Overview of Exam 1 A 35 45 Multiple Choice Questions B Should take roughly 45 minutes to complete but you have the full time and I ll stay slightly longer too time is not an issue C Questions will be based primarily on information in the lecture slides in class lecture For studying purposes start with this outline and the slides The readings are probably best used as a reference when something from your notes or the slides is unclear or when you want to add a bit more depth to your understanding of a concept or finding D E If a topic or term is not on the outline below it will NOT be on the exam I will ask you to know some of the key findings from research studies we ve discussed in the lectures do we have to know the names of researchers Topic Outline for Exam 1 Intro to Personality Science Ch 1 8 28 lecture The value of being able to infer others traits states to predict their behavior in inanimate objects so easily and automatically a cognitive mistake to help us empathize Prediction about the environment and other people it is incredibly adaptively valuable to be motivated and able to quickly infer people s states and traits so we can predict how they might behave respond Social Brain Hypothesis an example of this aka Machiavellian Intelligence Robert Dunbar made the argument that states that the evolution of intelligence corresponds closely to how many people you need to live and interact with bigger groups bigger brains You have to be strategic be a good planner have a good memory and know relationships This corresponds to animals as well Studies of thin slices of personality perception we are pretty good personality detectors most of the time even with little info Ex Ambady Rosenthal videotaped 13 college professors teaching Correlation between ratings of the clip and actual end of semester ratings were strong 76 personality detectors body language facial expressions animation etc but we can infer traits from still faces alone Biases in impression formation HSNDN 3 traits that are central to our first impressions and formed automatically even if distracted warmth agreeableness do they want to harm us trustworthiness is their warmth level honest and competence do they have the ability to act on their intentions HOWEVER our intuitive inference system personality detectors cause us to make predictable mistakes biases in impression formation which is why we study personality scientifically Halo effect the Lucifer effect the tendency to assume predominantly positive or negative traits based on perceiving one or two positive or negative traits assuming a general judgment based on a small piece of info This is why we re so likely to feel betrayal by someone we assumed to be really nice Stereotyping illusory correlations the tendency to assume and perceive personality traits in an individual based on their social group membership s and then to pay greater attention to info that confirms the stereotype Relates to self fulfilling prophecy Ex Pygmalion in the Classroom Rosenthal Jacobson when teachers expect students to do well and show intellectual growth they do when teachers do not have such expectations performance and growth are not so encouraged and may in fact be discouraged in a variety of ways Negativity Bias the tendency for impression formation to be more heavily influenced by negative trait information than positive trait information Dispositional Bias aka Fundamental Attribution Error the tendency to ignore situational determinants of others behaviors and attributing their actions to dispositional traits Na ve Realism the tendency to think we are uninfluenced by our surroundings you believe that you have the most unbiased opinion and that mistakes are everyone else s problems Ex physical cleansing also brings about psychological cleansing The Science Game what causes one person to be calmer than another Familiarity with the situation the environment they were raised in patience wisdom self control etc 2 non scientific natural ways of knowing 1 we can consult our experience intuition what feels true and seems to have been true for me in the past 2 we can consult tradition authority what does my culture believe to be true and what do trusted and knowledgeable people claim to be true Empirical Evidence Empirical Testing empirical evidence an observation or measurement that contributes to either verifying or falsifying a claim and that is independent of the observer objective everyone has access to it Empirical testing any situation or procedure that creates empirical evidence which allows a claim on truth to be verified or falsified The golden rule primary assumption of science scientific claims answers must be subject to empirical tests that produce empirical evidence If an object of study exists in nature it is Knowable in other words it s possible to fully define describe and explain even highly complex things like brains beliefs time and personality The object of study is Lawful if we could perfectly control all of the input variables we could perfectly predict and control the outcome These explanations need to PREDICT actual behavior define the psycho physiological systems that determine a person s characteristic pattern of behavior thought emotion describe its component parts genes biology traits experiences learning esp in childhood self concepts beliefs values and personal narratives and social roles explain how and why these component parts operate as they do systematic scientific testing looking at one piece at a time like extraversion Ch 2 Evolutionary Perspectives 9 4 Lecture Evolution 101 We build up the big picture of personality incrementally over time because personality science is analytical Therefore the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection is a biological theory of life its variety and how it changes over time It is NOT a theory of changes in geology or the universe or technology or societies ONLY biological life Principles of Variation Inheritance Adaptation the 3 principles of the Theory of Evolution Principle of Variation organisms of different species and organisms within a particular species show variation in their traits It s nature s protection against environmental change and an unknowable future Variability individual differences are the RULE Evolutionary processes have no foresight we are not evolving toward any goal no perfect species Species change with environmental changes Since we don t know what traits we will need it is best to keep
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