Unit 5: Personality
and Individuality
Ch 13: Psychological Testing
Ch 14: Theories of Personality
Ch 13 – Psychological Testing
• Characteristics • One of the ______ of testing is that we
of psychological
tend to forget that tests are merely
testing
tools for measuring + predicting ______
___________.
• We start to think of test results
as an __________ (ex. IQ tests).
• The fairness + usefulness of a test
depends on 3 things:
1. ___________
2. ________
3. ________________
• Reliability
• The ability of a test to give the same
_______ under similar ___________ – it’s
______________.
• There are 3 ways of determining a test’s
reliability:
1. If a person _______________ or a
similar test w/in a short time after
the 1st testing, they should receive
approximately the _____________.
2. The test should yield the same
results when scored at different
_______ by different _______.
3. If the test is randomly split in ½, you
should receive roughly the ________
on each ½.
• Validity
• The ability of a test to measure what it is
________________.
• ________ to determine than reliability.
• One of the main ways for measuring validity is to
find out how well a test ___________________.
• Do the people who score high on a test later
do well like the test says they should?
• One problem that may arise is that the test only
predicts _________ of what it is supposed to be
testing.
• Standardization • The tests are administered + scored in the
________ every time + establish the ______
_______ made by a large # of people.
• The test should _________ how a person will
score at a given level, but that ______
______ how that person does against others.
• A percentile system is a ranking of test
scores that indicates the _______________
lower + higher than a given score.
• If 50% of people score a 70 or lower,
then 70 is the 50th percentile. If 75%
of people score a 85 or lower, then 85
is the ____th percentile.
• To make these comparisons, a test is first
given to a large _________________ of the
group to be tested (ex. High school freshmen,
army privates, etc…) + the percentiles, also
known as ______, are determined.
• Norms determine how someone compares to
others, not ___________________ overall.
End Section 1
• Intelligence
• Believed by most to be the ability to acquire
new ______ + new ________, + to adapt to new
_______________.
• Not all psychologists _______ on this
definition.
• Some believe it is what allows you to do
well on _________________ + in school.
• The 2 Factor Theory of Intelligence proposes
that 2 factors contribute to an individual’s
intelligence – a person’s __________________
(ability to perform complex mental work like
problem solving) + a person’s ______________
__________ (like verbal or math skills).
• Thurstone’s Theory of Intelligence proposes
that intelligence is composed of ____________
_________________ (verbal comprehension,
numerical ability, spatial relations, perceptual
speed, word fluency, memory, + inductive
reasoning). See chart p.349.
• Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
proposes that intelligence is more than the
ability to ____________. Howard Gardner
believed there are 8 kinds of intelligence:
1. _______ ability
2. Logical-mathematical reasoning
3. Spatial ability (mental maps)
4. ________
5. Bodily-kinesthetic
6. __________ (understanding others)
7. __________ (understanding oneself)
8. Naturalist
• Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence proposes
a triarchic theory which states that
intelligence can be divided into 3 ways of
__________________. They are analytical
thinking skills (problem solving), _________
thinking (dealing w/ new situations), +
practical thinking skills to help adjust to +
cope w/ one’s ________________.
• Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive,
imagine, + understand emotions + to use that
information _______________________________.
• It helps us gauge the situation + determine an
_______________________.
• It includes the 4 major aspects of
interpersonal + intrapersonal intelligences:
1. The ability to perceive + express
emotions accurately +
_____________.
2. The ability to use emotions while
___________.
3. The ability to understand emotions
+ use the knowledge ______________.
4. The ability to regulate one’s
emotions to promote _____________.
• Major proponents of this view of intelligence
have linked emotional intelligence to success in
the ____________.
• Intelligence
tests
• Alfred Binet was a French psychologist who was
asked by authorities to design an intelligence
test pick out “_____________” to be placed in
separate classes.
