Discussion Questions for Psychology
438, Fall 2012
For Class 2:
Chapter 1 (The Scientific Study of Personality)
1.
What three
characteristics, according to Leary, define personality?
2.
According to Dr.
Johnson, what kind of "behavioral consistency" results from
personality, contrary to what Leary and others say about personality and
behavioral consistency?"
3.
What three levels
of similarity do personality psychologists study?
4.
In what way is
human behavior a function of both personality and the situation?
For Class 3: Handbook,
Chapter 3 (Units of Analysis for the Description and Explanation of
Personality)
1.
What is a trait,
and why does Johnson say that the scientific study of personality virtually
requires that we think about personality in terms of traits? Try to describe
your personality without using trait words. Can you?
2.
What is the
difference between a phenotypic and genotypic trait, and why is it important to
make this distinction?
3.
Identify examples
of phenotypic and genotypic traits in your personality description, and explain
what makes them phenotypic or genotypic. Identify a trait word that could refer
to both a phenotypic and genotypic trait. Explain.
4.
What advantages
and disadvantages do observers and actors have in assessing traits accurately?
5.
Explain how, in
theory, personality types differ from personality traits, but, in practice, types
can function like traits.
For Class 4:
Chapter 2 (Personality Measurement)
1.
According to the
author of chapter 2, Stephen Briggs, behavioral prediction involves four steps.
What are the four steps, and how does one move from step one to step two? From
step two to step three?
2.
In what ways did
the OSS procedures represent good personality research? In what ways did they
fail to properly execute the four steps of prediction research?
3.
Draw up a list of
behaviors for measuring conscientiousness as suggested in the activity box on
page 32.
4.
What are the
shortcomings and advantages of using the self versus others as sources of data
about personality?
5.
What are
measurement reliability and validity, and how can personality psychologists
determine the reliability and validity of measures based on self-data and data
from others?
6.
What role does
factor analysis play in personality measurement?
For Class 5:
Chapter 7 (Personality Structure)
1.
Before reading any
portion of chapter 7, do the activity in Activity Box 7.1 on page 197. That is,
sort the 30 trait adjectives into five groups of six adjectives each and then
try to come up with a name that describes what the adjectives in each of the
five groups have in common.
2.
Compare your
results for Activity Box 7.1 with the results from an actual factor analysis of
ratings for these 30 traits as described on pages 197-198. Compare your five
names for what each group has in common with the description of the five
factors in Table 7.1 on page 199. How similar were your results with the five
factors as described in the textbook?
3.
What are the major
empirical findings about the five personality factors?
4.
The lexical
hypothesis (p. 195) states that traits are the basic building blocks of
personality and that words for all important traits can be found in any
language. Some argue that a scientific psychology must go beyond ordinary
language, because modern physics developed many technical terms not found in
ordinary language. What do you think and why?
For Classes 6
& 7: Chapter 3 (Genetic and Environmental Influences)
1.
What is
heritability, and why does a heritability coefficient not apply to a
single individual?
2.
What is meant by
"shared environmental influence" and "non-shared environmental
influence"?
3.
How is
heritability estimated from individuals with different degrees of relatedness?
4.
What proportion of
personality variability is generally attributed to:
a.
genes?
b.
shared
environment?
c.
non-shared
environment?
5.
How can an
apparent environmental effect like social class actually represent genetic
effects?
6.
In what way is
evolutionary psychology complementary to the behavioral genetics approach to
personality?
7.
In what ways has
human genetics been abused to serve political goals? How can findings from
behavioral genetics inform our thinking about equal rights and opportunities?
For Class 8:
Chapter 4 (Biological Bases of Personality)
1.
What are the three
approaches to the use of biological measures in personality research?
2.
What is the
difference between thinking about a biological event as a correlate of
personality versus a substrate of personality?
3.
What are some
common psychophysiological measures, and how do they relate to personality?
What biological measures other than psychophysiological ones have been related
to personality?
4.
What has the
chapter author found concerning cerebral asymmetry and affective style?
For Class 9:
Chapter 5 (Personality Development)
1.
How does recent
research on attachment represent a revision of traditional psychoanalytic
theory?
2.
What three
attachment patterns may persist over the life course?
3.
How does the
behavioristic view of personality development differ from the psychoanalytic
view?
4.
Research based on
the humanistic model has shown a relationship between what kind of adult-child
interaction and later peer-peer interaction in adolescence?
5.
In what ways do
biosocial approaches to personality development go beyond the simple either-or
assumptions of the psychoanalytic, behavioristic, and humanistic viewpoints?
For Class 10:
Handbook, Chapter 11 (Longitudinal Stability of Adult Personality)
1.
The term
"personality development" almost seems like a contradiction, because
development refers to change, whereas personality refers to consistencies. How
do Costa and McCrae resolve this apparent paradox?
2.
Describe the
difference between mean level stability and stability of individual
differences, and summarize what Costa and McCrae say about both kinds of personality
stability.
3.
Evaluate the
suggestion that stability of scores on self-report personality inventories
merely reflects stability of self-image (self-concept) rather than actual
personality stability.
