Personality Psychology Study Guide Exam 1 Ch 1 2 3 Ch 1 What is Personality How people are Similar vs Different o Human Nature belong How we are like others Personality features possessed by nearly everyone E g Self consciousness self awareness need to Humans share 99 9 of genome o Individual Group Differences How we are like some others Can refer to personality or other traits such as Observed through experiments correlational height designs naturalistic observation Group Individual How we are different from other groups E g cultural differences age differences Ways in which we are like some others Ways in which we are different from some E g Being high low in sensation seeking others How we are like no others Everyone has unique abilities not shared by any Observed through case studies other person o Individual Uniqueness What is Personality o Personality A patterning of Dispositional traits Characteristic adaptations Set in culture and shaped by human evolution Integrative life stories o Human nature Culture of personality o Dispositional Traits aka personality Context of personality Outline A unique set of consistent emotional cognitive and behavioral dispositions or tendencies Traits How people typically feel think act Useful to Describe people Explain behavior Predict future behavior of personality o Characteristic Adaptations Details Characteristic Adaptations Aspects of psychological individuality that are Motivational factors contextualized in time place and or role What do people want in life Values beliefs expectancies Cognitive Factors plans etc Evolution of the self identity over time o Integrative Life Stories Developmental Factors of personality Meaning An internalized and evolving narrative of the self Integrates the past present and future to provide life with a sense of unity and purpose Distinguishing Personality Psychology o Development Psychology How people change over time Personality In what ways they stay the same focus on adulthood o Clinical Psychology o Social Psychology Study of disorders Personality Study of normal functioning Focus on the situation Personality focus on the person Ch 1 Book Learning Objectives 1 Know what Induction is Induction Reasoning from the concrete and particular events to the abstract and general representations of those events general theory The ultimate result is the creation of abstract 2 Be able to recognize an example of a case study An in depth investigation of a single Case Study individual sometimes conducted over a substantial period of time Gives a good deal of information about one human being Personality psychologists use case studies to organize complex observations about a single person to build a theory about some or all persons in general 3 Know what parsimony testability and generativity are Parsimony Science is a simplifying and economizing game Theories attempt to explain the maximum number of observations with the minimum number of explanatory concepts explanation is generally preferred to a more complex one A simpler and more straightforward Testability Generativity From the theory a scientist should be able to derive hypotheses that can be readily evaluated tested through 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 generativity theory may serve to challenge guiding assumptions of the culture to raise fundamental questions regarding contemporary social life to foster reconsiderations of that which is taken for granted and thereby to generate fresh alternatives for social action 4 Know the difference between correlational and experimental designs Correlational Design Assess the extent to which two variables relate to each other When one variable changes what happens to the other variable Positive correlation Negative correlation Increase in one variable associated with increase in the other Increase in one variable associated with decrease in the other Determine cause and effect relationships Scientist manipulates or alters one variable in order to observe the impact on another variable of interest Independent variable Manipulated Dependent variable Effected observed Experimental Design 5 Know the difference between nomothetic and idiographic approaches Nomothetic discover general laws for all persons Approach to personality study that seeks to Universal laws applicable to all organisms Approach that ignores general laws to discern Idiographic the specific and individual patternings of particular lives Uniqueness of the individual case Morphogenic 6 Know the three periods of personality psychology and their dates 1930 1950 Marked by establishment of the field development of a number of general systems theories Late 1960 s early 1970s Series of devastating critiques of personality psychology that threw the field into a crisis 1970 present Began with critique and pervasive doubt concerning the legitimacy and worth of personality studies renewal and revitalization Evolved by mid 1980s into a broad sense of 7 Know who Gordon Allport is and what he is famous for Gordon Allport Most responsible for establishing personality as a vigorous field of scientific inquiry in university settings Greatest contribution Personality A Psychological Interpretation First authoritative text on personality Main theme The person is a unique whole Presented an eclectic array of concepts and hypotheses Concept of proprium Includes all aspects of personality that make for inward unity Uniqueness expressed through personality traits Ch 2 Evolutionary Perspectives on Personality Natural Selection Basics o There s a lot of variety within a species o Some survive reproduce some don t o Some traits better an organism to survive reproduce More offspring o Offspring inherit traits that lead to success Three products of the Evolutionary Process Features selected for by evolution Must 1 Adaptations Deal with adaptive problem Something that impedes survival or Ex Pathogens injury finding reproduction food shelter Have some genetic basis 2 By Products Side effects of adaptations Not considered to be adaptations themselves Ex belly button dreams Feature that doesn t affect reproduction Ex Shape of the earlobe 3 Random Noise Note Evolution doesn t claim that everything that is true of us is adaptive Adaptations o Survival of the fittest Best equipped to survive until
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