Psychology Test 3
Compare and contrast aptitude and achievement tests.
Both tests measure various aspects of intelligence or mental ability. Achievement tests are designed to measure a person's level of knowledge, skill, or accomplishment in a particular area, such as mathematics or a foreign language. In contrast, aptitude tests are designed to assess a person's capacity to benefit from education or training. The overall goal of an aptitude test is to predict your ability to learn certain types of information or perform certain skills.
Define stereotype threat, and provide an example of psychological research that has demonstrated its effects on test performance.
(Students' examples may vary.) Stereotype threat occurs when members of a group are aware of a negative stereotype about their group and they fear they will be judged in terms of that stereotype. The fear creates psychological stress, self-doubt, and anxiety, all of which undermine performance. One example of this threat is the stereotype that women perform poorly in advanced mathematics in comparison to their male counterparts. Mathematically gifted women may show a drop in scores if they are reminded of this gender stereotype just before a test.
Summarize Alfred Binet's contributions to the development of intelligence tests.
Alfred Binet was commissioned by the French government to develop procedures to identify students who might require special help in school. With the help of Théodore Simon, a French psychiatrist, Binet devised a series of tests to measure different mental abilities. Binet focused on assessing elementary mental abilities that came before the child had been formally taught—abilities such as memory, attention, and the ability to understand similarities and differences. Binet also developed the idea of a mental level, or mental age, that was different from a child's chronological age. An "advanced" five-year old might have a mental age of seven. However, Binet did not believe that he was measuring an inborn or permanent level of intelligence. He believed that his tests could help identify "slow" children who could benefit from special help in school. Binet also believed that intelligence was too complex a quality to describe with a single number. He did not believe in ranking "normal" children on the basis of their scores; he thought that many individual factors, such as a child's level of motivation, might affect the child's score. Finally, Binet noted that there was variability in an individual's test score from one testing occasion to another.
Explain Charles Spearman's beliefs on the nature of intelligence.
Because individuals' scores on tests of different mental abilities tended to be similar, Spearman believed that a common factor, or general mental capacity, was responsible for a range of different mental abilities. He called this factor "general intelligence," or g. In this context, Lewis Terman's treating the IQ score as a single number measuring overall mental ability made sense.
Under what conditions are bystanders most likely to help a stranger? Least likely to help?
Conditions under which bystanders are more likely to help a stranger include the following: Having the right kind of personality; people with higher levels of empathy are more likely to help. Bystanders are most likely to help a stranger if they (the bystanders) are feeling good, successful, happy, or fortunate; this is called the "feel good, do good" effect. People also tend to be more helpful when they're already feeling guilty about something else. Bystanders are more likely to help if they see others do the same, or if they perceive that the person in trouble deserves their help. If bystanders know how to help and are physically capable, this increases the chances that they will help. If bystanders have a personal relationship with the person who needs help, then they are more likely to help. Finally and somewhat paradoxically, if the situation is dangerous, bystanders are more likely to help. Conditions under which bystanders are less likely to help a stranger include the following: The presence of other people decreases the chances that a bystander will help—this is called the "bystander effect." Being in a big city or a very small town also decreases the probability that a bystander will help. When situations are vague or ambiguous and people are not certain that help is needed, they're less likely to decide to offer help. When the personal costs for helping outweigh the benefits, people are less likely to help; in other words, if helping is perceived as a hassle, bystanders are less likely to get involved.
Explain and describe the personality types Hans Eysenck noted in his trait theory of personality.
Eysenck's trait theory of personality included three personality types or dimensions. The first is introversion-extraversion, which is the degree to which a person directs his or her energies outward toward the environment and other people versus inward toward his inner and self-focused experiences. Introverted people tend to be quiet and solitary and are relatively uninterested in new experiences, whereas extraverted people tend to be outgoing and sociable and are eager for new experiences. Eysenck's second dimension is neuroticism-emotional stability. Neuroticism is a person's predisposition to become emotionally upset, as manifested in emotions like anxiety, tension, depression, and guilt. Emotional stability is a person's predisposition to be calm, relaxed, and even-tempered. Eysenck believed that the introversion-extraversion and neuroticism-stability dimensions could interact to produce four basic personality types: introverted-neurotic (surface trait examples: rigid, pessimistic, reserved), introverted-stable (careful, thoughtful, reliable), extraverted-neurotic (touchy, restless, aggressive), and extraverted-stable (carefree, lively, easy-going). The third dimension, which Eysenck added later, is psychoticism. A person who is high on this trait is antisocial, cold, hostile, and unconcerned about others, whereas someone low on this trait is warm and caring toward others.
