Deck 3: Traits and Trait Taxonomies

Question 1

Which of the following is of the view that a trait is a descriptive summary of the general trend in a person's behavior?

A)Eysenck's theory
B)The theoretical approach
C)The act frequency approach
D)The theory of sociosexual orientation

Answer 1

The act frequency approach

Question 2

Which of the following statements is true of the lexical approach?

A)The importance of a trait term is independent of the number of its synonyms found within any one language.
B)All traits listed and defined in the dictionary form the basis of describing differences among people.
C)Personality-descriptive nouns are extraordinarily important in social communication.
D)The trait terms that exist in only one or a few languages serve as a potential candidate for a universal taxonomy of personality traits.

Answer 2

All traits listed and defined in the dictionary form the basis of describing differences among people.

Question 3

Most personality psychologists hypothesize that traits:

A)are perhaps enduring over time.
B)are reasonably unstable over time.
C)are inconsistent over situations.
D)are similar in all people.

Answer 3

are perhaps enduring over time.

Question 4

In the context of the act frequency approach,a robin is more _____ of the bird category than a penguin.

A)prototypical
B)aerodynamical
C)orthodontic
D)elemental

Question 5

Which of the following indicates that the more important is an individual difference in human transactions,the more languages will have a term for it?

A)Cross-cultural universality
B)Intellect-openness
C)Synonym frequency
D)Act frequency formulation

Question 6

The approach that uses the natural language as its logical starting point is the _____ approach.

A)lexical
B)theoretical
C)statistical
D)act frequency

Question 7

Robert conducts research to study the trait of empathy using the act frequency approach.Each participant is asked to list the specific acts or behaviors that they are most likely to associate with highly empathetic people.Robert collects a pool of 251 empathetic acts.This scenario exemplifies the act _____ procedure of the act frequency approach.

A)nominalization
B)nomenclature
C)nomination
D)nomothetic

Question 8

Which of the following is the final step in the act frequency approach?

A)To identify the acts that are most central to each trait category
B)To secure information on the actual performance of individuals in their daily lives
C)To identify which acts belong in which trait categories
D)To secure information on the importance of different traits in social communication

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT a key element of the act frequency approach?

A)Act nomination
B)Assessing synonym frequency
C)Recording of act performance
D)Prototypicality judgment

Question 10

Which of the following procedures helps researchers to identify hundreds of acts belonging to various trait categories?

A)Act nomination
B)Act effectiveness
C)Act performance
D)Act likelihood

Question 11

Which of the following approaches yields the criteria of synonym frequency and cross-cultural universality for identifying important personality traits?

A)The lexical approach
B)The theoretical approach
C)The statistical approach
D)The act frequency approach

Question 12

Which of the following concepts indicates that if an attribute has not merely one or two trait adjectives to describe it but rather many words,then it is a more important dimension of individual difference?

A)Adjacency
B)Synonym frequency
C)Cross-cultural universality
D)Orthogonality

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT a fundamental question that guides those who study personality traits?

A)How can traits be changed?
B)How should traits be conceptualized?
C)How can the most important traits be identified from among the thousands of ways in which individuals differ?
D)How can a comprehensive taxonomy of traits be developed?

Question 14

Which of the following will help identify important personality traits in the lexical approach?

A)Finding the number of synonyms for a trait in the corresponding lexicon
B)Determining if a trait is conveyed through different parts of speech,including adjectives,nouns,and adverbs
C)Examining the corresponding lexicon for biological words that represent a trait
D)Determining if there are words representing each end of a trait in the natural language

Question 15

According to the lexical approach,if a trait term exists in only one or a few languages,then it may be _____.

A)imported by other languages
B)important to a universal personality taxonomy
C)of only local relevance
D)known only to personality psychologists

Question 16

Which of the following statements is true about psychologists who view traits as internal dispositions?

A)They avoid prejudging the cause of an individual's behavior.
B)They argue that the important individual differences among people must be first identified and described,and subsequently causal theories to explain them must be developed.
C)They define traits simply as descriptive summaries of attributes of persons.
D)They believe that traits can lie dormant in the sense that the capacities remain present even when particular behaviors are not actually expresseD.

Question 17

Which of the following states that all important individual differences have become encoded within the natural language?

A)The lexical hypothesis
B)The projective hypothesis
C)Factor analysis
D)A personality taxonomy

Question 18

In the context of the act frequency approach,which of the following involves identifying the acts that are most central to each trait category?

A)Act nomination
B)Synonym frequency
C)Cross-cultural universality
D)Prototypicality judgment

Question 19

If the act "she made direct eye contact and smiled" is central to the category of flirting,it would be considered a(n)_____ act for that category of behavior.