• This led to the development of the StanfordBinet Intelligence Scale which groups items by
_______. A person’s IQ (intelligence quotient)
is his/her standardized measure of intelligence
based on a scale in which _____ is average.
• About 95% of people score b/w ___________.
• People who score _______ are usually classified
as handicapped.
•
•
•
•
Mildly handicapped, but educable (55-69)
Moderately handicapped, but trainable (40-54)
Severely handicapped (25-39)
Profoundly handicapped (below 25)
• IQ scores are most useful when related to
_______________ – they are very accurate at
predicting how well people will do in school.
• Critics argue that IQ testing doesn’t
________________ intelligence though.
• Controversy
over IQ
testing
• Is IQ based on _______________________?
• Researchers have found a high degree of
heritability (the degree to which a
characteristic is related to _________
_________________) in intelligence.
• Although debated, many believe heredity
accounts for ____% of a person’s IQ.
• The richness of the home environment,
the quality of food, + the # of _____ all
affect a person’s IQ.
• How does _____________ affect IQ scores?
• A major criticism of IQ tests is that
they are culturally biased (an aspect of a
test in which the wording used in
questions may be more familiar to people
of one _____________ than to another
group).
End Section 2
• Aptitude • Tests designed to discover a person’s _____ + to
predict how well he/she would be able to learn a
tests
__________.
• Often used to determine what ____________ a
person might enjoy +/or find success in.
• Can also be used to measure aptitude in things
like language, math, art, music, + other
______________________.
• The SAT + ACT are general aptitude tests
designed to predict a person’s _____________.
• Achievement • Tests designed to measure how much a
tests
person has learned in a _____________ or
area.
• Instructors + students can assess a
student’s ____________.
• They are validated in terms of their
__________ validity.
• Many confuse aptitude + achievement tests.
The distinction is in whether the test is
used to predict __________ (APTITUDE)
or to assess what a person ____________
(ACHIEVEMENT).
• Interest
inventories
• Test that measures a person’s _________
+ attitudes in a wide variety of activities to
identify areas of likely __________.
• There are no _______________ answers.
• These tests are often used to determine
what career students might find most
_____________.
• The more a person’s interest patterns
correspond to those of people in a
particular occupation, the more likely that
person is to _________________ in that
profession.
• It’s important to note that ______ as well
as interests should be taken into account
when ____________________.
End Section 3
• Personality
tests
• Tests that assess an individual’s
______________, identify problems +
___________________, + to predict how
he/she might behave in the ________.
• 2 types – objective + projective.
• Objective
tests
• Tests w/ limited or forced-choices in which a person
____________________________.
• The MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory) consists of ______________ to which a
person must respond true/false/cannot say.
• The statements were created + then given to
groups w/ known __________(well-adjusted,
depressed, etc…).
• People take the test + their answers are
___________to the people in the sample.
• Used to reveal habits, delusions, sexual
attitudes, ______________________, etc…
• The Myers-Briggs Test focuses on how a person
takes in information, _____________, + approaches
day-to-day tasks. It looks at 4 different areas
(____________________, practicality vs. intuitive,
thinking vs. feeling, + judging vs. perceiving
contrast).
• Can be used by businesses to decide who to
hire or promote, by students to determine
their _______________, etc…
• Projective
tests
• ________________ which people respond to freely,
giving their interpretations of various test stimuli.
• B/c the tests have __________________, what the
person says must say something about his/her needs,
wishes, fears, + other aspects of personality. It’s
designed to probe a person’s __________________.
• The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a set of 10 cards w/
______________________ + used for interpreting
responses.
• In addition to a person’s responses, the
psychologist may consider where + how he/she
holds the cards, _________________ before
answering, etc…
• Criticized for lack of ___________ + validity.
• The TAT (The Thematic Apperception Test) is a set
of 20 cards w/ vague but suggestive situations +
individuals _______________ about the pictures.
• Responses are examined for underlining
motivation, _________________________ +
problems, etc...
