kelly & personal construct theory
ways of anticipating life events
we use constructs to predict the future & anticipate events
interview
"if you don't know what's going on in a person's mind, ask him; he may tell you!" Kelly accepted the client's words at face value, believing this was the best way to determine the person's constructs
dichotomy corollary
2 mutually exclusive alternatives; we construe events in an "either/or"/bipolar manner (e.g., honesty VS dishonesty)
people can predict how they will experience a repeated event in the future
According to Kelly's construction corollary, _______.
predict and control the events in their lives
According to Kelly, individuals use personal constructs to:
how people interpret events and organize their social relationships in a system
According to Kelly, the only way to understand the human personality is to understand:
They are unstable and inconsistent in construing other people.
According to Role Construct Repertory (REP) Test results, which of the following is true of schizophrenics?
NOT psychoanalysis NOT behaviorism NOT trait theory
In developing his theory, which of the following methods did Kelly rely on?
People evaluate others according to their own personal characteristics.
In the context of research on Kelly's theory, which of the following statements is true of the effects of one's emotional state?
cognitive processes
Kelly attempted to describe all aspects of personality, including its emotional components, strictly in terms of _____.
the fact of being alive
Kelly believed that individuals are motivated by:
rational and capable of choice
Kelly viewed human nature as:
personal construct theory
Kelly's description of personality in terms of cognitive processes; we are capable of interpreting behaviors & events & of using this understanding to guide our behavior & to predict the behavior of other people
students who were referred by their teachers for counseling.
Kelly's initial clients were:
the way people organize and interpret their world
Kelly's personal construct theory states that personality can be understood by:
focuses exclusively on the intellectual and rational aspects of human functioning
Kelly's theory has been criticized because it:
themes from the past will reappear in the future
Kelly's theory is based on the idea that ____.
predictive efficiency
The only valid test for a construct system is its:
Cognitive psychologists studied their subjects in an experimental setting, whereas Kelly developed his theory in a clinical setting.
Which of the following is a difference between Kelly's cognitive theory and the cognitive movement that began around 1960?
A client should discover that the new constructs work better in anticipating events than the old constructs by which the client was living.
Which of the following is a goal of the fixed role therapy promoted by George Kelly?
a person is more open to new experiences
Which of the following is likely to happen if one's construct system is permeable?
cognitive simplicity
a cognitive style characterized by a relative inability to perceive differences among people; the less desirable & less useful cognitive style
cognitive complexity
a cognitive style characterized by the ability to perceive differences among people; the more desirable & more useful cognitive style
modulation corollary
adapting to new experiences; we may modify our constructs as a function of new experiences; the variation in a person's constructs is limited by their permeability
constellatory construct
allows its elements to belong to other constructs concurrently; fixed once applied
construct system
unique pattern created by each individual to make sense of their world
peripheral constructs
beliefs that are relatively unimportant to the person and that can be changed rather easily
loose constructions
beliefs that are unstable, weak, & poorly defined; lead to erratic and invalid predictions about how the world operates
enactment sketch
client is asked to play a role designed to contrast sharply with the client's current self-perception
fragmentation corollary
competition among constructs; we may sometimes have contradictory or inconsistent subordinate constructs within our overall system
superordinate construct
construct that controls many other constructs
subordinate constructs
constructs that are controlled by other constructs
experience corollary
exposure to new experiences; we continually test our constructs against life's experiences to make sure they remain useful; a person's constructs vary as the person successively construes the replication of events
choice corollary
freedom of choice; we choose the alternative for each construct that works best for us; the one that allows us to predict the outcome of anticipated events
core constructs
important beliefs that are part of the individual's personal identity
individuality corollary
individual differences in interpreting events; each person is unique in the way reality is viewed and interpreted (i.e., their construction of reality)
construct
intellectual hypothesis that we devise & use to interpret/explain life events; constructs are bipolar/dichotomous
sociality corollary
interpersonal relationships; we try to understand how other people think & predict what they'll do & we modify our behaviors accordingly; we are able to communicate with others because we can construe their constructions
processes
not internal mental energy; personality is a flowing, moving process
fundamental postulate
our psychological processes are directed by the ways in which we anticipate events
construing of experiences
personal interpretation of experience that is our unique view of events; the pattern within which we place events & experiences
fixed role therapy
psychotherapeutic technique in which the client acts out constructs appropriate for a fictitious person, which shows the client how the new constructs can be more effective than the old ones they've been using
organization corollary
relationships among constructs; we organize our personal constructs in a hierarchy pattern according to our view of their similarities & differences
core role constructs
set of beliefs associated with important role relationships that constitute the person's social identity
commonality corollary
similarities among people in interpreting events; although our individual constructs are unique to us, people in compatible groups/cultures may hold similar constructs; if several people construe an experience similarly, we can conclude that their cognitive processes (anticipations, expectations, etc) are similar
construction corollary
similarities among repeated events; because repeated events are similar, we can predict/anticipate how we will experience such an event in the future (we anticipate confirmation of our constructs)
self-characterization sketch
technique designed to assess a person's construct system (that is, how a person perceives themselves in relation to other people
Role Construct Repertory (REP) Test
technique devised by Kelly to uncover dichotomies in a person's life, revealing the pattern of personal constructs; info presented in a diagram called a repertory grid
permeability
the idea that constructs can be revised & extended in light of new experiences
constructive alternativism
the idea that we are free to revise or replace our constructs with alternatives as needed
Kelly's primary assessment technique
the interview
range corollary
the range of convenience; our constructs may apply to many situations/people or they may be limited to a single situation/person; they aren't relevant to all situations
range of convenience
the spectrum of events for which a construct can be applied
personal constructs
theories we construct by which we try to predict & control the events in our lives
controlled elaboration
therapeutic technique in which clients are encouraged to clarify and think through their problems in consultation w the therapist
preemptive construct
type of construct that includes only its own elements and maintains that they cannot apply to other constructs
propositional construct
type of construct that leaves all of its elements open to modification