Deck 7: Gordon Allport: Motivation and Personality

Question 1

Allport viewed personality as

A) a purely mental process.
B) randomly changing and growing.
C) an interaction of mind and body.
D) controlled entirely by instincts.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Allport believed that the best way to study personality was through

A) the life histories of disturbed people.
B) comparisons of normal and neurotic adults.
C) normal and healthy adults.
D) laboratory experiments on animals and humans.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

For Allport,heredity provides the personality with

A) raw materials (such as physique, intelligence, and temperament).
B) social success.
C) nothing.
D) environmental success.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

According to Allport,our uniqueness is determined by

A) childhood experiences.
B) aspirations for the future.
C) conflict between the id and the superego.
D) genetics and learning.

Question 5

Allport emphasized the importance of the

A) present and the future.
B) future alone.
C) present alone.
D) past childhood conflicts alone.

Question 6

Allport was the first psychologist to

A) study emotionally disturbed patients.
B) exclusively use case studies for a theory of personality.
C) study personality by observing emotionally healthy people in a laboratory setting.
D) accept ego dysfunction as in the study of psychoanalytic theory.

Question 7

Allport's view of personality emphasized

A) that a person has predispositions to respond to the same or different stimuli.
B) both heredity and environment.
C) traits.
D) all the answers.

Question 8

With regard to historical determinism,Allport believed a person is

A) motivated by the power of the unconscious.
B) not in control of the many forces that motivate them.
C) pathological by nature and genetics.
D) not a prisoner of childhood conflicts and past experiences.

Question 9

Allport disagreed with Freud about

A) the dominance of unconscious forces.
B) the role of the past in controlling the present.
C) the continuity between normal and abnormal behavior.
D) all of the above.

Question 10

As Allport grew into adulthood,he attempted to identify with

A) Sigmund Freud, whom he met in Vienna.
B) Karen Horney, with whom he studied in New York.
C) his older brother Floyd, a social psychologist.
D) his uncle Steven, a famous artist.

Question 11

As a child,Allport was

A) plagued by feelings of inferiority.
B) an example of a disturbed person.
C) popular outside his family.
D) affected by an early life of smoking and drinking.

Question 12

Allport's approach to personality is characterized by the

A) conscious rather than the unconscious.
B) past rather than present and future.
C) abnormal rather than normal.
D) generalities in the person rather than their uniqueness.

Question 13

Allport believed his famous meeting with Freud illustrated

A) how childhood feelings of inferiority persist into adulthood.
B) the error of placing too much importance on the unconscious.
C) the power of Freud's psychoanalytic method.
D) how a guilty conscience inevitably will reveal itself.

Question 14

Allport's own childhood was characterized by

A) a rejecting mother.
B) feelings of isolation and rejection.
C) his punitive and demanding father.
D) many playmates and friends.

Question 15

What did Allport believe was the biggest difference between normal and abnormal people?

A) The abnormal person functions at an infantile level.
B) The study of the abnormal person is more important.
C) Personality, in general, is not specific or particular to the individual.
D) There are no differences between normal and abnormal people.

Question 16

Allport believed the unconscious is actually

A) a need.
B) a trait.
C) the dominant force in personality.
D) important only in neurotic or disturbed behavior.

Question 17

The building blocks of Allport's theory are

A) anxieties.
B) unconscious motivations.
C) personality traits.
D) complexes.

Question 18

Allport saw adulthood as

A) functionally similar to childhood.
B) ruled by different reflexes than childhood.
C) characterized by a stronger ego than childhood.
D) unconstrained by childhood experiences.

Question 19

Allport believed that the existence of personality traits can be

A) demonstrated empirically.
B) inferred at best.
C) proven by brain scans.
D) taken on faith.

Question 20

According to Allport,personality traits are

A) useful fictions we create to understand ourselves.
B) real and exist within each of us.
C) essentially just a theoretical concept.
D) inborn instincts.

Question 21

Central traits are

A) 5 to 10 themes that best describe our behavior.
B) exhibited only by mature adults.
C) more pervasive than cardinal traits.
D) possessed by only a few superior persons.

Question 22

Allport relabeled common traits to avoid confusion in terminology.Common traits are also called

A) individual traits.
B) ego perception.
C) learned responses.
D) habits.

Question 23

Addictions and repetitive actions are examples of what Allport calls

A) propriate functional autonomy.
B) perseverative functional autonomy.
C) perseverative striving.
D) propriate patterning.

Question 24

In Allport's theory,central traits

A) best describe a person's behavior.
B) are very broad and touch every aspect of a person's life.
C) are powerful forces that dominate a person's behavior.
D) are not very evident or observable by others.

Question 25

The only examples of functionally autonomous behavior below are

A) reflexes.
B) fixations.
C) neuroses.
D) learned skills.

