PSYC 101- Exam 4

Five-Factor Model

(also called the Big Five) The Five-Factor Model is a widely accepted model of personality traits. Advocates of the model believe that much of the variability in people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can be summarized with five broad traits. These five traits are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Family Stress Model

A description of the negative effects of family financial difficulty on child adjustment through the effects of economic stress on parents' depressed mood, increased marital problems, and poor parenting.

Subjective Aging

A multidimensional construct that indicates how old (or young) a person feels and into which age group a person categorizes him- or herself

Chutes and Ladders

A numerical board game that seems to be useful for building numerical knowledge.

Authoritative

A parenting style characterized by high (but reasonable) expectations for children's behavior, good communication, warmth and nurturance, and the use of reasoning (rather than coercion) as preferred responses to children's misbehavior.

b. Authoritative

A parenting style that encourages children to be independent but still places limits on their behavior is called Answers: a. Neglectful b. Authoritative c. Authoritarian d. Permissive

Conscientiousness

A personality trait that reflects a person's tendency to be careful, organized, hardworking, and to follow rules.

Agreeableness

A personality trait that reflects a person's tendency to be compassionate, cooperative, warm, and caring to others. People low in agreeableness tend to be rude, hostile, and to pursue their own interests over those of others.

Extraversion

A personality trait that reflects a person's tendency to be sociable, outgoing, active, and assertive.

Openness to Experience

A personality trait that reflects a person's tendency to seek out and to appreciate new things, including thoughts, feelings, values, and experiences.

Neuroticism

A personality trait that reflects the tendency to be interpersonally sensitive and the tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger.

d. The poured volume increases or decreased depending on the appearance of the container

A preschooler who watches an adult empty a small pitcher of water into a glass believes that: Answers: a. Although the liquid looks different, the volume remains the same b. Solids and liquids are convertible through reversible operations c. The adult controls magic that shrinks or expands the liquid's volume during pouring d. The poured volume increases or decreased depending on the appearance of the container

Autobiographical Narratives

A qualitative research method used to understand characteristics and life themes that an individual considers to uniquely distinguish him- or herself from others.

Factor Analysis

A statistical technique for grouping similar things together according to how highly they are associated.

Effortful Control

A temperament quality that enables children to be more successful in motivated self-regulation.

Inhibitory Functioning

Ability to focus on a subset of information while suppressing attention to less relevant information.

a. How children reason, with fundamental changes tin thinking occurring in each stage

According to Piaget, the developmental processes that explain children's cognitive development are measured by: Answers: a. How children reason, with fundamental changes tin thinking occurring in each stage b. The answers children give to each problem c. How well they work together to solve a problem d. A child's age

easygoing and attractive

According to research referenced in your text, babies who are _____ tend to elicit more sensitive and affectionate care from their parents compared with babies who lack these attributes. Answers: easygoing and attractive identical twins first-born children premature or low-birth weight.

b. Preoperational

Adam is upset that his twin brother Ryan has two pieces of pie while he only has one. His Mom rightly states that it's the same amount of pie it's just that Ryan's piece fell apart into two pieces as it was transferred onto the plate. Still not satisfied, Adam begins to throw a temper tantrum. In a moment of desperation, Adam's Mom cuts his piece in half saying: "There, Adam, now you have two pieces!" This worked. Adam is now happy. What Piagetian Stage is Adam in? Answers: a. Sensorimotor b. Preoperational c. Concrete operational d. Formal operational

Crowds

Adolescent peer groups characterized by shared reputations or images.

Identity Diffusion

Adolescents neither explore nor commit to any roles or ideologies.

Homophily

Adolescents tend to associate with peers who are similar to themselves.

c. Openness

Alex responds well to novelty, such as starting at a new school and is willing to join two new clubs that focus on activities that she has never tried before. Alex would likely score high on which of the following Big Five personality traits? Answers: a. Neuroticism b. Agreeableness c. Openness d. Conscientiousness

b. Goodness of fit

Allison has been described by her parents, teachers, and friends as hyperactive. Therefore, her parents try to modify her environment by taking her to the park and signing her up for sports teams in order to fit her temperament. This is an example of which of the following: Answers: a. Effortful control b. Goodness of fit c. Conscience d. Effortful control

a. their experience and knowledge compensates for slower processing speed.

