Personality Theory Final Exam (Study Guide)

The final exam will be administered on SATURDAY 5/2 from 10 – 12 AM in our REGULAR CLASSROOM. Your application paper is also due at the time of the final exam.

You will need a blue book for the exam AND A SCANTRON. A portion of the final is not comprehensive (that covering Rogers and a synopsis of trait theory), whereas the majority of the exam is comprehensive and requires knowledge of the other theories that we discussed. The exam will contain 40 multiple choice questions and several short(ish) answer questions.

Short Answers (new material). 3 will appear on the exam, you will choose 2 (5 points each)

1. Describe Rogers’ concepts of the self and incongruence, and discuss how dysfunction arises according to his theory.

2. Describe and define the three necessary and sufficient conditions for personality change described by Rogers.

3. Describe and define Rogers’ concept of Conditions of Worth. Discuss the role that they play in dysfunction or psychopathology.

4. Compare and contrast Allport, Cattell, and Eysenck’s trait models of personality. How do they differ in terms of their approaches to identifying traits and their definitions of personality?

5. Describe Allport’s definition of personality and define the two types of traits in his theory?

6. Describe Cattell’s definition of personality and discuss the importance of factor analysis in his theory and the advancement of the trait approach.

7. Describe Eysenck’s view of personality and discuss the four characteristics that he thought were essential for a personality “factor.”

8. Identify and briefly describe the “Factors” that comprise the Big Five Model of personality.

Short(ish) Answers (Comprehensive). 1 will appear on the exam and will be worth 10 points

1. Compare and contrast the definition of personality across the theories that we have discussed this semester..

2. As we have seen throughout the semester, sometimes things go array in personality development. Using the knowledge that you have gained briefly discuss how problems arise according to the theories that we have addressed this semester.

Multiple Choice Concepts

· The comprehensive portion of the multiple choice questions will examine your knowledge of major and critical concepts associated with each of the theorists that we covered. Think of this as preparing a brief summary of the major points of the theory. I would suggest knowing the following for each theorist:

A. Major personality structures or processes associated with each

(e.g., Freud’s 3 part topographical model of mind, etc)

B. What motivates the individual according to each (e.g., Adler’s striving, Freud’s unconscious impulses and defense mechanisms)

C. How would each theorist define personality?

D. Any major constructs associated with the theorist (e.g., Klein’s splitting and projective identification, Sullivan’s dynamism, Cattell’s source trait, etc).

E. Any critical stages in their theories? (e.g., Erikson’s identity, Sullivan’s preadolescence, etc).

The material addressed by the multiple choice questions is covered by the questions on study guides 1 and 2