End Section 4
Ch 14 – Theories of Personality
• Personality • The ___________, enduring, + unique
________________ of a person.
• What is the purpose of personality theories?
• Provide a way of _________ the many
characteristics about you + others.
• Explain _________ among individuals.
• Explore how people conduct their lives.
• Determine how life can be _________.
• Formal personality theories try to make
ideas about why people act in certain ways
____________ by stating them precisely +
testing them scientifically.
• Major schools • There are many ___________________.
of personality • Psychoanalytic theories emphasize the
theory
importance of ____________________.
• Behaviorist theories emphasize the way
rewards + punishments _____________.
• Social learning theories emphasize the
impact of _____________________ on
personality.
• Cognitive theorists emphasize how our
_________, perceptions, + feelings shape
our personalities.
• Humanistic theorists stress one’s
potential for _________.
• Trait theorists emphasize the importance
of understanding basic _____________
________________ like friendliness +
aggression.
End Section 1
• Psychoanalytic
theories –
Sigmund Freud
• Developed by Sigmund Freud + his
followers.
• Freud suggested that the ________
of the tongue that people say
(Freudian slips) + the things they
_______ are not really mistakes, but
were clues as to what was going on in
their unconscious mind. He believed
that ________ were clues as well.
• Freud was the 1st modern psychologist
to suggest that every person has a
large unconscious, or ______, part of
his/her mind. He believed that many
of our experiences aren’t forgotten
but are stored in our unconscious +
continue to __________________ +
personality.
• He also suggested that b/w the
conscious + unconscious is the
preconscious – which stores thoughts
+ memories that can be recalled w/
relatively ________________.
• Freud believed the energy in personality
comes from 2 ________________ – life +
death.
• The death instinct shows up as
characteristics like destructiveness +
____________.
• The life instinct shows up as
characteristics like erotic + _______
_________ urges.
• Freud thought the ___ instinct
is more important.
• Freud’s structural concepts of the personality are
known as the id, ego, + superego. They explain how
_______________________________ + regulated.
• The id is the part of the unconscious
personality that contains our needs, drives,
instincts, + ________________.
• It __________________________ of
desires regardless of the consequences.
• The ego is the part of the conscious personality
that is in touch w/ reality + strives to meet the
demands of the id + the superego in ________
________________.
• The superego is the part of the personality
that is the source of _________ + counteracts
the socially undesirable impulses of the id.
• The id represents what a person ______ to do,
the ego plans what he/she _____ do, + the
superego advocates what he/she _______ do.
• If the id isn’t satisfied, a person becomes filled
w/ _______ + longing, but if the superego isn’t
satisfied he/she feels _______ + inferior.
• Defense
mechanisms
Examples
p.381-383
• Certain specific means by which the ego
________________________ against unpleasant
impulses or circumstances. People trick themselves
into believing nothing is wrong + _____________.
• They can relieve _____ + give people time to
work out problems, but if done too
frequently, a person won’t be able to face +
solve his/her problems _____________.
• Rationalization involves making up a logical or
rational reason as opposed to the _________ for a
behavior.
• Repression is pushing ____________________ +
memories out of awareness w/o realizing it.
• Denial is _____________________ reality.
• Projection is believing that your own unacceptable
urges are coming from ______________.
• Reaction formation is replacing an unacceptable
feeling w/ the _________ one – putting on a front.
• Regression is going back to an earlier + _________
pattern of behavior.
• Displacement is taking out impulses on a ______
_____________ target.
• Sublimation is redirecting a forbidden desire into a
__________________ desire.
• Freud’s
contribution to
understanding
humans
• He recognized that tremendous forces exist
in human personality + are extremely ______
______________.
• Made it easier to understand why humans
have so much ________.
• It’s the savage individual coming to
terms w/ _________________.
• The id is the ________ part + the
superego is representative of ______.
In a healthy person, the __ (the “I”) is
strong enough to handle the struggle.