4.
What do Costa and
McCrae say is the "wrong question" about personality and aging, and
what is the "right question?" Why do they say this?
For Class 11:
Chapter 6 (Motives)
1.
What are the three
traditions in the study of human motivation, and how do they relate to the
perspectives on personality development found in chapter 5?
2.
What is the
difference between biological (body) and cognitive (mind) approaches to
motivation, and how would you reconcile the two approaches?
3.
Explain the theory
underlying the use of autobiographical memory to measure motives for
achievement, power, and intimacy.
4.
Go to the
following web address:
Follow
the link that says "Click here to read
a few stories…", and locate a good example of a story
that shows strong motivation for at least one of the three social motives
discussed in this chapter.
For Class 12:
Chapter 8 (The Psychological Unconscious)
1.
Describe examples
of the four types of unconscious influence according to the chapter author:
a.
the unnoticed
b.
the noticed but
unappreciated
c.
unretrievable
memories
d.
fabricated
memories
2.
The author’s
description of his own study nicely illustrates how a scientist’s thinking
about a topic can change according to research findings and commentary from the
rest of the scientific community. Describe the evolution of the author’s
thinking about hypnotic age regression and his final conclusions about this
phenomenon.
(Class
13, catch-up and review; no new questions)
(Class
14, midterm exam; no new questions)
For
Classes 15 & 16: Chapter 9 (Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, and Identity)
1.
Rick Robins and
Oliver John (Handbook, chapter 25) present four metaphors for self-knowledge:
The Scientist (seeks accurate information), The Consistency-Seeker (seeks
confirmation of existing beliefs), The Politician (seeks to create favorable
impressions on others), and The Egoist (seeks only favorable views of the
self). All of the metaphors apply to us to some extent, but, according to
Baumeister, the author of the present chapter, which aspect tends to be the
strongest in most people? Explain.
2.
How does social
interaction affect self-concept change?
3.
How are the roots
of self-esteem, as described in this chapter, consistent with the humanistic
view of development described in chapter 5?
4.
Is high
self-esteem a good thing? Explain.
5.
What does
Baumeister mean by the motive toward self-protection versus the motive toward
self-enhancement, and how are does the balance of these motives differ in
people with low versus high self-esteem?
6.
What evidence does
Baumeister provide to support the view that self-esteem is maintained by
distorting reality rather than by achieving success through superior talent?
7.
What four types of
identity can be distinguished on the basis of crisis and commitment?
For Class 17:
Chapter 10 (Self-Awareness and Self-Consciousness)
1.
What is objective
self-awareness, what brings it about, and what are its consequences?
2.
How does Arnold
Buss’s approach to self-consciousness differ from Bob Wicklund’s approach to
self-awareness?
3.
What
characteristics distinguish individuals high in private self-consciousness from
those low in private self-consciousness?
4.
What
characteristics distinguish individuals high in public self-consciousness from
those low in public self-consciousness?
For
Classes 18 & 19: Chapter 11 (Personality and Control)
1.
What is learned
helplessness, and what are the emotional and behavioral consequences of learned
helplessness?
2.
What are three
possible negative consequences of perceived control?
3.
What strategies
can people employ to avoid learned helplessness when they lack direct control
over events?
4.
How are
self-efficacy and control are related, and how are these constructs related to
the five-factor model of personality?
5.
What is locus of
control, and what are some consequences of external versus internal locus of
control?
6.
How is desire for
control different from locus of control, and how does the behavior of a person
with a strong desire for control differ from someone with a low desire for
control?
For Class 20
& 21: Chapter 12 (Sex and Gender)
1.
The basic
principle of social constructivism is that there is no reality out there to be
known, that we simply act as if things were real because we tell each other
that they are real. Social constructivists therefore claim that there are no
real psychological differences between men and women, only arbitrary beliefs
about sex differences that we have been taught. Because they assume there are
no real sex differences, they regard scientific studies in this area as
propaganda designed to support the status quo rather than efforts to discover
truth. What do you think social constructivism?
2.
According to the
research presented in the chapter, what appear to be real personality
differences between men and women?
3.
Whereas the terms male
and female are used as either/or categories, the terms masculinity
and femininity describe a degree of resemblance of what is thought to be
a "typical" male or female. How have ways of thinking about and
measuring masculinity and femininity evolved over the years?
4.
What is the
evolutionary, hormonal, and genetic evidence for male/female personality
differences and for differences in masculinity and femininity within each sex?
What is the evidence that learning causes male/female personality differences
and differences in masculinity and femininity within each sex?
For Class 22:
Chapter 13 (Emotions)
1. How are emotions a universal
experience? In what ways are emotions a matter of individual differences?
2. What are the three major components
of emotional temperament, and to which three factors of the Big 5 personality
dimensions do they correspond? How do the three components combine to form the
"easy," "slow-to-warm-up," and "difficult"
temperament types identified by Chess and Thomas’s research?
3. What is the relationship between
emotional temperament and attachment style?
4. What is meant by "emotional
intelligence?" Give some examples to illustrate this concept.
5. How is embarrassability related
to empathy? Social skills? Public self-consciousness?
