Deck 13: Understanding Human Personality

Question 1

All of the following are true of trait theories EXCEPT that

A) some trait theorists think of traits as predispositions that cause behavior.
B) more conservative theorists use traits simply as descriptive dimensions.
C) traits predispose people to behave consistently across different situations.
D) trait theories presume the existence of separate, discontinuous categories.

Answer 1

trait theories presume the existence of separate, discontinuous categories.

Question 2

In Gordon Allport's approach to personality, ________ traits represent the overarching elements of personality, ________ traits reflect the specific and personal features that help predict an individual's behavior, and ________ traits represent the major characteristics of the person.

A) central; cardinal; secondary
B) cardinal; secondary; central
C) secondary; cardinal; central
D) secondary; central; cardinal

Answer 2

cardinal; secondary; central

Question 3

A friend meets your cousin and thinks that he is cute. Later, she asks you what he is like. You tell her that he is warm, happy, optimistic, funny, and high achieving. According to Gordon Allport's approach, you have described his ________ traits.

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

Answer 3

central

Question 4

All of the following items belong together, EXCEPT for which one?

A) Raymond Cattell
B) the five-factor model
C) source traits
D) 16 factors

Question 5

In recent years, a consensus has emerged that ________ factors best characterize personality structure.

A) three
B) five
C) seven
D) sixteen

Question 6

With respect to the development of the five-factor model of personality, all of the following are true EXCEPT that the

A) dimensions were derived from ratings people made of themselves and others.
B) five-factor structure has been replicated in a number of languages.
C) five factors are meant to replace the many specific trait terms that have been used.
D) five-factor model outlines a taxonomy of the basic dimensions of personality.

Question 7

In a study of the relationship between extraversion and the amygdala that is described in the textbook, participants viewed fearful or happy faces while they underwent fMRI scans. Researchers found that the ________ faces elicited relatively high levels of activity in the ________ amygdala of highly extraverted people.

A) fearful; left
B) happy faces; left
C) fearful; right
D) happy; right

Question 8

In time, the consensus emerged among experts that the "appearance" of behavioral inconsistency arose primarily because

A) of failures to take into account the psychological features of situations.
B) most measures of personality lack reliability and validity.
C) the observers of the people in the situations were not adequately trained to make accurate observations.
D) people are simply not all that consistent in their behavior patterns.

Question 9

Trait theories of personality have been criticized because they

A) do not allow researchers to give concise descriptions of different people's personalities.
B) do not identify characteristics that are correlated with behavior.
C) do not generally explain how personality develops.
D) emphasize conflicting forces within the individual.

Question 10

When you overhear a woman say that her husband has a lot of "libido," you understand that he apparently

A) is prone to mental illness.
B) has attempted suicide.
C) has a strong sex drive.
D) does not have a superego.

Question 11

In Freud's approach, the major developmental task of the ________ stage is ________.

A) oral; the Oedipus complex
B) anal; weaning
C) genital; toilet training
D) latency; the development of defense mechanisms

Question 12

A little boy has started to identify with and imitate everything that his father does and to act like him as much as he can. Within the context of Freud's theory, we can infer that the boy

A) has not been socialized by those around him to be like his father.
B) has resolved the Oedipus complex.
C) realizes that as a boy he can only identify with his father.
D) expects rewards from his father if he tries to be like him.

Question 13

One of your neighbors can best be described as a slob. He smells because he doesn't bathe, he leaves every dish he owns sitting in his kitchen sink, and he just throws his garbage into the yard. The Board of Health is contemplating condemning his house. Freud would trace your neighbor's behavior to

A) an unresolved Oedipal complex.
B) fixation in the anal stage of development.
C) a strong libido.
D) his dreams.

Question 14

All of the following terms belong together EXCEPT for which one?

A) id
B) libido
C) ego
D) superego

Question 15

In Freud's view, there was a continuing battle between two antagonistic parts of the personality: - the ________ - moderated by a third aspect of the self, the ________.

