Unit 11 Study Guide: Personality

Define "empirically derived" and then apply the terms to the items on the MMPI.

Much more objective than other tests.

Discuss the heritability of the "Big Five" personality characteristics.

Runs 50% or tad more for each dimension. Genes have small effects that combine to influence our traits.

Elias is a seventeen-year old high school students in a middle class neighborhood. The crime rate in his neighborhood is the lowest in the state and his neighbors throw block parties and get-together s monthly, Elias is popular in school and gets good grades. He participates in the drama program and is on the debate team. Elias had been dating a girl steadily for 6 months and they enjoys many of the same activities. All-in-all, Elias a well-adjusted teenager and feels good about his achievements. According to the hierarchy of needs proposed by Abraham Maslow, what is Elias's next "task"?

Self-actualization

Albert Bandura

Self-efficacy

Last week, Clint scored two goals against her rival soccer team in the regional competition. When asked after the game about his goals, Clint was unable to score any goals. When the school reporter asked him about the game, Clint said the rain made the field too slick and the referee missed several calls. As a student of psychology, you know that Clint is affected by a...

Self-serving bias

Students who blame their poor grades on the teacher's dislike of them can be said to have a...

Self-serving bias.

Explain the role of the environment on personality development according to BOTH a social-cognitivist and behaviorist. in what ways are their explanations similar or different?

Social-cognitive perspective: Emphasizes the interactions of our traits with our situations. Think about our situations affects on our behaviors. Behavioral; perspective: Effects of learning on our personalty development. How environment controls us. Similar: Both focus on affects of behavior. Different: Behavior looks at control and social-cognitive looks at situations affects.

Doug is a gullible, trusting man who will do almost anything for his friends as well as strangers. He is very helpful around the house and is readily counted on to be there when you need him. His teen daughters have him wrapped around their fingers and even though he tries to be firm with them, he usually gives them whatever they ask for.

Agreeableness.

Carl Jung's Beliefs

Agreed with Freud that the unconscious exerts a powerful influence. Unconscious contains more than our repressed thoughts and feelings. Also have a collective unconscious that explains why spiritual concerns are deeply rooted and why people in different cultures share certain myths and images.

Paul Costa and Robert McCrae

Big 5 personality traits

This aspect of the mind, according to Freud, operates on the pleasure principle and is chiefly concerned with gratification of needs and wants.

ID

Sigmund Freud

ID, Ego, Superego, and psychosexual stages.

Angelica is often unhappy with those around her and feels she misses out on much that life has to offer. She is dissatisfied with her job and er home life and is seeking help from a humanistic therapist. Most likely the therapist would begin by recognizing what about her self-concept? In what way might the therapist help Angelica?

Ideal self and actual self and how she views the two differently. Negative self-concept.

Explain Thomas Gilovich's research on the spotlight effect.

He made students at Cornell University wear shirts that made them feel like everyone was looking at them.

Abraham Maslow

Hierarchy Of Needs

Using Table 10.2 describe the personality characteristics of someone you know who demonstrates HIGH levels of conscientiousness and openness and LOW levels of neuroticism, extroversion, and agreeableness.

High Levels: Conscientiousness: Organized, careful, and disciplines. Openness: Imaginative, prefers variety, and independent. Low Levels: Neuroticism: Calm, secure, and self-satisfied. Extroversion: Retiring, sober, and reserved. Agreeableness: Ruthless, suspicious, and uncooperative.

Identification

Identifying with a group/person and emulating them in the same way. First happens during Oedipus. Complex when boy attempts to adapt behaviors of father rather than be a jealous rival.

Robert is 5 years of age. According to Freud, Robert is likely

In the phallic stage and attempting to identify with his father.

Explain using examples, how an individualist culture differs from a collectivist culture.

Individualist Culture: I rather than we. Collectivist Culture: Tradition and shared principles.

America is an example of a(n)... culture, while South Korea is an example of a(n)... culture.

Individualist, Collectivist

Alfred Adler

Inferiority complex

Briefly describe the intent and usage of the Rorschach test. How do the responses that individuals provide differ on the TAT test from the Rorschach test?

Ink blots. What they think they mean. TAT Tests: How much motivation we wish to achieve. Rorschach: Determine mental illness.

