PPE 3003 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 4 Lecture 1 1 Know the definition of personality Personality is defined as the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with and adaptations to the environment including the intrapsychic physical and social environment 2 Know what a personality trait is What is the difference between a trait and a state Personality traits are a unique set of consistent emotional cognitive and behavioral dispositions or tendencies It s how you typically feel think and act A trait is the WHAT of personality which describes how people are different from each other They are helpful because they can describe people explain behavior and predict future behavior 3 Be able to identify and describe the three components of personality mechanisms The three components of personality mechanisms are inputs or attention which include becoming more sensitive to certain information decision rules or available options which is the more likely to think about specific options and outputs or actual behavior which guides their behavior to certain kinds of actions 4 Be able to identify and describe the three levels of personality analysis The three levels of personality analysis include human nature individual and group differences and individual uniqueness Human nature is how we are like all others and are the personality traits and mechanisms possessed by nearly everyone Individual differences are ways in which each person is like different from some other people i e being high low in sensation seeking Group differences are how people differ across groups i e cultural differences and age differences Individual uniqueness is how we are like no others and that everyone has unique qualities not shared by any other person 5 Know the five personality dimensions measured by the TIPI The personality dimensions are Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness and Neuroticism Emotional Stability 6 Know how to reverse code a personality scale item and understand why reverse coding is important to personality research To reverse code a score add 1 to the maximum point on the scale 7 1 8 Then subtract the initial score from that number 8 initial score reverse score Lecture 2 1 Know the four different ways to measure personality The four different ways to measure personality are s o t and l data A way to measure personality is to ask them which is the self report data or S data Examples include twenty statements tests adjective checklists questionnaires and experience sampling Questionnaires are the most frequently used because they are the easiest to use and distribute and is more specific than the adjective checklist These examples can be structured in multiple choice format or more unstructured in open ended questions or recorded written essays but it is easier to interpret the structured format Another way would be to ask their friends which is observer report data or O data The different types of observers are professional personality assessors which can be of a benefit since they are trained and experienced in assessment and friends and family of the subject Friends and family can be beneficial since they are more naturalistic and can assess across social situation but also not be good because the observer may be biased Other downsides are that it is easy to misinterpret there is a bias a limited perspective people act differently in different situations and family is more likely to give positive bias sometimes You can measure by using different kinds of tests which is test data or T data Test data can include a situational test which measures is people behave differently in identical situations and physiological tests Situational was designed to elicit behaviors that serve as indicators or personality ex emergency situation The limitations of T data are that the subjects might guess what is being measured and then alter their behavior they may interpret testing situation differently than intended the researcher might influence behavior people may act differently in a laboratory and it is not naturalistic An actometer is used to measure how much someone moves around and how active they are tested on kid to see for ADHD Physiological tests include skin conductance which measures arousal And you can gather information about their life which is life outcome data or L data Examples include salary criminal records books published marriages and divorces and rank in military service 2 Know the costs and benefits of self report data The drawbacks to self report data are that people can lie especially on job interview questionnaires Also there are things that people do not even know about themselves People can also tend to view themselves in a more favorable light so they may not recognize their own bad traits The benefits are that there are things that people know about themselves that no one else does Also it is cheap time efficient and easy to organize Lecture 3 1 Be able to identify and know the difference between the three of research methods used in personality psychology The three types of research methods are correlational experimental and case study Correlational studies naturally occurring relationships questioning if X and Y are related to one another Experimental examines cause effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors questioning is X the cause of Y Examples include class size and selfconfidence Case study examines one person in depth 2 Be able to explain the direction and strength of a correlation when given the correlation coefficient The correlational range is from 1 00 to 1 00 The close this number is to 1 the stronger the correlation The closer it is to 0 the weaker the correlation If the correlation is 1 then there is a weak correlation If it is 3 then there is a moderate correlation If it is a 5 then there is a strong correlation There is a strong correlation between height and weight 3 Know the advantages and disadvantages of correlational research The advantages of correlational research include that they are easy to interpret shows a possible relationship it is good for variables that cannot be manipulated and can measure things that you can t control The disadvantages are that it identifies only whether two variables are associates not why they are related Also the third variable problem is a disadvantage because sometimes
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