Question 1

Aaron, a premed student, received a C on his biochemistry exam. He told his roommate that he had studied for the exam, and that it was just bad luck that the professor had asked so many questions that he did not understand. Aaron appears to have ____.

Accepted Answer

Aaron is attributing his poor performance to external factors (bad luck and the professor's choice of questions), indicating an external locus of control.

Question 2

Research showing that situations can exert a stronger influence on people's behavior than any individual predispositions highlights the ____.

Accepted Answer

The research showing that situations can influence behavior more than individual predispositions suggests that the general trait approach, which focuses on individual traits, may have limitations in fully explaining behavior.

Question 3

Of the following, who most reflects self-efficacy?

Accepted Answer

Self-efficacy refers to one's belief in their ability to handle challenging situations and obtain future rewards. Todd's belief in his ability reflects self-efficacy. Maria's attempt to redirect her aggressive urges into more prosocial channels may indicate self-regulation, while Beth's tendency to attribute her problems to others may indicate external attribution. Marcus's belief that most things that happen to him are due to luck or factors beyond his control may indicate an external locus of control.

Question 4

Most efforts to study the effects of genetics on personality use ____.

Accepted Answer

The twin study method is the most common method used to study the effects of genetics on personality. This involves comparing the similarity of personality traits between identical twins (who share 100% of their genes) and fraternal twins (who share about 50% of their genes). By comparing these similarities, researchers can estimate the heritability of various personality traits.

Question 5

What is the social-cognitive learning theory of personality that features the mutual influence of the person and situation on each other?

Accepted Answer

Reciprocal determinism is the concept in social-cognitive learning theory that describes the mutual influence of the person, their behavior, and the environment on each other.

Question 6

According to Walter Mischel, if a child experiences a particular situation, he or she will then respond with a unique, stable set of behaviors. These if-then patterns will be characteristic of an individual, leading to the stable characteristics we think of as ____.

Accepted Answer

If-then patterns lead to stable characteristics that we think of as personality, according to Walter Mischel.

Question 7

A child's pattern of mood, activity, or emotional responsiveness, which is linked to later personality, is called her ____.

Accepted Answer

The description provided matches the definition of temperament, which is an individual's characteristic patterns of mood, activity, and emotional responsiveness. Self-esteem refers to how a person values themselves, self-concept refers to a person's perception of themselves, and character refers to a person's moral and ethical qualities. None of these definitions match the description provided.

Question 8

What is the approximate heritability ratio of the Big Five personality traits in humans?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the approximate heritability ratio of...

Question 9

Evidence across diverse cultures, including those of the United States, Japan, Korea, Germany, Portugal, Israel, and China, suggests that the Big Five personality traits ____ (McCrae & Costa, 1997).

Accepted Answer

Studies have found evidence for the Big Five personality traits in diverse cultures, suggesting that they may represent a universal human characteristic rather than being culture-specific.

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true about the heritability ratio of personality traits in humans?

Accepted Answer

The heritability ratio only tells us how much of the variation in a trait within a population can be attributed to genetic factors. It does not provide insight into the actual development of an individual's personality.

Question 11

Genetics account for a percentage of the variability seen in the population's personality. What is the source of the remaining percentage of variability?

Accepted Answer

The remaining variability in personality is influenced by both shared and non-shared environmental experiences, which include factors like family environment and individual life experiences.

Question 12

Jared, a high school student, is a sensitive person. His first reaction to many things is anxiety, such as the loud noise of a truck backfiring, an unfamiliar dog running toward him, or a teacher unexpectedly calling on him in class. From a biological perspective he would be described as having a high level of reactivity. Toward which end of the continuum of these Big Five traits would he likely fall?

Accepted Answer

Jared's sensitivity and anxiety in response to stimuli suggest he is likely high in neuroticism and introversion, as these traits are associated with high reactivity and sensitivity to stress.

Question 13

What are the two dimensions of temperament that appear to be particularly important for adult personality?

Accepted Answer

Reactivity and self-regulation are two dimensions of temperament that are foundational and influence the development of adult personality traits. Reactivity refers to how responsive an individual is to stimuli, while self-regulation involves managing one's responses and behaviors.

Question 14

Researchers have identified structural correlates in the brains of adults for four of the Big Five personality traits. Which Big Five personality trait has not yet been correlated with a structure of the brain?

Accepted Answer

Openness is the Big Five personality trait that has not yet been consistently correlated with a specific brain structure in research studies.

Question 15

The critical finding of the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (Bouchard, 1994; Bouchard, Lykken, McGue, Segal & Tellegen, 1990)was that identical twins raised apart and together were ____.

Accepted Answer

The critical finding of the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart was that identical twins raised apart and together were very similar to one another, whether the overall positive correlation for a particular characteristic was strong or weak. This means that genetics played a significant role in shaping their personalities, intelligence, behaviors, and other psychological characteristics, with the environment playing a relatively minor role. Factors such as occupational interests varied more depending on the specific environment each twin was raised in.

Question 16

Which of the following Big Five traits had the greatest positive correlation with success across a wide range of professional, skilled, and unskilled job descriptions?

Accepted Answer

Conscientiousness is consistently found to have the strongest positive correlation with job performance across various occupations due to traits like reliability, organization, and work ethic.

Question 17

What is the cognitive expectancy featured in social-cognitive learning theories of personality about the source of individual outcomes?

Accepted Answer

Locus of control refers to the degree to which individuals believe they have control over the outcomes of events in their lives, a key concept in social-cognitive learning theories.

Question 18

What is the theory of personality that features cognition and learning, especially from the social environment, as important sources of individual differences in personality?

Accepted Answer

The social-cognitive learning theory emphasizes the role of cognitive processes and learning from the social environment in shaping individual differences in personality.

Question 19

Javier is studying the firing of neurons in the brains of rats as part of his dissertation research on memory. He is disciplined in his research process and in his record-keeping and follows his advisor's recommendations to the letter, as he wants to eventually accomplish a lot in this field. The Big Five trait that best describes this aspect of Javier's personality is ____.

Accepted Answer

Conscientiousness is characterized by being disciplined, organized, and following through with tasks, which aligns with Javier's approach to his research.

Question 20

Surprisingly, research involving the use of a meta-analysis (Barrick & Mount, 1991)found that there is rather little relationship between the Big Five trait of _____ and job performance.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Surprisingly, research involving the use of a...

Quiz 12: The Individual Mind: Personality and the Self