For Classes
23 & 24: Chapter 14 (Moral Character)
1. The psychoanalytic, cognitive
social learning theory, and cognitive developmental views of moral development
are very different, but these views all agree upon one idea. What is it? How is
this idea supported by changes in crime rate when society moved into the
industrial age?
2. How does the research strategy of
the Hartshorne and May study derive from the idea held in common by the three
views mentioned in question one?
3. What conclusion from this study
was used by trait critics such as Mischel and social psychologists? What four
reasons does Emler give against the conclusions often drawn from the Hartshorne
and May study, and which reason is the one used by trait psychologists against
trait critics in general?
4. What is problematic about
studying convicted criminals to see what kind of person is a serious
rule-breaker? What are the alternatives?
5. Which two personality domains
from the Five Factor Model (FFM) does Emler suggest are most closely related to
moral traits? How do you think these domains might be related to the two types
of transgressions identified by Turiel? What other two dimensions from the FFM
did Eysenck originally claim were related to criminality? What third dimension
did he add later, and how is it related to the FFM?
6. What does Emler say about the
mean stability and relative stability of rule-breaking across adolescence?
7. Why does Emler say that moral
behavior results from a concern with reputation rather than from private,
internal standards?
8. What does Emler say about the
following hypotheses concerning the reason people damage their reputations by
breaking rules?
a. Rule-breakers have few social
contacts and therefore have no need to consider their reputations.
b. Rule-breakers fail to understand
how their behavior affects their reputations.
c. Rule-breakers purposely pursue a
bad reputation.
9. What role do attitudes toward
authority play in forming a reputation as a rule-breaker?
For Class 25:
Chapter 15 (Culture and Personality)
1. What issues in the study of
culture and personality did we see earlier in the course in the chapter on sex,
gender, and personality?
2. Cultural psychologists have
observed that in individualist cultures, people naturally think about
themselves in terms of personality traits, but in collectivist cultures, people
think about themselves in terms of roles and relationships. How, then, can we
study of personality traits in collectivist cultures–or is this impossible?
3.
Indigenous
psychologists have noted that people in particular cultures describe each
other’s personal qualities with terms that are not used in other cultures,
e.g., nishkama karma among Hindus. Will the documenting of the way that
ordinary people characterize each other in various cultures be more or less
likely than the lexical approach to used by American psychologists to lead to a
valid, scientific view of personality?
4.
What are the etic
and emic approaches to studying personality across cultures, and what
are the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches?
For Class 26:
Chapter 16 (Stress and Illness)
1. Describe
the strategy underlying the construction of Holmes and Rahe’s Social
Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) and the research findings associated with this
scale. What concerns or issues have been raised concerning the SRRS?
2. Describe
Hans Selye’s response-based view of stress and the more elaborated
transactional models of stress. Where do control factors (chapters 11 in our
textbook) fit into the picture?
3. What
is the role of the following personality variables in stress and illness?
·
conscientiousness
·
hostility
·
depression
·
hardiness
·
optimism
4. How
are the findings concerning individual responses to stress moderated by social
and cultural factors?
For Class 27:
Chapter 17 (Personality and Relationships)
1. What is the relevance of
relationships to the study of individual personality?
2. Describe the four basic stages of
relationship development according to Jones and Couch.
3.
What are global
and relational trust, what are their origins, what are the consequences, and
how are these two types of trust related to one another?
For Class 28
& 29: Chapter 18 (Personality Disorders)
1.
Compare the
concepts of personality abnormality and personality maladaptiveness. Is either
a sufficient description of a personality disorder?
2.
Why do chapter
authors Maddux and Mundell assert that personality disorders should not be
compared to medical illnesses?
3.
What is the
difference between a categorical and dimensional approach to personality
disorders, and why do Maddux and Mundell argue for the dimensional approach?
4.
The traditional
DSM clustering of personality disorders is as follows:
Cluster
A: Odd/Eccentric Cluster
Schizoid
– socially
detached, aloof, cold, indifferent
Schizotypal
– loner
with odd beliefs and strange habits
Paranoid
– suspicious,
bigoted
Cluster
B: Dramatic/Emotional/Erratic
Antisocial
–
guilt-free, rule-breaking, exploiting
Borderline
–
emotionally unstable
Histrionic
– overly
dramatic
Narcissistic
–
extremely conceited, self-centered
Cluster
C: Anxious/Fearful
Avoidant – socially
inhibited, oversensitive, fear rejection
Dependent
– insecure,
over-reliant on others, fear abandonment
Obsessive-Compulsive
–
perfectionist, rigid, ritualistic
Costa
& McCrae suggest reconceptualizing the personality disorders as extreme,
maladaptive forms of the Big 5 dimensions. The AB5C extension of this idea
would be to conceive of the personality disorders as extremes on pairs
of the Big 5 dimensions.
Based on the your knowledge of
the Big 5, the brief descriptions of the personality disorders above, and
information in the textbook, see if you can identify which pair of Big 5
dimensions best describes each of the personality disorders.
For
class 30: Catch-up and review; no new questions