Deck 2: Theories of Personality

Question 1

Which of the following statements is true according to Big Five research?

A) Conscientiousness and neuroticism are positive predictors of longer life.
B) Extraversion and conscientiousness are positive predictors of career success.
C) Neuroticism and extraversion are positive predictors of career success.
D) Extraversion is a positive predictor of mental disorders.

Answer 1

Extraversion and conscientiousness are positive predictors of career success.

Question 2

Abel does not listen or engage with other perspectives other than his own, or try anything outside his comfort zone. Abel would BEST be described as__________ .

A) low in neuroticism
B) high in openness to experience
C) high in neuroticism
D) low in openness to experience

Answer 2

low in openness to experience

Question 3

_____ refers to an individual's unique constellation of consistent behavioral traits.

A) Cognition
B) Personality
C) Consistency
D) Distinctiveness

Answer 3

Personality

Question 4

Which of the following ideas is NOT central to the concept of personality?

A) Consistency across situations.
B) Traits that are shared with others.
C) Distinctiveness of an individual.
D) A unique collection of traits possessed by an individual.

Question 5

The id engages in primary process thinking, while the ego engages in secondary process thinking.

Question 6

Donald is typically uncooperative, if not downright rude with his coworkers and friends. Donald would BEST be described as__________ .

A) low in agreeableness
B) high in agreeableness
C) low in conscientiousness
D) high in conscientiousness

Question 7

Psychodynamic theories of personality tend to focus on

A) a set of basic personality traits.
B) unconscious mental processes.
C) the unique qualities of human beings.
D) laboratory research with children.

Question 8

"Shrewd," "timid," and "self-assured" are all adjectives that can be used to represent

A) personality theories.
B) personality traits.
C) personality tests.
D) social situations.

Question 9

Erica prefers not to plan ahead for much in life; she is a "fly by the seat of one's pants" or a "spur of the moment" type of person. In some cases, this carefree approach is fine; in other cases, it is careless. Erica would BEST be described as__________ .

A) low in agreeableness
B) high in agreeableness
C) low in conscientiousness
D) high in conscientiousness

Question 10

Gary is quite the homebody. He prefers a quiet Friday night on the couch-unlike his roommate, Larry, who likes to be out all hours of the night (and morning) at parties in the city. Based on this distinction between the two roommates, Gary is__________, and Larry is_____ .

A) low in neuroticism; high in neuroticism
B) high in extraversion; low in extraversion
C) low in extraversion; high in extraversion
D) high in neuroticism; low in neuroticism

Question 11

Which of the following are Big Five traits?

A) Neuroticism and intelligence.
B) Openness to experience and intelligence.
C) Neuroticism and openness to experience.
D) Neuroticism, openness to experience, and fortitude.

Question 12

The cultural syndrome of_____ involves putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group membership.

A) collectivism
B) narcissism
C) individualism
D) conspicuous consumption

Question 13

Which of the following ideas lies at the core of the concept of personality?

A) Being true to oneself.
B) Traits shared with others.
C) Consistency across situations.
D) Being able to adjust to different situations.

Question 14

Based on research regarding Big Five personality traits and life outcomes, which of the following hypotheses is MOST justifiable?

A) Those high in conscientiousness should be more likely to report experimentation with drugs and alcohol while in college.
B) Those low in neuroticism should be more likely to report experimentation with drugs and alcohol while in college.
C) Those high in openness to experience should be more likely to report experimentation with drugs and alcohol while in college.
D) Those high in conscientiousness and low in openness to experience should be more likely to report experimentation with drugs and alcohol while in college.

Question 15

Which of the following statements is NOT true according to Big Five research?

A) Conscientiousness is a positive predictor of longer life.
B) Conscientiousness is a positive predictor of career success.
C) Neuroticism is a positive predictor of career success.
D) Neuroticism is a positive predictor of mental disorders.

Question 16

Big Five traits have little correlation with important life outcomes.

Question 17

Frankie is a calm and collected character. He seems to remain constant in the face of pressure at work and in his relationships. Frankie would BEST be described as__________ .

