personality psych exam 1 (ch 1-4, 6, 7)
Change of individual differences in personality ___________ over the life span. A. increases and then decreases B. increases C. decreases D. stays the same
A. increases and then decreases
During old age, individuals tend to have goals that focus on ________. A. staying as busy as possible B. what can earn them the most money C. what is meaningful D. traveling around the world
C. what is meaningful
The approach that uses natural language to identify important traits is the _____ approach. A. statistical B. theoretical C. act frequency D. lexical
D. lexical
A researcher seeks to understand the reasons that a person uses drugs. Which ap-proach is the researcher most likely to adopt? A. essential-trait B. typological C. single-trait D. many-trait
D. many-trait
People become better equipped to deal with the demands of life, and they acquire experience and skill. This statement best reflects what principle of personality development? A. lexical B. cumulative continuity C. corresponsive D. maturity
D. maturity
The Big Five are believed to be orthogonal factors of personality. What does orthogonal mean? A. People's scores on one of the factors are useful for predicting their scores on only one of the other factors. B. People's scores on one of the factors are useful for predicting their scores on two of the other factors. C. People's scores on one of the factors are useful for predicting their scores on three or four of the other factors. D. none of the above
D. none of the above
Which of the following characteristics seems to predict increased consistency? A. sociability B. neuroticism C. preference for inconsistency D. none of these attributes
D. none of these attributes
Which of the following would be an example of natural B data? A. number of times a subject interrupts others during a videotaped laboratory situa-tion B. number of seconds a subject waits before seeking help in an experimental emer-gency situation C. a subject's verbal responses to a Rorschach test D. observations of the number of times a subject told a joke in a day
D. observations of the number of times a subject told a joke in a day
According to recent evidence, results from longitudinal studies and cross-sectional studies about personality traits are ________. A. not comparable B. only the same in certain contexts C. drastically different D. only slightly different
D. only slightly different
The processes by which people respond to, seek out, and create environments that are compatible with their personalities are called ________. A. birth-order effects B. cumulative personalities continuity C. personality-life-history transactions D. personality-environment transactions
D. personality-environment transactions
Nayessa is asked to tell the researcher what she sees in a series of inkblots. She is completing a A. empirical test. B. implicit test. C. rational test. D. projective test.
D. projective test.
When people maintain their position in a group over time, they display A. personality coherence. B. mean level stability. C. possible selves. D. rank order stability.
D. rank order stability.
Mischel thought that _____ were most important in determining behavior. A. attitudes B. intellectual abilities C. traits D. situations
D. situations
A limitation of Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy is that ___. A. the traits are not heritable B. the traits lack any physiological substrate C. It is difficult to locate specific personality-relevant acts D. some important traits may be missing
D. some important traits may be missing
During the gathering at your friend's home she insists on everyone singing karaoke. The agreeable, the introverted, the open,, the anxious and all of the other personality types sing. Her success at getting all of these personalities to sing is due to the A. social influence. B. common environment. C. weak situation. D. strong situation.
D. strong situation.
A psychologist administering the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) asks respondents to ________. A. interpret ink-blots B. describe their current level of hostility C. draw a person D. tell stories about pictures
D. tell stories about pictures
The number between -1 and +1 that indexes the association between two variables is called ________. A. the probability value B. the p-value C. the significance level D. the correlation coefficient
D. the correlation coefficient
Personality development is ________. A. the change in social status of an individual over time B. the rank-order change of a trait across individuals C. the mean level stability of a trait over time D. the mean level change of a trait over time
D. the mean level change of a trait over time
"Heidi is aggressive and extroverted." This statement describes Heidi in terms of A. types. B. neither types nor traits. C. motives. D. traits.
