PSY 265Exam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 6Lecture 1 (1-14-2015)Personality science- Personality science is the scientific study of what humans are like.- In order to understand and study what people are like, two (2) aspects, or dimensions, must be taken into account: 1) The typical ways people think, feel and behave in general2) The typical ways people think, feel and behave in everyday lifeComparing personality- Being like many other people means that there is a shared commonality among a host ofpeople, but not among everyone. Cultural background Gender Historical cohort Being like all other people means that there is a shared commonality among human nature. Universal ways people vary Personality traits (Extraversion/Introversion)- Being like no other people means that everyone is different in his or her own way. Taste in music Self-presentation Hobbies- Being like no others (everyone in general) means that socialization or life experiences distinguish people from each other. Beliefs Traumatic events Life storiesDimensions of personality science- There is no specific person that is of interest, but a more holistic approach to studying what people are like. Commonalities among all and many people.- The general dimension allows for prediction of life outcomes. Who is most likely to be arrested? Who is most likely to be happy?- Understanding how everyday activities, thoughts, and feelings are representative of personality Facebook posts Religious affiliation and observance Spending time with friends- There is little interest in pathological or abnormal topics. These type of topics are better suited for clinical psychology.Lecture 2 (1-21-2015)Ways to measure personality- Interviews- Self-reports scales- Informant reports- Experience samplingLecture 3 (1-16-2015)Correlational methods- Looks for relationships or links between variables. Is X related to Y?- Results can be confusing or difficult to interpret. X causes Y Y causes X Z causes both X and YPearson r basic statistic- Represents the degree of linear association between two variables- Sign: Can be positive or negative. A perfect negative or inverse relationship is represented by (-1) No relationship is represented by (0) A perfect positive correlation is represented by (1)- Size: Size of r is also known as the “effect size” Small is represented by r= .10 Medium is represented by r= .30 Large is represented by r= .50Correlations and personality- Personality is seen as the independent variable. Personality traits are inner, psychobiological causes that are stable.- A few causal paths can be excluded. Extraversion and self-presentation Being well organized and having poor class attendance- Some causal paths cannot be excluded Neuroticism and stress/health Exercise and extraversionLecture 4 (1-28-2015)Understanding traits- Personality traits are normally distributed. Bell curve Low to high Represents every person- Traits are usually stable Reflects biological traits Are not impermanent- There is a host of ways that people are different.- Traits are fundamentally, universally and panculturally different.- Classifying traits aids in understanding basic traits.Lecture 5 (2-2-2015)Top 5 traits (OCEAN)- Openness to experience: The world is intriguing to individuals who are open to experience. Attracted to creative or intellectual careers. Likely to get advanced degrees.- Conscientiousness: The world is full of order and structure to individuals who are conscience. Conventional in self-presentation. Attracted to “system” jobs. Rarely procrastinates and is punctual.- Extraversion: The world is full of excitement for extraverted individuals. More popular and outgoing. More satisfied in relationships. More involved in their community.- Agreeableness: The world is friendly to individuals who have an agreeable personality. Usually seek social occupations. Make long-term friends and relationships. Strong social bonds and faithful in marriage. Less aggressive or hostile. Assortative friendships.- Neuroticism: The world is threatening or scary to neurotic individuals. Risk for stress related illnesses and mental disorders. Insecure in relationships. Handles criticism and stress poorly.Lecture 6 (2-4-2015)Origin of top 5 traits- Lexical research evaluates the trait words used in a language and evaluate how those words cluster.- The top 5 traits are found in all languages according to lexical research. Self-report tradition: A lot of people are given self-reports and the trait scales are analyzed to find a cluster. Statistical tools: Factor analysis, cluster analysis, latent class analysis.Differences in traits- Gender: Women are higher than man when it comes to neuroticism. Women are slightly higher than men when it comes to extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Women and men are identical when it comes to openness to experience.- Regional: Personality varies based on geographical location. Environment shapes personality. Hardship Isolation/Social bonds Nutrition Personality shapes environment. People migrate to places that appeal to them. People who are open to experience live in states that are more liberal. People who are conscientious live in states with health promotion. People who are extraverts live in states where there are high crimes rates and high socialinvolvement. People who are agreeable live in states where there are low crime rates and more religious. People who are neurotic live in states with low health promotion and have lower life
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