Lecture 1 Chapter 1 1 Know the definition of personality discussed in class Learning Objectives Exam 1 a Universal characteristics that are stable across different situations b Actual a patterning of dispositional traits characteristic adaptation and integrative life stories set in culture and shaped by human evolution 2 At what levels do personality psychologists analyze similarities and differences HINT We discussed four a Human nature How we are LIKE ALL OTHERS b Group differences How people are LIKE some others in their group DIFFERENT from other groups c d Individual differences How we are LIKE SOME OTHERS Individual uniqueness How we LIKE NO OTHERS 3 What is the difference between personality traits and characteristic adaptations a Dispositional Traits disposition means personality i A unique set of consistent emotional cognitive and behavioral dispositions or tendencies ii The outline of personality 1 Traits how people typically feel think and act b Characteristic Adaptations i The details of personality ii Aspects of psychological individuality that are contextualized in time place and or role 1 Motivational factors what do people want in life 2 Cognitive factors values beliefs expectancies plans etc 3 Developmental factors evolution of the self identity over time 4 What are three reasons dispositional personality traits are useful a Describe people Explain behavior Predict future behavior 5 What are the main differences between personality psychology and the other related fields within psychology a Different from developmental psychology i How people change over time vs the ways that they stay the same ii Personality psych tends to focus on adulthood b Different from clinical psychology i Study of normal functioning vs study of disorders c Different from Social psychology i Focus on the situation vs the person In your book 6 Know what induction is a Reasoning from the concrete and the particular to the abstract and general b The ultimate result of induction is the creation of the abstract and general theory of step 2 which is ultimately grounded in the subjective observations of Step 1 7 Be able to recognize an example of a case study a Case study b c an in depth investigation of a single individual sometimes conducted over a substantial period of time This method gives the personality psychologist a good deal of information about an individual Some psychologists have used case studies to organize complex observations about a single person so as to build a theory about some or all persons in general 8 Know what parsimony testability and generativity are a b Parsimony science is a simplifying and economizing game Theories attempt to explain the maximum number of observations with the minimum number of explanatory concepts Thus a simpler and more straightforward explanation is generally preferred to a more complex one Testability empirical research a good theory should generate new research and new theorizing It should give birth to a wide variety of creative activity on the part of scientists and laypersons alike In the social sciences a generative theory may serve to challenge guiding from the theory a scientist should be able to derive hypotheses that can be readily evaluated tested through c Generativity 1 assumptions of the culture to raise fundamental questions regarding contemporary social like to foster reconsideration of that which is taken for granted and thereby to generate fresh alternative for social action i when you come up with a theory you should be able to explain a lot of different types of hypothesis from each other 9 Know the differences between correlational and experimental designs a Correlational empirical studies that assess the extent to which 2 different variables relate to each other i When one variable changes what happens to the other variable b Experimental used to determine cause and effect relationship between variables A scientist manipulates or alters one variable of interest in order to observe its impact on another variable of interest i The manipulated variable is the independent variable ii The dependent variable is the measured response to the experimental alteration or manipulation of the independent variable 10 Be able to recognize examples of positive and negative correlations a Positive correlation perfect positive r 1 00 moderate positive r 0 67 i When an increase in the value in one variable leads to an increase value of another variable ex height and weight b Negative correlation perfect negative r 1 00 moderate negative r 0 67 i When an increase in one variable leads to a decrease in another variable ex age and thumb sucking 11 Know the difference between nomothetic and idiographic approaches a Nomothetic Early psychologists 1930s looked for universal laws applicable to all organisms and aimed to discover and test general principles or laws of behavior Idiographic general laws to discern the specific and individual patternings of particular lives b Gordon Allport argues that individual personalities are unique entities His approach to personality would ignore 12 Know the three periods of personality psychology and their dates from pages 22 23 I know some of the eras overlap so I won t give you a year that is contained in the overlap on the test a Phase 1 1930 1950 was marked by the establishment of the field and the development of a number of general systems i Comprehensive conceptual systems for understanding the person ii Allport s Psychology of the individual 1937 iii Murray s personological system 1938 iv Trait theories Catell and Eyseneck 1952 v Rogers humanistic theory 1942 vi Kelly s cognitive theory of personal constructs 1955 vii Erikson s psychosocial theory of personality development 1950 viii American behaviorism and social learning theory i Federal funding for research in labs and the field ii Examination and elaboration iii Extraversion Eysenck 1952 iv Anxiety Taylor 1953 v Need for achievement McClelland 1961 vi Measurement scales b Phase 2 1950 1970 marked by expansion of higher education Psychology departments became more specialized clinical counseling industrial organizational c Phase 3 1970 to now began with critique and doubt concerning legitimacy and has evolved into a broad sense of renewal and revitalization i Carlson 1971 chastised personality psychologists for ignoring the grand theories of the early years and straying away from their implicit mandate to study real lives and whole persons in depth
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