D. traits.
What is the trait approach to personality psychology? A. analyzing dreams and other indicators of unconscious psychic activity B. categorizing personality types to help clinicians diagnose disorders C. pigeonholing individuals into categories D. translating the natural, informal language of personality and processing it quantitatively to predict and explain human behavior
D. translating the natural, informal language of personality and processing it quantitatively to predict and explain human behavior
For the purposes of the Big Five factor theory, agreeableness would be described in terms of: ________. A. friendliness and compliance B. imaginativeness and creativity C. honesty and sociability D. orderliness and self-discipline
A. friendliness and compliance
Which of the following statements best describes a social desirability response set? A. A bias to pick responses that the respondent believes are expected by society B. ) A bias to pick the response option of "yes" or "agree" or "very true of me" C. A bias to pick response options that make the respondent appear eccentric or unusual D. A bias to pick responses randomly
A. A bias to pick responses that the respondent believes are expected by society
In what way do personality psychologists appreciate indiviual differences? A. Because they assess people, they appreciate rich individual differences. B. They psychoanalyze people, because there are important differences in the unconscious. C. They categorize and label people; that is, they pigeonhole them. D. They try to break down individuals and study their components, rather than studying whole persons.
A. Because they assess people, they appreciate rich individual differences.
The ________ is a personality assessment device consisting of a deck of 100 cards, each of which describes an aspect of personality. These cards are sorted into categories by the respondent. A. California Q-Set B. MBTI C. Five Factor Scale D. self-monitoring scale
A. California Q-Set
According to the text, personality's greatest strength, understanding whole per-sons, is also its greatest weakness. Which term describes this fundamental observation? A. Funder's First Law B. pigeonholing C. One Big Theory D. psychological triad
A. Funder's First Law
What can we conclude regarding William James's claim that personality is "set like plaster" by age 30? A. He was very wrong. B. There is not yet enough evidence to know whether or not he was correct. C. He was wrong in the sense that personality remains stable after age 50. D. He was more or less correct.
A. He was very wrong.
Which of the following types of personality data is least subjective? A. L B. I C. B D. S
A. L
Which of the following behaviors would be the most difficult to predict accurately? A. Mary will smile at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow. B. Whenever at a party, Susan will generally talk to many people C. David will generally be on time for work most days next week. D. None of the above; each of these behaviors would be equally difficult to predict.
A. Mary will smile at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow.
What is the central principle behind the use of S data? A. People are the best experts on their own opinions and behaviors. B. People are generally honest about describing their behavior. C. People are often unfamiliar with self-questionnaires, so they will usually provide reliable responses. D. Questionnaires can trick people into revealing private information about themselves.
A. People are the best experts on their own opinions and behaviors.
Which of the following describes a type of person-situation interaction? A. People react differently to the same situation. B. People react the same to the same situation C. People do not choose the situations they occupy. D. People generally prefer situations that are pleasant.
A. People react differently to the same situation.
_____ is defined as both the consistencies in people and the ways people change over time. A. Personality development B. Rank order development C. Personality coherence D. Mean level development
A. Personality development
Your responses to the personality test item "I am an intelligent person" would be ________ data, whereas your score on an intelligence test that reflects the number of problems you got right would be ________ data. A. S; B B. B; L C. S; L D. I; B
A. S; B
Which of the following is NOT true about predicting future behaviors? A. Specific behaviors are better predicted than aggregated behaviors. B. Personality traits can predict aggregated behaviors C. Specific behaviors aren't usually very accurate when predicting future behaviors. D. Aggregated behaviors are better predicted than specific behaviors.
A. Specific behaviors are better predicted than aggregated behaviors.
In the last month, Oscar learned to drive and began working at his first job. These new developments are helping him to see himself as an ________. A. actor B. artist C. author D. agent
A. actor
A case study usually entails A. an in-depth assessment. B. an assessment of a person's luggage. C. computer-based responses. D. one psychologist's research.
