Deck 2: Methods in the Study of Personality

Question 1

Which view most directly promotes the use of case studies?

A) introspection
B) cognitive
C) personology
D) correlational

Answer 1

C

Question 2

If a research finding is statistically significant, it:

A) is unlikely to have occurred by chance.
B) will have wide-ranging effects.
C) is important to humanity.
D) all of the above

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A perfect positive correlation is indicated by an r value of:

A) 0.0
B) 1.0
C) 10.0
D) 100.0

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Experience sampling studies are similar to case studies in that they both:

A) typically involve repeated measurements.
B) typically use external observers.
C) typically require people to think back far in time.
D) all of the above

Question 5

To test whether research findings can be attributed to chance, researchers use:

A) random numbers tables.
B) descriptive statistics.
C) inferential statistics.
D) all of the above

Question 6

Psychologists describe correlations by referring to their:

A) direction and duration.
B) duration and strength.
C) direction and strength.
D) none of the above

Question 7

A correlation of __________means two variables are not related at all.

A) .5
B) .0
C) -.5
D) -1.0

Question 8

Most personality research has been done:

A) in the United States or western Europe.
B) on college students.
C) on white, middle- to upper-middle-class people.
D) all of the above

Question 9

Henry Murray used the term__________ to describe efforts to understand the whole person.

A) biographical research
B) personology
C) introspection
D) macro-assessment

Question 10

Looking inward to your own experience is called:

A) inspection.
B) self-monitoring.
C) introspection.
D) personal case study.

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT true of the case study method?

A) Case studies are rich in detail.
B) Case studies are often clinical studies.
C) Case studies can be used to generate theories.
D) Case studies are conducted in settings carefully created and controlled by the researcher.

Question 12

What prevents the results of a single case study from being applied to many people?

A) lack of test-retest reliability
B) lack of generality
C) general scoring error
D) singular inconsistency

Question 13

A__________ is a dimension, along which variations exist. There are always at least two__________ along each dimension.

A) level, constructs
B) value, variables
C) variable, observations
D) variable, values

Question 14

Which of the following is one way to organize information about a correlation?

A) a scatterplot
B) a horizontal plot
C) a pie chart
D) none of the above

Question 15

Correlational research cannot tell us:

A) how strongly two variables go together.
B) why two variables go together.
C) whether two variables go together.
D) in what direction two variables go together.

Question 16

The strength of a correlation refers to its:

A) directionality.
B) degree of accuracy in prediction.
C) positivity as opposed to negativity.
D) level of statistical significance.

Question 17

In addition to statistical significance, psychologists often talk about the __________significance of research results.

A) scientific
B) humanitarian
C) practical
D) therapeutic

Question 18

Which of the following is the strongest plausible correlation coefficient?

A) 1.68
B) -.63
C) .42
D) .56

Question 19

When low values on one dimension are associated with high values on another dimension, the correlation between the two variables is termed:

A) inadequate.
B) inverse.
C) qualified.
D) substantive.

Question 20

A scatterplot with many points in the lower right quadrant of the plot, many points in the upper left quadrant, and very few points in the other quadrants would indicate a:

A) positive correlation.
B) negative correlation.
C) inverse correlation.
D) none of the above

Question 21

The factors in any given multifactor study:

A) are always personality variables.
B) are always experimental manipulations.
C) can be any combination of personality variables and experimental manipulations.
D) cannot all be experimental variables.

Question 22

Personology is the study one small aspect of a person.

Question 23

Interaction effects are possible to find only in:

A) interaction studies.
B) correlational studies.
C) main effect studies.
D) multifactor studies.
True and False

Question 24

Experimental personality research:

A) focuses on only one variable at a time.
B) combines experimental and individual differences.
C) tells us nothing about cause and effect.
D) none of the above

Question 25

One advantage of experience-sampling studies is that they do not tend to require people to remember events from the distant past.

Question 26

One reason that a personality psychologist might not use the experimental method is that:

A) experiments tend to be long in duration.
B) experiments cannot be used in personality research.
C) for ethical reasons certain variables can't be manipulated.
D) all of the above

Question 27

Why can't correlational research tell us why two variables go together?

A) because it is conducted in laboratories instead of the real world
B) because it is not scientifically rigorous
C) because it is too experimental
D) because of the third-variable problem

Question 28

Looking inward to one's own experiences is known as introspection.

