PSYC 120 1

this model has the most buzz

biological model

freud and childhood experienes

psychoanalytic model

studied animal behavior and imprinting of ducklings and critical windows

Lorenz

the best predictor of someones future behavior is their past behavior

meehls maxim

The mind is what the brain does

biological model

implicitly assuming that free will does not exist

determinism

Focus on personality as result of information processing in brain

cognitive model

Just wants to get most accurate description and measurement of personality

trait approach

Our self image is an important part of who we are even if its distorted

self report

you are a blank slate

behavioral model

mind and body are two distinct entities, contrasts with biological model

mind body dualism

the report most personality is attained through

self report

You have access to your own thoughts
You have much more interest in yourself
How you perceive yourself is still important
Hella easy

pros of self report

We believe we are smarter kinder and more generous than we really are- our view of ourselves are biased
Unwilling to give all data
Vastly over-used method
dunning krueger

cons of self report

incompetence leads to over confidence

dunning krueger

We are aware of others blind spots
We can infer peoples thoughts and feelings
Other peoples opinions matter

pros of informant

Limited information
Bias
Fundamental attribution error

cons of informant

when we do something stupid we believe it is because of the situation, when someone else does something stupid it is because of their personality

fundamental attribution error

hidden camera

naturalistic

public records

life outcome

heuristic

rule of thumb

an individuals characteristic pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings- stable over time and across situations

personality

discomfort when you hold something to be true when its bumped up against evidence that says its not true

cognitive dissonance

instantly spot weaknesses in opposing views, ignore our own

motivated reasoning

common tendency to cherry pick information that supports our beliefs and ignore information that doesn't agree

confirmation bias

certain beliefs that we hold influence us because we are part of a group

in group bias

belief must be true because authority says so

arguments from authority

evaluating each claim based on available evidence and logic

critical thinking

first scientist from greece

thales

a stable attribute of personality

trait

the only personality factor that has shown any reliability in predicting life outcomes

grit

doing something for 10,000 hours will not make you be any better but you have to push your limits and you can get better

10,000 hour rule

Traits are based on a continuum, you are not 100 percent introvert or extravert

continuum

If you look at somebody in different situations their level of extraversion will vary across different situations

mischel and marshmallow test

looking at a very small sample of behavior

thin slice

Pearson correlation can vary from

-1 to 1

1/3 1/3 1/3

trait, unique quirks, situation

These tests are not actual valid and they don't measure what they claim to measure

projective tests

who is trained in TAT tradition

westen

each item rationally derives from underlying theory in a very straight forward way
If you are measuring their level of grit, you could have items on the test that have to do with how tough they are

rational method

data driven (not relying on theory)
Take hundreds of items and find correlations and put them on a personality test
Its hard to "fake" a reply

empirical method

correlation coefficients get smaller compared to original sample

shrinkage

Extended version of rational method
5 underlying factors. The big FIVE

factor analysis

the big 5

neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, extroversion, conscientiousness

willpower increases until

25

you take on an individual/groups emotional state: suicide

emotional contagion

If you get every single word that could possible describe personality and we have you rate yourself on all of these different words and then you have factor analysis that you can extract someone's personality

lexical hypothesis

Based on emotional reactivity to negative emotions
cortisol
pumpkin seed fish

neuroticism

stress hormone

cortisol

who created the terms extroversion and introversion

Carl Jung

neuroticism facets

anxiety, anger, depression, self consciousness, immoderation, vulnerabilty

extroversion facets

friendliness, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity level, excitement seeking, cheefulness

openness facets

imagination, artistic interests, emotionality, adventurousness, intellect, liberalism