Getting Started Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Research In Personality This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any image; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Getting Started Copyright © 2007 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Topics Covered Where Does Data Come From? What Research Designs are Used in Personality Psychology? What Does it Mean to Measure Personality? How Do Psychologists Study Many Variables?

Where Do Data Come From? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY (Review) Molecular-Molar Dimension Molar (e.g., sociological) Intermediate (e.g., psychological) Molecular (e.g., biological)

Where Do Data Come From? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Schematic of the Connective Model Molar (e.g., sociological) The Incorporative Environment Intermediate (e.g., psychological) The Personality System The Situation Molecular (e.g., biological) The Brain and Nervous System The Setting

Where Do Data Come From? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY External Source Data Molar (e.g., sociological) The Incorporative Environment Intermediate (e.g., psychological) The Personality System The Situation Molecular (e.g., biological) The Brain and Nervous System The Setting

Where Do Data Come From? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY External Data Sources with Examples Molar (e.g., sociological) Institutional-Source Data: School records, Marriage certificates, etc. Intermediate (e.g., psychological) The Personality System Observer-Rating Source Data: Judging extroversion, etc. Molecular (e.g., biological) Bio- Psychological Data: Medical record data Setting Data: Neighborhood qualities

Where Do Data Come From? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Major Types of External-Source Data Institutional RecordsGrades, marriage certificates, newspaper articles, etc.. Observer ReportWhat other observers say about us

Where Do Data Come From? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Looking at Personal Report Data Molar (e.g., sociological) The Incorporative Environment Intermediate (e.g., psychological) The Personality System The Situation Molecular (e.g., biological) The Brain and Nervous System The Setting

Where Do Data Come From? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Major Types of Personal-Report Data Self-Judgment Agreeing or disagreeing with a given statement about oneself Convergent- Report Constructing a response that meets a criterion Thematic- Report Creating responses that reflect themes or ideas Process-Report Pertaining to something going on in your mind at the moment

What Research Designs Are Used in Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Case Studies and Observationism Case Studies –Easily understandable –Colorful and interesting –Hypothesis generation tools –Unrepresentative –No control Observationism – Repeated, intensive, study of cases, over consistent conditions.

What Research Designs Are Used in Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Review of Correlation A.Correlation examines the co-relation between two variables B.Symbol: r C.The r varies from –1.0 to 1.0 D.1.0 and –1.0 represent perfect relations E.0 represents a random relation

What Research Designs Are Used in Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Review of Correlation (Cont.) This is a correlation between height of fathers (Y) and height of sons (X). What is the approximate correlation? Answer: r =.83

What Research Designs Are Used in Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Review of Correlation (Cont.) This is a correlation between year in college and number of parties attended per week. What is the approximate correlation? Answer: r =.09

What Research Designs Are Used in Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Review of Correlation (Cont.) Number of cashiers on duty, and Number of people waiting to check out What is the approximate correlation? Answer: r = -.88

What Research Designs Are Used in Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Experimental Methods Quasi-Experimental Designs –Natural treatment –No randomization –Creative personalities True Experimental Designs –Experimenter-applied treatments –Randomization

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Measurement of Attributes Measure attributes of the object For example, measurement of –length (to right) –weight (to right)

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Psychometric Theory A.Theories of How to Measure Abstract, Mental Phenomena B.The Central Equation: X = T + e X, the obtained test score T, the true score e, the error score

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Pop Question A.Which of the following correlations between two variables is most useful for the purposes of predicting one from the other? a) -.75 b).00 c) +.25 d) +.50

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Reliability A.Demonstration: Take and Score a Test B.Volunteer Scores C.Reliability: Does a test measure with consistency?

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Reliability in Physical Measurement Things to Remember Measuring a Window for Window Blinds: Use a steel tape for accuracy. Measure the exact width of the window at 3 different places. Make all measurements to the nearest 1/8 inch.

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Definitions of Reliability Informal: that a test measures what it measures with consistency Formal: the correlation, r, between the true score and the obtained score.

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY (A hard) Pop Question When is a mental test perfectly reliable? A. X = 0 B. T = 0 C. e = 0 D. X = T

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Measurement Validity A.Definition: That a test measures what it is supposed to measure B.Types of Validity: 1.Face 2.Content 3.Criterion 4.Structural 5. Construct

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Face Validity A test looks like it measures the right thing for Depression: Are you sad?

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Content Validity A tests items accurately sample from the content domain

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Criterion (or Predictive) Validity A test predicts a specific, measurable outcome, such as a life variable Examples: marriage grade point average occupational success (or postdicts it, or concurrently indicates it)

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Structural Validity A test measure the number of things it claims to measure Technical Test: Factor Analysis… –How many factors does a test measure? –Factor: An underlying variable

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Construct Validity A test behaves the way it is supposed to behave according to theoretical statements, over numerous circumstances and tests

How Do Psychologists Study So Many Variables? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Multiple Variables Personality is a complex, multifaceted system This means that a lot of variables may be examined at a time How does one cope?

How Do Psychologists Study So Many Variables? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Multivariate Techniques Multivariate techniques handle multiple variables One crucial kind of technique examines how many things are being measured This class of techniques includes: –Factor analysis (the example here) –Multidimensional scaling –Cluster analysis

How Do Psychologists Study So Many Variables? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Logic of Factor Analysis Factor analysis uses correlational logic –If multiple variables correlate highly, they are the same thing –If the variables dont, they are different things Example: –If happiness and joy correlate highly: the same –If they dont: different

How Do Psychologists Study So Many Variables? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY 1. What does a factor look like? I am:I Curious.40 Interested.60 Thoughtful.80 Bored -.40 A factor is represented by a column of factor loadings under a roman numeral The factor loading is the correlation between a test item and a factor The test item is to the left.

How Do Psychologists Study So Many Variables? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Simplified Rules for Interpreting a Factor Step 1: Identify original test items with high positive loadings Step 2: Ask, what are the items trying to get at? (Thats the primary name of the factor). (e.g., extraversion) Step 3: Locate the items loading negatively on the same factor. Those tell you the polar opposite label (e.g., introversion) – if there is one Step 4: No high loadings? Then, the factor is a garbage factor.

How Do Psychologists Study So Many Variables? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Example A I II Do you like parties? Are you often nervous? Are you sociable? Do you prefer to read over going to parties? Are you often in a bad mood?.04.70

How Do Psychologists Study So Many Variables? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY Example B I feel… I II III Happiness Sadness Excitement Anxiety Calm

What Does It Mean to Measure Personality? © Copyright 2006 Allyn & Bacon Mayers Personality: A Systems Approach PART 1: EXPLORING PERSONALITYCHAPTER 2: RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY ~End of Chapter 2~