A) id and ego; superego
B) superego and ego; id
C) ego and superego; ego
D) id and superego; ego

Question 16

Imagine that you are playing the role of the ego in Freud's theory of personality. Your major function would be to

A) search for immediate sexual gratification without concern for consequences.
B) mediate between the id impulses and the superego demands.
C) satisfy the inner voice of "oughts" and "should nots" at any cost.
D) work toward achieving the ego ideal.

Question 17

A boy thinks about stealing a candy bar from the store because he is hungry. He is prevented from doing so because of the possible consequences of getting caught, so he decides to go home and eat instead. In Freud's view, the boy's ________, operating under the ________, led to his decision to postpone eating until he got home.

A) id; pleasure principle
B) ego; reality principle
C) id; conscience
D) reality principle; pleasure principle

Question 18

As the most basic way for the ego to defend against being overwhelmed, ________ is the psychological process in Freud's theory that protects an individual from experiencing extreme anxiety or guilt by pushing ideas out of conscious awareness and into the unconscious.

A) repression
B) regression
C) reaction formation
D) rationalization

Question 19

The district attorney never stops his campaign to rid the city of pornography. He gets extremely agitated when speaking against the evils of "adult" magazines and he quotes scripture endlessly to back up his tirades. What his constituents don't know, however, is that he owns a large collection of pornographic videos that he often views when he's alone. Freudians might suggest that his behavior is a sign of

A) reaction formation.
B) repression.
C) regression.
D) identification.

Question 20

In a study that is described in the textbook based on a group of 9- to 11-year-old girls, researchers explored the conditions under which young girls are most likely to use defense mechanisms. The researchers found that

A) the unpopular girls used more defense mechanisms than the popular girls after an episode of peer rejection.
B) the unpopular girls did not use defense mechanisms after an episode of peer rejection.
C) the popular girls used more defense mechanisms than the unpopular girls, regardless of peer rejection.
D) only one defense mechanism was used by almost all the participants in the study.

Question 21

Which statement best characterizes the consensus on the status of Freud's theory of personality?

A) His theory is generally correct, with minor exceptions.
B) He is considered a fraud and his ideas are considered worthless.
C) Some of his ideas have been widely accepted and others have been abandoned.
D) It has been impossible to evaluate any of Freud's ideas through empirical scrutiny.

Question 22

Alfred Adler's theory of personality revolved around the

A) centrality of Eros and libidinal pleasures.
B) attempts by people to overcome feelings of inferiority.
C) attempts by people to overcome feelings of superiority.
D) ego and its defenses.

Question 23

Karen Horney was trained in the psychoanalytic school, but her view differed from that of orthodox Freudian theory in a several ways. For example, Horney believed that

A) "womb envy" leads men to devalue women.
B) less emphasis should be placed on cultural factors.
C) more emphasis should be placed on infantile sexuality.
D) Freud focused too much on present character structure.

Question 24

Shopping at a flea market, you come across a book whose cover is ripped off. Skimming through it, you come across chapters entitled "Collective Unconscious," "Archetypes," and "Analytic Psychology." You can safely guess that the book was either written by, or is about,

A) Carl Rogers.
B) Carl Jung.
C) Alfred Adler.
D) Abraham Maslow.

Question 25

Your school is going to sponsor a lecture by a humanistic personality theorist. You can assume that the speaker will express the idea that humans are

A) all alike in their tendencies.
B) primarily motivated by the libido.
C) striving toward self-actualization.
D) generally negative in their view of the world.

Question 26

Imagine that Carl Rogers is on a talk show handling questions about child-rearing practices. A parent calls in and asks how he should handle his son, who deliberately pushed another child off a bicycle. Carl Rogers would most likely advise the parent to

A) push the child off his own bicycle, to show him how it feels.
B) tell the child, "Go to your room without supper."
C) tell the child, "Daddy and I don't like you because you are bad."
D) tell the child, "Trying to hurt another child is a bad thing to do."