A) high in extraversion
B) low in extraversion
C) low in neuroticism
D) high in neuroticism

Question 18

All psychodynamic theories stem from the work of

A) Jung.
B) Adler.
C) Freud.
D) Rogers.

Question 19

A_____ is a durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations.

A) personality theory
B) personality trait
C) personality test
D) social situation

Question 20

In psychoanalytic theory, the personality component that operates according to the pleasure principle is the

A) id.
B) ego.
C) superego.
D) superid.

Question 21

Jung proposed the collective unconscious, which is essentially the same as Freud's version of the unconscious.

Question 22

A witness to a brutal murder has trouble remembering any details of the crime. According to Freud, which defense mechanism is at work in this example?

A) Projection.
B) Reaction formation.
C) Regression.
D) Repression.

Question 23

In psychoanalytic theory, failure to move forward from one developmental stage to another is called

A) extinction.
B) regression.
C) inertia.
D) fixation.

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT one of the three levels of awareness proposed by Freud?

A) Conscious.
B) Unconscious.
C) Preconscious.
D) Collective unconscious.

Question 25

According to Jung, the collective unconscious is a storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people's ancestral past, which is

A) unique to each individual.
B) shared with the entire human race.
C) shared with one's blood relatives.
D) accessible only through free association.

Question 26

The moral component of personality, according to Freud, is represented by the

A) id.
B) ego.
C) superego.
D) superid.

Question 27

According to Freud, the _____contains thoughts and feelings that are just below the surface of awareness.

A) unconscious
B) subconscious
C) preconscious
D) collective unconscious

Question 28

Two months ago, your best friend did not win a major scholarship that she had been counting on to help pay for graduate school. Now she is always fighting with you, her boyfriend, and her roommates. She is most likely using the defense mechanism called

A) regression.
B) displacement.
C) projection.
D) identification.

Question 29

Defense mechanisms are largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from painful emotions.

A) True.
B)  False.

Question 30

According to Freud, conflicts centering on _____and _____impulses are especially likely to have far-reaching consequences.

A) sexual; death
B) power; death
C) sexual; aggressive
D) aggressive; achievement

Question 31

Freud's psychosexual stages, in their correct order, include__________ .

A) Anal, oral, phallic, genital, latency
B) Phallic, anal, oral, latency, genital
C) Oral, genital, phallic, anal, latency
D) Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

Question 32

Archetypes are__________

A) memories of actual, personal experiences.
B) storehouses of latent memory traces inherited from people's ancestral past that are shared with the entire human race.
C) emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.
D) efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one's abilities.

Question 33

According to Freud, a toddler is in the_____  stage of psychosexual development.

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

Question 34

According to Freud, in order to achieve healthy development, a child in the phallic stage must resolve the Oedipal complex and learn to the same-sex parent.

A) annoy
B) be fearful of
C) deceive
D) identify with

Question 35

Attributing your own thoughts, feelings, or motives to others to ward off anxiety or guilt is called

A) regression.
B) displacement.
C) projection.
D) reaction formation.

Question 36

Dominant themes in cultural art represented by images of nurturing mothers and protective fathers are examples of Jung's conceptualization of archetypes.

Question 37

Carl Jung proposed that the unconscious consists of two layers, the _____and the _____.

A) preconscious; subconscious
B) personal unconscious; collective unconscious
C) personal unconscious; universal preconscious
D) individual archetype; collective archetype

Question 38

Freud attributed anxiety to your

A) ego worrying about the id getting out of control.
B) superego getting out of control.
C) id taking over your mind and will.
D) ego getting out of control and taking over your mind.

Question 39

You're feeling guilty after your third bowl of ice cream. You tell yourself it's all right because yesterday you skipped lunch. This is an example of

A) conceptualization.       
B) rationalization.
C) displacement.
D) identification.

Question 40

Jan relies on obsessive eating and smoking to cope with her problems. According to Freud, Jan is suffering from fixation in the

A) phallic stage.
B) oral stage.
C) anal stage.
D) genital stage.

