Personality5-7% OF THE AP PSYCHOLOGY EXAM

What is personality?

Psychology valentines  

On each strip of paper, you will choose one word that best describes each of your classmates. One word, that best describes their personality as you see it. (10 minutes)

When you are done, we will spend some time trading valentines. It is important that you place your valentine in the envelope and the individual not know who it came from. For this reason, we will tape our envelopes (with our names on them) on our desk as we move around the room to distribute our valentines. (5-7 minutes)

ClassmatesEMILY RAVIN SAVANNAH

IAN AARON RYAHN CAMERON LOGAN HANNAH

TESSA MEGAN JIREH BOBBY SAMANTHA NATHANIEL

CARL HAILEY TIAHNAMORGAN VANESSA CHARLIESIOBHAN TAHTIANA GREG

ELENA JANINE KAITLYN KATY

Quiz!

Complete the personality Assessment

Identify which set of questions measure the

following categories:

Reflect on the validity and Reliability of your own questions

1. What answers suggested what outcome? (ie. What did agree indicate? What did disagree indicate?)

2. Using the answers of your group members, comment on the validity and reliability of your test questions.

Independent Reflection1. Comment on the validity and reliability of your questions. Give a

brief summary of your discussion points from the group.

2. How did this activity impact your thinking? Specifically in relation to the chapter. What is your personal “take away” from this task.

3. What things might you change about your approach to this task if asked to complete it again?

Reading and notes-Section 7 “Identify frequently used assessment strategies and evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instrument.”◦ MMPI◦ Meyers-Briggs◦ NEO-PIR◦ Rorschach Inkblot Test◦ Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Personality Assessments “Identify frequently used assessment strategies and evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instrument.”◦ MMPI◦ NEO-PIR◦ Meyers-Briggs◦ Rorschach Inkblot Test◦ Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Self-Report Tests Also called objective test or inventory

Asks individuals whether specific items describe their personality traits

Yes/No, Agree/Disagree

Problems: social desirability- individuals answer with the choice that they think is socially desirable

Empirically Keyed Test Tests designed to eliminate the problem of social desirability, by using unrelated statements for gauging a characteristic

Empiricism- based on scientific data

MMPI-2 The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Most widely used and empirically keyed self-report test◦ Used by clinical psychologists to assess mental health◦ Used as a tool in hiring decisions◦ Used in forensic setting to assess criminal risk

Includes items to assess lying and social desirability

NEO-PIR Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory- Revised

Self-report test designed to assess the five-factor model (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism)

Straightforward items that have face validity (obviously testing the characteristic in question)

NEO-PIR

Meyers Briggs Type Indicator Based on a book by Carl Jung

Personality type test that measures four dimensions: ◦ Extraversion/ Introversion◦ Sensing/ Intuiting ◦ Thinking / Feeling◦ Judging / Perception

Widely used by business, well marketed, and a great example of confirmation bias

It has very low validity and reliability

Meyers Briggs Type Indicator

Just for funsies… www.16personalities.com

Projective Tests presents individuals with an ambiguous stimulus and asks them to describe or tell a story about it (project their own meaning)

Attempt to discover how the test-taker feels and thinks

Give more weight to the unconscious mind (psychodynamic perspective)

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Rorschach Inkblot Test Hermann Rorscharch 1921

10 cards, half in black in white and half in color- individual describes what they see

Not reliable (multiple scorers don’t agree on the personality characteristics of the individuals being tested)

Not valid (does not predict behavior outside the testing situation)

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Developed by Henry Murray and Christina Morgan 1930s

Asks individuals to make up a story about a picture

Measures an individuals need for achievement, affiliation, power, intimacy, and a varity of other needs

Shown to be reliable and valid

Other Assessment MethodsDirect measure of behavior by observing the individual or a video of the individual

Cognitive assessments

Friends or peer ratings

Psychophysiological methods- heart rate, skin conductance, and brain imaging

What is Personality?

