Trait Theory Notes

I. Start of Trait Theory

a. Gordon _____________ originally decided that Freud overvalued the ______________

motives and undervalued our real personality styles and ____________.

b. Define Trait:

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

II. Definition of Trait Theory

a. We are made up of a __________________ of traits, behavioral _______________________

that can be identified and measured, that _______________ from person to person.

III. Myers and Briggs’ Contribution

a. Myers and Briggs wanted to study individual _________________ and _________________

to find out how people differed in _________________.

b. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (_____________) is a questionnaire that

___________________ people based on their ______________.

c. In the __________ system, _____________ come in pairs. Write those pairs below:

i. ______________________ vs. ______________________

ii. ______________________ vs. ______________________

iii. ______________________ vs. ______________________

iv. ______________________ vs. ______________________

Write any questions here:

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________
 Homework Reading Notes
Read 527-532 starting at the Exploring Traits header and stopping at the Evaluating Trait Theories header.
I. Exploring Traits

a. Factor Analysis

i. Factor Analysis identifies clusters of ___________ items that tap basic components of

_____________________.

1. Give an example from the text:

_______________________________________________________________

ii. Name the two British psychologists

1. ________________________ and ____________________________.

2. What is their questionnaire called?

______________________________________________________________.

iii. The Eysencks believed that these factors are ____________________ influenced.

b. Biology and Personality

i. Why do extraverts seek stimulation?

_____________________________________________________________________

ii. __________________ and __________________________ neural activity tend to be higher in

extraverts.

II. Assessing Traits

a. What are personality inventories and what do they assess?

________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

b. Name the classic personality inventory: __________________________________________

i. This assesses ____________________ personality tendencies rather than _________________

personality traits.

ii. The MMPI items were ______________________________________.

 1. Define this:

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________

iii. Some scales of this test include:

1. __________________________ tendencies

2. ________________________ - _______________________

3. ________________________ - _______________________

iv. Today’s ____________ also has scales assessing:

1. Work attitudes

2. _________________________

3. Anger

v. How are personality inventories scored?

__________________________

vi. Does objectivity guarantee validity? (circle one) yes no

III. The Big Five Factors

a. Simple trait factors, like Eysenck’s ______________________ and ___________________ do not tell the

whole story.

b. The Big Five does a better job.

i. Today’s “common ______________ for personality psychology.”

ii. The best ____________________ of the basic trait dimensions.

iii. List the questions the Big Five research has explored and write some notes on the answer to the

question.

1. ______________________________________________?

Notes:

____________________________________________________________________________
 ____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________?

Notes:

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________?

Notes (include some examples):

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Questions:
Please fill in the diagram of the Big Five Factors from page 528 including at least 3 examples in each

section: