Psychology 3051 Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality Lecture 18.

Psychology 305 1

Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality

Lecture 18

Psychology 305 2

Phenomenological Perspective on Personality, continued

7. What therapeutic approach did Rogers develop to help people become fully functioning? (continued)

8. How effective is Rogers’ therapeutic approach?

Intelligence

1. What is intelligence?

2. How is intelligence assessed?

Lecture 18

Questions That Will Be Answered In Today’s Lecture

Psychology 305 3

• Rogers maintained that a therapist must satisfy 3 conditions in order to create an environment in which a patient can solve his or her own problem:

1. The therapist must exhibit genuineness in his or her relationship with the patient. Rogers referred to

such genuineness as therapist congruence.

What therapeutic approach did Rogers develop to

help people become fully functioning? (continued)

Psychology 305 4

2. The therapist must express unconditional positive regard for the patient—that is, the therapist must ensure that the patient is aware that his or her positive regard is not contingent upon any conditions of worth.

3. The therapist must display empathetic understanding of the patient—that is, the therapist must attempt to understand the patient’s internal frame of reference. Empathetic understanding is communicated to the patient by restating the feelings and contents of his or her statements.

Psychology 305 5

• Rogers identified 7 stages that characterize the process of therapeutic change:

1. The patient is unwilling to communicate about him- or herself, refuses to own his or her feelings, and is rigid and resistant to change.

2. The patient is able to discuss external events and other people. However, the patient continues to

refuse to own his or her feelings.

3. The patient is able to discuss his or her feelings but only in the past or future tense. S/he avoids

discussing present feelings.

Psychology 305 6

5. The patient is able to express feelings in the present, without hesitation. The patient begins to trust his

or her own judgments and make new discoveries about him- or herself.

4. The patient begins to express feelings in the present. However, s/he does so with hesitation, distrust, and

fear. The patient begins to recognize incongruities between his or her self-concept and experience.

Psychology 305 7

7. The patient is able to generalize in-therapy experiences to the world beyond the therapeutic setting. At this stage, the patient becomes fully functioning.

6. The patient is able to allow into awareness those experiences that were previously denied or distorted. The patient begins to develop unconditional positive

self-regard. At this stage, a “physiological loosening” is observed.

Psychology 305 8

How effective is Rogers’ therapeutic approach?

• Rogers was an empiricist who continually sought empirical support for his theory and therapeutic approach.

• Among the studies that he conducted to assess the effectiveness of his therapeutic approach was the “Chicago Study” (Rogers and Dymond, 1954).

Psychology 305 9

Hypotheses: Following client-centered therapy,

(a) patients experience smaller discrepancies between their “actual” and “desired” selves.

(b) patients assimilate into their self-concept experiences that were previously denied or distorted.

(c) patients’ exhibit greater social concern and emotionalmaturity.

Psychology 305 10

Method:

(a) Measures:

Q-Sort (Each patient sorted 100 self-referent cards into groups to describe the self, the desired self, and the ordinary person).

The Self-Other Attitude Scale.

The Willoughby Emotional Maturity Scale.

Psychology 305 11

Therapy 6-12 Month Follow-Up

6-12 Month Follow-Up

Design (simplified):

Controlgroup: “Normal” individuals who volunteered to take part in a personality study.

Testing Points

Therapy group: Individuals who sought therapy.

Psychology 305 12

Major Findings:

(a) Patients in the therapy group showed smaller discrepancies between their actual and desired

selves after therapy than before. In contrast, participants in the control group showed almost no change in the discrepancies between their actual and

desired selves at follow-up.

(b) Patients in the therapy group showed significant changes in their self-concept (i.e., self-beliefs) after therapy. In contrast, they showed little change in their perception of the ordinary person after therapy.

Psychology 305 13

(c) Patients in the therapy group rated themselves as more socially-concerned and emotionally mature after therapy than before. In contrast, participants in the control group did not report any significant changes in their social concern or emotional maturity at follow-up.