Question 26

Propriate motives are

A) too simple to be considered part of the human personality.
B) genetically determined.
C) general for all individuals.
D) necessary to the ego.

Question 27

The key to understanding present behavior is our

A) conscious plans and intentions.
B) order of birth.
C) perseverative functional autonomy.
D) childhood experience.

Question 28

Allport cited the example of a well-fed rat continuing to run a maze for food as evidence for

A) propriate functional autonomy.
B) habit.
C) propriate striving.
D) perseverative functional autonomy.

Question 29

Traits are

A) shared and mostly the same for each person in a family.
B) the same as ego dispositions.
C) the same as personal dispositions.
D) of the same intensity and significance throughout the life span.

Question 30

Allport's concept of functional autonomy proposes that

A) the motives of healthy adults owe more to the present or future than the past.
B) healthy adults are independent of psychological forces.
C) the goal of adulthood is to become free from traits.
D) every person will be conflicted with the past in their present and future.

Question 31

Allport chose the term proprium for the

A) master trait that guides life.
B) unconscious forces that motivate behavior.
C) ego or self.
D) superego or conscience.

Question 32

According to Allport,secondary traits

A) are minor preferences, such as preferring a particular type of food.
B) are so minor that a close friend would not notice them.
C) are much less consistent than other traits.
D) all of the answers

Question 33

All of the following are principles of propriate functional autonomy except

A) organizing the energy level.
B) mastery and competence.
C) expressive behavior.
D) propriate patterning.

Question 34

The most pervasive and influential trait,operating like a ruling passion,is the

A) personal disposition.
B) cardinal trait.
C) central trait.
D) secondary trait.

Question 35

According to Allport,we acquire new motives through

A) organizing the energy level.
B) resolving an underlying conflict.
C) helping the ego control the id.
D) examining our undesirable motives.

Question 36

The type of trait that influences every aspect of life is called a ____ trait.

A) central
B) cardinal
C) primary
D) dominant

Question 37

Allport believed that to understand adult motives we must study

A) childhood behavior.
B) parent/child relationships.
C) why people behave as they do at present.
D) childhood needs and frustrations.

Question 38

Functional autonomy is concerned with

A) adult motivation.
B) motives that derive from instincts.
C) the impact of childhood motives.
D) the free functioning of the self.

Question 39

Allport believed that present and future behavior can best be explained in terms of

A) functional autonomy.
B) psychosexual conflicts.
C) past behavior.
D) instinctual drives.

Question 40

In Allport's theory,past events are

A) important, because they continue to dominate behavior.
B) unimportant, because they are no longer active.
C) at the core of motivation.
D) second in importance to instincts.

Question 41

Allport took a __________ stance on the question of free will versus determinism.

A) extreme.
B) fatalistic.
C) moderate.
D) radical.

Question 42

One unusual assessment technique used by Allport was

A) self-appraisal.
B) conduct sampling.
C) the personal-document approach.
D) dream analysis.

Question 43

The word that best captures Allport's image of human nature is

A) becoming.
B) striving.
C) failing.
D) irrational.

Question 44

The development of the proprium is completed in

A) infancy.
B) adolescence.
C) middle age.
D) old age.

Question 45

The parts of personality included in the proprium are

A) developed gradually over four stages.
B) unique to the individual.
C) determined by instinctual forces.
D) restricted to unconscious factors.

Question 46

Allport's personal-document approach involves the use of

A) dream analysis.
B) a person's written or spoken records to determine the number and kinds of personality traits.
C) free association.
D) intelligence tests.

Question 47

All of the following are criteria for a mature,emotionally healthy personality except

A) traits.
B) extension of the sense of self.
C) self-objectification.
D) a unifying philosophy of life.

Question 48

Computer analysis of the letters from Jenny

A) failed to verify Allport's subjective assessment of traits.
B) yielded valid and comparable results to indicate Allport's eight prominent traits.
C) yielded more than 200 traits, not just eight traits.
D) proved irrelevant to Allport's initial assessment for his list of traits.

Question 49

When the needs for affection and security are met in infancy,

A) the proprium develops.
B) motives become functionally autonomous.
C) unique traits develop.
D) all of the answers

Question 50

Allport's image of human nature

A) has much in common with Fromm's.
B) is that a necessary goal of life is a need to increase tension.
C) is deterministic, allowing little free will.
D) denies that heredity affects personality.

Question 51

Allport believed that infants

A) develop in a series of definite steps.
B) do not have the capacity to reduce tension.
C) have little "personality."
D) have functionally autonomous motives.

Question 52

Allport and two colleagues developed an objective self-report assessment test called the

A) Study of Values.
B) Study of Traits.
C) Thematic Apperception Test.
D) Rorschach Inkblot Test.