A. an in-depth assessment.
Trait psychologists study how people _______. A. are different from each other B. change across situations C. change over time D. are similar to each other
A. are different from each other
Unlike manipulation, selection involves _____. A. choosing existing environments B. altering environments that are already inhabited C. coercing and influencing people D. changing social situations
A. choosing existing environments
Integrity tests administered in employment screening provide good measures of ________. A. conscientiousness B. extraversion C. agreeableness D. work ethic
A. conscientiousness
Which trait has been correlated with positive health? A. conscientiousness B. neuroticism C. openness D. extraversion
A. conscientiousness
For trait psychologists, any meaningful way in which people _____ may potentially be identified as a personality trait. A. differ from each other B. change continually over time C. are similar to each other D. change across situations
A. differ from each other
Which of the following approaches to test construction is the most atheoretical? A. empirical B. content validation C. factor analytic D. rational
A. empirical
The narrative theme of "agency" organizes the life story around ________. A. episodes of challenging oneself and then accomplishing one's goals B. an event that seemed terrible at the time but had positive consequences in the end C. individuals who had a particular influence in the trajectory of one's life D. a high-point, a low-point, and a turning point
A. episodes of challenging oneself and then accomplishing one's goals
The unique mandate of personality psychologists is to attempt to ________. A. explain whole, functioning persons and real life concerns B. determine the effect of the social environment on behavior C. prevent or treat personality disorders D. identify and measure individual differences
A. explain whole, functioning persons and real life concerns
Asa is interested in investigating unconscious conflict in a sample of college interns. Asa will most likely use the methods and theories associated with the ______ approach to personality. A. intrapsychic B. Trait C. cognitive D. learning
A. intrapsychic
A researcher who starts with an interest in CEOs and then identifies the traits associated with them is taking a ________ approach. A. many-trait B. essential-trait C. typological D. single-trait
A. many-trait
A researcher seeks to understand the reasons a person uses drugs. What approach is the researcher most likely to adopt to study this? A. many-trait approach B. typological approach C. essential-trait approach D. single-trait approach
A. many-trait approach
If we studied political attitudes and found that everyone became more conservative with age, we would observe A. mean level change B. mean level stability C. rank order stability D. rank order change
A. mean level change
A worrier would likely score high on the trait of A. neuroticism. B. extraversion. C. quarrelsomeness. D. psychoticism.
A. neuroticism.
What term refers to personality inventories that are designed to measure a wide range of traits? A. omnibus inventories B. Big Seven inventories C. big bandwidth inventories D. high-fidelity inventories
A. omnibus inventories
Mischel's basic argument was that A. personality traits do not predict behavior in specific situations. B. personality traits can predict behavior in specific situations. C. it is futile to look at the situation because behavior is almost completely determined by a person's traits. D. "personality" is not correlated with any behavior. E. none of these
A. personality traits do not predict behavior in specific situations.
Research regarding the person-situation debate indicates that ________ are better for describing how people act in general and that ________ are relevant to how people will act under specific circumstances and A. personality traits; situational variables B. situational variables; personality traits C. S data; B data D. S data; I data
A. personality traits; situational variables
_______ is the change of individual position within a group. A. rank order change B. mean level stability C. mean level change D. rank order consistency
A. rank order change
Including items that seem directly and obviously related to agreeableness, such as "I like to get along with others" and "I enjoy harmony in the group" is using the ________ method of test construction. A. rational B. factor analytic C. empirical D. projective
A. rational
If you can get the same answer repeatedly, then your measure is ________. A. reliable B. valid C. generalizable D. significant
A. reliable
What method of research examines the behavior patterns of certain types of individuals? A. single-trait approach B. typological approach C. essential-trait approach D. many-trait approach
A. single-trait approach
The hallmark of neuroticism is ____. A. variability of moods over time B. unstable social relationships C. Aggression D. all of the above
A. variability of moods over time
I data essentially measure ________. A. your reputation B. your level of self-awareness C. your internal states or emotions D. work productivity (in industrial psychology)
A. your reputation
Item selection in the empirical method of test construction is determined by whether the item ______________. A. makes the scale more reliable B. discriminates between samples of participants C. aggregates with the other items D. correlates with other factors
B. discriminates between samples of participants
The idea that certain personality traits may elicit specific responses from the environment is known as ___. A. situational selection B. evocation C. faking D. manipulation
B. evocation
What is the best summary of the current state of knowledge about personality types? A. There are five basic personality types, each corresponding to one of the Big Five per-sonality traits. B. Although types add little for psychometric purposes of measurement and prediction, they still may have value as aids in education and theorizing. C. Compared to the trait approach, the typological approach is completely useless for ex-plaining or describing people or behavior. D. Knowing a person's personality type adds to our ability to predict his or her behavior beyond what can be predicted by knowing how the person stands on the traits that define the typology.
B. Although types add little for psychometric purposes of measurement and prediction, they still may have value as aids in education and theorizing.