(d) Even after therapy, patients in the therapy group did not attain levels of psychological adjustment

comparable to those exhibited by participants in the control group.

Psychology 305 14

General Conclusion:

In general, people receiving client-centered therapy show some improvement. However, this improvement tends to fall short of the optimal. The typical person receiving client-centered therapy does not appear to approach Stage 7 (i.e., become fully functioning). Instead, the typical patient appears to advance to Stage 3 or 4 of the process of therapeutic change.

Psychology 305 15

• Other researchers have assessed the effectiveness of client-centered therapy. In general, their findings have been consistent with those produced by the Chicago Study.

E.g., Butler and Haigh (1954): Used the Q-sort procedure to assess participants’ actual and desired selves. A therapy group and a control group were assesed, each comprised of 25 participants.

Psychology 305 16

r between actual and desired self at Time 2 (after therapy): .34

r between actual and desired self at Time 1 (before therapy): .01

Therapy group:

Control group:

r between actual and desired self at Time 1: .58

r between actual and desired self at Time 2: .59

Psychology 305 17

• There is no universally accepted definition of intelligence.

• However, existing definitions tend to emphasize one of the following:

(a) The ability to adapt to new situations or deal with a broad range of situations.

(b) The ability to learn or the capacity for education.

(c) The ability to understand and use abstract concepts or a broad range of concepts.

Intelligence: What is intelligence?

Psychology 305 18

• There is substantial controversy among personality psychologists as to whether or not intelligence should be considered a personality variable.

• This controversy is evident in the debate among Big 5 theorists regarding the meaning of Factor V.

Psychology 305 19

E.g., John (1994) describes the factor as “intelligence.”

His measure asks participants to take the perspective of another individual and rate themselves on items such as:

The individual is a clear thinker.

The individual is intelligent.

The individual is a deep thinker.

The individual is ingenious.

Psychology 305 20

In contrast, Costa and McCrae (1989) describe the factor as “openness to experience.”

Their measure asks participants to rate themselves on items such as:

I am intrigued by the patterns I find in art and nature.

I enjoy trying new and foreign foods.

Sometimes when I am reading poetry or looking at a work of art, I feel a chill or wave of excitement.

Psychology 305 21

• Theorists who believe that intelligence should not be considered a personality variable argue that

intelligence is an ability, whereas traditional personality variables are characteristics.

• In support of their argument, these theorists point to 2 differences between measures of intelligence and measures of personality:

Psychology 305 22

1. Measures of intelligence are based on judgment responses.

E.g., Is the United States south of Canada?

In contrast, measures of personality are based on sentiment responses.

E.g., Do you enjoy talking to friends?

Psychology 305 23

2. Measures of intelligence are maximum performance tests in that individuals cannot score higher than their maximum ability allows.

In contrast, measures of personality allow for individuals to answer items in ways that make them appear to have more of a characteristic than they actually have.

Psychology 305 24

• These differences suggest that intelligence and traditional personality characteristics can and should

be meaningfully differentiated. However, there are at least 2 reasons why it seems inappropriate to

isolate intelligence from the study of personality:

(a) Like traditional personality characteristics, intelligence is a stable psychological attribute that has a broad influence on behaviour.

(b) Presumably, intelligence and personality have a mutual influence upon one another.

Psychology 305 25

How is intelligence assessed?

• The dominant view of intelligence assessment today is largely based on the work of 3 individuals:

1. Charles Spearman: Theoretical Model of “g”

In the early 1900s, Spearman began to study the correlations between mental tests. He invariably found that they were positively correlated with

one another.

Psychology 305 26

Using factor analysis, Spearman examined the underlying structure of the correlations among mental tests and found that they reduced to a single factor.

Spearman referred to this factor as “g” for “general factor” or “general intelligence.” He came to

believe that g reflects the essence of intelligence.

Psychology 305 27

Although Spearman did not provide a specific definition of g, the mental tests that are most highly correlated with g tend to involve some form of abstract reasoning.

