PPE- Chapter 1

The study of individuals

The underlying causes within the person of
individual behavior and experience.

an all or nothing thing (qualitative variable) a person belongs to one and only one category

scores are continuous (quantitative) variables. A person can be described on every trait

continuous (quantitative) variables. A person
can be described on every factor.

Involving comparisons with other individuals;
research based on groups of people

focusing on one individual

assumption that phenomena have causes that can be discovered by empirical research.

conceptual tool for understanding certain specific phenomena

Can predict correctly or incorrectly

value a small number of constructs to explain phenomena

Ideas about personality that are held by ordinary people (not based on formal theory)

Repeatability, as when a measurement is repeated at another time or by another observer, with similar results

desirable characteristic of a test, indicating that it actually does measure what it is intended to measure

Research method that examines the relationship among measures

research strategy that manipulates a cause to determine its effect.