Carl Rogers

Self or self-concept

According to trait theorists Costa and McCrae, what are the five basic dimensions of personality?

1. Conscientiousness. 2. Agreeableness. 3. Neuroticism (Emotional Stability Vs. Instability). 4. Openness. 5. Extroversion.

Define the self-serving bias and discuss research findings that support the phenomenon. Give an example.

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably. People accept more responsibility for good deeds than bad. Most people see themselves as better than average. Business people say more ethical.

Suzanne is a high school student who is well-liked by her peers. she is an open and transparent friend and can be counted on to tell the truth and share her feelings. She is praised by others for her understanding of friends' problems. She is the first person people go to when they need a good listener. According to Carl Rogers's person-centered perspective, which additional condition should be present in Suzanne's ideal growth climate?

Acceptance

How do Maslow and Rogers define self-concept?

All our thoughts and feelings we have in response to the question "who am I"?

Freud's use of free association was intended to

Allow an exploration of the unconscious.

Describe how free association is used as a tool in psychoanalysis?

Allowed them to retrace a line, following a chain of thought leading into the patient's unconscious where painful memories can be retrieved.

How is personality defined?

An individuals characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Explain how astrology and fortune telling utilize "stock statements" to produce the Barnum effect. How is this different from an empirically derived exam such as the MMPI?

Barnum= If you give someone feedback about their lives then they will believe it. Nothing scientific about it.

Explain the criticism of humanistic views.

Can lead to self-indulgence, selfishness, and an erosion of moral restraints.

What is the self?

Center of personality, organizer of your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Karen Horney's Beliefs

Childhood social tensions are crucial for personality formation. Childhood anxiety triggers our desire for love and security. Countered Freud's assumptions, that women have weak superego and have "penis envy" Attempted to balance the bias of his masculine view.

Carl Jung

Collective Unconscious

According to Carl Jung, humans have a collection of archetypes or images derived from our species' universal experiences. He called this the...

Collective Unconscious.

Cecilia is having a hard time in school. The work she produces for her courses is often riddled with errors and eraser marks but she rarely takes the time to rewrite her papers. Cecilia loses many important assignments because her backpack is filled to overflowing with individual papers crammed in sideways and backwards. Most agree... Cecilia is a mess!

Conscientiousness

Katie is very down-to-earth and practical. She uses recycled grocery bags, shops every Tuesday afternoon to get the best discounts, and lines up her errands in the most efficient way possible. She eats pasta on Mondays and fish every Friday. She never misses any of her 8 PM TV shows.

Conscientiousness.

Explain how Gordon Allport differed from Sigmund Freud in his description of personality.

Described personality in terms of fundamental traits.

Meghan is a high school student who participates on three athletic teams. She has tons of friends and has parties at her house at least once a month so she can see them all. Her parents are drawn to her vibrant spirit, great big bear hugs, and infectious smile. Meghan is well-adjusted and really enjoys her life.

Extroversion

What conclusion did Hands and Sybil Eysenck come to regarding personality traits?

Extroversion and emotional factors are genetically influenced.

According to Freud, what role do defense mechanisms serve? Which part of the personality is responsible for controlling defense mechanisms?

Function indirectly and unconsciously. Defend against anxiety. Repression.

Carl Roger's Three Conditions

Genuineness: Open with their own feelings, drop facades, and are transparent and self-disclosing. Acceptance: Offer unconditional positive regard. Empathy: Share and mirror others feelings and reflect their meaning.

Discuss the ways in which biology and autonomic nervous system arousal are connected with personality traits.

Given a reactive autonomic nervous system, we respond to stress with greater anxiety and inhibition.

Self-Efficacy

How we view ourselves in terms confidence in Reciprocal determinism. A= Affects or thought + emotions. B= Behavior. C=Consequences.

Explain the essential difference between the 1960's humanistic view on personality and the earlier emphasis on psychoanalytic and behaviorist views.

Mechanical and looked at responses. emphasized sickness (negative).

Trevor is a fidgety, nervous bank teller. He frequently worries about a robbery and takes medication to control his anxiety. He sees himself as less capable than his fellow tellers and typically counts money multiple times before giving it to customers. Trevor often wonders if the bank cameras are watching him and if his manger thinks he is taking bank funds from his teller drawer.

