George Kelly
The Cognitive Movement
History
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Formed theory from clinical experience
Clients in counseling centers
Able to discuss concerns rationally
 Express problems in intellectual terms
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Depends heavily on cognitive information
processing abilities
Personal Construct Theory
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Each person creates a set of cognitive
constructs about the environment
Interpret and organize events in a pattern
Use this to guide behavior and make predictions
about others’ behavior
Personal Construct Theory
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Construct:
Unique way of looking at life
 Intellectual hypothesis
 Dichotomous
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Constructive alternativism:
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Free to revise/replace constructs
Corrollaries
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Fundamental principle: Psychological processes
are directed by the ways in which we anticipate
life events
11 Corrolaries
Corrolaries
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Construction
Individuality
Organization
Dichotomy
Choice
Range
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Range of convenience
Experience
Corrollaries
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Modulation
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Permeability
Fragmentation
Commonality
Sociality
Assessment
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Interview
Self-characterization sketches
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Role Construct Repertory Test
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Used to assess personal construct system
Used to assess constructs we apply to important
people in our lives
Fixed Role Therapy
Act out constructs
 Abandon old for new, more effective constructs
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Research
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REP test:
Constructs remain stable over time
 Pattern becomes more complex across the lifespan
 We seek friends with constructs similar to our own
 Married couples with more similar constructs report
greater happiness
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Outgrowth of Kelly’s Theory
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Cognitive Styles
Differences in how we perceive elements of the
environment
 Styles:
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Cognitive complexity
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Better able to make predictions about others’ behavior
Increases with age
Cognitive simplicity
Contributions of Kelly
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Unique theory
Gaining acceptance
Criticisms of Kelly
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Exclusion of emotional aspects
Biased sample
Spontaneity Survey
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Components of spontaneity:
Moreno (1953) characterized spontaneity in terms of the
“variable degree of adequate response to a situation of variable
degree of novelty” (p. 722).
One component of spontaneity is the absence of both rigidity
and impulsiveness. Impulsive individuals, however, act too
quickly, and their solutions are not appropriate to the situation.
Howell (1992) suggested that experts often operate at the level
of unconscious competence - where one has practiced the skill
for so long that one no longer need to think about using them
effectively.
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Flow
Spontaneity Survey
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Spontaneity defined: (a) it is novel and
creative; (b) it is immediate; (c) it is
adequate and appropriate; (d) it occurs
easily and effortlessly; (e) the individual acts
with total involvement; and (f) the individual
is in control of his/her actions.
Former research on the PAS II – R gives us
some idea of where you fall on the concept of
spontaneity.
Results
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The PAS II-R has a mean score of 225.24 and a standard deviation of 29.85
(N=544).
Mean score for males was 232.38 and standard deviation 29.50;
Mean score for females was 222.65 and standard deviation 29.55.
High scores on the PAS II-R indicate an aptitude for spontaneity, and a
likeliness to be spontaneous often and in across a broad spectrum of
situations.
Low scores on the PAS II-R indicate a spontaneity limitation. The person
with low spontaneity scores is unlikely to be spontaneous and may only be
able to spontaneous under certain circumstances.
Mean score for Psy 257 = 223.73 SD = 21.90. Range of scores = 180 – 263.
Results
Spontaneity Quotient
300
250
200 180
197
215 220
201 201 205 207 211
227 229
247 248
236 237 239 243 245
263
150
Series1
100
50
0
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