Chapter 13: PERSONALITY

Testing your knowledge of idioms and other vocabulary

How familiar are you with American idioms? Match each item in column A with the appropriate meaning given in column B. If you are unsure, look at the sentence context given below. Answers are given on page 99.

COLUMN A / COLUMN B
a. made-up / 1. a person who is easily tricked, cheated
b. hunches / 2. to control
c. to suit / 3. practical; honest and open
d. to see through / 4. something said unintentionally or by mistake
e. a sucker / 5. fictional
f. down-to-earth / 6. to be secondary to; to be seen as "less than"
g. a slip of the tongue / 7. to free oneself of
h. to hold in check / 8. to fit; to match
i. to live in the shadow of / 9. to succeed
j. to rid oneself of something / 10. to show or demonstrate a tendency for
k. to get ahead / 11. ideas based on feelings, not reason or fact
l. to lean toward / 12. to understand, not be deceived by

Sentence context

a.  Surprisingly, even when participants were informed that this was a made-up assessment based on generalized information, most (people) still believed the description fit them better than a bona fide personality profile developed from scientifically designed tests. (p. 447)

b.  In an unstructured format, interviewers get impressions and pursue hunches or let a person expand on information that promises to disclose personality characteristics. (p. 449)

c.  A counselor can help you identify the types of jobs that best suit you. (p. 450)

d.  Some items on self-report inventories are easy to see through and respondents may intentionally, or unintentionally, fake particular personality traits. (p. 452)

e. The Barnum effect is named after P.T. Barnum, the legendary circus promoter who said, "There's a sucker born every minute." (p. 452)

f.  Low scorers tend to be conventional, down-to-earth, narrower in their interests, and not artistic. (p. 454)

g.  From a Freudian perspective, this little slip of the tongue (known as a Freudian slip) reflects the flight attendant's true, unconscious feelings. (p. 460)

h.  In its relation to the id [the ego] is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse. (p. 462)

i.  Because second-borns live in the shadow of the older sibling, feelings of inferiority are intensified. (p. 467)

j.  Anxiety is uncomfortable, so people try to rid themselves of it any way they can. (p. 463)

k.  Rotter's tests ask people to respond "true" or "false" to a series of statements, such as "people get ahead in this world primarily by luck and connections rather than by hard work and perseverance." (p. 475)

l.  Even some psychologists who have done major research in one area of personality theory lean toward interactionism. (p. 478)

Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar

As you have no doubt learned, there are certain verbs in English that are followed by verb complements. Certain classes of these verbs are always followed by the gerund form. For example:

Self-actualized people enjoy being alone.

Guidance counselors recommend taking vocational interest tests to help determine your career goals.

The verbs that are always followed by the gerund form can be classified into several categories, such as:

· EMOTION (appreciate, prefer, dislike, miss, love, resent, hate, etc.)

Freud once wrote, "I can't stand living this way much longer."

· ONGOING ACTIVITY (continue, help, keep, practice, etc.)

Freud spent his days listening to patients relate their childhood experiences.

· COMMUNICATION (admit, advise, suggest, mention, deny, discuss, etc.)

Horney recommended reconsidering Freud's views in light of his biases.

· MENTAL ACTIVITY (forget, imagine, understand, anticipate, remember, etc.)

Adler considered viewing behavior as goal-oriented rather than unconsciously driven to be more realistic.

· INITIATION, COMPLETION, & INCOMPLETION (delay, cease, begin, stop, try, postpone, quit, finish, etc.)

Most type and trait theories avoid explaining why people develop certain traits and why traits change.

Read the paragraph below and decide if the verbs in parentheses need an -ing ending (that is, that they should appear in the gerund form) or if they should remain as they are. Insert the appropriate form of the verb in the space given, using the gerund endings where necessary. When you are finished, you may check your answers in the answer key.

Have you ever considered ______(take) a personality test from a magazine? Many people avoid ______(try) new activities based on the results of these unscientific tests. Some people remember ______(act) on the basis of advice taken from tests such as these and ______(get) into trouble. While editors admit ______(write) the tests so that responses are general and apply to everyone, some individuals can't help ______(believe) that the results are valid and reliable. We recommend ______(use) caution and critical thinking skills when you think about ______(rate) yourself with one of these instruments.

Finding key information

In this chapter, the authors often present an example or illustration before they detail the theory, which is a common form of definition. This technique, used to challenge the reader to think about the concept before it is fully explained, draws upon the background knowledge of the reader in order to involve him or her into the discussion. It is important for the reader to pause for a moment to review the background information given and to reflect on how it illustrates important concepts. Study the example on page 461, following the subheading titled "Levels of Consciousness." Then consider the chart below:

Flight attendant says, "It's been a real job serving you....I mean joy!

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This slip of the tongue, known as a Freudian slip, reveals the attendant’s true, unconscious feelings.
[Example used to illustrate a Freudian slip and the power of the unconscious]

Examine the paragraph on page 451 under the heading “The Rorschach Inkblot Test” and use the information to fill in the chart below. When you are finished, you may check your answers in the answer key section.

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Examining structural clues

There are easily defined characteristics used in introductory phrases and paragraphs. Not only are there specific expressions that clue the reader to an introductory sentence, but also there are very specific verb tenses that can serve as cues as well. Study the examples below:

To begin, we will discuss six main theories of personality development: psychoanalytic, learning, humanistic, cognitive, biological, and interactionism.

Here we will examine his theories in some detail. Then we will briefly discuss three of Freud's most influential followers, Adler, Jung and Horney.

In discussing this theory, we will focus on four of his most basic and debatable concepts: levels of consciousness, the structure of personality, defense mechanisms, and psychosexual stages of development.

Before we discuss this debate, though, let's continue our exploration of Freud's theory with a look at the second major element--the structure of personality.

But as we will see in the next section, many of Freud's early followers found fault with his theories for other reasons.

Locate five other introductory sentences from this chapter and write them in the spaces below. Study these sentences to see if they exhibit the characteristics of introductory phrases.

1. ______

______

2. ______

______

3. ______

______

4. ______

______

5. ______

______

Answer key

Testing your knowledge of idioms and other vocabulary

a. 5; / b. 11; / c. 8; / d. 12; / e. 1; / f. 3; / g. 4; / h. 2; / i. 6; / j. 7; / k. 9; / l. 10

Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar

Have you ever considered taking a personality test from a magazine? Many people avoid trying new activities based on the results of these unscientific tests. Some people remember acting on the basis of advice taken from tests such as these and getting into trouble. While editors admit writing the tests so that responses are general and apply to everyone, some individuals can't help believing that the results are valid and reliable. We recommend using caution and critical thinking skills when you think about rating yourself with one of these instruments.

Finding key information

Rorschach noticed that his children saw different animals and patterns in the shapes of the clouds. / He was stuck by the fact that these differences in perception also related to differences in their personalities.

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As a result, he created the now famous Rorschach test.
[Examples used to describe or define the Rorschach ink blot test]

Examining structural clues

Answers will vary.

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