The empirical method yields what kind of data? A. L B. B C. I D. S
B. B
________ theories of personality apply the insights and methods derived from the study of perception, memory, and thought to the study of personality. A. Trait B. Cognitive C. Psychoanalytic D. Phenomenological
B. Cognitive
Eysenck's taxonomy has been criticized on which one of these issues? A. Eysenck included all important personality traits in his model. B. Not including all traits that can account for individual differences. C. Eysenck did not take the physiological substrates of traits into consideration in his model. D. There is a dispute about whether or not personality traits are arranged hierarchically.
B. Not including all traits that can account for individual differences.
________ data are use most frequently for personality assessment. A. I B. S C. L D. B
B. S
_____ show up early in life and are likely to be heritable and involved in behaviors linked with emotionality. A. attachment B. Temperament C. Traits D. Types
B. Temperament
_____ usually is/are defined as the individual differences that show up early in life and are likely to be heritable and involved in behaviors linked with emotionality. A. Individual differences B. Temperament C. Traits D. Types
B. Temperament
Which of the following is NOT a major limitation of the factor analytic approach? A. The results are only as good as the items that are included in the analysis. B. The factors are only as good as the criterion groups used to validate the measure. C. Usually the factors that emerge do not make sense in even well designed research. D. It is up to psychologists to label the factors.
B. The factors are only as good as the criterion groups used to validate the measure.
For any rationally constructed S-data personality test to work, four conditions must hold. Which of the following answers is not one of these vital conditions? A. Each item must have the same meaning to the test taker as it does to the psychologist who wrote the test. B. The tests must be applicable to participants of any gender, race, age, or linguistic group. C. All of the items on the test must be valid indicators of what the tester is trying to measure. D. The person who completes the test must be willing to report his self-assessment accurately.
B. The tests must be applicable to participants of any gender, race, age, or linguistic group.
What piece of evidence suggests that age is NOT a determining factor in the desire to change one's personality? A. College students are more likely to want to change themselves than do individuals in their 60s. B. There is little to no correlation between participants' age and their self-reported desire to change. C. Parents report that their children want to change more often than their children report wanting to change. D. There is a negative correlation between participants' age and their self-reported desire to change.
B. There is little to no correlation between participants' age and their self-reported desire to change.
Which of the following is an advantage of I data? A. They do not have causal force. B. They are based on large amounts of information. C. They come from carefully controlled experimental situations. D. They are always objective.
B. They are based on large amounts of information.
What is a key strength of longitudinal personality development studies? A. They are not affected by attrition. B. They are not biased by generational effects. C. They are easy and quick to complete. D. They are typically high powered with many thousand participants.
B. They are not biased by generational effects.
Which of the following psychologists is often credited with starting the person-situation debate? A. Gordon Allport B. Walter Mischel C. Henry Murray D. Sigmund Freud
B. Walter Mischel
Ariana is a serious and conscientious employee; however, with her friends at happy hour on Friday afternoon she is the life of the party. Ariana would most likely be ________. A. openness B. a high self-monitor C. narcissism D. a low self-monitor
B. a high self-monitor
Psychologists counteract ____ by intentionally reverse-scoring some of the questionnaire items. A. extreme responding B. acquiescence C. random assignment D. social desirability
B. acquiescence
Which of the following characteristics is associated with conscientiousness? A. high IQ B. avoidance of risks C. increase in depressive episodes D. increased illness
B. avoidance of risks
the Big Five factors comprise a person's A. objective autobiography. B. basic tendencies. C. external influences. D. situational adaptations.
B. basic tendencies.
The personality paradigm that focuses on rewards and punishments is known as the ________ paradigm. A. psychoanalytic B. behaviorist C. trait D. phenomenological
B. behaviorist
Starting a job, entering college, and beginning a serious relationship are all associated with increases in ________. A. openness to experience B. conscientiousness C. neuroticism D. extraversion
B. conscientiousness
A researcher should use the _______ method if they want to know whether or not people who score high on extraversion also score high on activity level. A. case study B. correlational C. experimental D. random assignment
B. correlational
Individuals who are open to experience tend to be A. quiet. B. creative. C. sociable. D. talkative.