A)effective
B)likely
C)prototypical
D)centrifugal

Question 20

Which of the following is a criticism of the act frequency approach?

A)It is of little help in making explicit the behavioral phenomena to which most trait terms refer.
B)It is not able to explore the meaning of important traits that have proven difficult to study.
C)It does not specify how much context should be included in the description of a trait-relevant act.
D)It fails to identify cultural similarities and differences in the behavioral manifestation of traits.

Question 21

Juanita likes to spend more time alone.She prefers to lead a predictable and well-organized life.According to Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy,Juanita would most likely score high on the trait of:

A)introversion.
B)conscientiousness.
C)agency.
D)psychoticism.

Question 22

Psychologists Simpson and Gangestad developed the concept of sociosexuality based on the evolutionary theory.They developed the sociosexual orientation hypothesis based on this concept.They most likely employed the _____ approach to developing the hypothesis.

A)lexical
B)theoretical
C)statistical
D)act frequency

Question 23

Which of the following statements is true about factor analysis?

A)It believes that the trait terms that are useful to people in social communication have become encoded within the natural language.
B)It starts with the notion that traits are categories of acts.
C)It uses an existing theory of personality to determine which traits are important.
D)It essentially identifies clusters of personality items that covary but tend to deviate from other groups of items.

Question 24

A problem with factor analysis is that:

A)it leads to a less manageable number of traits.
B)researchers need to pay close attention to their initial selection of items.
C)factor loadings work are like correlations.
D)it reduces the number of traits being studieD.

Question 25

Fiona is an excessive worrier.She always seems tense and has trouble sleeping.Her friends report that she has very low self-esteem and is usually moody.According to Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy,Fiona would most likely score high on the trait of:

A)introversion.
B)quarrelsomeness.
C)psychoticism.
D)neuroticism.

Question 26

Who among the following developed a model of personality that included three main traits?

A)Raymond Cattell
B)Jerry Wiggins
C)Hans Eysenck
D)Timothy Leary

Question 27

A problem with the lexical approach is that:

A)it inadequately explores personality nouns.
B)its success is limited by an existing theory that it uses to determine important variables.
C)it lays undue emphasis on a hierarchical structure of heritable traits.
D)it is unable to identify universally important traits in human affairs.

Question 28

According to Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy,a worrier would most likely score high on the trait of:

A)extraversion.
B)neuroticism.
C)psychoticism.
D)quarrelsomeness.

Question 29

Jerry is a loner,and he likes to catch flies and pull their wings off.He is also addicted to violent movies.According to Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy,Jerry is most likely to score high on the personality trait of:

A)introversion.
B)psychoticism.
C)sensation seeking.
D)neuroticism.

Question 30

Which of the following is useful in reducing the number of personality traits to a more manageable number?

A)Synonym frequency
B)The act frequency approach
C)Factor analysis
D)Cross-cultural universality

Question 31

Which of the following approaches uses the statistical procedure of factor analysis?

A)The lexical approach
B)The theoretical approach
C)The statistical approach
D)The act frequency approach

Question 32

Which of the following taxonomies was developed based on the traits that were believed to be highly heritable and had a likely psychophysiological foundation?

A)Eysenck's personality taxonomy
B)Cattell's taxonomy
C)The Wiggins circumplex model
D)The five-factor model

Question 33

According to Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy,a person who is antisocial and lacks empathy would most likely score high on the trait of:

A)extraversion.
B)neuroticism.
C)psychoticism.
D)introversion.

Question 34

Which of the following is a criticism of the theoretical approach?

A)It can only be as good as a theory.
B)It is a theoretically based approach.
C)It depends on the lexical hypothesis.
D)It has restricted its identification of important traits to adjectives.

Question 35

The five-factor model was originally based on a combination of the _____ approaches.

A)lexical and statistical
B)theoretical and statistical
C)act frequency and statistical
D)theoretical and act frequency

Question 36

Which of the following is a feature of the theoretical approach?

A)A theory is used to view all important traits as captured by the natural language.
B)A theory is used to determine variables that are important.
C)A theory is used to reduce a large array of diverse personality traits into a cluster of traits that covary.
D)A theory is primarily used to classify acts into trait categories.

Question 37

_____ is a statistical approach that identifies groups of items that are similar to each other.

A)The lexical hypothesis
B)Factor analysis
C)The act frequency approach
D)Rational scale construction

Question 38

Who among the following was raised in Germany and intended to study physics but began to study psychology almost by chance?

A)Raymond Cattell
B)Jerry Wiggins
C)Hans Eysenck
D)Timothy Leary

Question 39

Factor loadings indicate the _____ between an item and an underlying factor.

