudinal; cross-sectional b. Cross-sectional; longitudinal c. Reliable; valid d. Single-trait; many-trait
B
According to Jack Block's theory of personality on ego resilience and ego control, overcontrolled people tend to ______, while undercontrolled individuals are more prone to________. Topic: n/a a. Speak up; remain quiet b. Inhibit impulses; act on them immediately c. Be aggressive; become passive d. Be liberal; be conservative
B
Both experimental and correlational methods assess the relationship between variables. The two methods are different in that: Topic: n/a a. The correlational method can assess a large number of variables at once, while the experimental method can only examine the effect of one variable upon one other variable. b. The variable that is thought to be causal is manipulated in the experimental method, whereas it is measured without being manipulated in the correlational method. c. Experimental methods are more highly prone to extraneous influences affecting the participants. d. Correlational methods allow psychologists to take measurements without their subjects knowing that they are participating in a study.
B
Correlational methods do all of the following except: Topic: n/a a. Allow constructs to be studied in a variety of settings. b. Show which variable caused the other. c. Allow researchers to find a relationship between two variables. d. Require reliable measures of both variables.
B
Discrepancies among data sources can be as informative as agreement between data sources. What should researchers do to address this issue? Topic: n/a a. Pick their favorite type of data and only use that data source. b. Use multiple sources of data when approaching research questions. c. Conduct experiments on the face validity of personality tests. d. Report results that only agree with their hypothesis.
B
High self-monitors are likely to be described as_____________. Topic: n/a a. Touchy and irritable b. Skilled in social techniques c. Perfectionists d. Independent
B
Imagine an employer who uses two personality tests to screen for social anxiety in candidates interviewing for a sales position. One test asks a variety of questions related to social anxiety—for example, "Do you feel anxious when you meet someone for the first time?"—and is scored by adding up the test taker's responses. The second test asks seemingly unrelated questions—for example, "Do you enjoy foggy or sunny mornings?"—and it is scored for the degree to which the test taker's answers are similar to socially anxious people. What kind of data tests are these? Topic: n/a a. The first is a self-report, and the second is not a valid test. b. The first is a self-report, and the second is a behavioral data test. c. The first is a behavioral test, and the second is not a valid test. d. The first is a self-report, and the second is a nonreliable test.
B
In psychology, representative design refers to what? Topic: n/a a. The idea that subjects such as intelligence, sociability, and friendliness are constructs, as opposed to tangible realities b. The idea that research studies should be designed to be applicable across all the domains to which a psychologist will wish to generalize the results c. The idea that human psychology is the creation of a divine intelligence d. The idea that a group of people living at a particular time tend to be somewhat different from those living earlier or later
B
Making judgments is an important part of which source of data? Topic: n/a a. S data b. I data c. L data d. B data
B
One branch of the phenomenological approach focuses on how conscious awareness produces uniquely human attributes; the other branch focuses on: Topic: n/a a. Biological mechanisms. b. The degree to which the experience of reality might be different in different cultures. c. The conflict of the unconscious mind. d. How people change their behavior based on rewards, punishment, and learning.
B