Question 29

One reason that introspection is problematic is that people tend to feel certain that their memory is correct.

Question 30

What type of study design allows for statements about causality?

A) case study
B) experimental
C) correlational
D) all of the above

Question 31

Unlike introspection, observation of another person is unbiased

Question 32

Case studies are lacking in detail relative to other types of studies.

Question 33

If a researcher randomly assigns subjects to two groups at the beginning of an experiment, we can assume that at that point:

A) the groups will have similar numbers of males and females.
B) the two groups will be similar with respect to IQ.
C) the two groups will be approximately equal in size.
D) all of the above

Question 34

Ensuring that all variables are constant in an experiment, except for the independent variable, is called:

A) random sampling.
B) experimental control.
C) random assignment.
D) experimental manipulation.

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT a reason someone would use random assignment?

A) to assure that each participant has an equal chance of being in either experimental condition
B) to balance out differences between experimental groups
C) to rule out the third variable problem
D) to assure that people within each group are similar to one another

Question 36

If a study categorizes subjects on the basis of some naturally-occurring difference, it is most likely a(n):

A) correlational study.
B) experimental study.
C) cross-lagged study.
D) case study.

Question 37

The independent variable is the one that is:

A) free to vary.
B) measured.
C) manipulated.
D) the outcome variable.

Question 38

The variable manipulated by the experimenter is called the:

A) independent variable.
B) control variable.
C) dependent variable.
D) correlation coefficient.

Question 39

If you find that two groups differ from each other on the dependent measure at the end of an experiment, you are able to conclude that:

A) only one thing could have caused the difference: manipulation of the dependent variable.
B) the groups differed on the dependent measure before the study started.
C) only one thing could have caused the difference: manipulation of the independent variable.
D) none of the above

Question 40

In multifactor research, possible results fall into which two categories?

A) good and bad
B) interactive and singular
C) main effects and interactions
D) correlational and causal

Question 41

In order to study age-related changes in personality, you would need to study at least two age groups.

Question 42

Correlational research provides information about causality among two or more variables.

Question 43

It is impossible to do research in which one variable is an experimental manipulation and two are personality variables.

Question 44

Experimental control is not a necessary component of experimental research.

Question 45

In experimental research the researcher actively creates a difference between the treatment given to one group and the treatment given to others.

Question 46

If lower values on one variable are associated with lower values on another, the two variables are negatively correlated.

Question 47

All experimental personality research studies are multifactor studies.

Question 48

The idiographic method focuses on groups of individuals.

Question 49

The more factors involved in a study, the easier it is to clearly interpret results

Question 50

In order to understand the relationship between two variables, psychologists consider the strength and direction of that relationship.

Question 51

It is very difficult for a single case study to be generalizable to everyone.

Question 52

Because it is sometimes difficult to know what it was about a manipulation that produced an effect, we must be cautious even about how we view the results of experiments.

Question 53

All variables can be manipulated in an ethical fashion.

Question 54

In experimental research variables that can't be controlled, such as individual differences, are treated by random assignment.

Question 55

It is not possible to combine correlational and experimental techniques in the same study.

Question 56

A statistically significant correlation is always an important one.

Question 57

A correlation of r = .27 is stronger than a correlation of r = -.57.

Question 58

Most of the research on personality has been done in the United States and Europe

Question 59

Results of correlational studies are always reported as correlations.

Question 60

Personality psychologists have criticized experiments on the grounds that they don't deal directly with personality.

Question 61

It is possible to observe an interaction if a study includes one variable.

Question 62

The use of random assignment is based on a specific assumption. Identify/explain that assumption.

Question 63

Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of the correlational method versus the experimental method.

Question 64

Explain what is meant by statistical significance. How does statistical significance relate to the issue of importance?

Question 65

Identify and describe the two aspects of a correlation that need to be considered in order to understand its meaning.

Question 66

How are experience sampling studies similar to case studies? How are they different?

Question 67

Doug observes that people who exercise tend to have higher levels of self- esteem. What are three ways Doug might interpret this correlational finding?

Question 68

If only college students are used as research participants, what impact does this have on how results may be interpreted?

Question 69

Why is it so important to examine at least two levels of a personality variable before drawing conclusions?