• He was the 1st psychologist to claim that
infancy + childhood are critical times for
forming a person’s ________________.
• Believed a person’s personality largely
developed in the 1st ___yrs of life.
• Psychoanalytic
theories –
Carl Jung
• For a while he was Freud’s closest associate,
but when he questioned Freud’s psychoanalytic
theory, they _______________.
• Disagreed w/ Freud on 2 major points:
1. He had a more _________ of humans believed people try to develop their
___________ as well as handle their
instinctive urges.
2. He divided Freud’s idea of the
unconscious into 2 types. The _______
unconscious was similar to Freud’s
unconscious + the collective unconscious
which is the part of the mind that
contains ________________, urges, +
memories common to all people. These
inherited ideas, based on the
experiences of one’s __________ that
shape our perception of the world are
archetypes.
• Psychoanalytic • Another former associate of Freud.
theories –
• Believed that the driving force in people’s
lives is a desire to overcome their feelings
Alfred Adler
of _____________.
• Described a person who continually
tries to ______________________
+ avoid feelings of inadequacy as
having an inferiority complex (a
pattern of avoiding feelings of
inadequacy rather than trying to
______________________).
• Children feel inferior b/c they’re so
little + __________ on adults.
• Emphasized that the way parents ______
their children influences their personalities.
• Ideally, children should learn selfreliance/courage from their ______ +
generosity/compassion from their
________.
End Section 2
• Behaviorist
theories
• Behaviorism is the belief that the proper
subject matter of psychology is objectively
___________________ + nothing else.
• Behaviorists believe that as
individuals differ in their learning
experiences, they acquire different
____________, + thus different
_____________.
• They look to the environment to see
what is _____________________.
• Behaviorist
theories –
B. F. Skinner
• Saw _______ for a general concept of personality
structure. Instead, he was concerned w/ what
causes a person to act in a ______________.
• Less concerned w/ understanding behavior
than w/ predicting + ____________ it.
• Tried to understand the contingencies of
reinforcement (the occurrence of rewards or
punishments following ____________________).
• So what is reinforcing a person’s behaviors?
• His approach suggests a hypothesis that can
be proven ______________.
• We may be completely _________ of the
rewards that are shaping our behavior.
• Our ________ were not Skinner’s concern –
only how we behave.
• The point is to find out what is reinforcing our
behavior + then stop it if our behavior is
undesirable. To change __________, you must
change the ____________________.
• Social
cognitive
theories –
Albert
Bandura
• Social cognitivists believe that personality is
acquired not only by direct reinforcement of
behavior but also by _________________, or
imitation.
• So much of a young child’s behavior +
personality is acquired by exposure to specific
everyday _________.
• Bandura believed that __________________
__________ by their choice of models.
• The most effective models are those
which are most _____ to + most admired
by the observer.
• He also believed that one important concept
that governs our behavior is our sense of selfefficacy (our view of our ability to ________).
• Another social cognitivist (Julian Rotter)
stressed the importance of our locus of control
(our beliefs about how much _______ we have
over certain situations).
• People w/ an ________ locus of control
believe that they do have control over
situations. People w/ an ______ locus of
control believe that their fate is
determined by forces _____________
_________.
• “Most tests are fair if a student
is prepared.”
- Agree – ________ locus
-Disagree – ________ locus
• People w/ an _________ locus of
control are usually less anxious +
more content w/ life.
End Section 3
• Humanistic
theories
• Humanistic psychology is a school of
psychology that emphasizes _________
________ + achievement of maximum
potential by each unique individual.
• _______ the more pessimistic views
of psychoanalytical + behaviorist
beliefs about personality.
• Stresses our ability to ______ + live
by personal standards + perceptions.
• Founded on the belief that all humans
strive for self-actualization (the
realization of ____________________).
