*Listen*Ask Open-ended Questions*Repeat*Look for patterns

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE BY NUMBER AT

YOUR TABLE

PERSON #1

PERSON #2

PERSON #3

PERSON #4

Today is the fi rst day of the rest of your life. Tell your good friends to seize the day!

Graphology Analysis: Letters slant left/r ight/straight/both?

left = pessimism right = optimism both = “maverick” straight = “flexibility”

Each sentence slanting up to the right, down to the right, straight? Up = pessimism Down = optimism Straight = neutral

Loops on g’s and y’s large and circular or small/closed off Large/round = preoccupied with sex

Crossing T’s whip-l ike or above the vertical l ine? Whip = sadistic or practical joker? Not touching/above vertical like = daydreamer

WRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE IN CURSIVE ON A BLANK PAGE

Evaluation

WHAT DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU

DIDN’T BEFORE?

WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE TO SUPPORT

THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE?

Myth #7

PEOPLE’S RESPONSES TO

INKBLOTS OR HANDWRITING TESTS

TELL US A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THEIR

PERSONALITIES

Frequent media portrayals of or reference to Rorschach Inkblot Test

Crime show portrayals of graphology implies common use. Exaggeration of a kernel of truth: QDE (questioned document examinee) used by historians,

collectors, and courts to determine the authenticity or origins of handwriting.

No evidence despite many attempts to authenticate the use of these types of tests.

So where do we go from here?

WHERE DOES THIS MYTH ORIGINATE?

PersonalityTRAIT THEORY

Sigmund Freud

Focus: Explain WHY you have this personality

EGO processes unconscious confl icts between the ID & SUPEREGO

Personality testing should uncover “hidden” meanings

Gordon Allport

Define personality in terms of stable behavior patterns.

Focus: DESCRIBE basic traits that make up human personality

PSYCHODYNAMIC V. TRAIT THEORY

Today– Finalize Myth #7 Begin Myth #8 – Consciousness/Subliminal Messages

Friday – Finalize Myth #8 Begin Myth #9 – Consciousness/Sleep

Tuesday – Mask Presentations

Bring Notes (to help with presenting) BE PREPARED 110 Points

Thursday – Continue Myth #9 – Consciousness/Sleep

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

The Ancient Greeks

Hippocrates (ever heard of the hippocratic oath?)

TRAIT THEORY: ORIGINS

William Sheldon’s Somatotypes (body types)

TRAIT THEORY: ORIGINS

18,000 diff erent traits in the dictionary

Personalities made up of:

#1: Cardinal traits: a pervasive trait that governs everything a person does.

Example: Mother Teresa

GORDON ALLPORT

#2: Central traits: traits expected of a person most of the time, usually a cluster of 5 – 7 descriptive terms.

Example: How would you MOM describe you?

#3: Secondary traits: situation-specific traits that help round out your personality (attitudes, specific behavior patterns, skills, preferences). Less important and more likely to change.

Example: What’s your favorite candy bar?

GORDON ALLPORT

NOW…THE BIG 5

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

JUNG TYPOLOGY TEST

Shortened version of MBTI

70 “Yes” or “No” questions

Objective test: How you answer the question determines the “strength” of that personality dimension.

“I like to be in crowds” Yes: extrovertNo: introvert

International Personality Item Pool

Measure personality traits associated with the Big 5.

Objective

Short form, 120 questions

IPIP-NEO

TYPE A & TYPE B PERSONALITIES

Which are you?

Complete Type A/Type B scale

What do you think?

YOUR PERSONALITY PROFILES

“There’s a sucker born every minute.”-P.T. Barnum

THE BARNUM EFFECT

When a person finds personal meaning in statements that could apply to many people.

HOW DO YOU SQUEEZE YOUR TOOTHPASTE?

Very descriptive – especially compared to handwriting and inkblot testing

Verifiable with dataObjective rather than subjective

Criticisms:

The person-situation controversy…do trait theorists underestimate the variability of behavior from situation to situation?

How do you account for situations in a trait test or a type test?

EVALUATION: TRAIT THEORY/TESTING