A)correlation
B)deviation
C)analysis
D)kurtosis

Question 40

A Freudian scholar develops measures to assess "the oral personality" and "the anal personality." The scholar is most likely to use the _____ approach to identify important individual differences.

A)psychoanalytic
B)theoretical
C)regressive
D)clinical

Question 41

In the Wiggins circumplex model,traits that are orthogonal to each other _____ with each other.

A)are not correlated
B)have a strong positive correlation
C)have a negative correlation
D)are causally linked

Question 42

In Hans Eysenck's formulation,which of the following traits is supposed to be linked with central nervous system arousal or reactivity?

A)Extraversion
B)Neuroticism
C)Psychoticism
D)Dominance

Question 43

The Wiggins circumplex model is composed of _____ primary dimensions of personality.

A)two
B)three
C)five
D)eight

Question 44

In the past few decades,the taxonomy of personality traits that has received the most attention and support from personality researchers has been _____.

A)the PEN model
B)Cattell's taxonomy of 16 personality traits
C)the Wiggins circumplex
D)the five-factor model

Question 45

In the context of the Wiggins circumplex model,_____ specifies that traits that are perpendicular to each other on the model are entirely unrelated to each other.

A)adjacency
B)bipolarity
C)orthogonality
D)polarity

Question 46

In the context of the circumplex taxonomies of personality,which of the following refers to what people do to and with each other?

A)Factor loadings
B)Adjacent traits
C)Bipolar traits
D)Interpersonal traits

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT a clear advantage of the Wiggins circumplex model of personality?

A)The relationship of each trait and every other trait within the model is specified.
B)It provides an explicit definition of interpersonal behavior.
C)It alerts researchers to gaps in investigations of interpersonal behavior.
D)The relationships between traits can be traced to biologically based traits.

Question 48

Which of the following is a limitation of the Wiggins circumplex model?

A)It fails to alert investigators to gaps in investigations of interpersonal behavior.
B)The interpersonal map provided by this model is restricted to two dimensions.
C)It is not able to specify the relationships between each trait and every other trait within the model.
D)The definition of interpersonal behavior provided by this model is not explicit and precise.

Question 49

In the context of the Wiggins circumplex model,individual differences:

A)have a biological basis in the nervous system.
B)pertain to what people do to and with each other.
C)show how people interact with the environment.
D)were found in the LSD experiences of subjects.

Question 50

Which of the following trait taxonomies includes a four-level hierarchy consisting of specific acts,habitual acts,traits,and super-traits?

A)Eysenck's personality taxonomy
B)Cattell's taxonomy
C)The Wiggins circumplex model
D)The five-factor model

Question 51

In Hans Eysenck's hierarchical model,each super-trait is at:

A)the top of the hierarchy.
B)the bottom of the hierarchy.
C)an intermediate level in the hierarchy.
D)the third level of the hierarchy.

Question 52

In the context of the five-factor model,which of the following was used by Allport and Odbert to identify 17,953 trait terms?

A)Act nominations
B)Self reports
C)The English dictionary
D)Peer ratings

Question 53

According to the Wiggins circumplex model,the traits of dominance and agreeableness are:

A)adjacent.
B)bipolar.
C)orthogonal.
D)opposites in polarity.

Question 54

Which of the following is a limitation of Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy?

A)The super-traits in the taxonomy do not have moderate heritabilities.
B)Some important traits might have been missed in the taxonomy.
C)The traits in the model fail to have an identifiable physiological substrate.
D)There is a dispute about whether personality traits are arranged hierarchically.

Question 55

The five-factor model was originally based on a combination of the _____ approaches.

A)lexical and statistical
B)lexical and biological
C)theoretical and statistical
D)statistical and causal

Question 56

In the Wiggins circumplex model,traits that are bipolar are:

A)related to clinical disorders.
B)uncorrelated with each other.
C)located at opposite sides of the circumplex.
D)orthogonal to each other.

Question 57

Which of the following is NOT an attribute of Hans Eysenck's personality taxonomy?

A)It has a hierarchical structure.
B)Traits are heritable.
C)Traits have many synonyms.
D)Traits have physiological substrates.

Question 58

Who among the following was one of the most prominent advocates of circular representations of personality and formalized the circular model with modern statistical techniques?

A)Fiske
B)Raymond Cattell
C)Hans Eysenck
D)Timothy Leary

Question 59

According to the Wiggins circumplex model,the concept of _____ holds that the variables that are next to each other within the model are positively correlated.

A)adjacency
B)bipolarity
C)orthogonality
D)factor analysis

Question 60

The dimensions of _____ and love define the two major axes of the Wiggins circumplex.

