Deck 18: What Have We Learned

Question 1

If a psychologist is interested in understanding the thinking and feeling that underlie behavior, she should take the ________ approach to studying personality.

A) trait
B) humanism
C) cognitive
D) psychoanalytic

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Lizzie has just graduated from college and is in the job market. According to the text, after taking this personality course and reading The Personality Puzzle, what skills does she have that will aid her in her job search?

A) research methods skills
B) organization and time-management skills
C) social skills
D) a rich and detailed historical understanding of psychological processes

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The ________ approach focuses on moment-to-moment conscious experience, free will, and the ability to choose important aspects of one's reality.

A) trait
B) cognitive
C) humanistic
D) learning

Answer 3

C

Question 4

All of the following are approaches to studying personality EXCEPT

A) cognitive.
B) psychoanalytic.
C) trait.
D) political.

Question 5

One view of the different approaches to personality psychology is that each one

A) addresses the same basic questions as the other approaches.
B) largely addresses different questions about personality.
C) makes fundamental advances that surpass the one that preceded it.
D) lacks scientific rigor.

Question 6

Each personality paradigm effectively addresses its own key concerns

A) and has corresponding therapeutic interventions that will change behavior.
B) as well as the concerns of the other paradigms.
C) and attempts to explain the functioning of the unconscious.
D) but tends to ignore pretty much everything else.

Question 7

Funder is researching how extraversion and openness vary around the world. What two approaches might he use?

A) cognitive and biological
B) biological and trait
C) trait and cross-cultural
D) cross-cultural and humanistic

Question 8

The ________ approach focuses on rewards and punishment and how behavior is a function of the situation.

A) trait
B) biological
C) humanistic
D) learning

Question 9

The ________ approach emphasizes personality processes, such as perception, motivations, and the self.

A) cognitive
B) biological
C) trait
D) cross-cultural

Question 10

According to the text, you should judge an approach to studying personality by its

A) ability to best explain all of the facts about human nature.
B) ability to explain unconscious processes.
C) usefulness.
D) ability to integrate affective and cognitive mechanisms.

Question 11

The ________ approach includes a focus on the heritability of some aspects of personality.

A) trait
B) biological
C) humanistic
D) social learning

Question 12

According to what we know about cross-situational consistency of behavior, if Ted is the most extraverted person in a wedding, he will MOST likely ________ at a funeral.

A) be the most extraverted person
B) be like everyone else
C) be the least extraverted person
D) act exactly the same

Question 13

Research from the ________ paradigm has demonstrated the consistency of a pattern of thought like pessimism.

A) trait
B) behavioral
C) cognitive
D) psychoanalytic

Question 14

If a psychologist is interested in understanding how cultural construals of reality shape an individual's behavior, she should take the ________ approach to studying personality.

A) humanistic
B) biological
C) psychoanalytic
D) trait

Question 15

According to the text, research methods are useful for knowing both ________ and ________.

A) broad research questions; how to develop One Big Theory
B) what research questions to ask; the best methods to answer the questions
C) which approaches to personality are best; research methods in other scientific disciplines
D) personality research methods; research methods in other disciplines

Question 16

The ________ approach focuses on individual differences that make every person unique.

A) trait
B) cognitive
C) humanistic
D) learning

Question 17

If a psychologist is interested in understanding how unconscious thought informs perception of parental involvement, she should take the ________ approach to studying personality.

A) trait
B) psychoanalytic
C) humanistic
D) cognitive

Question 18

One of the challenges of studying the whole person and everything that is important about an individual's psychology is that it is

A) an overwhelming and frankly impossible endeavor.
B) only possible in a biological sense.
C) only possible if you consider behavior and cognition together.
D) necessary for all research endeavors.

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT one of the criteria that Funder believes is important for selecting a personality approach to use in your own work?

A) whether the approach is right or wrong
B) whether the approach addresses topics you wish to understand
C) whether you find the approach interesting
D) whether you think you can use the approach to add knowledge to psychology

Question 20

If a psychologist is researching the relationship between conscientiousness and health, she is probably a ________ psychologist.

A) cognitive/learning
B) humanistic
C) trait
D) psychoanalytic

Question 21

According to the text, what is one difficult aspect about studying the relationship between biological structures and personality?

A) Each biological component interacts with the other components.
B) There isn't sufficient technology to evaluate all structures.
C) There is still a lot about personality traits that we do not know.
D) Brain structures change dramatically over time.

Question 22

According to the text, what may be the secret to psychological success?

A) recognizing the points that we are able to make a choice in life
B) increasing our positive affect as much as possible
C) loving and working
D) maintaining a rich social network

Question 23

The biological approach to personality includes all of the following EXCEPT

A) genes.
B) hormones.
C) learning.
D) heritability.

Question 24

Which area of psychology has established a reasonable way to think about free will?