Although older adults experience cognitive decline, they perform just as well as younger adults on tasks that require expert knowledge because: Answers: a. their experience and knowledge compensates for slower processing speed. b. they have practiced the tasks c. memory does not decline with age d. inhibitory functioning increases

Self-Perceptions of Aging

An individual's perceptions of their own aging process; positive perceptions of aging have been shown to be associated with greater longevity and health.

Security of Attachment

An infant's confidence in the sensitivity and responsiveness of a caregiver, especially when he or she is needed. Infants can be securely attached or insecurely attached.

Psychometric Approach

Approach to studying intelligence that examines performance on tests of intellectual functioning.

Phonemic Awareness

Awareness of the component sounds within words.

Facets

Broad personality traits can be broken down into narrower facets or aspects of the trait. For example, extraversion has several facets, such as sociability, dominance, risk-taking and so forth.

Continuous distributions

Characteristics can go from low to high, with all different intermediate values possible. One does not simply have the trait or not have it, but can possess varying amounts of it.

b. Phonemic awareness

Children's _______________ in pre-K and Kindergarten is the strongest predictor of reading ability in third and fourth grade. Answers: a. IQ b. Phonemic awareness c. Social class background d. Vocabulary

Theory of Mind

Children's growing understanding of the mental states that affect people's behavior.

Hedonic Well-Being

Component of well-being that refers to emotional experiences, often including measures of positive (e.g., happiness, contentment) and negative affect (e.g., stress, sadness).

Intra- and Inter-Individual Differences

Different patterns of development observed within an individual (intra-) or between individuals (inter-).

d. Family Stress Model

Due to the chronic conflict and anger in their relationship Bernadette's parents decided to get a divorce. However, they are now having trouble paying Bernadette's school fees to allow her to continue attending class at Spoke's Elementary School. Which of the following models is designed to describe the potential negative effects caused by these circumstances? Answers: a. Child Adjustment Model b. Socioeconomic State Model c. Relationship Quality Model d. Family Stress Model

Temperament

Early emerging differences in reactivity and self-regulation, which constitutes a foundation for personality development.

c. Object permanence

Eight-month old Jonathan was left by his mother at the baby-sitter's place. The minute his mother left and he could not see her, Jonathan started to cry. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development which concept would explain Jonathan's behavior? Answers: a. Egocentrism b. Conservation c. Object permanence d. Transformation

Personality Traits

Enduring dispositions in behavior that show differences across individuals, and which tend to characterize the person across varying types of situations.

Personality

Enduring predispositions that characterize a person, such as styles of thought, feelings and behavior.

Validity

Evidence related to the interpretation and use of test scores. A particularly important type of evidence is criterion validity, which involves the ability of a test to predict theoretically relevant outcomes. For example, a presumed measure of conscientiousness should be related to academic achievement (such as overall grade point average).

d. Suicide

Family adversity, abuse, and parental psychopathology are predictors of _____________ during adolescence. Answers: a. Antisocial behavior b. Academic achievement c. Identity diffusion d. Suicide

Big Five

Five, broad general traits that are included in many prominent models of personality. The five traits are neuroticism (those high on this trait are prone to feeling sad, worried, anxious, and dissatisfied with themselves), extraversion (high scorers are friendly, assertive, outgoing, cheerful, and energetic), openness to experience (those high on this trait are tolerant, intellectually curious, imaginative, and artistic), agreeableness (high scorers are polite, considerate, cooperative, honest, and trusting), and conscientiousness (those high on this trait are responsible, cautious, organized, disciplined, and achievement-oriented).

b. Informant report

For each item, select the best answer that represents characteristics of your father. This is an example of: Answers: a. Self-report b. Informant report c. High-stakes testing d. An unreliable measure

Differential Susceptibility

Genetic factors that make individuals more or less responsive to environmental experiences.

c. Early and later adulthood; middle adulthood

Global subjective well-being is highest during ______ and lowest in ______. Answers: a. Adolescence; older adulthood b. Older adulthood; early adulthood c. Early and later adulthood; middle adulthood d. Middle adulthood; older adulthood

Quantitative Changes

Gradual, incremental change, as in the growth of a pine tree's girth.

