Deck 9: Personality Development: Alternative Views

Question 1

Which of the following are the key dimensions of temperament proposed by Buss and Plomin?

A) activity level, emotionality, neuroticism
B) sociability, activity level, emotionality
C) emotionality, agreeableness, neuroticism
D) sociability, activity level, agreeableness
E) conscientiousness, emotionality, agreeableness

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Anna trusts almost everyone and is generous and affectionate with her family and friends. Anna would score high in

A) agreeableness.
B) conscientiousness.
C) neuroticism.
D) openness/intellect.
E) extraversion.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The temperament dimensions of inhibition and anxiety

A) are reflected in high scores on extraversion.
B) are reflected in high scores on openness.
C) contribute to low scores on neuroticism at later ages.
D) reflect a tendency to respond with fear or withdraw from new people, situations or objects.
E) are the basis of emotionality.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The temperament dimension of effortful control has been hypothesized as a precursor of which of the Big Five personality traits?

A) agreeableness
B) conscientiousness
C) openness/intellect
D) extraversion
E) neuroticism

Question 5

According to Rothbart (2011), the patterns of behavior we display in our earliest months

A) differ dramatically from our temperament as adults.
B) differ somewhat from our temperament as adults.
C) stay with us throughout our lives.
D) vary depending on our experiences.
E) are determined primarily by the type of parenting we receive.

Question 6

Psychologists use the word "personality" to describe

A) temporary individual differences in behavior.
B) the common patterns in children's social, physical, and cognitive development.
C) differences in the ways children and adults relate to people and to the world around them.
D) how well-liked individuals are by the people in their social network.
E) the individual's enduring pattern of responses to and interactions with others and the environment.

Question 7

Ricardo is an efficient, organized, thorough business executive. He would score high in

A) agreeableness.
B) conscientiousness.
C) extraversion.
D) neuroticism.
E) openness/intellect.

Question 8

The extent and strength of a person's impulse control is the basic feature of the Big Five trait of

A) extraversion.
B) agreeableness.
C) conscientiousness.
D) neuroticism.
E) openness/intellect.

Question 9

All of the following are characteristic of the Big Five trait of agreeableness EXCEPT

A) affectionate.
B) forgiving.
C) generous.
D) enthusiastic.
E) trusting.

Question 10

Murray is enthusiastic about whatever he does and talks to anyone he meets. He would score high on which dimension of personality?

A) extraversion
B) neuroticism
C) openness/intellect
D) conscientiousness
E) agreeableness

Question 11

Which Big Five trait includes the qualities of anxious, self-pitying, tense, touchy, unstable, and worrying?

A) openness
B) intellect
C) extraversion
D) neuroticism
E) conscientiousness

Question 12

Research by Jerome Kagan has focused primarily on which dimension of temperament?

A) behavioral inhibition
B) agreeableness
C) neurotocism
D) sociability
E) activity level

Question 13

Juanita is extremely creative, imaginative, and insightful, indicating that when she grows up, she wil probably score high on the Big Five Traits of

A) agreeableness and conscientiousness.
B) conscientiousness and emotionality.
C) extraversion and inhibition.
D) openness and intellect.
E) agreeableness and openness.

Question 14

The depth, complexity, and quality of a person's mental and experiential life is the Big Five trait of

A) agreeableness.
B) conscientiousness.
C) extraversion.
D) openness/intellect.
E) neuroticism.

Question 15

All of the following are major dimensions referred to as the Big Five EXCEPT

A) extraversion.
B) agreeableness.
C) conscientiousness.
D) openness/intellect.
E) morality.

Question 16

All of the following temperaments/traits belong together EXCEPT

A) emotionality.
B) anger.
C) difficulty.
D) approach.
E) irritability.

Question 17

According to Thomas and Chess, the concept of "goodness-of-fit" refers to

A) childhood friendships in which both personalities "match."
B) the foundation upon which adult personality is built.
C) the fact that an environment which is appropriate for a child's temperament may be more important than the child's temperament itself.
D) when a parent's temperament matches the child's temperament.
E) an ideal situation in which a child is placed in the appropriate classroom for his or her learning level.