Explain Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence.
Howard Gardner believes that intelligence represents a number of different mental abilities that operate independently from one another. Therefore, he does not believe that intelligence can be accurately reflected in a single measure of intelligence. Additionally, Gardner considers cultural context, looking at the kinds of skills and products that are valued in different cultures. He also draws on neuroscience research on brain-damaged individuals who lose some mental abilities but retain others. Gardner's theory includes eight or nine distinct, independent intelligences. Sternberg agrees with Gardner that intelligence is a broad quality that cannot be accurately reflected in a score on a conventional IQ test. However, Sternberg disagrees with Gardner's idea of multiple, independent intelligences. He believes that some of Gardner's intelligences should be characterized as specialized talents rather than a type of intelligence. Sternberg notes that people would be able to manage in most cultures if they lacked "musical intelligence," but they would not do well in any culture if they lacked the ability to reason and plan ahead. Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence emphasizes both the universal aspects of intelligence and the ability to adapt to social and cultural settings. This theory identifies three mental abilities that together make up what he refers to as "successful intelligence": analytic, creative, and practical mental abilities. Analytic intelligence is skill at problem solving, creative intelligence is the ability to draw on existing skills and knowledge to respond constructively to novel situations, and practical intelligence is the ability to adapt to one's situational or cultural environment.
Describe the findings of Solomon Asch's research on conformity.
Solomon Asch's research addressed the question of how far people will go to adjust their perceptions and opinions so that they are in sync with the majority opinion. He asked—would people still conform to the group if the group opinion was clearly wrong? To this end, Asch asked a group of people to sit at a table and look at a series of cards. On one side of the card was a standard line, and on the other side were three comparison lines. The participant's task was to publicly indicate which comparison line was the same length as the standard line. The catch is that only one of the people at the table was an actual study participant—the others were all Asch's accomplices. Cards were examined and answers were publicly announced by each accomplice and then the participant. On 12 of the 18 trials in the experiment, the real participant was faced with the uncomfortable situation of disagreeing with a unanimous majority. There was no direct pressure to conform, just the implicit pressure of answering differently from the rest of the group. Of the over 100 participants in the experiment, the majority (76 percent) conformed to group judgment on at least one of the critical trials. The participants followed the majority and gave the wrong answer on 37 percent of the critical trials. Asch's experiment also included a control group of participants who responded alone instead of in a group. In contrast to the participants in the conformity scenario, the control participants responded accurately 99 percent of the time.
List three component of language and give an example of each.
Syntax- focuses on the structure of sentences. Morphology- focuses on the organization of words. Phonology- focuses on the sound of speech.
How does the two-factor theory differ from the cognitive appraisal theory in terms of explanation of emotion?
The two-factor theory of emotion posits that emotion is the interaction of physiological arousal and the cognitive label that we apply to explain the arousal. Similarly, the cognitive appraisal theory states that emotional responses are triggered by a cognitive evaluation. These two theories initially sound very similar, as they both emphasize the importance of cognitive appraisal. The difference is that the two-factor theory states that emotion results from physiological arousal plus a cognitive label. Appraisal theorists, on the other hand, have stressed that the cognitive appraisal itself is the essential trigger for the emotional response.
What are some important criticisms of the trait perspective on personality?
There are at least three important criticisms of the trait theory on personality. First, there is the criticism that trait theories don't really explain human personality, but rather simply label general predispositions to behave in a certain way. Second, trait theorists don't attempt to explain how or why individual differences develop; they merely state that trait differences are due partly to genetics and partly to environmental influences, which is not very informative. Third, it has been noted that trait approaches generally fail to address other important personality issues, such as the basic motives that drive personality and the role of unconscious mental processes. Trait approaches also fail to address how psychological change and growth occur. In short, trait theory does not address deep questions about the essence of human nature.
