Deck 14: A--Personality

Question 1

The temporary activation of a particular behavior is known as a trait.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A psychologist is interested in validating her new personality questionnaire. One common method of validating the test is to correlate scores on the test with measures of relevant behaviors.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

When asked to describe your current love interest, you say s/he is "funny, honest, and outgoing." Your description reflects the trait approach to personality.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

According to Jung, the collective unconscious is present in each individual at birth.

Question 5

Research on the Barnum effect suggests that the best way to validate a personality test is to determine whether the person who completed the test agrees with the assessment.

Question 6

The research evidence strongly supports Freud's concept of repression.

Question 7

Jung stressed the possibility of personality changes in adulthood, under the influence of the goals people set.

Question 8

Studying a particular person in great detail illustrates the nomothetic approach to personality.

Question 9

One of the major strengths of Freud's theory is that it is highly parsimonious.

Question 10

Attributing one's own undesirable characteristics to other people is known as projection.

Question 11

The Rorschach Inkblot test rarely gives unique information about a person that could not be easily obtained through other methods.

Question 12

A psychologist discovers that almost all paranoid people say "true" to the statement "I prefer penguins to polar bears" while almost all non-paranoid people say "false." Even though there is no theory or explanation for this difference, this would be a good item for the Paranoia scale on the MMPI.

Question 13

According to Freud, personality traits such as stubbornness are determined primarily by genetics.

Question 14

According to Adler, a healthy personality involves the development of social interest.

Question 15

The big five personality traits were derived by psychologists who observed thousands of people behaving in hundreds of different situations.

Question 16

Freud's influence within psychology has declined substantially over time.

Question 17

The big five personality traits are: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.

Question 18

According to Freud anyone who has fixated a great deal of libido in an earlier stage has little libido left for the genital stage.

Question 19

Personality states are personality characteristics that are persistent over time.

Question 20

Humanistic psychologists view humans as being essentially good.

Question 21

The approach to the study of individual differences that seeks general laws about how some aspect of personality affect behavior is the ____________________ approach.

Question 22

Striving for success is to ____________________ as collective unconscious is to ____________________.

Question 23

You describe a friend as being friendly, energetic, and having a good sense of humor. This description would be consistent with the ____________________ approach to personality.

Question 24

According to Freud, the ____________________ is the rational, decision-making aspect of the personality.

Question 25

According to Jung, the ____________________, present at birth, pertains to the cumulative experience of preceding generations.

Question 26

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a test of normal personality, loosely based on ____________________ theories.

Question 27

Sigmund Freud's approach is called ____________________. Alfred Adler's approach is called ____________________.

Question 28

In Freud's terms, blockage of normal sexual development at some stage is called ____________________.

Question 29

____________________ theory of personality emphasized people's search for a spiritual meaning in life and the continuity of human experience, past and present.

Question 30

Freud's theory of personality is an example of a ____________________ theory.

Question 31

The pattern of behavior or role that males and females are expected to follow is known as ____________________; the biological aspect of being male or female is known as ____________________.

Question 32

According to Freud, in the ____________________, children begin to play with their genitals and according to Freud become sexually attracted to the opposite-sex parent.

Question 33

The process of releasing an emotion, getting it out of one's system, is called ____________________.

Question 34

According to humanistic psychology, the goal of life is ____________________.

Question 35

A theory that relates personality to the interplay of conflicting forces within the individual is known as a ____________________ theory.

Question 36

According to research, our personality gets more ____________________ as we age.

Question 37

When people attempt to prove that their actions are rational and justifiable and thus worthy of approval, they are using ____________________.

Question 38

The idea that individuals are basically good and will achieve noble goals if not restrained by society are views that were expressed by ____________________ and ____________________.
or

Question 39

____________________ is defined as a tendency to experience unpleasant emotions relatively easily.

Question 40

The idea that individuals are basically destructive and have to be held in check by society are views that were expressed by ____________________ and ____________________.
or

Question 41

According to Freud, the ego defends itself against conflicts and anxieties by relegating unpleasant thoughts and impulses to the unconscious. Among the defense mechanisms that the ego employs are repression, denial, rationalization, displacement, regression, projection, reaction formation, and sublimation. Briefly describe repression, displacement, and regression.

Question 42

Psychologists have devised questionnaires to measure belief in a just world, self-esteem, and hundreds of other traits. Measuring hundreds of traits is impractical. Researchers have instead used factor analysis to develop five major clusters of personality traits which they call the big five personality traits. Name and describe three of the five traits.

Question 43

Psychologists study personalities in two ways, called the nomothetic and the idiographic approaches. Discuss the difference between the nomothetic and idiographic approaches to personality.

Question 44

Humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, complained that most psychologists concentrate on negatively disordered personalities rather than the positive, desirable ways individuals differ from one another. He proposed that people's highest need is self-actualization, the fulfillment of an individual's potential. Describe three of the characteristics that people with a self-actualized personality show.

Question 45

According to Freud, children go through five stages of psychosexual development, and each leaves its mark on the adult personality. If normal sexual development is blocked or frustrated at any stage, part of the libido becomes fixated at that stage. Describe Freud's five stages of sexual development and the sexual interest that accompanies each stage.