In fact, the most widely accepted measure of g is a test of visual reasoning referred to as Raven’s

Progressive Matrices (RPM).

RPM assess the ability to recognize order in apparent disorder. They measure one’s ability to think clearly, to make sense of complex data, and to reproduce information.

Psychology 305 28

E.g. of RPM (lower level of difficulty)

Correct response

Psychology 305 29

E.g. of RPM (higher level of difficulty)

Correct response

Psychology 305 30

Spearman’s discovery that intelligence is best conceived of as a single broad entity led researchers to try to develop measures that assess

intelligence using a single score.

2. Alfred Binet: The IQ Test

In 1916, Binet developed the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. This test was designed to measure the ability to learn using a single score referred to as the intelligence quotient or IQ score.

Psychology 305 31

The test includes verbal and nonverbal tasks.

Examples of verbal tasks:

Vocabulary tests, verbal recall of digit sequences, comprehension tests.

Examples of nonverbal tasks:

Memory tests involving the arrangement of beads, paper cutting and folding exercises, copying exercises.

Psychology 305 32

An individual’s raw test score is converted to an IQ score by performing a linear transformation. The resulting IQ score is compared to a distribution of scores obtained for other individuals of the same age in order to identify the individual’s relative level of intelligence.

The comparative distribution is standardized to have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16.

Psychology 305 33

SD units -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

34.13%

13.59%

2.14% 2.14%

13.59%

34.13%

IQ Score 68 84 100 116 132 14853

Percent of population within this portion of the distribution

.13% .13%

Psychology 305 34

Example of the computation of an individual’s percentile rank with respect to IQ:

Beatrice obtained an IQ score of 116. At what percentile rank is she with respect to intelligence?

Psychology 305 35

SD units -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

34.13%

13.59%

2.14% 2.14%

13.59%

34.13%

Beatrice’s IQ Score 116

Beatrice is at the 84th percentile for intelligence.

.13% .13%

84.12%

Psychology 305 36

IQ Score Label

< 25 Profoundly retarded

25 - 39 Severely retarded

40 - 54 Moderately retarded

55 - 69 Mildly retarded

70 - 79 Borderline

IQ Score Label

80 - 89 Dull

90 - 110 Average

111 - 119 Bright

120 - 129 Superior

> 129 Gifted

Binet used the following system to classify individuals with different IQ levels:

Psychology 305 37

3. David Wechsler: The WPPSI, WISC, WAIS

Wechsler believed that g subsumes 2 distinct mental abilities: Verbal and performance intelligence.

g

Verbal Intelligence

Performance Intelligence

He developed 3 intelligence tests to assess g and these 2 subordinate mental abilities. His tests are the most widely used measures of intelligence today.

Psychology 305 38

3. Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI, 1967; for 3 – 6 years of age).

2. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC, 1949; for 7 – 15 years of age).

1. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS, 1939, 1955; for 16 years of age and over).

Each test is designed for a distinct age group:

Psychology 305 39

Example: The WAIS

Verbal intelligence subscale includes: general knowledge items, vocabulary items, digit recall sequences, arithmetic items, and comprehension items.

Performance intelligence subscale includes: picture arrangement items, picture completion items, block design items, and object assembly (i.e. jigsaw puzzle) items.

Psychology 305 40

A. Picture arrangement

Psychology 305 41

Psychology 305 42

On the basis of their responses, individuals are given 3 IQ scores: a verbal IQ score, a performance IQ score, and a global IQ score that is thought to reflect g.

Like Binet’s IQ score, the individual’s raw test scores are converted to IQ scores by performing linear

transformations. The resulting IQ scores are compared to distributions of scores obtained for other individuals of the same age. In this case, the comparative

distributions are standardized to have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.

Psychology 305 43

Phenomenological Perspective on Personality, continued

7. What therapeutic approach did Rogers develop to help people become fully functioning? (continued)

8. How effective is Rogers’ therapeutic approach?

Questions That Were Answered In Today’s Lecture

Intelligence

1. What is intelligence?

2. How is intelligence assessed?