AP Psychology : Assessing and Classifying Personality

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Psychology

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Example Questions

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Example Question #1 : Assessing And Classifying Personality

Which of the following is not a dimension of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test?

Possible Answers:

Thought-feeling

Intuition-sensation

Immediacy-patience

Extraversion-intraversion

Judgment-perception

Correct answer:

Immediacy-patience

Explanation:

The Myers-Briggs Test classifies people into 16 different personality types based on four personality dimensions: extraversion-intraversion, intuition-sensation, thought-feeling, and judgment-perception

Example Question #1 : Assessing And Classifying Personality

Which five personality factors make up the "big five"?

Possible Answers:

Creativity, argumentation, need for maturation, openness, extraversion

Conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, overt behaviorism, introversion

Conscientiousness, arguementation, nagging, openness, introversion

Creativity, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion

Conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion

Correct answer:

Conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion

Explanation:

The "big five" personality traits are conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion. The acronym "CANOE" can aid you in remembering these empirically-supported personality trait continuums.

Example Question #51 : Motivation, Emotion, And Personality

What is the MMPI?

Possible Answers:

A personality test for adults

A calculation used when conducting chi-square analyses

A mnemonic device to remember the four fathers of modern psychology

A behavioral analysis test for children

A personality disorder associated with an eating dysfunction

Correct answer:

A personality test for adults

Explanation:

The MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) is the world's most widely used personality test for adults. In the modern day, it is used to screen job applicants, answer legal questions, and help psychologists make diagnoses and subsequent treatment plans.

Example Question #1 : Assessing And Classifying Personality

How is sublimination different from repression?

Possible Answers:

Sublimination is when a person regresses, perhaps to an infantile state, whereas repression is when the person represses a desire, which can manifest into psychosis.

Sublimination is when a person denies a characteristic they have and projects it onto other people. Repression is when a person represses a desire.

Sublimination is when a desire is eradicated completely, whereas repression is when a desire is repressed out of conscious awareness.

Sublimination is when someone takes a socially unacceptable desire and channels it in socially appropriate ways. Repression is when someone buries desires or fears from conscious awareness.

Correct answer:

Sublimination is when someone takes a socially unacceptable desire and channels it in socially appropriate ways. Repression is when someone buries desires or fears from conscious awareness.

Explanation:

Sublimination is the taking of a certain energy, which could be the product of fear or desire, and channeling it in socially appropriate ways. For example, one may have the impulse to be violent towards other people, but then challenge this impulse into a sport, a socially condoned form of violence.

Repression is generally considered slightly less healthy, in that the desire or fear is buried from conscious awareness and can manifest in certain psychotic tendencies.

Example Question #1 : Assessing And Classifying Personality

Which of these characteristics is a basic tenet of a fantasy-prone personality?

Possible Answers:

Ability to speak a second language

Vivid imagination

Dislike of authority

Left-handedness

Strong fluid reasoning

Correct answer:

Vivid imagination

Explanation:

Those with a fantasy-prone personality spend much time daydreaming, thus utilizing their vivid imagination. They are often able to recall their fantasies with near perfect accuracy.

Example Question #1 : Assessing And Classifying Personality

Which of the following is not a method of assessing personality?

Possible Answers:

Self-reporting

Acquisition testing

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

Big five personality traits test

Rorschach inkblot test

Correct answer:

Acquisition testing

Explanation:

The MMPI, the Rorschach inkblot test, the big five test, and self-reporting are all ways of measuring personality. The MMPI is a standardized test that gauges personality by asking questions that seem unrelated to personality traits; for example, "I enjoy breaking things" might be used as a measure of aggression. The Rorschach test determines personality traits by examining a way a person interprets ambiguous inkblot shapes. The big five test determines where a person falls on five main personality traits: agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Self-reporting is a larger concept that is defined as an individual answering questions about their own internal states; examples of this include the MMPI and the big five test. 

Acquisition is a concept in classical conditioning that refers to the learning of the unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus pairing.

Example Question #7 : Assessing And Classifying Personality

Which of the following indicates that Suzie has an internal locus of control?

Possible Answers:

She believes fate led her to fail her driver's test

She thinks she won the science fair because none of the other kids tried very hard this year

She believes she scored on both of the free throws in her last basketball game because she's been working so hard on her free throws in practices

She feels hopeless when she is put in the highest level English class; no amount of hard work could help her succeed

She believes that the A on her test was just luck

Correct answer:

She believes she scored on both of the free throws in her last basketball game because she's been working so hard on her free throws in practices

Explanation:

An internal locus of control is when a person believes that his/her hard work (practicing free throws) leads to the consequences (scored on both of the free throws in the game). An external locus of control is when a person believes that his/her life is determined by external forces—such as luck, fate, and the other kids not trying hard—and often leads to a sense of hopelessness. 

Example Question #1 : Assessing And Classifying Personality

The ability to stay on schedule and keep track of deadlines is associated with which of the Big Five Personality Traits?

Possible Answers:

Neuroticism

Agreeableness

Openness

Extraversion

Conscientiousness

Correct answer:

Conscientiousness

Explanation:

Conscientiousness is defined as the quality of being thorough, careful, and/or vigilant. Obviously, the ability to stay on schedule and keep track of deadlines meets this description. Each of the answers is a Big Five trait, but conscientiousness is the best fit for the traits described in the question.

Example Question #61 : Personality

Which of the following is not one of the Big 5 Personality Factors?

Possible Answers:

Neuroticism

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Warmth

Correct answer:

Warmth

Explanation:

The Big 5 personality factors are conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion. To remember the Big 5, you can use the acronym CANOE!

Example Question #61 : Personality

People who are high in Extraversion on the Big Five personality traits tend to have a high need for __________.

Possible Answers:

new experiences 

familiar experiences 

isolation and alone time 

attention and social interaction 

Correct answer:

attention and social interaction 

Explanation:

People who score high on Extraversion in the Big Five personality traits tend to have a need for social interaction and attention. This is the counterpart to introversion, which correlates with a high need for alone time. While an extremely extraverted person may be more likely to have a high need for new experiences, this is not as directly relevant to the main aspects of extraversion, which have to do with the personal need for social interaction.

The other four of the Big Five personality traits are Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

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