Question 18

Kelvin is very sociable, enthusiastic, generous, and forgiving. As an adult, he will score high on

A) openness and emotionality.
B) emotionality and extraversion.
C) neuroticism and openness.
D) agreeableness and emotionality.
E) extraversion and agreeableness.

Question 19

Difficult, easy, and slow-to-warm-up temperaments were first described by

A) Chess and Thomas.
B) Buss and Plomin.
C) Kagan.
D) Erikson.
E) Freud.

Question 20

Which of the following is characteristic of someone high in extraversion?

A) affectionate
B) forgiving
C) generous
D) enthusiastic
E) trusting

Question 21

A large study of children and adolescents in the Netherlands found that the most evident dimensions characterizing these subjects were

A) conscientiousness and extraversion.
B) extraversion and agreeableness.
C) openness/intellect and conscientiousness.
D) agreeableness and neuroticism.
E) neuroticism and openness/intellect.

Question 22

All of the following are propositions on which the biological explanation of personality is based EXCEPT

A) each individual is born with genetically determined characteristic patterns of responding to the environment and to other people.
B) children learn not only overt behavior but also ideas, expectations, internal standards, and self-concepts from reinforcement and modeling.
C) genetic differences operate via variations in fundamental physiological processes.
D) temperamental dispositions persist through childhood and into adulthood.
E) temperamental characteristics interact with the child's environment in ways that may strengthen or modify basic temperamental patterns.

Question 23

Correlation between measures of behavioral inhibition in children and physiological measures, such as muscle tension, heart rate, dilation of the pupil of the eye, and the chemical composition of both urine and saliva indicate that

A) temperament is a set of learned habits.
B) behavioral inhibition is strongly related to the environment.
C) parental influences cause behavioral inhibition in children.
D) behavioral inhibition is predictive of greater adaptability in adulthood.
E) temperament is based on physiological responses.

Question 24

Kagan believes that shy children have behavioral inhibitions because

A) they become overly relaxed and less alert in the presence of uncertainty.
B) their brains respond to uncertainty by decreasing muscle tension and heart rate.
C) they have inherited the recessive genes of shyness from both parents.
D) their amygdala and hypothalamus have a low threshold for responding to uncertainty.
E) they fail to see uncertainty in some situations.

Question 25

Research on inhibition such as that done by Kagan has shown that

A) infants with high levels of crying were less likely to be inhibited.
B) uninhibited infants became extremely shy.
C) consistency is stronger among children with extreme initial temperaments.
D) inhibited toddlers become highly aggressive.
E) inhibition cannot be predicted.

Question 26

Leroy is full of original ideas and is very imaginative. He is high in which of the Big Five personality traits?

A) agreeableness
B) extraversion
C) openness/intellect
D) neuroticism
E) conscientiousness

Question 27

Research by Oliver John has shown that delinquent boys were markedly lower than nondelinquent boys in which personality traits?

A) openness/intellect and neuroticism
B) conscientiousness and agreeableness
C) extraversion and agreeableness
D) neuroticism and extraversion
E) openness/intellect and conscientiousness.

Question 28

Research on teens use of social networking sites such as Facebook have shown that teens who use less swear words scored higher on which of the Big Five personality traits?

A) extraversion
B) agreeableness
C) openness
D) conscientiousness
E) neuroticism

Question 29

Behavior that is reinforced on a partial schedule is ________ behavior that is consistently reinforced.

A) not learned as well as
B) more easily forgotten than
C) more resistant to extinction than
D) punished more than
E) more random than

Question 30

Of the following inhibited children, who is least likely to have physical arousal to challenges and persistent inhibition?

A) Sara, who is securely attached
B) Tino, who has an extremely solicitous mother
C) Maggie, who is insecurely attached
D) Burt, whose mother manages most of his activities
E) Lori, whose parents give her very little attention

Question 31

Biological theorists believe that

A) behavior reinforced by a partial schedule is more resistant to extinction than behavior reinforced on a continuous basis.
B) behavior is governed by the unconscious mind.
C) personality development is fundamentally stage-like and focused on particular needs.
D) personality develops through some interaction between the child's temperamental tendencies and the child's environment.
E) there is clear evidence that genetics is destiny.

Question 32

Who is the most influential theorist in the learning theory tradition?