Cohort

Group of people typically born in the same year or historical period, who share common experiences over time; sometimes called a generation (e.g., Baby Boom Generation).

d. authoritarian

Hector is a strict father who demands and expects obedience from his children. What is his style of parenting known as? Answers: a. permissive b. authoritative c. neglectful d. authoritarian

Age Identity

How old or young people feel compared to their chronological age; after early adulthood, most people feel younger than their chronological age.

c. Traits are an illusion. People may not be consistent across situations and thus it would be fruitful to study the distinct reactions in specific situations

In the "person-situation debate" amongst psychologists, what was Walter Mischel's side of the argument? Answers: a. People may have context-free traits. Thus, it would be fruitful to study more personality traits than just the Big Five b. Traits are vital predictors of behavior. Thus, personality traits are seen as larger predictors than effects of situations c. Traits are an illusion. People may not be consistent across situations and thus it would be fruitful to study the distinct reactions in specific situations d. There are two types of traits. People have one set of traits that represent their self-concept and there is another set of traits representing how the person is viewed by others

Successful Aging

Includes three components: avoiding disease, maintaining high levels of cognitive and physical functioning, and having an actively engaged lifestyle.

Foreclosure

Individuals commit to an identity without exploration of options.

Identity Achievement

Individuals have explored different options and then made commitments.

Global Subjective Well-Being

Individuals' perceptions of and satisfaction with their lives as a whole.

Heterogeneity

Inter-individual and subgroup differences in level and rate of change over time.

b. effortful control

Julee's mom has noticed that her daughter has been especially good at resisting the cookies in the kitchen so she doesn't spoil her dinner each night. Julee knows if she can wait until after dinner she can eat two cookies. This successful experience of motivated self-regulation can also be referred to as what? Answers: a. conscience development b. effortful control c. genetic predisposition d. communication intelligence

Qualitative Changes

Large, fundamental change, as when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly; stage theories such as Piaget's posit that each stage reflects qualitative change relative to previous stages.

c. Moratorium

Lilly is trying different sports throughout the summer to determine which team she would like to try out for in high school. Lilly would likely fall in which of Marcia's identity statuses? Answers: a. Foreclosure b. Diffusion c. Moratorium d. Achievement

Average Life Expectancy

Mean number of years that 50% of people in a specific birth cohort are expected to survive. This is typically calculated from birth but is also sometimes re-calculated for people who have already reached a particular age (e.g., 65).

Working Memory

Memory system that allows for information to be simultaneously stored and utilized or manipulated.

Social Network

Network of people with whom an individual is closely connected; social networks provide emotional, informational, and material support and offer opportunities for social engagement.

Gender Schemas

Organized beliefs and expectations about maleness and femaleness that guide children's thinking about gender.

Psychological Control

Parents' manipulation of and intrusion into adolescents' emotional and cognitive world through invalidating adolescents' feelings and pressuring them to think in particular ways.

Preoperational Reasoning Stage

Period within Piagetian theory from age 2 to 7 years, in which children can represent objects through drawing and language but cannot solve logical reasoning problems, such as the conservation problems.

Sensorimotor Stage

Period within Piagetian theory from birth to age 2 years, during which children come to represent the enduring reality of objects.

a. characteristic ways that people differ from one another

Personality refers to ______. Answers: a. characteristic ways that people differ from one another b. people's unconscious processes c. the unique ways people learn behaviors d. a person's feelings, thoughts, and attitudes

c. Discontinuous and qualitative

Piaget's stage theory can be described as which of the following? Answers: a. Continuous and qualitative b. Continuous and quantitative c. Discontinuous and qualitative d. Discontinuous and quantitative

Concrete Operations Stage

Piagetian stage between ages 7 and 12 when children can think logically about concrete situations but not engage in systematic scientific reasoning.

Formal Operations Stage

Piagetian stage starting at age 12 years and continuing for the rest of life, in which adolescents may gain the reasoning powers of educated adults.