B. creative.
The personality paradigm that focuses on rewards and punishments is known as the ________ paradigm. A. psychoanalytic B. trait C. behaviorist D. cognitive
C. behaviorist
The three broad traits that met Hans Eysenck's criteria were ___. A. neuroticism-emotional stability, psychoticism, agreeableness B. extraversion-introversion, neuroticism-emotional stability, psychoticism C. psychoticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness D. extraversion-introversion, neuroticism-emotional stability, conscientiousness
B. extraversion-introversion, neuroticism-emotional stability, psychoticism
An "acquiescence response set" refers to the tendency of people filling out questionnaires to A. select the answer option that they think the examiner expects. B. have a bias toward saying "yes" or "agree" to questions. C. have a bias to select the middle answer option. D. have a bias toward saying "no" or "disagree" to questions.
B. have a bias toward saying "yes" or "agree" to questions.
A "cheating personality" cannot generally be found. This is because A. it is a cross between conscientiousness and openness B. honesty depends on the situation C. human nature generally strives to be honest D. honesty depends so much on natural selection processes.
B. honesty depends on the situation
Which of the following is NOT a factor that might affect why individuals have different levels of consistency in their personality? A. Psychological adjustment B. immediate environment C. mental health D. maturity
B. immediate environment
_____ refer to examinations of the same group of individuals over time. A. experimental studies B. longitudinal studies C. case studies D. correlation studies
B. longitudinal studies
The higher your score is on measures of psychological health and well-being, the ________. A. higher your score is on neuroticism B. lower your score is on neuroticism C. lower your score is on authoritarianism D. higher your score is on self-monitoring
B. lower your score is on neuroticism
Becoming an author enables you to form a(n)________. A. well-rounded personality B. narrative identity C. sense of purpose D. intellectual identity
B. narrative identity
Individuals in which age group are likely to have the greatest amount of stability in their personality traits? A. adolescents B. older adults C. people who are married D. college students
B. older adults
Which of the following traits is largely independent of integrity tests? A. conscientiousness B. openness C. emotional stability D. agreeableness
B. openness
An assessment with items that seem directly, obviously, and logically related to what it is you wish to measure uses the ________ method of test construction. A. projective B. rational C. factor analytic D. empirical
B. rational
The basis of the ________ method of test construction is to come up with items that seem directly, obviously, and logically related to what it is you wish to measure. A. factor analytic B. rational C. philosophical D. empirical
B. rational
The extent to which a test givens the same results refers to the _____ of a test. A. generalizability B. reliability C. validity D. randomness
B. reliability
"Validity" refers to the ability A. of the personality test to produce the same test score for an individual at other testings. B. to measure what the personality test purports to measure. C. of a personality test to measure other personality traits. D. to randomly assign participants
B. to measure what the personality test purports to measure.
As described in the text, according to some motivation researchers, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) measures ________, whereas questionnaire-based measures predict ________. A. what people need; what people want B. what people want; how motives are expressed C. what people want; actual performance D. how motives are expressed; actual performance
B. what people want; how motives are expressed
According to situationists, the upper limit of personality coefficients is estimated as ________. A. .10 to .20 B. .50 to .60 C. .30 to .40 D. .70 to .80
C. .30 to .40
In the context of psychological research, what does the word "significant" mean? A. A significant result is one that is reliable and valid B. A significant result is one that has a correlational coefficient of .5 or above C. A significant result is one that is unlikely to occur by chance D. A significant result is one that has implications generalizable to most of humanity
C. A significant result is one that is unlikely to occur by chance
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) yields what kind of data? A. L B. S C. B D. I
C. B
What is the basic assumption of the empirical method of test creation? A. Without great numbers of participants, the data that psychologists collect is statistically unreliable. B. It will let us compare different personality tests. C. Certain kinds of people have distinctive ways of answering certain questions on personality inventories. D. Personality tests are more effective if they include items that seem contrary or even absurd.
C. Certain kinds of people have distinctive ways of answering certain questions on personality inventories.
Causal hypotheses can be tested only via which research method? A. Giving participants a questionnaire B. Participant observation where the researcher infiltrates a social setting as a peer C. Experimental with random assignment to condition D. All of the above can be used to test causal hypotheses
C. Experimental with random assignment to condition
Which of the following personality tests is NOT a projective test? A. Draw-a-Person B. Rorschach C. Implicit Associations Test D. Thematic Appreciation Test E. They are all projective tests
C. Implicit Associations Test
What is the most important advantage of the Q-sorting method? A. It improves the accuracy of personality assessment. B. It doesn't restrict the judge to identifying only a few items as being most important to characterizing a particular individual. C. It forces a judge to compare all of the test items directly against each other within one individual. D. It allows a judge to identify the ways in which a person is all good or all bad.