A) psychoanalysis
B) trait
C) humanism
D) behaviorism

Question 25

According to the text, what we don't know about the biological roots of personality is ________ what we do know.

A) far less than
B) equal to
C) incomparable to
D) far more than

Question 26

Francis is deciding whether to take a job in Chicago. According to the chapter, what is Francis confronting right now?

A) a shift in social status
B) an opportunity cost
C) an environmental factor
D) a choice point

Question 27

What is the cognitive perspective on why the self-selection of our environments, such as which college to attend, are important for our success in life?

A) The environment can change our biology through epigenetics.
B) The environment influences our construal of the world.
C) The environment dictates the rewards and punishments to which we will be subject.
D) The environment interacts with our traits to produce our behavior.

Question 28

________ behavioral predictions are easier to make than ________ behavioral predictions.

A) Specific; general
B) General; specific
C) Situational; trait
D) Trait; situational

Question 29

The following are all examples of the significance of the unconscious mind EXCEPT

A) the presence of Freud's defense mechanisms.
B) humans' ability to store large amounts of information in their short-term memory.
C) brain damage so severe that people have behaviors they cannot control.
D) the ability to prime perceptions, memories, and thoughts.

Question 30

According to the text, behavioral consistency is only accurate when you predict the ________ of several behaviors.

A) most dominate
B) aggregate
C) weakest
D) range

Question 31

Decades of research has shown that John Locke's idea that the human mind is a blank slate at birth is

A) accurate.
B) true in the context of personality disorders.
C) inaccurate.
D) dependent on the area of psychology conducting the research.

Question 32

According to research on the science of well-being, one should strive to achieve a life with

A) as little stress as possible.
B) reasonable and meaningful challenges.
C) more stressful experiences than nonstressful experiences.
D) many goals that are almost impossible to accomplish.

Question 33

Recent cross-cultural research is focused on

A) what people have in common.
B) how people are different.
C) the difference between individualism and collectivism.
D) how people in a particular culture behave.

Question 34

According to the text, behavioral consistency is limited in the sense that

A) behavior surely changes from one situation to the next.
B) personality is biologically determined.
C) behavior is always a function of the situation.
D) borderline personality disorder limits how well an individual can identify with any one personality.

Question 35

According to the text, what is the best way to change your personality?

A) through slow and consistent changes in small behaviors over time
B) by putting yourself in new environments or situations
C) using targeted therapies with consistent feedback
D) You cannot change your personality.

Question 36

According to the text, which of the following is likely the MOST important influence on personality change?

A) maturity
B) self-initiated changes in behavior
C) changing life demands
D) Personality does not change.

Question 37

According to the text, consistent patterns of behavior are rooted in all the following anatomical structures EXCEPT

A) neurotransmitters.
B) hormones.
C) the brain's frontal lobes.
D) the skeletal structure.

Question 38

According to the text, psychology tends to ________ free will throughout the scientific process.

A) ignore
B) measure constructs related to
C) always consider
D) control for

Question 39

Anthony just won the lottery. What advice would a positive psychologist give him to maintain his happiness?

A) Spend as much of the money as possible as fast as possible on new material goods.
B) Invest the money so that your wealth increases.
C) Remember to be grateful for the things you already have.
D) Use the money to gain power or other resources.

Question 40

According to what we know about memory, most of the brain's activity is

A) conscious.
B) conscious or unconscious, depending on the social context.
C) neither conscious nor unconscious.
D) unconscious.

Question 41

Why is labeling at times dangerous?

A) Once a person is labeled, other people may only view the person as the label and not as an individual.
B) Clinical psychologists have a diagnosis to report to insurance companies.
C) Doing so organizes complex patterns of behavior into discrete categories.
D) We are forced to talk about problematic behavior in terms of its label.

Question 42

The MOST effective way to learn about a person is to ________ and ________.

A) watch what he or she does; listen to what he or she says
B) measure his or her personality; measure his or her well-being
C) ask him or her; ask his or her friends
D) make observations; form hypotheses

Question 43

Laura always scores extremely high on conscientiousness. According to what we know about the trait of conscientiousness, what is a possible explanation for why Laura will likely live longer than her peers?

A) She always sees the best in everyone she meets.
B) She travels a lot and is always looking for the next adventure.
C) She doesn't smoke and exercises regularly.
D) She is withdrawn and rarely attends social gatherings.

Question 44

Why is labeling often helpful?

A) It helps us measure the Big Five personality traits.
B) It helps us talk about and understand important phenomena.
C) It helps us distinguish between good and bad types of people.
D) It enables clinicians to pathologize their patients.

Question 45

According to the text, personality psychology, in the final analysis, is a quest for

A) mutual understanding.
B) an existential awakening.
C) personal insight.
D) an increase in life satisfaction.

Question 46

Tony frequently gets into fights and is also generally described as hostile and aggressive. What conclusions can we most reasonably draw between his personality and health?

