1 Psychology 305A: Personality Psychology January 9 Lecture 2

2 Scoring Your Questionnaire: BFT In order to score your questionnaire, you must compute 5 scores. Score 1: Sum items 1, 6, 11, 16, 21 Score 2: Sum items 2, 7, 12, 17, 22 Score 3: Sum items 3, 8, 13, 18, 23 Score 4: Sum items 4, 9, 14, 19, 24 Score 5: Sum items 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 2

3 International Service Learning Course: April/May-October, 2014 Psychology 417A: Psychology and Developing Societies June-August: 12 week placement in Africa. July: Mid-placement reflection sessions. Arts Research Abroad (ARA) funding available to eligible BA students in Psychology; will offset % of program and flight costs. Instructor: Dr. Sunaina Assanand.

4 ●Examples of placement opportunities: Uganda: Microfinance, development, and female empowerment; HIV/AIDS and mobility. South Africa: Educational empowerment for youth and parents. Swaziland: HIV/AIDS advocacy and support.

5 Currently accepting applications. For information, visit: international-service-learning/current-programs/psych- 417-developing-societies/. Application deadline on website: January 9. However, the deadline will be extended for Psychology 305A and Psychology 307 students. Please contact me as soon as possible if you are interested in participating in the course.

6 1.Tentative learning objectives will be posted for each class by 9:00PM of the evening preceding the class. The tentative learning objectives will be posted under the lecture slides on the course website: Announcements

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8 2. As noted in the course syllabus, Chapter 2 reviews content (research methods) taught in the prerequisites for this course and will not be discussed in class. Optional review sessions for this chapter will be held on: January 22, 12:30-1:30, Location TBA January 24, 2:30-3:30, Location TBA Students who are not able to attend these sessions may meet with me or the TA. Exam 1 will include 2-3 multiple choice questions (2-3 points/50 points) from Chapter 2.

A little R&R …. (Review and Reflect) 9

Let’s begin! 10

Students’ desired personal outcomes: A good grade. Self-understanding. Exposure to “exciting new things” and a “new area of psychology that I love” A “wow, cool!” feeling. “Get to know my instructor and classmates.” Insight into which area of psychology to study in graduate school. Develop writing skills. A “good time”/fun. Inspiration/motivation. 11 The “Its My Course” Questionnaire: Results

12 Top 5 preferences among students (in rank order): 1.Personality and Happiness 2.Personality and Psychopaths 3.Personality Disorders 4.Sex Differences in Personality 5.Personality Stability and Change Students’ desired course content:

Other topics of interest to students: The history of personality psychology. Personality among children. Personality development. Biological vs. social influences on personality. Evolutionary views on personality. Altruism. Motivation. Growth/self-actualization. Personality and religion. Personality and psychotherapy. Personality and “real world” applications. Personality and crime. Personality assessment/measurement. 13

1.What is personality? 2.Why study personality? Introductory Concepts and Personality Assessment 14 3.What is a theory? 4.How is research used to test a theory? 5.How are personality variables measured?

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. define the term personality. 2. identify the goals of personality psychology distinguish between a theory and a construct. 4. identify the functions of a theory.

16 5. define the term operationalization. 6. generate examples of operationalizations. 7. discuss the interactive relationship between theory and research. 8. review personality measurement techniques.

Psychology Question: What is personality? Answer: Personality is …. Class Exercise: What is personality? 17

Carver and Scheier (p. 4): “Personality is a dynamic organization, inside the person, of psychophysical systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings.” 18 Noteworthy points: 1.“psychophysical” 2. “dynamic” 3.“organization” 4. “create” 5.“characteristic patterns” 6.“behavior, thoughts, and feelings” 18

Why study personality? Personality psychology has three goals: Descriptive goal. 2. Explanatory goal. 3. Predictive goal; particularly relevant to applied (e.g., clinical, military, corporate) settings. 19

What is a theory? Theory: A proposed explanation or interpretation of the relations among constructs. 20 Construct: A conceptual or hypothetical variable that can’t be directly observed. Examples of variables that are constructs: Aggressiveness, optimism, intelligence, self-esteem. Examples of variables that are not constructs: Hair colour, eye colour, weight, height, blood pressure. 20

21 Theories serve two functions: 1.Synthesizing function: Organize and explain observations. 2.Heuristic function: Generate predictions (i.e., hypotheses). 21

Operationalization: The translation of a construct into a variable that can be observed and, therefore, measured. 22 In order to test a theory, researchers must identify observable variables that reflect the constructs of interest. How is research used to test a theory? 22 Examples of operationalizations:

23 Construct: Optimism. Operationalization: Self-report questionnaire. Construct: Aggressiveness. Operationalization: Frequency and intensity of shocks given to a confederate. Construct: Intelligence. Operationalization: Scores on an IQ test. 23 Construct: Self-esteem. Operationalization: ?

Theories 24 Hypotheses Operationalizations Research (i.e., experiments, correlational studies, case studies; see Chapter 2) Observations Interactive Relationship 24

How are personality variables measured? Personality variables are operationalized (i.e., translated into observable variables) using several techniques: 25 observer ratings (e.g., interviews, behavioural observations, informant data). implicit assessments (e.g., Rorschach Ink Blot Test, Picture Story Exercise). self-reports (most common; e.g., questionnaires).

26 Implicit Assessment: Rorschach Ink Blot Test 26

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. define the term personality. 2. identify the goals of personality psychology distinguish between a theory and a construct. 4. identify the functions of a theory.

28 5. define the term operationalization. 6. generate examples of operationalizations. 7. discuss the interactive relationship between theory and research. 8. review personality measurement techniques.