What are the basic assumptions in Carl Rogers's humanistic theory of personality?
Two main concepts in Carl Rogers's humanistic theory of personality are the actualizing tendency and the self-concept. Rogers believed that human beings have an innate drive to maintain and enhance the human organism. He called this the "actualizing tendency" and held that this is the most basic human motive. The cornerstone of Rogers's theory is the idea of self-concept, or the set of perceptions and beliefs that you hold about yourself. The self-concept begins evolving early in life when infants, motivated by the actualizing tendency, engage in self-enhancing experiences. Increased self-awareness leads to the need for increased positive regard, or the sense of being loved and valued by other people. Rogers described two types of positive regard—conditional and unconditional. In conditional positive regard, a child senses that he or she is valued and loved only when he or she behaves in a way that is acceptable to others. Conditional positive regard leads to distortions in self-concept and denial of true feelings for fear of losing positive regard. Ultimately, incongruence, or conflicts of self-concept and actual experience, may result and can lead to psychological problems. Unconditional positive regard, on the other hand, refers to the child's sense of being unconditionally loved and valued, even if he or she doesn't conform to the standards and expectations of others. The child's actualizing tendency is allowed its fullest expression in an environment of unconditional positive regard, leading to the development of a psychologically healthy, fully functioning person who has a flexible, constantly evolving self-concept. A fully functioning person is realistic, open to new experience, and capable of changing in response to new experiences. This type of person experiences congruence, a condition in which one's sense of self is consistent with one's emotions and experiences.
Contrast the two brain pathways involved in triggering fear, and explain their evolutionary significance.
When you are surprised by a threat stimulus, the thalamus automatically triggers the brain's alarm system via the direct route. Crude, almost archetypal, "quick-and-dirty" information rapidly travels to the amygdala, triggering an instantaneous fear response. Simultaneously, via the indirect route, more detailed information travels to the visual cortex, where it is interpreted and vetted. If the cortex determines that the threat is not serious, it sends a "false alarm" signal to the amygdala to stop the fear response already in progress. But if the visual cortex determines that the stimulus is a genuinely serious threat, the information is relayed to the amygdala via the longer, slower pathway. Activation of the amygdala then also triggers other brain structures, including the hypothalamus, which then activates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the endocrine system's release of stress hormones. The processes described above have evolutionary significance. When presented with archetypal stimuli that we are biologically prepared to fear through evolution, it is advantageous to be able to respond quickly via the direct route. However, when presented with stimuli that cause a gradual dawning awareness of danger, such as one might encounter in a business meeting, the indirect route in very useful.
Give examples of "telegraphic speech" and "overgeneralization"
the speech of children roughly between the ages of 18 and 30 months. This is usually in the form of two-word expressions up to the age of about 24 months. For example, a child at this stage of development who wants to get milk may say "get milk", as opposed to saying just "milk". As you can see, there are only two words, they are in an order that makes sense, there is one verb and one noun, and it sounds like a telegram. the application of a grammatical rule in cases where it doesn't apply. If you once gave a poor speech, you may think to yourself, "I always screw up speeches. I never can speak publicly without messing up." If you experience overgeneralization, you may view any negative experience that happens as a part of an inevitable pattern of mistakes.
How did people predict that the participants in Milgram's experiment would react, and how did that prediction compare to the participants' actual behavior?
Milgram asked psychiatrists, college students, and middle-class adults to predict how participants would behave in his experiment. All three groups predicted that all of Milgram's participants would refuse to obey at some point during the experiment. None of those surveyed thought that any of Milgram's participants would go to the full 450 volts. Contrary to these predictions, two-thirds of participants remained obedient to the very end, administering the full 450 volts to the learner. And of those who defied the experimenter, none of them stopped before the 300-volt level.
Who was David Wechsler, and for what is he famous?