Question 41

Which of the following individuals is generally recognized for initiating the development of behaviorism?

A) John B. Watson.
B) Alfred Adler.
C) Albert Bandura.
D) Hans Eysenck.

Question 42

_____refers to a form of learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled by their own consequences.

A) Operant conditioning
B) Classical conditioning
C) Social learning
D) Extinction

Question 43

The psychodynamic perspective has been decried by opponents as__________

A) biased against males and overemphasizing unconscious desires.
B) empirically untestable and biased against males.
C) biased against females and difficult to test.
D) All of these are critiques.

Question 44

The difference between negative reinforcement and punishment is that they have opposite outcomes.

Question 45

Attempting to weaken a response by presenting a noxious or aversive stimulus after that response is called

A) punishment.
B) classical conditioning.
C) extinction.
D) negative reinforcement.

Question 46

Which one of the following types of learned behavior is most likely to be governed by classical conditioning?

A) Anxieties.
B) Phobias.
C) Maladaptive emotional reactions.
D) All of these.

Question 47

Which of the following theoretical orientations asserts that scientific psychology should focus on the study of observable behavior?

A) Humanism.
B) Behaviorism.
C) Psychoanalysis.
D) Structuralism.

Question 48

John is always putting himself down and expressing doubts in his own abilities. According to Adler, John may have a(n)

A) inferiority complex.
B) Oedipal complex.
C) fixation at the oral stage of development.
D) weak sexuality drive.

Question 49

An originally neutral stimulus that acquires the capacity to elicit a conditioned response is called a(n)

A) unconditioned stimulus.
B) conditioned stimulus.
C) response-bound stimulus.
D) association-positive stimulus.

Question 50

Which of the following notions is NOT considered one of the major contributions of psychoanalytic theory?

A) Role of childhood experiences in influencing adult personality.
B) Role of internal conflict in generating psychological distress.
C) Influence of reinforcement in maintaining specific behaviors.
D) Importance of unconscious motivation in influencing behavior.

Question 51

Which of the following individuals is credited with discovering classical conditioning?

A) Carl Rogers.
B) Ivan Pavlov.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) Abraham Maslow.

Question 52

Many critics have argued that humanistic theories of personality harbor a bias against women.

Question 53

Snooki became gravely ill after drinking a neon green beverage while on spring break. Any time she sees a green beverage-even sports drinks in the convenience store-she becomes sick to her stomach. This is a real-life example of_____ .

A) operant conditioning
B) social learning
C) classical conditioning
D) emotional learning

Question 54

Imagine you were visiting a professor during office hours. The conversation moved toward personality and his views on the research tradition. If he is an avowed behaviorist, which of the following would he be MOST likely to say?

A) "Personality is a collection of response tendencies that arise in various stimulus situations."
B) "Personality exemplifies a person's striving for achievement."
C) "Personality is someone's consistent dispositions carried across a variety of situations."
D) "Personality is the scientific nature of a person's mental processes."

Question 55

Albert Bandura differed from other behaviorists in that he gave an important role to_____ in influencing human behavior.

A) reflexes
B) cognition
C) consequences
D) punishments

Question 56

If you clean your room to put an end to your father's incessant nagging on the subject, your room-cleaning response has been

A) extinguished.
B) discriminated.
C) positively reinforced.
D) negatively reinforced.

Question 57

Working hard to sell the most widgets for your employer in order to earn a bonus and paid vacation is behavior that is shaped by the prospect of

A) primary reinforcement.
B) negative reinforcement.
C) positive reinforcement.
D) punishment.

Question 58

In classical conditioning, the unconditioned response is a(n) _____reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.

A) learned
B) unlearned
C) neutral
D) shaped

Question 59

The strengthening of a response leading to the removal of an unpleasant stimulus is

A) positive reinforcement.
B) negative reinforcement.
C) punishment.
D) extinction.

Question 60

According to Adler, _____involves efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one's abilities.