C. It forces a judge to compare all of the test items directly against each other within one individual.
The pattern of mean-level personality across the life span suggests A. Mean levels of personality traits are completely stable after age 30. B. Mean levels of all personality traits drop after adolescence. C. Mean-level changes in personality traits occur across the life span. D. Adolescence is characterized by the least mean-level changes in personality.
C. Mean-level changes in personality traits occur across the life span.
Which of the following is an example of an unstructured questionnaire? A. Rorschach test B. True/False C. Open-ended D. Forced choice
C. Open-ended
Which term applies to the tendency to believe that vague generalities are a good description of one's personality? A. The passive effect B. The active effect C. The Barnum effect D. The believability effect
C. The Barnum effect
What is a major limitation of correlational studies? A. They cannot measure relationships among variables B. They cannot measure the degree to which a relationship exists between variables C. They cannot provide causal conclusions D. They cannot show the direction of a relationship between variables
C. They cannot provide causal conclusions
Which of the following is NOT an example of why trait terms are relevant to the pro-personality argument in the person-situation debate? A. The subtleties among trait terms highlight the individual uniqueness of humans. B. Trait terms describe the characteristics that we possess. C. Trait terms can predict behavior in specific situations. D. Trait terms show that individual differences are important because descriptive words are so common in language.
C. Trait terms can predict behavior in specific situations.
Traits are _______ in the technique of aggregation. A. extreme behavior patterns B. the only cause of behavior C. a person's average level D. dynamic characteristics
C. a person's average level
Ashley has just got her driver's license. Ashley is beginning to see herself as an ________. A. artist B. author C. actor D. agent
C. actor
Oscar decided that he would work toward becoming a scientists. This is helping him to see himself as an ________. A. artist B. actor C. agent D. author
C. agent
Two of the most lasting changes that trait psychologists have embraced have been the practice of ____ to study ____. A. person-person interaction; aggregation B. aggregation; person-person interaction C. aggregation ; person-situation interaction D. person-environment interaction; estimation
C. aggregation ; person-situation interaction
Mischel based his argument that personality is not a useful construct on the fact that A. you can predict what an individual is going to do based on a previous measure of that person's personality. B. the environment rarely has an effect on personality. C. behaviors differ based on the situation D. it is always difficult to reliably measure personality. E. none of these
C. behaviors differ based on the situation
In using the case study method a researcher A. must collect all four types of data. B. must randomly assign participants C. can gather any kind of data they find useful. D. must try to generalize findings to other people.
C. can gather any kind of data they find useful.
An assumption made by all trait theories is that there is a degree of ____ in personality over time. A. faking B. directionality C. consistency D. instability
C. consistency
The reason that objective tests include so many items is to increase the ________ of the test. A. face validity B. construct validity C. consistency D. content validity
C. consistency
To obtain S data, a psychologist can ________. A. recruit informants B. look up information in public records C. develop a questionnaire D. observe the subject directly
C. develop a questionnaire
Which of the following approaches to test construction is not theoretical. A. rational B. factor analytic C. empirical D. content validation
C. empirical
Whenever Ling walks into a room everyone always smiles and seeks him out for conversation. He does not understand why people react to him that that way. Most likely Ling is demonstrating the idea of A. elocution. B. elation. C. evocation. D. equivocation.
C. evocation.
The ________ approach to personality examines a set of correlations among many items in order to identify which items are highly correlated. A. implicit B. rational C. factor analytic D. empirical
C. factor analytic
As a child, Brett was always bouncing off the walls at his parent's social gatherings. As an adult, he is the life of every party. This is an example of ________. A. personal-environment transactions B. temperament C. heterotypic continuity D. fundamental personality
C. heterotypic continuity
The factor analytic technique of test construction is designed to________. A. create implicit associations B. identify individuals who are attempting to lie C. identify groups of test items that correlation with each other D. identify items that mean the same thing to the respondent as they do to the researcher
C. identify groups of test items that correlation with each other
Personality is most stable in A. late adolescence B. early infancy. C. late adulthood D. early adulthood
C. late adulthood
The individual uniqueness level of personality analysis addresses how every human is A. like some others. B. somewhat like others C. like no others. D. like all others.
