Theoretical Assumptions of the Dispositional Strategy-
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3. Differences among individuals arise from differences in the
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of the dispositions
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The Goal of Trait Theorists
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Measurement of Dispositions: The Psychometric Tradition
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Cronbach & Meehl (1955)
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overarching principle of psychometrics
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evidence for the existence of a trait
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2. cross-situational consistency
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3. individual differences
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measurement of consistency as a primary focus of the dispositional approach
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1. consistency over time
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2. consistency across situations
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3. evidence of individual differences
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4. evidence for the validity of the measure
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discriminant validity
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predictive validity
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construct validity
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Allport's Psychology of the Individual
evidence of the usefulness and intuitiveness of the concept of the trait
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Stinginess is economy carried beyond all measure. A stingy man is one who goes to a debtor to ask for his half-obol interest before the end of the month. At dinner where expenses are shared, he counts the number of cups each person drinks and he makes a smaller libation to Artemis than anyone. If someone has made a good bargain on his account and presents him with the bill he says it is too much.
When his servant breaks a pot or a plate, he deducts the value from his food. If his wife drops a copper, he moves furniture, beds, chests, and hunts in the curtains. If he has something to sell he puts such a price on it that the buyer has no profit. He forbids anyone to pick a fig in his garden, to walk on his land, to pick up an olive or a date. Every day he goes to see that the boundary marks of his property have not been moved.
. . . To sum up, the coffers of stingy men are moldy and the keys rust; they wear cloaks which hardly reach the thigh; a very little oil-bottle supplies them for anointing; they have hair cut short and do not put on their shoes until midday . . . .
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Personality- ". . . the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique
adjustments to his [or her] environment"
1. dynamic
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2. psychophysical
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3. determine
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1. a neuropsychic structure having the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent
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2. initiates and guides behaviors that have consistent themes
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Types of Traits
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Personal Dispositions
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Criteria for establishing the existence of traits
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1. behavior must be performed repeatedly
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2. behaviors must mean the same thing to the individual
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3. behaviors must occur in response to a definable range of stimuli
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4. behaviors must be expressed or activated fairly readily
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Activation of Traits
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Emphasis on the Present
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1. intentions
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2. functional autonomy- the state of behavior or activity when it has become rewarding in its own right or has become a goal in
itself, regardless of whether it was originally performed for some other reason.
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Research- personal structure analysis- Letters to Jenny
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Evaluation of Allport's Theory of Traits
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Negative Features
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Personality- "Personality is that which permits prediction of
what a person will do in a given situation"
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Trait- a construct employed by psychologists to account for regularity or consistency in behavior, inferred from observation of behavior
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source traits
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The Origin of Traits
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environmental-mold traits
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Traits as grouped by their content
1. dynamic traits
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2. ability traits
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3. temperament traits
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Research- the sign approach
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factor analysis- a statistical means for deciding which items (questions) of a test "go together" (which items are most highly correlated) and those which belong to another group of items (those which are not correlated with the first group)
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A correlation matrix
...Item ................................Item ........................................Item Number
Number ..........................Content ..................................1...... 2....... 3...... 4
---------- ------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------
...1 ........."I like to meet people" ..................................1.00... .60... .10... .20
...2 ........."I like parties" .......................................................1.00... .15.... .10
...3 .........."I like figuring answers to difficult problems" ..............1.00... .50
...4............"I try my hardest to do well in school" ..................................1.00
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The factor analysis that might result from such a pattern of correlations
...........................................................................................Factor
...Item............................ Item........................................... Number
Number....................... Content....................................... I......... II
---------- ------------------------------------------------------ ----------------
...1....... "I like to meet people"...................................... .90...... .06
...2....... "I like parties".................................................. .80....... .02
...3....... "I like figuring answers to difficult problems" .05....... .75
...4....... "I try my hardest to do well in school"............ .01....... .80
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Evaluation of Cattell's Factor Theory
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