Question 1

Someone interested in an inventory that might be helpful for making a career choice should try ________.

Accepted Answer

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a widely used assessment tool that can help individuals gain insights into their personality type and preferences, which can be beneficial for making informed career choices. The MBTI identifies four dichotomies: extraversion vs. introversion, sensing vs. intuition, thinking vs. feeling, and judging vs. perceiving, resulting in 16 different personality types. Understanding one's personality type can provide insights into areas of interest, work style, strengths, and potential career paths.

Question 2

Frank and Gina are looking at an abstract painting in a museum. Gina describes objects and people she thinks she sees in the painting. Frank says, "It's a bunch of paint thrown on a canvas." Gina responds, "No, there is so much here that you just don't see." During lunch, they agree that their experience reminds them of what concept they learned in introductory psychology?

Accepted Answer

Projective testing involves interpreting ambiguous stimuli, similar to how Gina and Frank interpret the abstract painting differently.

Question 3

If you are completing a paper/pencil test that requires you to read statements and indicate "true" or "false" as to whether or not they apply to you, then you are likely taking a(n) ________.

Accepted Answer

A personality inventory is a type of test that includes statements or questions for individuals to indicate whether or not they apply to themselves. The true/false format is also commonly used in personality inventories, making D the best choice. Observational measures involve observing behavior, the TAT involves interpreting pictures, and projective tests involve interpreting ambiguous stimuli.

Question 4

Projective tests make use of ________ stimuli.

Accepted Answer

Projective tests use ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots, pictures, or incomplete sentences, that have multiple possible interpretations to reveal unconscious thoughts and feelings. The lack of clear meaning in the stimuli allows for greater freedom in responses, which can provide insight into a person's personality, emotions, and motivations.

Question 5

The main advantage of personality inventories over projective tests and interviews is ________.

Accepted Answer

Personality inventories are standardized which means that the questions are the same for all individuals taking the test, and the scoring is done in a standardized manner. This ensures that the results are reliable and can be compared across different individuals. Projective tests and interviews, on the other hand, rely more on the interpretation of the psychologist administering the test/interview and can be prone to bias and subjectivity.

Question 6

As part of an application for a job, Dan is asked to complete some psychological tests, including one in which he responds "true" or "false" to items such as "I feel sad most of the time," or "I had a good childhood." What type of psychological test is Dan taking?

Accepted Answer

Dan is taking an inventory, specifically a self-report inventory, which asks individuals to report on their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors using items such as the "true/false" statements described. This type of inventory is commonly used in psychological assessments, including in job applications, to assess various aspects of a person's personality or mental health.

Question 7

As part of the initial screening for possible employment, a nuclear power company administers a psychological test that yields scores on tendencies toward depression and schizophrenia. What is the name of this psychological test?

Accepted Answer

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a commonly used psychological test that assesses personality traits and psychopathology. It includes several scales, including ones that measure tendencies toward depression and schizophrenia, which would be relevant for employment in a high-risk industry like nuclear power.

Question 8

Personality assessments conducted by behaviorists sometimes make use of ________.

Accepted Answer

Behaviorists focus on observable behavior, so they are more likely to use objective measures such as rating scales and frequency counts to assess personality rather than subjective measures such as projective tests or introspective tests. Reports by friends may be informative, but they are still subjective in nature, so they may not be as reliable as more objective measures.

Question 9

Which assessment technique requires people to respond to unstructured or ambiguous stimuli?

Accepted Answer

Projective tests require people to respond to unstructured or ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots or pictures, in order to reveal unconscious thoughts or motivations. Dynamic assessment involves evaluating a person's ability to learn and solve problems with guidance and feedback, while objective assessment involves standardized, structured measures with clear criteria for scoring. Predictive assessment involves making predictions about future behavior or outcomes based on past performance or other factors.

Question 10

What is one purpose of the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)?