• Abraham Maslow (remember Maslow’s
Hierarchy of needs?) studied ___________
people to learn how they coped w/ problems +
created exceptional lives. He found that
they tended to share _______________:
• Perceive ________ accurately.
• ________ themselves, others, + their
environment more readily.
• __________-centered instead of selfcentered.
• Autonomous + ___________.
• Exceptionally spontaneous + ________.
• Value privacy + solitude.
• Appreciate ________ things.
• Resist conformity.
• Humanistic
theories –
Carl Rogers
• Rogers developed the __________. He believed
that people suffer from a conflict b/w what they
value in themselves + what they believe _______
________ value in them.
• Also believed that everyone is constantly
struggling to become more ________ + perfect.
Anything that furthers that end is good.
• Each individual has what Rogers called a self
(one’s experience or image of oneself, ________
_______________ w/ others) which is acquired
by observing how others react to us.
• We all try to develop positive regard (viewing
oneself in a positive light due to positive
________ received from interaction w/ others).
If this doesn’t happen, we develop conditions of
worth (the conditions a _________________ in
order to regard him/herself positively).
• We may ____________________________ to
meet these conditions of worth.
• Cognitive
theory
• Based on analysis of our own perceptions,
thoughts, + _________.
• The idea that our thoughts about _______,
others, + our world shape our behavior +
____________.
• Emphasis is on the individual + his/her plans
– including ____, errors, mistakes, + _____
____________.
• Has to do w/ the individual’s
anticipations or _____________.
End Section 4
• Trait
theories
• A trait can be described as a tendency to
________________ in a way that remains
stable over time or as any relatively
enduring way in which one _____________
from another.
• Trait theorists make 2 _______________
about the consistency of an individual’s
behavior in different situations:
1. Every trait applies to __________.
2. These descriptions can be _______.
• They want to discover the
________________ of the
consistency of human behavior.
• The 1st ? of trait theorists is, “What
behaviors ______________?”.
• Trait
theories –
Gordon
Allport
• He defined common traits as those that
_______________ + individual traits as
those that apply more to a ____________.
• He described 3 types of individual traits:
1. A cardinal trait is a characteristic
that is so pervasive that the person is
almost _________ w/ that trait (ex.
Scrooge).
2. A central trait - is a general
characteristic found in some degree
in _____________. It makes us
__________ in most situations.
3. Secondary traits are characteristics
seen only in ___________________
(such as likes/dislikes). They are the
least important + have a less
consistent ___________ on us.
• Trait
theories –
Raymond
Cattell
• He identified 46 surface traits (stable
characteristics that can be observed in
_________________).
• When looking at what surface traits had in
common, he identified 16 source traits
(stable characteristics that can be
considered to be at the ___________
______________). P. 400.
• Ex. Relaxed vs. tense, ___________
_______, reserved vs. outgoing, etc…
• He believed that by measuring these
traits, psychologists could _______
people’s behavior in certain situations.
• Trait
theories –
Hans
Eysenck
• He concluded that there are 2 basic
dimensions of personality:
1. _______________________
2. _______________________
• Stability refers to the degree of ______
people have over their feelings. Stable people
are relaxed, easygoing, + well-adjusted.
• Extroverts are _________, outgoing, active
people who direct their energies towards
other people + things. Introverts are
reserved, withdrawn people who are
preoccupied w/ their _________________ +
feelings.
• He later added a 3rd dimension – _________.
People at one end are self-centered, hostile, +
___________. At the other end people are
socially sensitive, caring, + ____________.
• Trait
• Various trait theories have shown that 5
theories –
traits ___________________ in different
“The robust
research. They are:
five”
1. ______________
- talkativeness, energetic, etc…
2. ______________
- sympathetic, trusting, etc…
3. ______________
- organized, responsible, etc…
4. ______________________
- open-minded to new things
5. ___________________
- ability to experience things
relatively easy w/o getting upset
• Trait theorists assume that traits are
_____________________.
End Section 5