Question 53

The final stage in the development of the proprium is

A) reached in adulthood.
B) accomplished when young people begin to formulate long-range goals and plans.
C) reached before the age of five.
D) coping with parental expectations.

Question 54

Allport's seven stages of propriate development are

A) similar to Freud's five psychosexual stages.
B) similar to Erikson's eight psychosocial stages.
C) similar to Horney's theories.
D) unique in their emphasis on the development of the rational individual.

Question 55

Allport believed that the emotionally healthy adult is

A) no longer dominated or determined by childhood drives.
B) guided primarily by unconscious forces.
C) functionally related to childhood experiences.
D) functionally autonomous of common traits.

Question 56

Allport believed the best way to obtain reliable information on adult personality is through

A) correlational approaches.
B) laboratory experiments.
C) asking people to describe themselves.
D) projective techniques.

Question 57

In the developmental stage called extension of self,the child

A) becomes aware and distinguishes their bodies from objects in their environment.
B) comes to recognize the objects and people that are part of their world.
C) realizes he or she is the same person despite rapid growth.
D) learns to take pride in their accomplishments.

Question 58

In the developmental stage Allport called ____,children realize their identity remains intact despite the many changes that are taking place.

A) self-esteem
B) extension of self
C) self-identity
D) self-image

Question 59

Allport's concept of adulthood differed from previous views in picturing us as

A) doomed to struggle endlessly with unconscious conflicts.
B) not prisoners of childhood.
C) locked into the traits we developed in childhood.
D) more irrational than rational in most of our behavior.

Question 60

According to Allport,life's ultimate and necessary goal is to

A) reduce tension.
B) fuse unique and common traits into personal dispositions.
C) maintain an optimal level of tension.
D) resolve childhood conflicts.

Question 61

Allport formulated a theory of personality development in which

A) reflecting on childhood trauma is crucial for the functioning of the normal, emotionally healthy adult.
B) generalizing from one person to another is critical in the study of the normal, emotionally healthy adult.
C) considerable knowledge has been gained about the functioning of the normal, emotionally healthy adult.
D) studying habits in childhood are crucial in the development of the normal, emotionally healthy adult.

Question 62

To Allport,our genetic inheritance,which is the basis of our eventual personality,does exist in infancy,but there is little of what could be called "personality."

Question 63

Allport's conception of functional autonomy and independence holds that emotionally healthy adults are not tied or driven by childhood motives or conflicts.

Question 64

Central traits are so pervasive and influential that they touch almost every aspect of a person's life.

Question 65

Allport's approach is reflected in the work of the humanistic psychologists

A) Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.
B) Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
C) John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner.
D) Karen Horney and Erik Erikson.

Question 66

Allport believed psychoanalysis probed too deeply into the unconscious and more attention needs to be focused to conscious or visible motivations.

Question 67

Secondary traits are Allport's concepts in which he gave examples of behaviors,such as aggression,self-pity and cynicism.

Question 68

In Allport's view,the healthy personality changes from being a biologically dominated organism in infancy,to a mature psychological organism in adulthood.

Question 69

The word propriate derives from proprium,which is Allport's term for the ego or self.

Question 70

Allport's research methods focused on

A) emotionally disturbed persons.
B) the normal healthy individual.
C) childhood events.
D) the average performance of small groups.

Question 71

Common traits are shared by a number of people,such as the members of a culture.

Question 72

Our instincts,according to Allport,include those aspects of our personality that are distinctive and which unite our attitudes,perceptions,and intentions.

Question 73

Compared to coping behavior,expressive behavior is

A) more oriented toward a specific purpose.
B) easier to change.
C) a better reflection of the personality.
D) more directed toward environmental change.

Question 74

Allport's theory has become more popular today because

A) expressive behaviors have been linked to specific traits.
B) this theory focuses on healthy adults rather than abnormal functioning.
C) facial expressions, vocal inflections, and mannerisms reveal personality traits to the trained observer.
D) all of the answers

Question 75

Allport believed that personality is often revealed indirectly through

A) dreams.
B) slips of the tongue.
C) coping behavior.
D) expressive behavior.

Question 76

According to Allport,some behaviors such as reflexes,fixations,neuroses,and behaviors arising from biological drives can be explained by the principles of functional autonomy.

Question 77

Not everyone has a ruling passion,which Allport describes as a cardinal trait.

Question 78

According to Allport,traits are inconsistent and transient ways of reacting to our genetic heritage.

Question 79

Allport's idiographic approach was the study of

A) the past.
B) the unconscious forces that shape personality as adults.
C) childhood influences as they relate to adulthood.
D) the individual case.

Question 80

Perseverative functional autonomy is concerned with behaviors such as addictions,as well as repetitive physical actions (like habitual ways of performing some everyday task).