Conservation Problems

Problems pioneered by Piaget in which physical transformation of an object or set of objects changes a perceptually salient dimension but not the quantity that is being asked about.

c. avoidantly attached

Rachel's mother takes her to the pediatrician for her 1-year checkup. Rachel is very friendly towards everyone she meets in the waiting room; she didn't show any reaction when her mother left her in the room nor upon her mother's return. According to Ainsworth, these are indicators that Rachel is: Answers: a. securely attached b. ambivalently attached c. avoidantly attached d. unattached

Longitudinal Studies

Research method that collects information from individuals at multiple time points over time, allowing researchers to track cohort differences in age-related change to determine cumulative effects of different life experiences.

Cross-sectional studies

Research method that provides information about age group differences; age differences are confounded with cohort differences and effects related to history and time of study.

c. fluid intelligence will decline and crystallized intelligence will remain steady.

Research on cognitive abilities in late adulthood suggests that as we age, Answers: a. both fluid and crystallized intelligence will decline. b. crystallized intelligence will decline and fluid intelligence will remain steady. c. fluid intelligence will decline and crystallized intelligence will remain steady. d. both fluid and crystallized intelligence will remain steady.

d. Differential susceptibility model

Researchers have suggested that certain genetic variations make adolescents more or less susceptible to environmental influences. This is known as: Answers: a. Nature b. Homophily c. Nurture d. Differential susceptibility model

High-stakes Testing

Settings in which test scores are used to make important decisions about individuals. For example, test scores may be used to determine which individuals are admitted into a college or graduate school, or who should be hired for a job. Tests also are used in forensic settings to help determine whether a person is competent to stand trial or fits the legal definition of sanity.

a. Foreclosure

Shannon decided to become Catholic after attending one mass service. She did not look at any other religions. This describes which type of identity formation? Answers: a. Foreclosure b. Diffusion c. Moratorium d. Achievement

Moratorium

State in which adolescents are actively exploring options but have not yet made identity commitments.

HEXACO Model

The HEXACO model is an alternative to the Five-Factor Model. The HEXACO model includes six traits, five of which are variants of the traits included in the Big Five (Emotionality [E], Extraversion [X], Agreeableness [A], Conscientiousness [C], and Openness [O]). The sixth factor, Honesty-Humility [H], is unique to this model.

Object Permanence Task

The Piagetian task in which infants below about 9 months of age fail to search for an object that is removed from their sight and, if not allowed to search immediately for the object, act as if they do not know that it continues to exist.

Depth Perception

The ability to actively perceive the distance from oneself of objects in the environment.

Conscience

The cognitive, emotional, and social influences that cause young children to create and act consistently with internal standards of conduct.

Reliability

The consistency of test scores across repeated assessments. For example, test-retest reliability examines the extent to which scores change over time.

Nurture

The environments, starting with the womb, that influence all aspects of children's development.

Letter of Recommendation Effect

The general tendency for informants in personality studies to rate others in an unrealistically positive manner. This tendency is due a pervasive bias in personality assessment: In the large majority of published studies, informants are individuals who like the person they are rating (e.g., they often are friends or family members) and, therefore, are motivated to depict them in a socially desirable way. The term reflects a similar tendency for academic letters of recommendation to be overly positive and to present the referent in an unrealistically desirable manner.

Nature

The genes that children bring with them to life and that influence all aspects of their development.

d. Cognitive development is more continuous than Piaget thought

The idea that on the object permanence task, infants perform better when the waiting period is shorter at just six months of age supports which of the following problems with Piaget's theory? Answers: a. Life experiences/culture play a role on cognitive development b. Piaget underestimated children's cognitive abilities c. Many adults do not reach formal operations d. Cognitive development is more continuous than Piaget thought

Lexical Hypothesis

The lexical hypothesis is the idea that the most important differences between people will be encoded in the language that we use to describe people. Therefore, if we want to know which personality traits are most important, we can look to the language that people use to describe themselves and others.

Goodness of Fit

The match or synchrony between a child's temperament and characteristics of parental care that contributes to positive or negative personality development. A good "fit" means that parents have accommodated to the child's temperamental attributes, and this contributes to positive personality growth and better adjustment.

d. Conscientiousness

The night before a midterm exam, Wayne is invited to a party by his friends. He decides not to go to the party because doing well in the course is important to his career goals. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Wayne likely score high in? Answers: a. Agreeableness b. Neuroticism c. Openness d. Conscientiousness

Person-Situation Debate

The person-situation debate is a historical debate about the relative power of personality traits as compared to situational influences on behavior. The situationist critique, which started the person-situation debate, suggested that people overestimate the extent to which personality traits are consistent across situations.

