Chapter 1. Personality and the Scientific Outlook
Personality?
-Definition of personality:
(a) Individual differences or uniqueness (i.e., We are different from each other. Different hobby, attractiveness, appearance, preferences, etc).
(b) Determined or influenced by particular genetic tendencies or cultural/social learning experiences
(c) Respond to diverse situations in different ways.
(d) Enduring/Consistent
Different Theoretical Models
-Conflict (different structures in conflict) (i.e., Freud’s ID, Ego, Superego)
-Fulfillment (to fulfill desires/wishes) (i.e., Maslow’s hierarchical needs, Rogers’ humanistic theory).
-Consistency (to get consistency or harmony)
-Social/Behavioral (by learning/experiencing) (i.e., Skinner, Bandura, Rotter)
-Trait (Allport)
Criteria for evaluating theories
-Comprehensiveness (can explain a wide range of phenomena).
-Heuristic value (must stimulate other studies)
-Empirical validity (must have data to support the theory)
-Applied value (Useful?)
-Testability (clear language, operational definition)
-Parsimony (economical, necessary statements)
Two basic approaches to science
1. Inductive: Data collection/a set of factsGeneralizations or summary statements about a phenomenon (Post hoc explanation)
2. Deductive: Imagination/creativityHypotheses from abstract propositions (tentative, relational, or predicting statements) then tested by data collection (brain size—collect data to prove it).
Conduct Research
-Be humble, curious, and skeptical
Think critically: Do not blindly accept arguments and conclusions, but examine assumptions, find hidden values, evaluate evidence, and assess conclusions.
-Procedure/steps:
An Observation (a fact) (on the go all the time—laid back, relaxed)
Multiple observations
Curious, humble, critically thinking
Set up a hypothesis (type A or B personality)
Test it! (How?)
Find a principle (a characteristic)
Repeat the sequence
More principles (characteristics: heart problem, Blood type)
A theory (there are two personalities in general)
(A theory is an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations)
Research Method
1.Case study: One or more individuals in great depth to find things true of all
-Economical
-Can be misrepresentative-No cause and effect relationship)
2. Survey: Asking people to report their behavior or opinions.
-More representative than case study
-Results may be only descriptive rather than cause-effect
-Subject to “Wording Effect” (“revenue enhancers” than “tax collectors”)
-Subject to “False consensus effect”: The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and opinions (i.e., Republicans believe others are also republicans).
3. Naturalistic observation: Watching and recording the behavior of organisms in their natural environment.
-Describes behavior in interest but not explain it (cause-effect)
-Not artificial
-Cannot control variables interested.
4. Experiment: A research method in which a researcher manipulates one or more factors to observe their effects on other factors in a controlled setting (holding other variables constant).
-Independent variable (smoking): A variable that is manipulated to see its effect
-Dependent variable (cancer): A variable that is measured to see its change in response to manipulations (changes) in the independent variable.
-Confounding variable (pot, drinking): A variable that confounds the relationship between IV and DV.
-Informed Consent: Possibly Detrimental effects, the nature of research can’t be fully disclosed in advance, can quit if you want.
-Debriefing: Informing participants of a true nature and a purpose of a study afterwards. Procedure (explanation or therapy) intended to minimize or remove any possible negative effects of experiments.
*(EX) Cognitive dissonance (mutual inconsistency between two or more behaviors, feelings, and thoughts).
G1: positive feedback, G2: negative feedback, G3: neutral feedback. Cheat in a card game?
Need to Know
-Operational definition: A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables (i.e., cutting a wrist more than once requiring more than a week hospitalization).
-Population: All the cases in a target group
(i.e., Marbles of two colors mixed well in a large jar)
-Sample (i.e., jurors): Members drawn from a population intending to represent the population (i.e., marbles of two colors mixed well in a small jar).
-Random sample: Each member of a target group has an equal chance of being selected for a sample. Individuals selected for a sample are representative of a target group (population).
-Descriptive statistics
(a) Mode: The most frequently occurring score in a distribution.
(b) Median: The middle score in a distribution, 50th percentile.
(c) Mean: The arithmetic average of a distribution.
(d) Range: The gap between the lowest score and the highest score.
(e) Standard deviation: A measure of how much scores deviate from one another (scores packed together or dispersed?)
(f) Scatter plot: A graphed cluster of dots, each dot representing the values of two variables (i.e., # of cigarettes and weight)
(g) Correlation Coefficient: A statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together. How two factors are related to each other?
(h) Range: -1.00 to +1.00) (Direction and Strength)
(i) Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause-effect relationship, but it does not prove causation).
-Illusory Correlation: The perception of a relationship where none exists.
More babies are born when the moon is full)
Sugar made children hyperactive
Getting cold or wet caused one to catch a cold
Infantile couples more likely to conceive a child after adopting a child
-Statistical Significance: A statistical criterion for rejecting the assumption of no differences in a particular study (t or F scores).
-Double blind procedure: An experimental procedure in which both the researchers and research participants are ignorant (blind) about whether the participants received the treatment, a contrasting treatment (i.e., writing), or a placebo—No experimenter or participant effect.
-Placebo effect: Any effect on behavior caused by an inert substance (sugar pill) or condition that is believed to be a presumed active agent (drug).
-Replication: Repeat the essence of a study with different participants.