Unit 7: PERSONALITY, TESTING & INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Personality (5–7%) In this section of the course, students explore major theories of how humans
develop enduring patterns of behavior and personal characteristics that influence how others relate to
them. The unit also addresses research methods used to assess personality. AP students in psychology
should be able to do the following:
• Compare and contrast the major theories and approaches to explaining personality (e.g.,
psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social cognition, behavioral).
• Describe and compare research methods (e.g., case studies and surveys) that psychologists use to
investigate personality.
• Identify frequently used assessment strategies (e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory [MMPI], the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT]), and evaluate relative test quality based
on reliability and validity of the instruments.
• Speculate how cultural context can facilitate or constrain personality development, especially as it
relates to self-concept (e.g., collectivistic versus individualistic cultures).
• Identify key contributors to personality theory (e.g., Alfred Adler, Albert Bandura, Paul Costa and
Robert McCrae, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers)
Testing and Individual Differences (5–7%) An understanding of intelligence and assessment of
individual differences is highlighted in this portion of the course. Students must understand issues
related to test construction and fair use. AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Define intelligence and list characteristics of how psychologists measure intelligence: — abstract
versus verbal measures; — speed of processing.
• Discuss how culture influences the definition of intelligence.
• Compare and contrast historic and contemporary theories of intelligence (e.g., Charles Spearman,
Howard Gardner, and Robert Sternberg).
• Explain how psychologists design tests, including standardization strategies and other techniques to
establish reliability and validity.
• Interpret the meaning of scores in terms of the normal curve.
• Describe relevant labels related to intelligence testing (e.g., gifted, cognitively disabled).
• Debate the appropriate testing practices, particularly in relation to culture-fair test uses.
• Identify key contributors in intelligence research and testing (e.g., Alfred Binet, Francis Galton,
Howard Gardner, Charles Spearman, Robert Sternberg, Louis Terman, and David Wechsler).
DATE
1/26-1/27
1/28-1/29
2/1-2/2
2/3-2/4
2/5-2/8
2/9-2/10
2/11-2/12
DISCUSSION TOPIC
Personality: Psychoanalytic and Humanistic
Perspective
Personality: Trait Perspective,
Social Cognitive and the Self
Testing & Individual Differences: Theories
Vocab. Quiz
Testing & Individual Differences: Measures of
Intelligence
Testing & Individual Differences: Genetics and
Impacts
FRQ Writing & Unit 7 Review day
Unit 7 Exam: Personality, Testing and
Individual Differences
READING
PAGES
479-493
READING GUIDE
493-518
7B
523-531
7C
532-541
7D
541-556
7E
7A
`
VOCABULARY
psychoanalysis
psychodynamic perspective
free association
unconscious
id
superego
ego
psychosexual stages
fixation
defense mechanisms
repression
regression
reaction formation
projection
rationalization
displacement
sublimation
denial
Oedipus complex
collective unconscious
Sigmund Freud
Alfred Adler
Carl Jung
Karen Horney
PERSONALITY
projective tests
Thematic Apperception
Test (TAT)
Rorschach inkblot test
personality inventory
Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory
(MMPI)
social cognitive perspective
self-concept
unconditional positive
regard
unconditional positive
regard
humanistic psychology
reciprocal determinism
external locus of control
internal locus of control
spotlight effect
positive psychology
self-serving bias
collectivism
individualism
Albert Bandura
Martin Seligman
Gordon Allport
Raymond Cattell
Hans Eysenck
Paul Costa
Robert McCrae
Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers
TESTING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Intelligence test
Standardization
Down syndrome
Intelligence
Normal curve
Stereotype threat
General intelligence (g)
Bias in Testing
Spearman – The “g” factor
Types of reliability (splitNature v. Nurture: Intelligence
Factor analysis
half, equivalent form
Savant syndrome
reliability, test-retest)
Alfred Binet
Emotional intelligence (EQ) Types of validity (face,
David Wechsler
---Goleman
content, criterion,
Francis Galton
Mental age
construct)
Stanford-Binet (Test)
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
Achievement tests
Aptitude tests
WAIS (test)
Howard Gardner
Robert Sternberg
Charles Spearman
Lewis Terman