Don S. Christensen
Psyc 236
Shoreline Community College
Psychology
Potential Short Answer Questions
Exam 1
Introduction
1.
How does Burger (the author of your text) define personality?
2.
What are the six perspectives or approaches to personality?
3.
When discussing the influence of culture on personality the text identifies two general
types of cultures. What are they?
4.
According to Burger, what are the three dimensions (or “Theory Issues”) along which the
different approaches to personality can be classified?
5.
Explain the components of Lewin’s formula B = f(P, E). (hint: for the P, list the three
different types of factors that can be considered; these were presented in lecture)
Personality Assessment
6.
What is a theory? What are five characteristics of a good theory (two are presented in the
text and 3 more were presented in lecture)?
7.
What is a hypothesis?
8.
What are the two main types of variables in a psychology experiment?
9.
What is meant by the term “interaction?” Be able to give an example demonstrating one.
10.
What relevance does the distinction between manipulated independent variables and
non-manipulated independent variables have with regard to determining cause-andeffect relationships?
11.
From a scientific standpoint, are prediction and hindsight equivalent when generating
cause-and-effect explanations? Explain.
12.
What do we mean when we use the term “statistically significant” to describe the results
of an experiment?
13.
The _________________ is the appropriate statistic to use when we want to understand
the relation between two measures or variables.
14.
List and define the three types of reliability (two are mentioned in the text and a third
was presented in lecture).
15.
List and define the five types of validity/construct validity (four are presented in the text
and one additional one was presented in lecture).
Psychoanalytic Theory
16.
What are the three components of personality referred to by Freud’s Topographic Model?
17.
What are the three structures of human personality in Freud’s Structural Model?
18.
What are the two strong internal forces or instincts that Freud believed motivated human
behavior?
19.
______________ is the “primary” defense mechanism and is utilized by the ego to
prevent threatening material from entering consciousness.
20.
According to Freud, defense mechanisms are used to deal with disturbing impulses and
thoughts that are signaled by the presence of _____________, which is the internal sign
that something bad is about to happen (presented in lecture).
21.
List and define eight of Freud’s defense mechanisms (seven are presented in the text and
one additional one was presented in lecture).
22.
List Freud’s psychosexual stages in the proper order.
23.
Describe six (of the seven) different methods used by psychoanalysts to get at
unconscious material.
24.
What is meant by the term “transference?”
25.
Give examples of three different projective tests? What common assumption do all three
of these tests make about how personality can be assessed?
Don S. Christensen
Psyc 236
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31.
Shoreline Community College
Psychology
According to recent dream research, men are more likely to dream of people of which
gender? (see Figure 4.1) How would a psychoanalytic theorist explain this result?
Which assessment method appears to be used most often by researchers to measure
defense mechanisms?
Research on “defensive styles” has indicated that parents who use what two immature
defense mechanisms show less satisfaction with their partners as they faced the anxieties
of parenting?
According to Freud’s theory of humor, what two themes underlie much of what people
find funny?
Contrast the neodissociation theory of hypnosis with sociocognitive theories? In other
words, what different types of explanations do these theories offer to explain the effects
of hypnosis?
The measurable personality trait called ___________ has been found to correlate strongly
with hypnotic suggestibility.
Neo-Analytic Theory
32.
__________________ was the first member of the psychoanalytic group to break with
Freud and the first psychologist to emphasize the role of birth order in shaping
personality.
33.
According to Jung, all human beings have access to the ___________________, which
consists of primordial images that are the product of the cumulative experiences of past
generations.
34.
What are Erik Erikson’s eight stages of development?
35.
According to Horney, what are the three ways that neurotic individuals attempt to avoid
anxiety-provoking experiences?
36.
Match the neo-Freudian psychologist with the corresponding term:
a. Alfred Adler
___ identity crises
b. Erik Erickson
___ archetypes
c. Karen Horney
___ inferiority complex
d. Carl Jung
___ neurotic trends
37.
List and define the three types of anxiety that Freud identified.
38.
According to the text, what is the difference between a defense mechanism and a coping
strategy?
39.
Differentiate between problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance coping
strategies. Give an example of each strategy.
40.
Recent research indicates that relationship between frustration and aggression may exist
because things that frustrate us are experienced as _____________ and it is this second
factor that makes us act more aggressively.
41.
What claim did early Freudian and Neo-Fnalytic theorists make about the function of
catharsis? Has modern research supported this claim? Explain.
42.
What are the three attachment styles described by Mary Ainsworth?
43.
How do modern models that attempt to classify adult attachment? (see Figure 6.4)