A)hate
B)status
C)interpersonal behavior
D)neuroticism

Question 61

In the context of the combinations of Big Five variables,happiness and experiencing positive affect in everyday life are best predicted by:

A)high conscientious and high agreeableness.
B)high extraversion and high agreeableness.
C)high extraversion and low neuroticism.
D)high intellect and low neuroticism.

Question 62

In the context of the combinations of Big Five variables,a person who engages in risky sexual behavior would have which of the following combinations of five-factor traits?

A)High extraversion,high neuroticism,low conscientious,and low agreeableness
B)High extraversion,low conscientiousness,and moderate emotional stability
C)High extraversion,high openness to experience,and low conscientiousness
D)High neuroticism,low intellect,and low extraversion

Question 63

According to Norman's markers for the Big Five,a person who is good-natured and cooperative would score high on the trait of:

A)surgency.
B)agreeableness.
C)conscientiousness.
D)emotional stability.

Question 64

Joshua is extremely talkative and can liven up any social gathering.He does not believe in retirement plans and would rather spend his money on vacations.His family enjoys the solitude of mountains;however,he prefers beach holidays.In the context of the empirical correlates of the Big Five factors,Joshua is most likely to score high on _____.

A)emotional stability
B)conscientiousness
C)agreeableness
D)extraversion

Question 65

In the context of the empirical correlates of the Big Five factors,individuals high in openness:

A)are highly likely to hold negative racial stereotypes.
B)have a tunnel vision and are able to easily ignore competing stimuli.
C)are highly unlikely to engage in cross-sex friendships on social networks.
D)show higher levels of musical sophistication.

Question 66

In the context of the five-factor model,which of the following is a reason for disagreement about the content and replicability of the fifth factor?

A)Cross-cultural researchers have been unable to study the fifth factor across different languages.
B)Different researchers start with different item pools to factor analyze.
C)Researchers who use questionnaire items tend to prefer openness to experience as a trait label.
D)Researchers who use trait adjectives endorse intellect as the meaning and label of the fifth factor.

Question 67

In the context of the HEXACO model,individuals low on honesty-humility are:

A)less likely to violate social contracts.
B)more likely to boast about their personal accomplishments.
C)less likely to sabotage others in their work environment.
D)more likely to forgive their former romantic partners on being rejecteD.

Question 68

According to Norman's markers for the Big Five,a person who is responsible and tidy would score high on the trait of:

A)surgency.
B)agreeableness.
C)conscientiousness.
D)emotional stability.

Question 69

In the context of Goldberg's key adjective markers of the Big Five,identify a scenario based on Mike et al.(2014)studies that best exemplifies an individual who would most likely score high on conscientiousness.

A)Simone has decided to represent her company in an upcoming event.
B)Jenifer has opted to do volunteer work post her retirement.
C)Keith has opted to pursue his career in theater.
D)Jonathon has decided to adopt an injured puppy that was found near his workplace.

Question 70

Which of the following is a problem with the five-factor model?

A)The five factors are found only in males.
B)The model does not replicate in studies using English-language trait words as items.
C)There is uncertainty about the content,naming,and replicability of the fifth factor.
D)Most factors do not replicate across cultures and languages.

Question 71

In the context of the five-factor model,which of the following is NOT one of the four lists into which Allport and Odbert divided the laboriously identified 17,953 trait terms?

A)Stable traits
B)Unstable traits
C)Temporary states
D)Social evaluations

Question 72

In the context of the combinations of Big Five variables,obedience to authority in a Milgram-like experiment is more likely among people:

A)high in extraversion and high in neuroticism.
B)high in conscientiousness and high in agreeableness.
C)low in extraversion and low in emotional stability.
D)low in openness to experience and low in psychoticism.

Question 73

Who among the following is noted as the first person to discover a version of the five-factor model but is not credited with having identified its precise structure?

A)Raymond Cattell
B)Gordon Allport
C)Fiske
D)Tupes

Question 74

In the context of the five-factor model,who among the following used the 4,500 presumably stable traits identified by Allport and Odbert as a starting point for his lexical analysis of personality traits?

A)Raymond Cattell
B)Fiske
C)Norman
D)Christal

Question 75

The five-factor model of personality consists of the Big Five traits,namely _____.

A)surgency,sensation seeking,conscientious,psychoticism,and openness-intellect
B)extraversion,surgency,agreeableness,intellect,and dominance
C)psychoticism,extraversion,neuroticism,agreeableness,and openness-intellect
D)surgency,agreeableness,conscientiousness,emotional stability,and openness-intellect

Question 76

In the context of the combinations of Big Five variables,which of the following combinations is most likely to make a good computer wiz?

A)High psychoticism,high agreeableness,and high neuroticism
B)High neuroticism,low conscientiousness,and low emotional stability
C)High agreeableness,low openness,and extraversion
D)High conscientiousness,high openness,and introversion