Theoretical and Measurement Issues Learning Objectives 1 Know the four ways to measure personality and be able to recognize examples a Self report questionnaires and rating scales i Being handed a questionnaire where you either mark yes or no or rate your i Being put in a situation relevant to the topic of interest and then observing the agreement on a number scale b Situational tests reactive behavior c Biological tests i Heart rate blood pressure skin conductance d Observer data other s reports i Being observed and rated by a professional on the topic of interest ii Asking friends and family to observe and report behavior 1 More naturalistic approach and can assess multiple situations but has the potential for biases iii Strangers 1 Can report behavior with out bias but may also be unreliable 2 Know the costs and benefits of self report data a Certain things only you know about yourself i You can either lie about those things or tell the truth 1 Can be a cost if they lie benefit if they tell the truth b Certain things that you don t know about yourself i There may be things that you believe about yourself that are untrue that others can see in you 1 You may think you re a good general manager at the department store where you work however others can see that your leadership skills are poor you often get sidetracked and disorganized 3 Understand the difference between reliability and validity a Reliability Pg 129 refers to the consistency of a particular trait measure i The worth of a trait measure degree to which the measure actually ii Test retest if you score a 20 on a trait measure the first time you take it you represents the true level of the trait should score a 20 the second time 1 Internally consistent b Validity if a test is measuring what its supposed to be measuring i A test can be reliable but not valid 1 It can consistently produce the same results but that doesn t mean the results are consistent with what you re testing for 4 List and define the three kinds of validity covered in the lecture a Construct validity Pg 128 theoretically intended to measure the extent to which a test measures the construct that its b Convergent validity Pg 127 construct relate to one another the extent to which different measures on the same i Trait measures on different constructs shouldn t relate to each other 1 Discriminant validity Pg 128 of different traits don t relate to each other the extent to which different measures 5 Define generalizability apply the findings too a Participants we use for a study should be representative of the population we wish to i Sample of 200 participants who are all white middle class teenagers and assessing their feelings of optimism on college and their future goals 1 This sample isn t representative of the entire teenage population 6 Be able to apply the two things you can say to sound smart when people talk about research this will make sense after the lecture a Correlation doesn t equal causation i Can the order be reversed can something else be causing both things ii Shark attacks and amount of ice cream eaten has a positive correlation eating ice cream doesn t mean you ll be eaten by a shark the weather is the variable unaccounted for b Maybe the relationship is curvilinear i Increase in one variable is related to an increase or decrease in another variable 1 Performing in front of a crowd some level of physiological arousal is necessary to perform well if you don t have enough you ll be too anxious if you have too much you ll be too wound up to perform well 7 What is the construct approach to test construction a Method of test construction to create a reliable and valid measure b Begins with a clear cut definition of the trait of interest that s usually embedded in a larger personality theory i Assessing individual differences in conscientiousness clear definition of the trait and a theory it matches too c Begin writing the items the questions or statements i Answering yes adds one point towards being conscientious ii Filler questions are included to avoid yay sayers and nay sayers people who answer mostly yes or mostly no just because 1 Fillers that have nothing to do with the domain of interest decreases the chance of excluding potentially relevant items iii Goal of the test items is to cover a large pool of smaller factors that fall under d Give the draft of the questionnaire to a large number of people to determine what the domain of interest should remain in the final copy i Examine the evidence empirically to determine what s relevant and what is not Item analysis Pg 127 1 2 Factor analysis is also an option for evaluating the statement items see question 8 e Examine how well the trait measure predicts behavior i As the trait measure develops researchers learn what the scale measures and what it doesn t determining its validity 8 What does an item analysis tell you a Item analysis Pg 127 determines the relative contribution of each item to the total score on the test a procedure in test construction whereby the researcher i Correlating the scores of each item with the total score the scores that have low correlations will be dropped from the final version 9 Over which two dimensions do people change a Across time i Some traits increase or decrease in intensity as people get older 1 Example ambition and independence ii Some traits change in their method of expression 1 Example dominance b Across situations i People change their behaviors depending on the situation 1 Honesty self control pro social behaviors a Is a helpful person less likely to be as helpful when they re busy 10 Be able to recognize examples of person x situation interactions a Personality can influence our environment our environment can influence our personality both environment and personality influence behavior b Situational cues can affect behavior depending on your personality type i A person high on the trait of dominance would react differently than a person high on agreeableness given the same situation ii A person high on dominance and a person low on dominance will react differently to the same situation 11 Be able to discuss the mate guarding example discussed in class know what was manipulated what was measured and what personality trait determined how people responded in the study a People in monogamous relationships can sometimes think their significant other is doing something unfaithful they keep an eye out for this or for mate stealers b Methods day
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