C. like no others.
Emilio is a high-school student who constantly worries about his grades. He tends to overeat when he is stressed. If Emilio were to take Eysenck's personality test, he would score high on ___. A. extraversion B. psychoticism C. neuroticism D. Emotional instability.
C. neuroticism
Which of the following is NOT part of the psychological triad? A. behavior B. Thoughts C. psychological health D. feelings
C. psychological health
When people change their position in a group over time, they display A. mean level stability. B. possible selves. C. rank order change. D. rank order stability.
C. rank order change.
Which of the following sampling methods affords a researcher the great-est generalizability? A. randomly selecting a sample of introductory psychology students B. recruiting all the executives at a large company to participate C. selecting participants using a random telephone dialing system D. randomly selecting a sample of both high school and college students
C. selecting participants using a random telephone dialing system
The correlation between _____ and ____ would likely be the lowest. A. shyness averaged over a month; shyness on a given day B. shyness averaged over a month; shyness averaged over a week C. shyness on a given day; shyness on another day D. shyness averaged over a month; shyness averaged over a different month
C. shyness on a given day; shyness on another day
The __________ posits that under the right circumstances, anybody can be rich, popular, and successful. The __________ posits that some people possess characteristics that make bad outcomes relatively likely. A. nurture view; nature view B. nature view; nurture view C. situationist view; trait approach D. trait approach; situationist view
C. situationist view; trait approach
Which of the following is likely to undermine the reliability of a survey? A. aggregation of a large amount of data B. the consistency of the experimenter C. the immediate state of the participant D. averaging scores across the day
C. the immediate state of the participant
Personality psychologists need to distinguish between scientific _____ and ______. A. thoughts; theories B. phenomena; thoughts C. theories; beliefs D. beliefs; theories
C. theories; beliefs
The task of an employer who attempts to identify dependable, conscientious, and hard-working job applicants is similar to the task of the ________ psychologist, who at-tempts to identify and assess individual differences. A. cognitive B. behavioral C. trait D. psychoanalytic
C. trait
The ________ approach to personality suggests that people might differ in kind more than in degree; the ________ approach to personality usually assumes that all people can be characterized by points on a continuous score of measurement; A. essential-trait; single-trait B. constructivist; critical realist C. typological; trait D. trait; typological
C. typological; trait
What is a primary goal of the psychoanalytic approach to personality? A. discovering how unconscious awareness produces uniquely human characteristics B. applying principles of associationism to help reduce negative thoughts C. understanding mental conflicts D. measuring and conceptualizing individual differences
C. understanding mental conflicts
Which of the following is the best example of a trait argument? A. Knowing Robert's extraversion doesn't really let us predict his behavior. B. Melinda's talkativeness is related to her optimism. C. Suri's conscientiousness level never changes. D. Knowing Sanjay's neuroticism will let us predict his behavior.
D. Knowing Sanjay's neuroticism will let us predict his behavior.
There are good reasons why personality psychologists have distinct theories versus One Big Theory. Which is NOT one of those reasons? A. There is, for now, no accepted One Big Theory. B. Each theory offers a different perspective on personality. C. There is a trade-off between breadth and depth in theories. D. One Big Theory would abolish the individual approaches to personality
D. One Big Theory would abolish the individual approaches to personality
Which of the following is NOT one of the responses of trait psychologists to the situationist argument? A. Personality researchers argued that Mischel's literature review was selective. B. Many behaviors are functionally equivalent. C. Personality researchers started to think more carefully about the importance of a correlation of .40. D. Personality researchers worked harder to find single traits that could strongly predict single responses at a particular point in time.
D. Personality researchers worked harder to find single traits that could strongly predict single responses at a particular point in time.
More research in the past few decades has focused on this taxonomy than other taxonomies. A. PEN model B. The Leary circumplex C. Cattell's taxonomy of 16 traits D. The five factor model
D. The five factor model
What is a key strength of longitudinal personality development studies? A. They are typically high powered with many thousand participants. B. They are not affected by attrition. C. They are easy and quick to complete. D. They are not biased by the cohort effect.