Social Referencing

The process by which one individual consults another's emotional expressions to determine how to evaluate and respond to circumstances that are ambiguous or uncertain.

a. Social context

The relationships that provide a child with security, guidance, and knowledge are an example of which of the following perspectives that shape development in childhood? Answers: a. Social context b. Biological maturation c. Representation of self and social world d. All are correct

Numerical Magnitudes

The sizes of numbers.

Deviant Peer Contagion

The spread of problem behaviors within groups of adolescents.

Honeymoon Effect

The tendency for newly married individuals to rate their spouses in an unrealistically positive manner. This represents a specific manifestation of the letter of recommendation effect when applied to ratings made by current romantic partners. Moreover, it illustrates the very important role played by relationship satisfaction in ratings made by romantic partners: As marital satisfaction declines (i.e., when the "honeymoon is over"), this effect disappears.

Self-enhancement bias

The tendency for people to see and/or present themselves in an overly favorable way. This tendency can take two basic forms: defensiveness (when individuals actually believe they are better than they really are) and impression management (when people intentionally distort their responses to try to convince others that they are better than they really are). Informants also can show enhancement biases. The general form of this bias has been called the letter-of-recommendation effect, which is the tendency of informants who like the person they are rating (e.g., friends, relatives, romantic partners) to describe them in an overly favorable way. In the case of newlyweds, this tendency has been termed the honeymoon effect.

Sibling Contrast Effect

The tendency of parents to use their perceptions of all of their children as a frame of reference for rating the characteristics of each of them. For example, suppose that a mother has three children; two of these children are very sociable and outgoing, whereas the third is relatively average in sociability. Because of operation of this effect, the mother will rate this third child as less sociable and outgoing than he/she actually is. More generally, this effect causes parents to exaggerate the true extent of differences between their children. This effect represents a specific manifestation of the more general reference group effect when applied to ratings made by parents.

Reference Group Effect

The tendency of people to base their self-concept on comparisons with others. For example, if your friends tend to be very smart and successful, you may come to see yourself as less intelligent and successful than you actually are. Informants also are prone to these types of effects. For instance, the sibling contrast effect refers to the tendency of parents to exaggerate the true extent of differences between their children.

Projective Hypothesis

The theory that when people are confronted with ambiguous stimuli (that is, stimuli that can be interpreted in more than one way), their responses will be influenced by their unconscious thoughts, needs, wishes, and impulses. This, in turn, is based on the Freudian notion of projection, which is the idea that people attribute their own undesirable/unacceptable characteristics to other people or objects.

Processing Speed

The time it takes individuals to perform cognitive operations (e.g., process information, react to a signal, switch attention from one task to another, find a specific target object in a complex picture).

Information Processing Theories

Theories that focus on describing the cognitive processes that underlie thinking at any one age and cognitive growth over time.

Sociocultural Theories

Theory founded in large part by Lev Vygotsky that emphasizes how other people and the attitudes, values, and beliefs of the surrounding culture influence children's development.

Life Span Theories

Theory of development that emphasizes the patterning of lifelong within- and between-person differences in the shape, level, and rate of change trajectories.

Life Course Theories

Theory of development that highlights the effects of social expectations of age-related life events and social roles; additionally considers the lifelong cumulative effects of membership in specific cohorts and sociocultural subgroups and exposure to historical events.

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Theory proposed to explain the reduction of social partners in older adulthood; posits that older adults focus on meeting emotional over information-gathering goals, and adaptively select social partners who meet this need.

Piaget's Theory

Theory that development occurs through a sequence of discontinuous stages: the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages.

Convoy Model of Social Relations

Theory that proposes that the frequency, types, and reciprocity of social exchanges change with age. These social exchanges impact the health and well-being of the givers and receivers in the convoy.