David Wechsler, a young psychologist faced with testing a diverse population in a large hospital in New York City, designed a new intelligence test, called the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). Published in 1955, the WAIS had two advantages over the Stanford-Binet test: it was specifically designed for adults, rather than children as the Stanford-Binet test had been, and it consisted of 11 subtests that measured different abilities. The subtest scores were grouped into verbal and performance scores. The verbal score reflected scores on vocabulary, comprehension, knowledge of general information, as well as other verbal tasks. The performance score summarized scores on largely nonverbal subtests, such as identifying missing parts of an incomplete picture, arranging pictures to tell a story, or arranging blocks to match a given pattern. Wechsler believed that intelligence involved a variety of mental abilities. The WAIS subtest scores had practical and clinical value as they were predictive of specific learning disabilities. Wechsler's test also provided an overall, global IQ score. However, Terman's approach to calculating this score, by dividing mental age by chronological age, did not work well for adults. Wechsler instead calculated IQ by comparing an individual's score with the scores of others in the same general age group. The average score for an age group was fixed at 100, and other scores were set so that two-thirds of all scores (one standard deviation on either side of the mean) would fall between 85 and 115, designated as the range for "normal" or "average" intelligence. Wechsler also developed two tests for children: the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI).
Briefly describe the five stages of psychosexual development in Freud's personality theory.
Freud believed that people progress through five psychosexual stages of development—the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages. Each of these stages represents a different bodily focus of the id's sexual energies. At each stage, primitive sexual urges (which are not like adult sexual feelings) are expressed through the activities associated with each of the different bodily areas. In the oral stage (birth to age 1), the mouth is the primary focus of pleasure (expressed via feeding and exploring things with the mouth). From ages 1 to 3, during the anal stage, the anus is the focus of pleasurable sensations (expressed via toilet training). In the phallic stage (ages 3 to 6), the genitals are the primary focus, which the child expresses through sexual curiosity, masturbation, and sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent. From ages 7 to 11, during the latency stage, sexual impulses become repressed and dormant, as the child develops same-sex friendships and focuses on school, sports, and other age-appropriate activities. Finally, during adolescence, the child is in the genital stage, in which he or she reaches physical sexual maturity. In this stage, the genitals are once again the primary focus, as the person seeks satisfaction in heterosexual relationships. An important point about these stages is that Freud believed each one contained a developmental conflict that must be successfully resolved before the child could move on to the next stage. The conflict was thought to occur when parents either frustrate or overindulge the child's expression of pleasurable feelings. A failure to successfully resolve a developmental conflict was thought to result in fixation at that particular stage. In adulthood, the fixated individual would continue to seek pleasure through behaviors similar to those associated with the unresolved psychosexual stage.
Describe and explain the contributions of genetic and environmental factors that influence IQ scores. How do researchers approach questions related to these variables?
Heredity and environment both contribute to determining intelligence in a complex manner. Multiple genes influence a construct as broad as intelligence. No one really knows how many genes may be involved in intelligence. And environment, in the form of factors ranging from nutrition to parenting style to formal education, makes a difference to how each person's combination of intelligence-related genes is expressed. However, the contributions of genetics and environment can be teased apart by studying identical twins who have been reared together in comparison to those reared apart. Given that their genetics will be identical, any differences in intelligence should be attributable to environmental factors. Useful comparisons can also be made between nonidentical pairs of siblings, where some pairs were reared together and others were reared apart. To the extent that intelligence differences are greater for pairs reared apart, this demonstrates the role of environment.
Present evidence supporting the idea that facial expressions of basic emotions are innate, and explain how facial expressions are affected by cultural display rules.
Perception of facial expressions for the basic emotions do not differ significantly across most cultures. The classic studies of Ekman and colleagues found that people in 21 different countries were able to accurately identify the emotions being expressed in pictures of other people. Even participants from remote and isolated villages who were completely unfamiliar with Western culture were able to accurately identify emotions of others as expressed in pictures. However, the way in which someone manages his or her facial expressions does differ across cultures. These cultural differences in the management of one's own facial expressions are called "display rules." A classic experiment found that when Japanese and American participants were alone while watching grisly films, their facial expressions were not significantly different. When they watched the films in the presence of a scientist, however, the Japanese masked their negative facial expressions of disgust or fear with smiles. This is because it is considered offensive in Japanese culture to reveal negative emotions in the presence of a higher-status individual. Another display rule, which applies to many cultures, including U.S. culture, allows women a wider range of emotional expressiveness than men. In particular, crying is considered unmasculine.
