Introduction to Personality Summer Class 114 S

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Introduction to Personality Summer Class 114 S

• Emily Butler
• Corinna Löckenhoff

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Todays Class

• Introductions
• What is personality?
• How are personality psychologists different from
  laypeople?
• What are the main questions that personality
  psychologists are interested in?
• What will be covered in this class?

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Introductions

• Name
• Background
• where from?
• student status?
• previous classes in psychology?
• What does he/she hope to get out of the class?
• Interesting fact that illustrates an aspect of
  his/her personality?

4
While watching the film,

• What do Tonys problems tell us about
  personality?
• What does he have too much of?
• What is he lacking?
• How does this affect the way he interacts with
  others and others interact with him?

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What is Personality?

• Enduring traits, or characteristics of a person
  that account for consistent patterns of thoughts,
  emotions, and behaviors, and their underlying
  mechanisms
• Differs from, but interacts with, the situation

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Personality Psychologists

• Attempt to understand why we are the way we are,
  by looking at the entire person and by using a
  variety of methods and theoretical approaches
• Focus on the following aspects of personality
• units - what?
• determinants - how?
• dynamics - why?
• potentials - what if?
• Follow established procedures to ensure that our
  observations are accurate and repeatable

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Main Issues of Interest

• What is the basic nature of people?
• Is human behavior determined by things internal
  or external to the person?
• How consistent is your personality across
  situations and time?
• Are we aware of our internal states and behavior?
• Do we have control over our internal states and
  behavior?
• To what extent is our present and future behavior
  determined by our past behavior?

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Course Objectives

• Define personality
• Understand various theoretical approaches to
  personality
• Measure personality variables
• Evaluate empirical research in personality
• Appreciate current challenges and
  re-conceptualizations in personality psychology
• Describe applications of personality psychology

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Expectations

• Ground rules
• Participation Attendance
• Written exercises
• Midterm and Final
• Term paper
• Special Circumstances

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Grading

• Participation and attendance (10)
• Written reactions to readings (15)
• Midterm and (noncumulative) final (55)
• Term Paper(20)
• Extra credit for experiment participation or
  extra paper ( 3 of final grade)