Question 27

Humanistic theories have been criticized for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that they

A) suggest that human nature develops out of conflicts and anxieties.
B) include concepts that are fuzzy and difficult to explore in research.
C) do not focus on the particular characteristics of individuals.
D) neglect the important environmental variables that influence behavior.

Question 28

As your professor enters the classroom, she notices that the blackboard has not been erased. Written in a list are five items: encodings, expectancies and beliefs, affects, goals and values, and competencies and self-regulatory plans. She asks whether anyone can identify their source. You should respond that they refer to

A) the five-factor theory of personality.
B) Walter Mischel's cognitive-affective personality theory.
C) Albert Bandura's cognitive social-learning theory.
D) Nancy Cantor's social intelligence theory.

Question 29

A boy has once again forced himself to ask a girl out on a date, although deep down he doubts that she will say yes. Walter Mischel would say that the boy's doubts are best understood in the context of the person variable labeled

A) encodings.
B) expectancies and beliefs.
C) affects.
D) competencies and self-regulatory plans.

Question 30

In a field study of children's experiences in summer camp that is described in the textbook, researchers focused on children's reactions to different psychological situations. Data from camp counselor ratings of individual children at the end of the summer supported Walter Mischel's belief that

A) different situations bring out different behaviors in people.
B) the best measures of personality are those that focus on average behaviors.
C) people are remarkably consistent in their behavior across different situations.
D) past experiences are irrelevant to one's personal understanding of behavior.

Question 31

The cognitive social-learning theory of Albert Bandura places the LEAST amount of emphasis on

A) attitudes and beliefs.
B) genetic predispositions to behave.
C) prior history of reinforcement.
D) stimuli available in the environment.

Question 32

The fitness center is usually a relaxed place until the manager arrives. She is always tense and spends much of her time yelling at the workers. Soon everyone seems to be angry and on edge. This is one instance of ________ among person, place, and behavior.

A) self-efficacy
B) self-verification
C) defensive pessimism
D) reciprocal determinism

Question 33

While discussing a boy's schoolwork in a teacher-parent conference, the teacher suggests that he does not demonstrate self-efficacy. According to the theory of Albert Bandura, self-efficacy refers to

A) a willingness to conform to the feelings of the majority.
B) the belief that one can perform adequately in a particular situation.
C) a system of moral values and a strong sense of right and wrong.
D) the need to achieve one's potential or to be the best that one can be.

Question 34

When he arrives to take the test for a driver's license, a new driver feels very confident. He remembers that he got everything right on a practice test and that his mother has told him he will do fine. In this example, all of the following factors have contributed to his self-efficacy judgment EXCEPT for

A) actual accomplishments.
B) vicarious experience.
C) persuasion.
D) monitoring of emotional arousal.

Question 35

In a study of the impact of self-efficacy beliefs on college performance,

A) students who had higher self-efficacy did better than their peers.
B) high or low self-efficacy did not have an impact on college performance.
C) higher self-efficacy only mattered for those who did less well in high school than their peers.
D) though there was an initial relationship between self-efficacy and college performance, the correlation disappeared over time.

Question 36

Although a young woman is certain that she will succeed as an actress, she does not believe that her parents will support this career choice. In Bandura's view, the potential influence of her parents on her expectations for success or failure in acting is an example of

A) unconditional positive regard.
B) an outcome-based expectation.
C) self-handicapping.
D) an aspect of social intelligence.

Question 37

Cognitive and social-learning theories of personality have been criticized because they

A) overlook the importance of rationality.
B) overlook the importance of emotion.
C) place too much emphasis on the developmental origins of personality.
D) place too much emphasis on the impact of unconscious motivation.

Question 38

The ________ is a dynamic mental structure that motivates, interprets, organizes, mediates, and regulates intrapersonal and interpersonal behaviors and processes.

A) id
B) self-concept
C) superego
D) psychobiography

Question 39

To refer to the general evaluation of self, many psychologists use the term

A) "self-handicapper."
B) "self-image."
C) "self-efficacy."
D) "self-esteem."