A) Piaget
B) Freud
C) Buss
D) Kagan
E) Bandura

Question 33

Research using the Buss and Plomin temperament catagories indicates that the strongest correlation in temperament is found in

A) female siblings.
B) fraternal twins.
C) identical twins.
D) male siblings.
E) adopted siblings.

Question 34

A strength of biological theories of personality is that they

A) are purely biological approaches.
B) are strongly supported by empirical research.
C) agree with most other theories about temperament.
D) are fundamentally developmental theories.
E) rely heavily on learning theory.

Question 35

Research on teens use of social networking sites such as Facebook have shown that teens who posted longer comments on books and other reading materials scored higher on which of the Big Five personality traits?

A) extraversion
B) agreeableness
C) openness
D) conscientiousness
E) neuroticism

Question 36

Dr. Montana is a radical behaviorist. He is most likely to believe that variations in behavior are caused by

A) biological/environmental interaction.
B) unconscious processes.
C) observational learning and conditioning.
D) classical and operant conditioning exclusively.
E) a biological form of conditioning.

Question 37

Lillith is usually tense and she worries about every small event in her life. She is high in the Big Five trait of

A) agreeableness.
B) conscientiousness.
C) openness/intellect.
D) extraversion.
E) neuroticism.

Question 38

All of the following can positively modify basic physiological/temperamental responses of inhibited children EXCEPT

A) secure attachment.
B) responsive parents.
C) relaxed mothers.
D) oversolicitous mothers.
E) sensitive parents.

Question 39

According to Buss and Plomin, which of the following children will typically adapt to his or her environment?

A) Ramon, who is moderate in all temperamental areas
B) Betty, who is a difficult child
C) Kurt, who is extremely energetic and active
D) Leah, who is very shy
E) Enrique, who has highly demanding parents

Question 40

Ms. Cowan has a day care center, and this year she has one little girl who is very aggressive. No matter how much Ms. Cowan punishes her, the child continues to misbehave and seems to be increasing her aggressive actions. A behaviorist would say that

A) the child obviously has some type of brain damage.
B) the punishment is actually a reinforcing form of attention.
C) aggression is an inborn trait and is not responsive to punishment.
D) there are unconscious conflicts that must be resolved.
E) the punishment is not strong enough.

Question 41

"Self-efficacy" refers to a child's belief in

A) his or her ability to accomplish tasks.
B) reinforcement contingencies.
C) the behaviors of others.
D) his or her parents' disciplinary techniques.
E) society's moral values.

Question 42

Both Piaget and Bandura would agree that the child's self-concept

A) can be changed easily by peer interactions.
B) can be modified by the parents but not the peers.
C) affects school work but not peer interactions.
D) affects how the child performs and reacts to others.
E) has little impact on basic attributes.

Question 43

There is an old adage: "Do what I say, not what I do." What do research results tell us about children's responses in a situation in which a parent says one thing but does another?

A) Children will imitate what the parent does.
B) Children will imitate what the parent says.
C) Children will imitate behavior of the mother but not of the father.
D) If the words and the behavior are not consistent, the child will not imitate at all.
E) Learning from modeling is automatic.

Question 44

Because parents tend to be inconsistent in their rewards to their children,

A) partial reinforcement patterns are a major factor in the establishment of personality.
B) children rarely learn much from their parents.
C) children grow up feeling unloved.
D) the school becomes the most influential factor in the development of personality.
E) no consistent behaviors develop during childhood.

Question 45

A strength of the learning theory approach to personality is that it

A) takes a realistic though pessimistic view of behavior.
B) can explain either consistency or inconsistency in children's behavior.
C) eliminates the concepts of consistency and inconsistency.
D) integrates biological, cognitive, and psychodynamic concepts.
E) imposes constancy on behavioral outcomes.

Question 46

If you want your dog to continue fetching a stick once he has mastered the trick, you should reinforce him

A) every other time he brings the stick back.
B) on a continuous reinforcement schedule.
C) every fifth time he brings the stick back.
D) on a partial reinforcement schedule.
E) every third time he brings the stick back.

Question 47

In order to explain inconsistencies in children's behaviors in different situations, learning theorists search for differing ________ in the different settings.