Patterns of enduring distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to

the world

Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality

Personality is beyond conscious awareness

Unconscious forces shape our personality

Childhood experience impacts adult personality

Emphasis on the symbolic meaning of behavior

Freud’s Structure of Personality

Id “it”

Unconscious drives; a pool of amoral and vile urges

Driven by the pleasure principle- always seeking pleasure

Ego “I”

Forms as children experience the constraints of reality

Abides by the reality principle- tries to bring the individual pleasure within the norms of society

Partly unconscious; houses our reasoning, problem solving, and decision making

Superego “above I”

Harsh internal judge of behaivor

Defense Mechanisms Tactics that the ego uses to reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Repression is the basis for all defense mechanisms and involves pushing thoughts into our unconscious mind because they would be too threatening to deal with consciously

Revisions to Freud

Karen Horney (horn-aye) Feminist criticism of Freud’s ideas surround women

Security, not sex, is the prime motive of human existence

Carl Jung Collective unconscious

◦ the impersonal, deepest layer of the unconscious mind, shared by all human beings because of our ancestral past

◦ Contains archetypes- emotionally laden ideas and images that have meaning to all people (dichotomies of personality)

◦ The ideas that shaped the Meyers Briggs Test

Alfred Adler Individual psychology

◦ People are motivated by purpose and goals

◦ Everyone strives for superiority by seeking to adapt, improve, and master the environment

Alfred Adler Compensation- individuals attempt to overcome imagined or real inferiorities or weaknesses by developing one’s own abilities

Criticisms of the Psychodynamic Perspective

Too much emphasis on early childhood experiences, sexual deives, and aggressive instincts

Cannot be studied empirically

Humanistic Perspective Stresses a person’s capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities

Humans have the ability to control their own lives

Abraham Maslow (hierarchy of needs)

Self Actualizers ◦ Spontaneous◦ Creative◦ Tolerant of others◦ Great sense of humor◦ Likely to pursue the greater good

Carl Rogers We are born with the ingredients for a happy life, and need the optimum environment to thrive◦ Natural capacity for growth and fulfillment◦ A gut instinct about what is good and bad for us◦ A need for positive regard from others

Carl Rogers Unconditional Positive Regard- term used for being accepted, valued, and treated positively regardless of ones worth

Conditions of worth- the standards we must live up to in order to receive positive regard from others

Self-concept- our conscious representation of who we are and who we wish to become- developed during childhood

We become unhappy when we strive to actualize to a self that we were not meant to be

Promoting Optimal Functioning Unconditional positive regard- accept, value, and treat positively no matter what

Empathy- listen and understand another person’s true feelings

Genuineness- open with one’s feelings, dropping all pretenses

Criticisms of Humanistic Perspective

Too optimistic about human nature

Overestimate people’s freedom and rationality

Promote excessive self-love an narcissism

Villain Analysis Day 1 Complete the Explaining Personality Handout through humanistic theory.

Trait Theories Personalities consist of broad, enduring traits that tend to lead to characteristic responses

Gordon Allport (the father of American personality psychology)

Personality psychology should focus on understanding healthy well-adjusted individuals

The Five-Factor Model of Personality

W.T. Norman

Based on Allport’s trait theory

Five broad traits that are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality

OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism)

The dominate approach to personality psychology today

O: Openness Liberal values

Open-mindedness

Tolerance of others

Creativity

Superior cognitive functioning and high IQ

Dress distinctively

Pursue entrepreneurial goals

Interact with others via social media

C: ConscientiousnessOrganizationCarefulness and disciplineQuality friendshipsStrong religious faithDress neatly (especially men)Have high GPAs in high school and collegeBe successful

E: ExtraversionEngaging in social activitiesHaving a strong sense of meaning in life More forgiving Smile more Dress stylishly Pick up on interpersonal cues