Neuroticism

Discuss the criticisms of prjective tests such as Rorschach and TAT.

No emotional MRI. Insufficient. Very little validity.

How would a therapist treat a client with unconditional positive regard?

No matter what a client says they would accept them.

What is self-esteem?

One's feelings of high or low self-worth.

Jeanette is an overweight adult who eats excessively and is often found chomping loudly on gum. Freud might propose that she is fixated in the

Oral Stage

Explain the concept of personal control. What is the difference between an internal and an external locus of control?

Personal control: The perception that chance or outside forces determine our fate. Internal: Believe events in life derive from own actions. External: Blames outside forces for everything.

What happens if our self-concept is positive? Negative?

Positive: We tend to act and perceive the world positively. Negative: We feel dissatisfied and unhappy.

Anh recently immigrated to America and is generally scared and distrustful of her new environment. Among her friends she is known to criticize her American classmates for their standoffishness and rudeness toward her. Freud might explain that Anh is utilizing the defense mechanism of... to protect her mind from her anxiety and not being liked or accepted.

Projection

Briefly describe the intent and usage of the Thematic Apperception Test.

Projective. Express inner feelings by making a story about a random picture.

Alfred Adler's Beliefs

Proposed the idea of inferiority complex. Believed that much of our behavior is driven by efforts to conquer childhood inferiority feelings that trigger our striving for superiority and power.

Nichole was raised in a physically and emotionally abusive home for over a decade before being removed to foster care. When speaking with her social worker, she professes great love for her birth parents and praises them for their care of her. Her social worker, being a great fan of Sigmund Freud, recognizes which of the following defense mechanisms at work?

Reaction Formation

How is factor analysis used to condense large lists of personality traits into a manageable number of basic traits?

Reduce to 2 or more dimensions that tap basic components of intelligence.

Which aspects of Freud's theories have been retained and which have been refuted by today's psychodynamic theorists? How do psychodynamic psychologists differ from traditional psychoanalytic psychologists?

Refuted: Sex is the basis of personality. Id's and ego's. Classifying patients as oral, anal, or phallic characters. Retained: We often struggle with inner conflicts among our wishes, fears, and values, and our childhood shapes our personality and ways of becoming attached to others.

How does identification help children cope with threatening feelings present during the phallic stage, according to Freud?

Repress and identify with parents to get over phallic feelings.

Sandra thinks everyone will notice the large pimple on her cheek and is very anxious about going to school. At the end of the day she is certain all of her classmates have been talking about her pimple when in reality not a single person noticed. Having studied psychology, you know that Sandra is falling victim to the...

Spotlight Effect

Luis is a violent child who frequently got into fights at school. This caused him a great deal of anxiety as he was always in the principal's office and frequently shunned by classmates and labeled as a trouble maker. As an adult, he became a prize-winning boxer. Freud would explain this career choice in terms of which defense mechanism?

Sublimation

According to Freud, around the age of 4 or 5, the aspect of the mind that is the voice of our moral conscience develops. He called this the

Superego

What is reciprocal determinism? Provide an example.

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment. Example: Children's TV-viewing habits (Past), influence their viewing preference (Internal), influence how TV (Environmental) affects current behavior.

Explain how the image of an iceberg illustrates the three components of Sigmund Freud's view of the mind.

The mind is mostly hidden beneath the conscious surface. Id is totally unconscious, but ego and superego operate both consciously and unconsciously.

Define positive psychology and explain the work being done in this field. Who is the individual prominent in the movement?

The scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strength and virtues that enables people to thrive. Promoting high qualities of life. Martin E. P. Seligman.

What characteristics did Maslow find were common among those who had achieved self-actualization?

They were self-aware, self-accepting, open, spontaneous, loving, caring, and not paralyzed by others opinions.

What is the goal of projective tests?

To trigger projection of one's inner dynamics.

What is the purpose of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)?

Used to identify emotional disorder.

Discuss the likelihood that the Big Five traits actually predict behavior.

Very likely. Based on research. Correlation with traits and grades.

Summarize the person-situation controversy

We look for genuine personality traits that persist over time and across situations.