A) physiological responses
B) reinforcement contingencies
C) unconscious motivations
D) temperamental dispositions
E) personality types

Question 48

Observational learning or modeling involves

A) attaching a new response to an old stimulus.
B) learning by watching someone else perform some action.
C) an unconditioned and a conditioned stimulus.
D) attaching an old response to a new stimulus.
E) parents and children exclusively.

Question 49

Although Piaget and Bandura agree on the impact that self-concept or self-scheme has once it develops, Piaget emphasizes ________ while Bandura emphasizes ________ as a causal factor.

A) internal processes; reinforcement and modeling
B) modeling; external processes
C) reinforcement; modeling
D) defenses; modeling
E) internal processes; accommodation

Question 50

A basic proposition of psychoanalytic approaches to personality is that

A) each individual is born with characteristic patterns of responding to the environment.
B) behavior is strengthened by reinforcement.
C) development of personality is sequential but not stage-like.
D) behavior is governed by unconscious as well as conscious motives and processes.
E) genetic differences operate via variations in physiological processes.

Question 51

A significant weakness of learning theories is that they

A) are overly optimistic about changing behavior in early childhood.
B) cannot explain how problem behaviors emerge.
C) are not really developmental and focus too much on external events.
D) are incompatible with cognitive-developmental theories such as Piaget's.
E) place too much emphasis on what the child is doing with information.

Question 52

All of the following propositions are part of learning theory EXCEPT

A) behavior is strengthened by reinforcement.
B) genetic differences operate via variations in fundamental physiological processes.
C) behavior that is reinforced on a partial schedule should be even stronger and more resistant to extinction than behavior that is consistently reinforced.
D) children learn new behaviors largely through modeling.
E) from reinforcement and modeling, children learn not only overt behavior but also ideas, expectations, internal standards, and self-concepts.

Question 53

Whose theory supports an integration of learning models and cognitive-developmental approaches?

A) Freud
B) Erikson
C) Kagan
D) Plomin
E) Bandura

Question 54

If Piaget's language is applied to Bandura's cognitive-developmental theory, the concept of one's own capacities, qualities, standards, and experiences would be called a(n)

A) assimilation.
B) self-concept.
C) accommodation.
D) self-knowledge.
E) self-scheme.

Question 55

According to Bandura, a high school student who says that he failed a class because he didn't study enough, rather than claim that the reason he failed was because the class was too difficult, is demonstrating a(n)

A) example of classical conditioning.
B) borderline personality.
C) secure attachment.
D) internal locus of control.
E) easy temperament.

Question 56

Of the following theories of personality, which is the most clearly developmental?

A) biological
B) psychoanalytic
C) social learning
D) traditional behaviorism
E) cognitive-social learning

Question 57

Which theorist is most closely associated with observational learning?

A) Patterson
B) Skinner
C) Freud
D) Plomin
E) Bandura

Question 58

Biological temperament theorists argue that ________ serves as a central mediating process; whereas social learning theorists argue that ________ acts as a central mediator.

A) self scheme; self-concept
B) inborn temperament; self-concept
C) ego; inborn temperament
D) inborn personality; inborn temperament
E) self scheme; ego

Question 59

According to Bandura, what a child learns from watching someone else depends on

A) attention, memory, physical ability, and motivation.
B) memory, social skills, intelligence, and morality
C) physical ability, intelligence, motivation, and culture.
D) motivation, development, social skills, and emotions.
E) social skills, memory, attention, and motivation.

Question 60

Roger is working on a project at home. However, his 4-year-old son seems to pester him the most when he is trying to solve a problem. Roger tries to ignore him, but usually gives in and stops what he is doing to pay attention to his son. Roger is actually

A) punishing his son by making him wait for attention.
B) increasing his son's behavior with partial reinforcement.
C) being a very attentive parent.
D) damaging his son's self-esteem.
E) having very little influence on his son's behavior.

Question 61

The Oedipus conflict refers to a boy's

A) fear of his mother and antagonism toward his father.
B) desire for his father.
C) antagonism toward his mother.
D) desire for his mother and fear of his father.
E) failure to form an identity.

Question 62

Erikson asserts that a child who has established a sense of basic trust has had

A) a major caregiver who was loving and responded predictably and reliably.
B) caregivers who were erratic or harsh in their care of the child during infancy.
C) two parents as primary caregivers, at least during the early years of development.
D) younger brothers or sisters as primary caregivers.
E) indulgent parents and caretakers.