A: AgreeablenessGenerosity Altruism

Trustworthiness

Have more satisfying romantic relationships

View others positively

N: NeuroticismFeeling negative emotion more often than positive emotion

Anxiousness

Have and express health problems

Evaluating Trait Perspectives Consistent across cultures

Studies have shown consistency in animals

Some have argued that there should be an honesty/humility addition to the big five

Personological and Life Story Perspectives Stresses that personality cannot be evaluated without looking at the person’s entire life story

Personological Approach Henry Murray To understand a person we have to know there history including physical, physiological, and sociological aspects

Completed the first forensic criminal profile (of Hitler) Developed the TAT personality assessment

◦ Need for achievement: attaining excellence◦ Need for affiliation: interpersonal connections◦ Need for power: impacting the social world

Life Story Approach Dan McAdams Each individual has a unique life story full of ups and downs Our memories represent who we are The life story is constantly changes

Critiquing the Personological and Life Story Perspectives

Difficult and time consuming

Hard to turn life stories into scientific data

Social Cognitive Perspectives Emphasizes conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations and goals

Explores a persons ability to reason, think about the past, present, and future, and reflect on the self

Bandura and Mischel

Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism

Observational Learning Behaviors are influenced by what we see in our environment

Personal Control We can regulate and control our behavior regardless of our changing external environment

Behavioral Control:◦ Internal locus of control- the sense of control is coming from inside

a person; when we feel that we are controlling our choices and behaviors

◦ External locus of control- the sense that control is coming from outside of a person; when we feel that others are influencing or controlling our choices and behaviors

Self-Efficacy The belief that one can master a situation and produce positive change

Related to the number of positive developments in people’s lives

Self Efficacy influences Whether people try to develop healthy habits How well they cope with stress How long they persist in the face of obstacles How much stress and pain they experience Whether the initiate therapy to deal with problems and how likely they are to succeed

Successful job interviews and performance

Michel’s Contributions CAPS

Cognitive Affective Processing Systems

Traits and Behaviors around those traits depend on the situation- traits are not as consistent as personality psychologists believe them to be

Critiquing Social Cognitive Perspectives

Ignores the role of biology

Places too much emphasis on the situation and environment

Specific predictions for each person make generalization impossible

Villain Analysis Day 2 Complete through social cognitive perspective

Biological Approach

Reticular Activation System Theory

Hans Eysenck

Reticular formation- in the brain stem; involved in wakefulness and arousal

Extroverts have a higher baseline level of arousal than introverts◦ Extroverts wake up under their set level◦ Introverts wake up over their set level

Research shows that introverts are more sensitive to arousing stimuli (not that they have a different baseline level

Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory

Jeffery Gray (not Gray’s Anatomy guy)

Two neurological systems underline personality

Behavioral activation system (BAS)- sensitive to rewards and associated with extroversion

Behavioral inhibition system (BIS)- sensitive to punishment and associated with neuroticism

The amygdala (fear) and prefrontal cortex (executive functioning- cognition, social control) have a large part in both

Neurotransmitters

Dopamine and Extraversion Dopamine is a “feel good” neurotransmitter that send the signal of “do it again” during learning

Early encounters with warm caregivers and positive life experience can promote the growth of dopamine-producing cells and receptors

Makes the brain especially sensitive to reward

Serotonin and Neuroticism Serotonin impacts mood, hunger, sleep and arousal

Neurotic individuals typically have more serotonin binding sites in the thalamus

Individuals with less circulating serotonin are prone to negative moods

Behavioral Genetics and Personality

Behavioral Genetics- the study of the influence of inheritance on personality

Twin studies show a large link between genes and personality

Caution: ◦ Nature and Nurture play a role◦ Some traits are influenced by multiple genes◦ Personality is enormously complex

Personality Health and Wellness

Conscientiousness The most important when it comes to longevity and healthy living

Individuals high in this trait are more likely to do what they are told to form healthy habits and improve their health

Personal Control

Self Efficacy- Can Do!

Optimism

Type A vs. Type B Type A

◦ competitive◦ Driven◦ Impatient◦ Hostile

Type B◦ Relaxed◦ Easy going