Accepted Answer

The validity scales of the MMPI are specifically designed to detect response patterns that may indicate faking or distortion of results, including attempts to present oneself in a favorable light or to appear more psychologically healthy than is actually the case. This is important because inaccurate or distorted results could lead to inappropriate treatment recommendations or a misdiagnosis.

Question 11

The most commonly used personality inventory is the ________.

Accepted Answer

The MMPI-2 (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2) is by far the most commonly used personality inventory. It is widely used in clinical and forensic settings to assess personality and identify potential psychiatric disorders. The MMPI-2 contains over 500 true/false questions and can take up to 2 hours to complete.

Question 12

Freud's refusal to believe his patients who said they were sexually molested as children is an example of ________.

Accepted Answer

Freud's refusal to believe his patients who said they were sexually molested as children is an example of interviewer bias. He believed that their memories were a result of unconscious fantasies rather than actual experiences, which influenced his interpretation of their experiences during therapy.

Question 13

Interviews in which the interviewer asks questions about any material that comes up and asks follow-up questions whenever appropriate are known as ________ interviews.

Accepted Answer

Unstructured interviews are open-ended and flexible, allowing the interviewer to ask follow-up questions and delve deeper into topics that come up during the conversation. This type of interview is less formal than a structured interview, which has a set list of predetermined questions. Global and wide-focus are not commonly used terms to describe interview types.

Question 14

While taking the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Vince notices that it contains certain questions that are asked several times in different ways. He asks his daughter, who is a graduate student in psychology, why that is. What is his daughter likely to say?

Accepted Answer

The MMPI contains repeated questions that are used to determine if test takers are trying to "fake" the test by not reading. This helps ensure that the results are accurate and reliable.

Question 15

The tendency to form a favorable or unfavorable impression of someone at the first meeting is called the ________.

Accepted Answer

The tendency to form a favorable or unfavorable impression of someone at the first meeting is called the halo effect. This occurs when individuals make judgments based on their overall impression of a person rather than on specific characteristics or behaviors. This can lead to biased perceptions and judgments.

Question 16

Karesh is from India and really cares about others' welfare. His wife is Chinese and he is known for the fact that he does not adhere to strict rules and regulations. He is tolerant of others and plans to become a social worker. According to Hofstede, what type of cultural personality would Karesh be?

Accepted Answer

Karesh's tolerance of others and lack of strict adherence to rules suggest that he is low in uncertainty avoidance, which is a dimension of Hofstede's cultural model that relates to a society's tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. None of the other options are supported by the given information.

Question 17

An assessment in which a numerical value is assigned to specific behavior(s) that is/are listed on the assessment is called a ________.

Accepted Answer

A rating scale is a tool used to assess specific behaviors or traits by assigning a numerical value to them. The individual being rated is typically evaluated on a list of behaviors or traits, and the rater assigns a score to each item on the list based on the frequency or intensity of the behavior or trait observed.

Question 18

Personality assessments conducted by behaviorists rely primarily on ________.

Accepted Answer

Behaviorists rely on direct observation of a person's behavior to assess their personality. Projective tests and dream analysis are more commonly used by psychoanalytic theorists, while interviews can be used by multiple theoretical perspectives.

Question 19

Problems with behavioral assessments can include the ________ (when a person's behavior is affected by being watched).

Accepted Answer

The observer effect occurs when individuals change their behavior because they are being observed or studied, leading to inaccurate or skewed results in behavioral assessments. Subject bias refers to a participant's tendencies to respond in a certain way based on their perception or beliefs about what the study is examining. Experimenter bias and observer bias refer to the researcher's potential influence on the study results, rather than the participant's behavior.

Question 20

When assessing personality, many psychologists take the eclectic view, which means they ________.

Accepted Answer

The eclectic view refers to using a variety of approaches when assessing personality, rather than relying on just one specific approach. This may include assessing behavior, unconscious motives, and other factors.

Quiz 13: Theories of Personality