Chapter 02: The Scientific Study of Personality
1. ______is an example of L-data.
a) Municipal records of the number of moving violations
b) Scores from aptitude tests like the SAT or the ACT
c) Electrophysiological measures of threat reactivity
d) Friends’ reports of an individuals’ best qualities
Ans: a
2. ______is an example of O-data.
a) Municipal records of the number of moving violations
b) Scores from aptitude tests like the SAT or the ACT
c) Electrophysiological measures of threat reactivity
d) Friends’ reports of an individuals’ best qualities
Ans: d
3. T-data are _____ objective source of information about a person than are S-data.
a) a less
b) a more
c) an equally
d) no more an
Ans: b
4. According to your text, which of the four sources of data tend to be the most closely related?
a) S and T
b) S and O
c) T and L
d) T and O
Ans: b
5. ______is an example of a fixed or nomothetic measure.
a) Asking someone to list their favorite ice cream flavors
b) The question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
c) A survey question with options ranging from “agree” to “disagree”
d) Asking someone to describe their religious beliefs
Ans: c
6. Another word for idiographic is ______.
a) idiosyncratic
b) idiophrenic
c) idiopathic
d) idiotic
Ans: a
7. In the context of measurement, which of the following words are synonyms of reliability?
a) Replicability
b) Stability
c) Consistency
d) They all are
Ans: d
8. A measurement is valid to the extent that it ______.
a) yields socially desirable data
b) produces results that are consistent
c) measures what it’s supposed to measure
d) makes boring people appear interesting
Ans: c
9. The American Psychological Association adopted a list of relevant ethical principles, the essence of which is that “the psychologist carries out the investigation with respect and concern for the dignity and welfare of the______.”
a) people who participate
b) scientific community
c) traditions of psychology
d) scientists who came before
Ans: a
10. Case studies are inherently ______because their aim is to uncover the complexities of an individual’s personality.
a) idiographic
b) nomothetic
c) valid
d) reliable
Ans: a
11. Self-esteem and ______are likely to be negatively correlated with each other.
a) happiness
b) intelligence
c) weight
d) depression
Ans: d
12. Randomly assigning individuals to condition ensures that any pre-existing traits that could influence the outcome of an experiment are ______.
a) equally distributed across conditions
b) relegated to the control condition
c) still a threat to the validity of the study
d) treated as an important predictor
Ans: a
13. Which of the following is not a limitation of the case study method?
a) Findings from one case study may not generalize to other people
b) It does not provide evidence of causality
c) It provides a relatively shallow portrait of the individual
d) None of the above; all are limitations of the case study method
Ans: c
14. The problems associated with using verbal reports highlights the need for observations that are
a) Reliable
b) Valid
c) Both ‘a’ and ‘b’
d) Neither ‘a’ nor ‘b’
Ans: c
15. Where case studies are very ______in their portrayal of individuals, correlational studies are relatively ______.
a) shallow; rich
b) rich; shallow
c) unkind; kind
d) kind; unkind
Ans: b
16. An advantage of correlational studies, relative to case studies, is that they are a more ______method of assessing individuals.
a) efficient
b) ethical
c) valid
d) acceptable
Ans: a
17. Socially desirable responding is a response bias that would be of most concern in a questionnaire measuring _____.
a) analytical skills
b) political beliefs
c) demographic info
d) ethical behavior
Ans: d
18. Relative to case studies and correlational studies, laboratory research is most desirable because ______.
a) it creates the least artificial environment
b) it enables one to establish causality
c) it can be very low in ecological validity
d) it is most convenient to researchers
Ans: b
19. The case of Clever Hans best illustrates the concept of ______.
a) experimenter-expectancy effects
b) demand characteristics
c) ecological validity
d) response styles
Ans: a
20. Your textbook suggests that though personality psychologists try to remain as unbiased as possible in their observations, one way in which they remain biased is in their choice of research methods. This choice is largely determined by ______.
a) their training
b) their skills
c) their personality quirks
d) all of the above
Ans: d