PSYB30H3 Lecture Notes - Behaviorism, Falsifiability, Standardized Test
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Lecture 1
Introduction
Part I. Overview of PSYB30—Personality
•Can be found in syllabus
•Goal is to successfully describe individualistic differences; in terms of socio-
economic difference, propensity to engage in hard work…
•Concept of Personality Traits
oLevel I: Sketch of the Individual
General, internal, and comparative dispositions accounting for
the consistencies we perceive or expect in behavior across
situations and time
•Person-Situation Controversy [general]
•Heredity-Environment Controversy [environmental
influence]
•Continuity vs. Change of Traits over Time [stability]
Will be covered in weeks 1, 2, 3
oLevel II: Fill in the Details
Adaptations to the motivational, cognitive, and developmental
challenges that people confront across the life span
•Goals & Strivings []
•The Self & Social Cognition []
•Stages of Life-Span Development []
Will be covered in weeks 4, 5, 6
oLevel III: Integrating a Life
Internalized and evolving narratives of the self that integrate
past, present, and future to provide life with a sense of unity and
purpose
•Imagery, Theme, Character []
•Standards of Good Life-Story Form []
•Psychotherapy as Revision of the Life Story []
Will be covered in weeks 7, 8, 9
Part II. Scientific Theories
•Constructs, Theories, & Testable Hypotheses
oExplicitly defined – CONSTRUCTS
An idea that we use to make sense of the world
Not observable; can be used to
Hallmarks of psychological construct is that behavior is not
directly observable
Example: intelligence; we have access to people’s behavior and
thereby we can classify them as intelligent or not; used to make
sense of people’s behaviour
Explanatory variables we use to explain theories
Theories link constructs; these links are called correspondence
rules
oLinked by correspondence – RULES
This construct is related to that construct