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Personality Practice Test Questions

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
21 views4 pages

Personality Practice Test Questions

Uploaded by

LILY
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Unit 2: Personality

Practice Multiple Choice Questions

Directions. For each of the following, choose the BEST answer. This is a
practice test, it gives you a feel for how the questions may look on the
unit/AP test.

1. Harvey has devoted his life to the search for physical pleasure and
immediate need gratification. Freud would say that Harvey is dominated by:
a. his ego
b. his superego
c. his id
d. displacement

2. Furious at her boss for what she considers to be unjust criticism, Tyra
turns around and takes out her anger on her subordinates. Tyra may be
using the defense mechanism of
a. displacement
b. reaction formation
c. replacement
d. denial

3. Freud believed that most personality disturbances are due to:


a. failure of parents to reinforce healthy behavior
b. poor self-concept resulting from excessive parental demands
c. unconscious and unresolved sexual conflicts rooted in childhood
experiences
d. exposure of children to unhealthy role models

4. According to Alfred Adler, the prime force in a person’s life is:


a. physical gratification
b. existential anxiety
c. striving for superiority
d. instincts
e. superego

5. Which of the following learning mechanisms does B.F. skinner see as


being the major means by which behavior is learned?
a. classical conditioning
b. operant conditioning
c. observational learning
d. insight
6. Always having been a good student, Irving is confident that he will do
well in his psychology course. According to Bandura’s social cognitive
theory, Irving would be said to have:
a. strong feelings of self-efficacy
b. sense of superiority
c. strong defense mechanisms
d. good genetics

7. Which of the following approaches to personality is least deterministic?


a. humanistic
b. psychoanalytic
c. behavioral
d. Skinner’s approach

8. Which of the following did Carl Rogers believe fosters a congruent self-
concept?
a. conditional love
b. appropriate role models
c. immediate-need gratification
d. unconditional love

9. The strongest support for the theory that personality is heavily influenced
by genetics is provided by strong personality similarity between:
a. identical twins reared together
b. identical twins reared apart
c. fraternal twins reared together
d. non-twins reared together

10. Which of the following is the best way to regard heritability estimates?
a. as reliable but not necessarily valid estimates
b. as ballpark estimates of the influence of genetics
c. as accurate estimates of the influence of genetics
d. as relatively useless estimates of the influence of genetics

11. In which of the following cultures is an independent view of the self


most likely to be the norm?
a. China
b. Korea
c. Japan
d. United States

12. Which of the following is not a short-coming of the self-report


personality inventories?
a. the accuracy of the results is a function of the honesty of the
respondent
b. Respondents may attempt to answer in a way that makes them look
good
c. They are objective measures that are easy to administer and score
d. These are all flaws/short-comings

13. Biological psychologists would argue that the environment in which we


grow up has ________________ effect on our personalities.
a. a largely positive
b. a largely negative
c. surprisingly little
d. powerful

14. Critics of humanistic psychology have suggested that this theory fails to
appreciate the reality of our human capacity for
a. empathy
b. love
c. negativity
d. evil

15. Collectivist cultures are characterized by members


a. developing a strong sense of self
b. giving priority to group goals
c. forming causal, often temporary relationships
d. discovering how they are different from the group

16. According to Freud, which of the following defense mechanisms buries


threatening or upsetting events into our no conscious?
a. regression
b. displacement
c. repression
d. projection

17. What did Maslow call the process of fulfilling our potential?
a. love needs
b. self-esteem
c. self-actualization
d. hierarchy of need

18. Questionnaires covering a wide range of feelings and behaviors


designed to assess several traits at once are called
a. factor analysis studies
b. achievement tests
c. cognition tests
d. personality inventories
19. Albert Bandura proposed the social-cognitive perspective, which
a. explains the nature-nurture debate
b. predicts human behavior
c. explains human motivation
d. emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations

20. Athletes who often privately credit their victories to their own prowess,
and their losses to bad breaks, lousy officiating, or the other team’s
exceptional performance are exhibiting
a. low self-esteem
b. the self-serving bias
c. pessimism
d. incompetence

Common questions

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In individualistic cultures like the United States, an independent view of the self is often the norm, focusing on personal achievements and the unique aspects of oneself. In contrast, collectivist cultures prioritize group goals over individual ones, leading individuals to value connectedness and interdependence with others .

The behavior of athletes attributing victories to their own skill and losses to external factors like bad breaks exemplifies the self-serving bias. This cognitive bias involves attributing successes to internal factors while blaming failures on external circumstances, thus protecting self-esteem and maintaining a positive self-view .

Carl Rogers believed that unconditional love fosters a congruent self-concept. Unconditional love provides a supportive environment that allows individuals to be true to themselves without fear of judgment, helping them attain a state where their self-image and their true self align, thus achieving congruence .

Identical twins reared apart who show strong personality similarities provide compelling evidence for the genetic basis of personality, as it suggests that genetic factors contribute significantly to personality traits. This situation eliminates environmental variables because the twins were raised in different environments yet maintain similar personality characteristics .

Maslow's self-actualization represents the process of realizing one's full potential and is a central concept in personal development theories. It emphasizes the natural human drive to grow, improve, and fulfill one's potential, which has become an influential idea in psychology and motivational studies, suggesting that individuals are motivated to achieve personal growth once basic needs are met .

Bandura's social cognitive theory states that individuals with strong feelings of self-efficacy are more confident in their abilities to achieve in various domains, including academics. For example, a student like Irving, confident in his psychology course performance, demonstrates high self-efficacy, which is a belief in his capabilities to execute the necessary actions for successful performance .

Adler posited that the prime force in a person's life is striving for superiority , contrasting with Freud's emphasis on unconscious sexual conflicts. Whereas Freud focused on internal conflicts and drives, especially sexual in nature, Adler emphasized a more conscious and purpose-driven striving towards personal excellence and overcoming feelings of inferiority.

The humanistic approach to personality is least deterministic as it emphasizes personal growth, free will, and self-actualization . Unlike psychoanalytic and behavioral approaches which suggest that behavior is shaped by unconscious forces or environmental stimuli, the humanistic perspective focuses on self-directed change and the inherent capability for self-improvement.

A primary critique of humanistic psychology is that it fails to fully address the darker aspects of human nature, specifically our capacity for negativity and evil . Critics argue that this perspective overly idealizes human potential while neglecting how negative experiences and destructive behaviors can also shape personality.

Freud believed that most personality disturbances arise from unconscious and unresolved sexual conflicts rooted in childhood experiences . This principle is core to his psychoanalytic theory, emphasizing that early relationships and experiences significantly shape the unconscious mind, thereby affecting adult personality and behavior.

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