D. They are not biased by the cohort effect.
What is the best summary of the current state of knowledge about personality traits and types? A. Compared to the trait approach, the typological approach is completely useless for explaining or describing people or behavior. B. Knowing a person's personality type adds to our ability to predict his or her behavior beyond what can be predicted by knowing how the person stands on the traits that define the typology. C. Although traits add little for psychometric purposes of measurement and prediction, they still may have value as aids in education and theorizing. D. Traits add value for psychometric purposes of measurement and prediction, and have value as aids in personality prediction.
D. Traits add value for psychometric purposes of measurement and prediction, and have value as aids in personality prediction.
What does a study that administers a questionnaire to many people across a wide range of ages exemplify? A. a longitudinal study B. an experimental study C. a cohort effect D. a cross-sectional study
D. a cross-sectional study
Psychologists counteract ____ by intentionally reverse-scoring some of the questionnaire items. A. ceiling effects B. social desirability C. floor effects D. acquiescence
D. acquiescence
In line with the ________ process, if someone is high on agreeableness, she will most likely select environments that promote kindness and harmony. A. reactive person-environment transaction B. evocative person-environment transaction C. heterotypic continuity D. active person-environment transaction
D. active person-environment transaction
The most important and generally useful way to enhance reliability is to ________. A. use the smallest possible number of items B. maximize error variance C. measure something that is important D. aggregate your measurements
D. aggregate your measurements
According to the ________ principle, Increasing the number of items on a test makes it a better instrument. A. projective B. generalizability C. validation D. aggregation
D. aggregation
Personality is an individual's characteristic patterns of ________. A. behavior B. emotion C. thought D. all of the above E. none of the above
D. all of the above
Mischel argues that ________. A. traits are the only factors that influence human behavior B. situations do not reliably predict consistent behavioral trends C. personality traits need to be aggregated D. behavior is too inconsistent to predict using broad personality traits
D. behavior is too inconsistent to predict using broad personality traits
With accumulated evidence from personality and developmental psychology we can conclude that personality ________ and ________ over the life course. A. is positive; negative B. is subjective; objective C. is self-reported; peer-reported D. changes; is stable
D. changes; is stable
Which subfield of psychology has the greatest overlap with personality psychology? A. developmental B. social C. cognitive D. clinical
D. clinical
Factor analysis is mostly based on which of the following pieces of information? A. researchers' judgments B. facets C. types D. correlations
D. correlations
A study is surveying people of different ages in order to understand whether or not individuals' levels of neuroticism change. What type of developmental study is this? A. correlational B. longitudinal C. experimental D. cross-sectional
D. cross-sectional
_____ refer to examinations of the different groups of individuals. A. longitudinal studies B. ranking studies C. case studies D. cross-sectional studies
D. cross-sectional studies
Often a scale is used to predict behavior, diagnosis, or category membership in new samples of participants. This process is referred to as what? A. factor analysis B. commonality C. significance D. cross-validation
D. cross-validation
What is a primary goal of the phenomenological approach to personality? A. measuring and conceptualizing individual differences B. applying principles of associationism to help reduce negative behaviors C. understanding mental conflicts D. discovering how conscious awareness produces uniquely human characteristics
D. discovering how conscious awareness produces uniquely human characteristics
Item selection in the empirical method of test construction is determined by whether the item ________. A. makes the scale more reliable B. aggregates with the other items C. correlations with other factors D. discriminates between two known samples
D. discriminates between two known samples
If you would like to discover the most important or basic personality traits that exist, you would be taking a ________ approach. A. single-trait B. typological C. many-trait D. essential-trait
D. essential-trait
Individuals who are neurotic tend to be A. suffer from mental illness. B. antisocial. C. aggressive. D. high-strung and tense. E. all of the above
D. high-strung and tense.
Personality is likely to have the most effect on behavior A. when people are older. B. in strong situations. C. in specific situations D. in ambiguous situations.
D. in ambiguous situations.
The Big Five refers to A. the five indicators of Neuroticism. B. the 5 most-used questionnaires in personality assessment. C. the five fundamental human needs D. the founders of modern personality theory. E. five broadly defined personality traits.
E. five broadly defined personality traits.