Define the concepts of standardization, reliability, and validity, and explain why they are important requirements for any psychological test.
Standardization means that a test is given to a large number of participants who are thought to be representative of the group of people for whom the test has been designed. Everyone takes the same form of the test under uniform conditions. The scores from this process establish the norms or standards used to interpret individual scores. For IQ tests, such norms closely resemble a bell-shaped normal distribution, in which most scores cluster around the average score and more extreme scores are less commonly observed. A test is reliable if it consistently produces similar scores on different occasions. Reliability can be assessed by administering two similar, but not identical, versions of the test at different times. Alternatively, the scores on one half of the test can be compared with the scores on the other half of the test. A reliable test produces test and retest scores that are similar. A valid test measures what it is supposed to measure. Test validity can be demonstrated by showing that the test has predictive value. For example, a test that purports to measure depression should be able to predict depression-related behavior, such as substance abuse and self-harm.
Describe Lewis Terman's contribution to intelligence testing.
Terman developed the intelligence quotient, or IQ, score that described the results of the Stanford-Binet test as a single number. This score was derived by dividing the individual's mental age by their chronological age and multiplying the result by 100. A child of average intelligence with a comparable mental and chronological age would have an IQ score of 100. Conversely, a "bright" 10-year-old child with a mental age of 13 would have an IQ of 130 (13/10 × 100). Terman's use of the intelligence quotient resulted in the popularization of the phrase "IQ test." A few years later, Terman began a study of 1,500 California children with 140-plus IQs. The study eventually found that while high IQ was predictive of future good health, social well-adjustedness, and professional success, personality factors such as goal-orientedness, perseverance, and self-confidence also played a significant role. Such personality factors were relatively scarce in the high-IQ children who grew up to be less-accomplished and less well-adjusted adults.
Explain the James-Lange theory of emotion, and describe two lines of evidence in support of this approach to explaining emotion.
The James-Lange theory of emotion (from the work of William James and Carl Lange) states that emotions arise from our perception of internal body changes, such as physiological arousal and feedback from the muscles involved in the behavior. James believed that emotion occurred via the following sequence: We perceive a stimulus, and physiological and behavioral changes occur, which we experience as a particular emotion. In other words, we don't run because we are afraid; we are afraid because we run. In terms of evidence for the James-Lange approach, first it is important to note that basic emotions produce a distinct pattern of brain activity, detectable by a PET scan, in which the somatosensory cortex is activated by emotional stimuli before the participants report feeling the emotion. Second, the facial feedback hypothesis states that expressing a specific emotion with facial expressions causes us to subjectively experience the emotion. In other words, we feel happy because we smile. Studies of brain activity changes in response to conscious facial expressions support the facial feedback hypothesis, and studies of Botox injections to facial muscles associated with certain emotions have found dampening of emotional experience, as well, interestingly, as a reduction in the ability to recognize emotional expressions in other people.
Using evidence presented in the textbook, argue against the James-Lange theory of emotion as an approach to understanding emotion.
The James-Lange theory of emotion (from the work of William James and Carl Lange) states that emotions arise from our perception of internal body changes, such as physiological arousal and feedback from the muscles involved in the behavior. James believed that emotion occurred via the following sequence: We perceive a stimulus, and physiological and behavioral changes occur, which we experience as a particular emotion. In other words, we don't run because we are afraid; we are afraid because we run. There are several lines of evidence against this approach. First, as noted by Walter Cannon, our physiological reactions may be quite similar for multiple emotions (for example, fear and rage), but we are able to distinguish between these emotions. Second, our emotional reaction is often faster than our physiological reaction. When presented with a fear-inducing stimulus, we may feel afraid almost instantly but we may not notice increased heart rate until a few seconds after the stimulus has occurred. Third, studies using artificial induction of physiological changes (for example, injections of adrenaline) have not consistently shown the production of the related emotions (in our current example, fear or rage).
What was the Stanford Prison study, and how do the results of that study help explain the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib?
