Psychology Defined

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour.

2 ways to resolve disputes: 1) non-peacefully

2) Peacefully

(1) by acceptance of authority

(2) by agreement on rules for resolving disputes

Political Claims:Dispute resolution

mechanism?

voting

Knowledge claims:

Dispute resolutionmechanism?

Science

Science defined• Procedures for adjudicating knowledge claims

Standards of evidenceDecision rules for evaluating competing claims

• Methods for obtaining controlled or rigorous observationsSystematic observation (empiricism)Independent replication Publicity of methodsPublic of findings

Personality ScienceIs Astrology a scientific theory of personality?1. Are its claims empirically testable?

• Yes.2. Are its claims consistent with already well-

established facts about the physical world? • No. • Therefore evidence will need to be very strong.

Astrology could in principle be a scientific theory, it is a very bad one. Why?

Because it consistently fails empirical testing.

Cool things we don’t cover…

1. X-raying your mind.

2. Finding your inner child.

3. Determining your “colour”.

5. Astrology, Phrenology, Graphology, Enneagram, Scientology…

Scientology

Chemistry (General) D, D Math (Plane Geometry) F German (1st yr) E, F Math (Diff. Calculus) F Physics (Sound/Light) E Math (Diff. Calculus 2nd attempt) D Math (Analytic Geometry) D English (the Short Story) B,B English (Rhetoric) C, B

L. Ron Hubbard's Grades

Personality tests on the Web

If you google: "personality tests",

2,270,000 web pages

http://www.lovecalculator.com/

Chapter 1

Introduction to Personality

What are trait words for?bold, timidreliable, disorganizedcool, nifty, goof (see Urban Dictionary)

incompetentuntrustworthypedophile

Functions of trait words1. Describe

thrifty Someone good with money.2. Evaluate

stingy A jerk who won’t give $$ to me.

We need to predict what someone will do.We need to evaluate someone's significance

for oneself.

George Bush's Personality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkQcnDCjyuQ

Defining PersonalityPopular meanings of "personality"

• A boring person (“He lacks personality.”)• A desirable person ("She has a wonderful

personality.")• A dramatic person (“You have quite the

personality!")• A public person (“a well-known TV

personality")

Defining Personality• Latin root is persona “mask”• Per sonare = to sound through

–The hole in the actor's mask • Cicero (50 BC): 4 meanings

1. Outer appearance to others2. Inner, "real" self3. A role, a part being played4. A person of distinction

Cicero and Personality Debates

#1 & #2: Inner vs Outer• Debate: How to define personality

Hogan (1977): –Actor perspective (“inner self”)–Observer perspective (“outer self”)

The “Interpersonal perspective”–Personality is observer defined phenomenon–You have NO personality when deserted on an

island

Cicero and Personality Debates #3: “Role”

• Debate: Person-Situation debateIs behavior due to traits or the situation?

#4: “Person of distinction”–Distinction = high social value–Value: e-VALU-tion; social evaluation

• Debate: social desirability debate Are trait ratings descriptions or evaluations?How badly biased are trait judgements?

Defining Personality

2 Definitions• Little• Big

Defining Personality

Little definition (Gordon Allport, 1930s)

Personality= An individual person's characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and

mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and

mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

“For some kinds of thought, especially moral decision-making about other people’s social and psychological situations, we need to allow for adequate time and reflection.... “If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people’s psychological states and that would have implications for your morality,”

- author of 2009 MRI study, Immordino-Yang

Texting Frequency

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Is there psychological coherence in the pattern of correlations with texting?

• Unreflective• Materialistic• Prejudiced• Extraverted

Shallow & Friendly?

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Personality Defined

Personality is the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that is organized and relatively enduring and that influences his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including the intrapsychic, physical, and social environment).

Henry Murray (1938) Personality refers to the ways a person is

• like all other persons, • like some other persons, •and like no other person.

3 levels of personality analysis

Every human being is like…

All others Human nature level

Some others Indiv & Group difference level

No others Indiv uniqueness level

Species typical traits and mechanism

The traits and mechanisms of personality that are typical of our species and are possessed by everyone or nearly everyone.

1. Human Nature Level

Ways in which each person is like some other people

2. Individual and Group Differences Level

Worriers Risk takers

Every individual has personal and unique qualities not shared by any other person in the world.

• Idiographic research (Paulness)• Nomothetic research (Shyness)

3. Individual Uniqueness Level

Grand Theories of Personalityvs.

Contemporary Research in Personality.

A Fissure in the Field

Primarily address the 1st level of analysis, the human nature level

Don’t represent contemporary research in the field of personality psychology.

Grand Theories of Personality

Primarily addresses 2nd level of analysis ie., the ways individuals and groups tend to differ (e.g., "extraversion", "collectivism")

BUT, studying personality psychology needs to be more than just covering the current research topics.

Contemporary Research

Domains of knowledge create specialization Integrating the domains of knowledge

gives us the whole personality…

Bridging the Fissure

D.O.K.

D.O.K.

D.O.K.

D.O.K.D.O.K.

D.O.K.

A Whole Person.

And The Whole Picture of which the Person is a part.

Dispositional DomainDeals centrally with the ways in which individuals differ from one another

e.g., basic traits

Six Domains of Knowledge

Biological DomainHumans are collections of biological systems that provide the building blocks for behaviour, thought, and emotion.

Six Domains of Knowledge

Cognitive-Experiential Domain

Our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and desires shape our personality.

Six Domains of Knowledge

Am I a good person or evil?

What makes me fearful?

Do I see myself as having a successful career?

Intrapsychic Domain

Refers to the mental mechanisms of personality, many of which operate outside the realm of conscious awareness.

Six Domains of Knowledge

Social and Cultural Domains

Personality doesn’t merely reside within the head and nervous system, but affects, and is affected by, the social and cultural context.

Six Domains of Knowledge

Adjustment Domain Some personality traits are related to

poor adjustment Studying disorders of personality

deepens our understanding of “normal” personality

Six Domains of Knowledge

What about theory? If astrology is a bad theory, what are the

characteristics of a good theory?

1) Provides a guide to the best questions to ask2) Integrates known facts into a coherent

framework of understanding3) Makes accurate predictions (generates new

facts)

How Evaluate Theories?

• Comprehensiveness• Heuristic value• Testability• Parsimony• Compatibility with other theories

Beliefs vs Theories

Belief• what you privately like or want to think

Theory• a claim of about the nature of the world

verified by observatons

Methods chapter is next….