Question 63

According to Erikson, parents who are consistently loving and who respond predictably and reliably to their infant are helping the infant to develop

A) an ego ideal.
B) a sense of basic trust.
C) equilibration.
D) a conscience.
E) an identity.

Question 64

Dr. Bartinelli believes that cognitive skills develop to obtain gratification. Dr. Bartinelli is most in agreement with

A) Bandura.
B) Erikson.
C) Freud.
D) Piaget.
E) Kagan.

Question 65

Janice takes her toys apart and gets upset when they can't be fixed. Erikson would place her in the stage of

A) trust vs. mistrust.
B) initiative vs. guilt.
C) industry vs. inferiority.
D) identity vs. role confusion.
E) autonomy vs. shame and doubt.

Question 66

Until recently, Oliver's peer interactions were almost exclusively with other boys. Now he is more interested in girls. Oliver is in which stage of psychosexual development?

A) oral
B) anal
C) phallic
D) latency
E) genital

Question 67

Dr. O'Hara is a psychoanalytic theorist. When treating a client, he will place the most emphasis on the

A) equal significance of all stages of development.
B) genetic programming.
C) crucial significance of the earliest stages of development.
D) fallacy of emphasizing stages of development.
E) social learning skills.

Question 68

Which of the following is an instinctual drive in Freud's theory?

A) affiliation
B) ambition
C) accommodation
D) aggression
E) assimilation

Question 69

All of the following traits are characteristic of the oral stage EXCEPT

A) smoking.
B) overeating.
C) passivity.
D) gullibility.
E) vanity.

Question 70

Four-year-old Mindy has started to compete with her mother for her father's attention. Which psychosexual stage is Mindy in?

A) oral
B) anal
C) phallic
D) latency
E) genital

Question 71

According to Freud, two-year-old Calvin would be in which stage?

A) oral
B) anal
C) phallic
D) latency
E) genital

Question 72

All of the following are propositions of the psychoanalytic approach EXCEPT

A) behavior is governed by unconscious as well as conscious motives and processes.
B) personality structure develops over time as a result of interaction between the child's inborn drives and needs and the responses of the key people in the child's world.
C) development of personality is fundamentally stagelike, with each stage centered on a particular task or a particular basic need.
D) the specific personality a child develops depends on the degree of success the child has in moving through the stages.
E) from reinforcement and modeling, children learn not only overt behavior but also ideas, expectations, internal standards, and self-concepts.

Question 73

The correct sequence of Freud's five psychosexual stages is

A) anal, oral, phallic, latency, genital.
B) oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital.
C) latency, anal, oral, genital, phallic.
D) anal, oral, genital, latency, phallic.
E) phallic, anal, oral, latency, genital.

Question 74

Nine-year-old Max has peer interactions almost exclusively with other boys. Max is in which psychoanalytic stage?

A) oral
B) anal
C) phallic
D) latency
E) genital

Question 75

In comparing Erikson and Freud, it would be most accurate to say that

A) Erikson puts more emphasis on cognitive skills for basic gratification.
B) Freud places more emphasis on shifts in the demands of the social environment.
C) Freud pays less attention to physical maturation.
D) Erikson places more emphasis on psychosocial crises.
E) Freud's central concept is the development of an identity.

Question 76

Marianno has experienced repeated failures and ridicule during the toddler years. He will probably develop a sense of

A) mistrust.
B) guilt and embarrassment.
C) shame and doubt.
D) inferiority.
E) incompetence.

Question 77

Gene is extremely neat and is constantly cleaning and organizing. Stacy is sloppy and disorganized. Freud would say that both are fixated at what stage?

A) oral
B) anal
C) phallic
D) latency
E) genital

Question 78

According to Erikson, the sequence of stages is most influenced by

A) maturation.
B) common cultural demands.
C) need gratification.
D) sexuality.
E) genetic programming.

Question 79

According to Freud, the ego is the

A) center of the libido.
B) planning and organizing part of the personality.
C) center of conscience and morality.
D) only structure of personality present at birth.
E) source of aggressive drives.

Question 80

During which of Freud's stages does identification with the same-sex parent occur?

A) oral
B) anal
C) phallic
D) latency
E) genital