A) introversion
B) compensation
C) reaction formation
D) individual psychology

Question 61

Behaviorists have provided the most thorough account of why people

A) are only moderately consistent in their behavior.
B) become fixated at particular stages of development.
C) are not influenced by the consequences of their behavior.
D) tend to react with aggression when they are frustrated.

Question 62

Humanism is a theoretical orientation that

A) regards human personality as a collection of response tendencies.
B) views self-efficacy as the ultimate goal of personality development.
C) sees personality as resulting mainly from the observation of others.
D) emphasizes unique human qualities such as free will and growth potential.

Question 63

One's belief about one's ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes is called

A) self-concept.
B) self-actualization.
C) self-confidence.
D) self-efficacy.

Question 64

Which of the following is least closely associated with Maslow's theory of personality?

A) Notion of self-actualization.
B) Hierarchy of needs.
C) Humans' innate need for personal growth.
D) Distinction between introversion and extraversion.

Question 65

Daniel feels that he is not a good student despite having good grades. According to Rogers, Daniel may experience discomfort due to

A) unconditional love.
B) observational distress.
C) incongruence.
D) self-efficacy.

Question 66

Which of the following is NOT a criticism of behavioral perspectives?

A) Social cognitive theory undermines the foundation of behaviorism.
B) Behavioral perspectives are overly dependent on animal research.
C) Behavioral perspectives neglect to explain why people are only moderately consistent in their behavior.
D) All of these are criticisms.

Question 67

Behavioral approaches to personality used to be criticized on the grounds that_____ .

A) they were unscientific
B) they emphasized unconscious motives
C) they neglected cognitive processes
D) there was too much research on people instead of other mammals

Question 68

Behavioral and psychodynamic theories were often criticized by humanistic psychologists because they were considered_____ .

A) too difficult for the public to follow
B) unscientific
C) dehumanizing
D) too optimistic about human potential

Question 69

According to Rogers, one's self-concept

A) is unchangeable.
B) may be inaccurate.
C) tends to be congruent with reality.
D) is a product of classical conditioning.

Question 70

Which of the following individuals based his theory on the importance of the self-concept?

A) Abraham Maslow.
B) Carl Rogers.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) Hans Eysenck.

Question 71

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is based on the idea that

A) many drives are learned through observation.
B) perceived needs are a function of self-concept.
C) some needs are more basic than others.
D) most needs are a reaction to unconscious anxiety.

Question 72

Carl Rogers was concerned with how childhood experiences promote congruence or incongruence based on

A) fixation at early stages of development.
B) parental unconditional or conditional love.
C) parental self-concept.
D) the development of free will and self-actualization.

Question 73

According to Maslow, which of the following levels of needs is activated after safety and security needs are met?

A) Esteem.
B) Belongingness and love.
C) Physiological.
D) Need for self-actualization.

Question 74

The notion that people actively participate in their own learning is consistent with_____ .

A) learning reinforcement
B) conditioning theory
C) social cognitive theory
D) accidental learning

Question 75

In contrast to the Freudian model, Maslow believed that psychology should take a greater interest in the_____ personality.

A) conscious
B) unconscious
C) healthy
D) unhealthy

Question 76

Bandura theorized that we can learn by watching others who model behavior for us.

Question 77

Humanistic theory emerged in the 1950s as a(n) _____the behavioral and psychodynamic theories.

A) complement to
B) elaboration on
C) backlash against
D) supplement to

Question 78

Which of the following is NOT an assumption underlying the humanistic approach to personality?

A) Human nature includes an innate drive toward personal growth.
B) Humans are largely conscious and rational beings.
C) Individuals have the freedom to chart their courses of action.
D) Individuals tend to engage in behaviors that have been rewarded in the past.

Question 79

The humanistic theorist who emphasized the need for self-actualization and the hierarchical organization of needs was

A) J. B. Watson.
B) B. F. Skinner.
C) Alfred Adler.
D) Abraham Maslow.

Question 80

Rogers emphasized a person's subjective point of view, which he called

A) person-centered.
B) incongruence.
C) self-concept.
D) self-actualization.