A) His hostile personality puts him into situations that lead to dangerous confrontations.
B) His hostile personality would likely cause him to withdraw and fail to take care of himself.
C) There is probably no relationship between his personality and his physical health.
D) His frequent fighting causes his hostile and aggressive personality, which in turn increases his level of anxiety.

Question 47

Match the scientific goal with the associated approach to studying personality.

-Biological

A)Understanding the heritability and evolutionary basis of behavioral patterns
B)Understanding the unconscious mind and the effects of motivations and conflicts of which we are not aware
C)Understanding moment-to-moment conscious awareness and the ability to experience free will
D)Understanding individual differences and the ways in which we are psychologically unique
E)Understanding basic mental processes relevant to perception, memory, emotion, and motivation

Question 48

Match the scientific goal with the associated approach to studying personality.

-Trait

A)Understanding the heritability and evolutionary basis of behavioral patterns
B)Understanding the unconscious mind and the effects of motivations and conflicts of which we are not aware
C)Understanding moment-to-moment conscious awareness and the ability to experience free will
D)Understanding individual differences and the ways in which we are psychologically unique
E)Understanding basic mental processes relevant to perception, memory, emotion, and motivation

Question 49

Match the scientific goal with the associated approach to studying personality.

-Humanistic

A)Understanding the heritability and evolutionary basis of behavioral patterns
B)Understanding the unconscious mind and the effects of motivations and conflicts of which we are not aware
C)Understanding moment-to-moment conscious awareness and the ability to experience free will
D)Understanding individual differences and the ways in which we are psychologically unique
E)Understanding basic mental processes relevant to perception, memory, emotion, and motivation

Question 50

According to the text, labeling personality patterns is both ________ and ________.

A) useful; problematic
B) social; political
C) self-reported; peer-reported
D) harmless; criminal

Question 51

According to the text, which of the following contribute to an individual's view of reality?

A) biological processes
B) ambitions
C) past experiences
D) All of the answer options are correct.

Question 52

According to the text, what is the MOST useful thing we can learn from studying the relationship between personality and health?

A) the specific traits associated with longevity
B) which behaviors are healthy or unhealthy
C) how to change our personality to become healthier
D) gene-environment interactions that promote healthy living

Question 53

Match the scientific goal with the associated approach to studying personality.

-Cognitive

A)Understanding the heritability and evolutionary basis of behavioral patterns
B)Understanding the unconscious mind and the effects of motivations and conflicts of which we are not aware
C)Understanding moment-to-moment conscious awareness and the ability to experience free will
D)Understanding individual differences and the ways in which we are psychologically unique
E)Understanding basic mental processes relevant to perception, memory, emotion, and motivation

Question 54

What term is defined as an individual's unique view of the world?

A) construal
B) culture
C) existentialism
D) well-being

Question 55

Match the scientific goal with the associated approach to studying personality.

-Psychoanalytic

A)Understanding the heritability and evolutionary basis of behavioral patterns
B)Understanding the unconscious mind and the effects of motivations and conflicts of which we are not aware
C)Understanding moment-to-moment conscious awareness and the ability to experience free will
D)Understanding individual differences and the ways in which we are psychologically unique
E)Understanding basic mental processes relevant to perception, memory, emotion, and motivation

Question 56

What label describes personality that is both unusual and problematic?

A) neuroticism
B) construal
C) personality disorder
D) consistency

Question 57

According to all areas of psychology, it is not things that matter but

A) our person-environment interaction.
B) our early social relationships.
C) society's view of things.
D) our opinions of things.

Question 58

From a personality psychology perspective, construal is studied as the origins and consequences of individuals'

A) existential obligations.
B) neurotic and self-defeating behaviors.
C) social learning.
D) differing views of reality.

Question 59

According to the text, it is important to keep in mind that people often belong to

A) predominately one culture.
B) a culture for every social context in their lives.
C) more than one culture at a time.
D) no single culture.

Question 60

According to the text, everyone has personality characteristics that, at their extreme, would overlap with

A) their construal.
B) another personality trait.
C) socially desirable traits.
D) personality disorders.

Question 61

Imagine you are asked to give the lecture in Psychology 101 (Introduction to Psychology) that covers personality psychology. You have a limited amount of time to expose students to this subdiscipline. What are you going to cover? What findings are you going to emphasize and why? (Note: You should strive to present cross-cutting themes that cover multiple approaches to personality.)

Question 62

Explain how an individual's construal and cultural environment can shape the ways in which he or she views reality.

Question 63

What are the three most important core themes you learned from the textbook and your personality class? You must clearly justify why these themes are important and why they offer critical insights into human nature. How can these themes be applied to everyday life in terms of understanding your own behavior or the behavior of those around you?

Question 64

Why is it important to maintain an awareness of alternative approaches to the study of personality?

Question 65

Draw on what you have learned about personality psychology to support the argument that the most important choices you make in life are the environments that you select.