The Stanford Prison study involved 24 physically and psychologically healthy male college students who were randomly assigned to be either prisoners or prison guards. These roles were played out in a simulated prison environment in the basement of a building at Stanford University. The experiment quickly spun out of control, as after only six days those assigned the guard role became "abusive, red-necked prison guards," while those assigned to act as prisoners either had emotional breakdowns ("crying, screaming, and thinking irrationally") or became passive and depressed. The Stanford Prison study demonstrated the powerful influence of conformity to implied social rules and norms. This is relevant to the Abu Ghraib situation. According to the testimonies of the Abu Ghraib guards, no direct orders were given to abuse or mistreat any prisoners. However, as shown in the results of the Stanford Prison study, implied social norms and roles can be just as powerful as explicit orders. The guards at Abu Ghraib were apparently ignorant of the rules for handling inmates in a military prison. The Stanford Prison study demonstrated that when people are not certain what to do, they tend to rely on cues provided by others and to conform their behavior to that of those in their immediate group.
Describe the basic experimental setup in Stanley Milgram's original obedience study.
The experiment involved three people: the experimenter, and what outwardly appeared to be two participants—the teacher and the learner. However, the only actual participant in the study was the teacher; the learner was an accomplice working with Milgram. On the day of the study, both the real participant and the accomplice arrived at the lab and were greeted by the experimenter, who appeared to randomly assign them to the roles of teacher and learner. Of course, unbeknownst to the real participant, he was always assigned to be the teacher, and the accomplice was always assigned to be the learner. In the role of the teacher, the real participant was told that he would be responsible for "punishing" the learner's mistakes on a simple word-pair memory task by administering electric shocks to the learner, who would be strapped to an "electric chair." The teacher was then taken to a different room from which he could hear but not see the learner. The learner's push-button responses were displayed on an answer box positioned on top of the "shock generator" in front of the teacher. Each time the learner answered incorrectly, the teacher was to deliver an electric shock. To convince the teacher that the experiment was real, the teacher was given a sample shock (the only real shock given in the study). With each subsequent error, the teacher was told to progress to the next level on the shock generator and to announce the voltage to the learner before giving the shock. At predetermined voltage levels, the learner vocalized according to the script for the staged experiment, and at some point after 330 volts, the learner was to fall silent. If the teacher protested or showed concern for the learner, the experimenter would say "The experiment requires that you continue." Or "You have no other choice, you must continue." If the teacher continued to obey, the experiment would be halted once the teacher had progressed all the way to the maximum shock level of 450 volts.
Describe the five-factor model of personality and list surface traits associated with each factor.
The five-factor model of personality is a trait theory of personality that identifies neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness as the fundamental building blocks of personality. Each factor represents a dimension or range between two extreme poles—low to high. Most people will fall somewhere in the middle between the two opposing poles. Low neuroticism is associated with surface traits such as being calm, even-tempered and unemotional, and hardy, while high neuroticism is associated with surface traits such as worrying, being temperamental and emotional, and psychological vulnerability. Low extraversion is associated with surface traits such as being a loner and being reserved and quiet, while high extraversion is associated with being a joiner and being affectionate and talkative. Low openness to experience is associated with being down-to-earth, conventional and uncreative, and preferring routine, while high openness is associated with being imaginative, original, and creative, and preferring variety. Low agreeableness is associated with being antagonistic, ruthless, and suspicious, while high agreeableness is associated with being acquiescent, soft-hearted, and trusting. Low conscientiousness is associated with quitting and being lazy and aimless, while high conscientiousness is associated with persevering and being hardworking and ambitious.
Describe the id, ego, and superego, and describe the principles that guide each.