Implicit Motives

These are goals that are important to a person, but that he/she cannot consciously express. Because the individual cannot verbalize these goals directly, they cannot be easily assessed via self-report. However, they can be measured using projective devices such as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).

Independent

Two characteristics or traits are separate from one another-- a person can be high on one and low on the other, or vice-versa. Some correlated traits are relatively independent in that although there is a tendency for a person high on one to also be high on the other, this is not always the case.

Crystallized Intelligence

Type of intellectual ability that relies on the application of knowledge, experience, and learned information.

Fluid Intelligence

Type of intelligence that relies on the ability to use information processing resources to reason logically and solve novel problems.

Recognition

Type of memory task where individuals are asked to remember previously learned information with the assistance of cues.

Recall

Type of memory task where individuals are asked to remember previously learned information without the help of external cues.

Continuous Development

Ways in which development occurs in a gradual incremental manner, rather than through sudden jumps.

a. Describing the cognitive processes that underlie thinking at any one age and cognitive growth over time

What do information processing theories focus on? Answers: a. Describing the cognitive processes that underlie thinking at any one age and cognitive growth over time b. Describing development that occurs sequentially and discontinuously that allows for strict quantitative measures when observing changes c. Development that occurs through a sequence of discontinuous stages: the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages d. Emphasizing how other people and the attitudes, values, and beliefs of the surrounding culture influence children's development

a. Letter of recommendation effect

What term represents the tendency for informants to produce unrealistically positive ratings? Answers: a. Letter of recommendation effect b. Implicit testing effect c. Self-enhancement bias d. Projective effect

c. Secure

When Rachel, a toddler, visits a neighbor's home with her mother, she explores the room where the adults are sitting, but she will not leave the room. When her mother leaves to inspect the garden, she gets agitated and later rushes to her immediately when mother returns. Rachel's behavior demonstrates _____ attachment. Answers: a. Insecure Avoidant b. Insecure Ambivalent c. Secure d. Disorganized

d. Reference group effect

When rating himself on extraversion, Sean compares his behavior to his friends who happen to be extremely shy and unenthusiastic. Therefore, Sean would likely rate himself higher on extraversion than he truly is due to which of the following? Answers: a. Self-enhancement bias b. Social desirability effect c. Sibling contrast effect d. Reference group effect

c. Self-report

Which approach is most common with psychological research? Answers: a. Observation b. Informant rating c. Self-report d. Online questionnaires

d. Poor conflict management

Which of the following is NOT a challenge associated with peer relationships during childhood? Answers: a. Bullying b. Peer victimization c. Conformity pressures d. Poor conflict management

b. They are burdensome

Which of the following is a limitation with using behavioral measures for assessing personality? Answers: a. They are sampled directly b. They are burdensome c. They are affected by response bias d. They are unable to be scored

b. Child's response when parent returns

Which of the following is being tested in Ainsworth's Strange Situation? Answers: a. Child's response when parent leaves b. Child's response when parent returns c. Child's response when stranger enters d. Child's response when stranger leaves

b. The dopamine system develops before the prefrontal cortex.

Which of the following statements best describes brain changes during adolescence and may be related to risky behavior? Answers: a. The limbic system goes through a "growth spurt". b. The dopamine system develops before the prefrontal cortex. c. There is uniform growth through all brain structures. d. The myelin surrounding the synapses thins.

c. Extraversion and Neuroticism

Which two traits of the Five-Factor Model does Eysenck consider the most important traits? Answers: a. Conscientiousness and Agreeableness b. Openness and Extraversion c. Extraversion and Neuroticism d. Agreeableness and Openness

b. Academic achievement

____, predicted by parental engagement with adolescents, intrinsic motivation, and school quality, is a marker of positive adjustment during adolescence. Answers: a. Decreased rate of suicide b. Academic achievement c. Antisocial behavior d. Social development

b. Need for achievement

___________ is the desire to make significant accomplishments by mastering skills or meeting high standards. Answers: a. Need for cognition b. Need for achievement c. Self-consciousness d. Sensation seeking

c. Sociocultural theory

__________________ emphasizes how other people and the attitudes, values, and beliefs of the surrounding culture, influence children's development. Answers: a. Piaget's stage theory b. Information processing theory c. Sociocultural theory d. Conservation operations theory