Question 40

A student spends much time socializing with friends instead of studying for an important exam because he is afraid to find out whether he has what it takes to pass the exam. This student is engaging in what psychologists call

A) the consistency paradox.
B) self-handicapping behavior.
C) self-efficacy.
D) fixation.

Question 41

In a study that is described in the textbook regarding the relationship between self-handicapping and gender in college students, the researchers found a tendency toward self-handicapping

A) in males only.
B) in females only.
C) in both males and females.
D) when participants were led to believe they had done better than expected.

Question 42

A woman believes that a person's behavior should be based on the needs and approval of the community at large. According to Hazel Markus and Shinobu Kitayama, the woman most likely comes from a(n) ________ culture which supports ________ construals of self.

A) individualistic; independent
B) individualistic; interdependent
C) collectivist; independent
D) collectivist; interdependent

Question 43

Situational determinants of behavior are most strongly emphasized by ________ theories of personality, while dispositional factors are most strongly emphasized by ________ theories.

A) Freudian; cognitive
B) social-learning; trait
C) humanistic; self
D) cognitive; Freudian

Question 44

With respect to contributions made by various major theories of personality to the understanding of human nature, the textbook expresses the point of view that

A) social-cognitive theory makes the most contributions.
B) Freudian theory provides little of value to understanding human nature.
C) each type of theory makes different contributions.
D) all the theories make identical contributions.

Question 45

Imagine that you have signed up for a research study in which you will be completing a personality inventory. You can expect to

A) undergo a systematic interview by a trained clinical psychologist.
B) read a series of statements and indicate whether each is true of yourself.
C) report what you see in a series of ambiguous pictures.
D) be tested for your potential for acquiring various skills.

Question 46

At the end of her job interview, a woman is given the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. To make a good impression, when she sees items such as "I am sometimes bothered by things that shouldn't upset me," and "I don't always tell the truth," she answers that these statements are not true. It is most likely that the person scoring the test will

A) conclude that the woman has mental illness.
B) question the validity of the test.
C) be impressed with the woman's honesty.
D) not notice anything unusual about the woman's responses.

Question 47

The NEO Personality Inventory includes all of the following EXCEPT

A) a content scale for bizarre mentation.
B) a neuroticism dimension that is broken down into six scales.
C) five major dimensions.
D) the potential to be used to study personality stability and change across the life span.

Question 48

A patient's psychotherapist has given her a projective test. The test most likely consists of

A) 550 questions to which the patient must respond either "true" or "false."
B) a staged social interaction in which the patient is observed without her knowledge.
C) ambiguous material to which the patient must respond.
D) a series of questions designed to measure divergent production.

Question 49

Projective tests were first used by psychoanalysts because it was believed that

A) objective tests gave scores that were unreliable.
B) they would reveal unconscious personality dynamics.
C) people would be better at rating others than they are at rating themselves.
D) they would be easy to score.

Question 50

All of the following belong together EXCEPT for which one?

A) the Rorschach test
B) the Thematic Apperception Test
C) projective tests
D) objective tests

Question 51

A friend tells you that he knows the Thematic Apperception Test is classified as a projective test, but he can't remember what it requires a person to do. You should tell your friend that the test taker must

A) fill in the blanks for incomplete sentences.
B) generate stories about ambiguous scenes.
C) free associate to a series of words.
D) predict how people will respond in various social situations.

Question 52

The Thematic Apperception Test was developed by ________, and over the years it has proven to be a valid measure of ________.

A) Harrison Gough; normal personality
B) Starke Hathaway; clinic psychopathology
C) J.R. McKinley; achievement motivation
D) Henry Murray; needs for achievement

Question 53

Explain the basic premise of a trait theory. Which trait theories have received the most interest, and why? How do psychologists study the degree to which personality traits and behavior patterns are inherited, and what have they found?

Question 54

Humanistic, social-learning, and cognitive theories differ dramatically from the psychodynamic approach. Give capsule summaries of the theories of Carl Rogers, Walter Mischel, and Albert Bandura. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each theory?