The id, superego, and ego are three psychological processes in Freud's theory of personality. These three processes correspond to the three levels of awareness: unconscious, preconscious, and conscious awareness, respectively. The unconscious id seeks immediate satisfaction of instinctual urges and drives and is governed by the pleasure principle, which is the motive to obtain pleasure and avoid tension or discomfort, through the immediate satisfaction of the instinctual urges, especially sexual urges. The pleasure principle is the most fundamental human motive. Next, the superego corresponds to the preconscious level. The superego is the partly conscious, self-evaluative, moralistic component of personality. It is formed through the internalization of parental and societal rules; put simply, it is the voice of conscience. Finally, the ego corresponds to the conscious level of awareness. This is the "I" that rationally regulates thoughts and behaviors and, of the three components, is the most in touch with the demands of the external world. In fact, the ego serves as the mediator between the id and the restrictions of the outer world. To accomplish this, the ego operates on the reality principle, which is the capacity to postpone gratification until the appropriate time or circumstances exist in the external world.
Explain the key strengths and limitations of self-report inventories.
The two most important strengths of self-report inventories are their standardization and their use of established norms. Each person receives the same instructions and responds to the same items. The results of self-report inventories are objectively scored and compared to norms established by previous research. In fact, both the MMPI and the CPI can be scored by computer. As a general rule, the reliability and validity of self-report inventories are far greater than those of projective tests. Literally thousands of studies have demonstrated that the MMPI, the CPI, and similar tests provide accurate, consistent results that can be used to generally predict behavior. However, self-report inventories also have their weaknesses. First, despite the inclusion of items designed to detect deliberate deception, there is considerable evidence that people can still successfully fake responses and answer in socially desirable ways. Second, some people are prone to responding in a set way. They may consistently pick the first alternative or answer "True" whether the item is true for them or not. And some tests, such as the MMPI and CPI, include hundreds of items. Taking these tests can become quite tedious, and people may lose interest in carefully choosing the most appropriate response. Third, people are not always accurate judges of their own behaviors, attitudes, or attributes. And some people defensively deny their true feelings, needs, and attitudes, even to themselves.
Discuss three important criticisms of Freud's theory of personality.
Three important criticisms of Freud's theory of personality are inadequacy of evidence, lack of testability, and sexism. (1) Freud's conclusions were based on a small and skewed sample of his own middle- and upper-class patients from early-twentieth-century Vienna. The ideas he gleaned from working with this group do not generalize well to the whole of society. It is also impossible to objectively assess the data on which Freud based his ideas, because he did not take notes during therapy sessions. It's possible that Freud's preconceived ideas heavily influenced what he looked for and saw in his patients. (2) Freud's psychoanalytic concepts tend to be vague and impossible to objectively measure or confirm. For instance, how might one operationally define and quantify the influence of the id? Freud himself admitted that his theory was better at explaining past behavior than at predicting future behavior, whereas the ability to make successful predictions is an important mark of a successful scientific theory. (3) Freud's theory has also been criticized for sexism. Freud believed that penis envy produces feelings of shame and inferiority in women, which causes them to be more vain, masochistic, and jealous than men. Freud also held that women are more influenced by their emotions and have a lesser ethical and moral sense than men. The source of these alleged findings may lie in the fact that Freud's theory uses male psychology as a prototype and treats female psychology as a deviation from the norm. A psychoanalytic theory that avoided the male-dominated point of view might have evolved quite differently (as Karen Horney's work suggests).
What is a projective test? Name and describe the two projective tests discussed in the textbook.
projective test is a type of personality test that involves a person's interpreting an ambiguous image. This type of test is used to assess a person's unconscious motives, conflicts, psychological defenses, and personality traits. One projective test is the Rorschach Inkblot Test, developed by psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921. As the name implies, the test is composed of cards that depict inkblots—five that show black-and-white inkblots and five that depict colored inkblots. The cards are presented to the test subject one at a time, and the subject describes whatever he or she sees in the inkblots. The examiner records the responses verbatim and also observes the subject's behavior, gestures, and reactions. Scoring of the test is typically based on criteria such as whether the person reports seeing animate or inanimate objects, human or animal figures, and movement, and whether the person deals with the entire image or just a fragment of it. Another projective test, the Thematic Apperception Test, was developed by Henry Murray and colleagues and involves test subjects creating stories about ambiguous scenes. The stories must include information about what the characters are feeling and how the story turns out. The stories are then scored by the examiner for the motives, needs, anxieties, and conflicts of the main characters and for how conflicts are resolved. Interpreting the test involves the subjective judgment of the examiner.
