All AP Psychology Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #62 : Personality
What is an instance of reaction formation?
When someone forms a rationalization of an unpleasant event in order to reduce its stressful impact
Forming an improper reaction due to displacement of certain emotions onto a different object
When someone consistently displays affection towards another, but unconsciously dislikes them
When someone reacts in a regressive or infantile way to a situation
When someone consistently displays affection towards another, but unconsciously dislikes them
Reaction formation is one of the more subtle defense mechanisms and can be a bit difficult to define. Essentially, one may feel an emotion unconsciously, and then express behaviors that reflect its opposite. For instance, one may continually express altruistic beliefs, but in actuality be motivated by selfishness. One may feel animosity towards another, but express affection and love towards them.
Example Question #63 : Personality
Which term describes the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors?
Regression
Reciprocal determinism
Refraction
Repression
Cycle of evocation
Reciprocal determinism
Reciprocal determinism depicts the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors. Thus, we choose to place ourselves in certain environments based on our personality, and those environments influence our behavior and the way we think.
Example Question #1 : Personality Changes And Growth
Which of the following is NOT an example of a projective test?
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
Picture arrangement test
Word association test
Draw-A-Person test
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
Projective tests, such as the TAT, Word association, Rorschach inkblot, and Draw-A-Person, are used to examine hidden emotions and internal conflicts. These methods are rooted in psychoanalytic theories of personality. The MMPI is a widely-used psychometric personality test used for diagnoses, job screenings, or legal reasons.
Example Question #64 : Personality
Which of the following is not part of Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of personality?
Penis Envy
Ectomorphs
Reaction Formation
Oral Fixation
The Superego
Ectomorphs
All of these are part of Freud's theory except for ectomorphs. Ectomorphs are a part of William Sheldon's (largely discredited) Somatotype theory of personality in which there are three body types, each being associated with certain personality traits.
Example Question #65 : Personality
Sally blames her failing test grade on bad luck. Sally has a(n) __________.
reciprocal locus of control
external locus of control
self-actualized personality
internal locus of control
determined locus of control
external locus of control
When people have an external locus of control, it means that they are likely to believe that luck and outside forces determine what happens. This is the opposite of an internal locus of control, which means that one feels that he/she is responsible for that which happens to him/her. The other answer choices are not terms referring to loci of control.
Example Question #2 : Personality Changes And Growth
Which of the following is true about the id, ego, and superego?
The ego acts as a mediator between the id and the superego
The superego acts as a mediator between the id and the ego
The superego always overrides the id and ego.
The id acts as a mediator between the ego and the superego
None of the other answers
The ego acts as a mediator between the id and the superego
The id desires immediate gratification. The superego accounts for the moral component of a person's personality makeup. The ego mediates between the id and superego.
Example Question #3 : Personality Changes And Growth
Which two personality traits on the Big Five make a person more likely to experience post-traumatic growth?
Extraversion and introversion
Introversion and openness to new experience
Neuroticism and extroversion
Extraversion and openness to new experience
Extraversion and openness to new experience
Extraversion and openness to new experience are personality traits that are often associated with one's ability to achieve post-traumatic growth. Extraversion would theoretically lead someone to seek social support to construct a meaning from their experiences. The openness to new experience disposes someone to accept and embrace change, and while this doesn't necessarily help in negative situations, it allows a person the flexibility to deal with unexpected events.
Example Question #73 : Personality
Which of the following is a proper definition for post-traumatic growth?
The term refers to Victor Frankl's theory on finding meaning from suffering even in the most extreme circumstances.
The term refers to one's ability to not only endure a traumatic event but find the benefits from having gone through it.
The term refers to the innovation that can be found in misery.
The term refers to a disorder that results from going through a severely traumatic event whose symptoms can be panic attacks and depressive episodes.
The term refers to one's ability to not only endure a traumatic event but find the benefits from having gone through it.
Post-traumatic growth is a term that grew from the field of positive psychology. It differs from resilience, which refers to the ability to endure traumatic events and recover, in the sense that the traumatic event can make the person grow in a significant manner. In other words, the person grows and gains from the experience as opposed to simply recuperating.
Example Question #74 : Personality
What is the nomothetic view of personalities?
None of these
That individuals are unique past the point of comparison and possess certain traits that others will not
That personalities are fully developed and do not change past the age of thirty
That individual personalities can be compared to one another according to certain traits
That individual personalities can be compared to one another according to certain traits
The nomothetic view of personalities asserts that people's personalities are highly comparable. The most popular and commonly known extension of this view is the "Big Five" which claims people's personalities are a composite of five different traits measured along a continuum. This view starkly contrasts the idiographic view, which claims that no one individual's personality can truly be compared to the other.
Those who support the nomothetic view often do self-report surveys to collect their data.
Example Question #4 : Personality Changes And Growth
Do people change or stay the same throughout the different developmental stages of life?
Their beliefs stay the same throughout life but everything else changes
They change, though their most basic dispositions do not change
Their personalities and habits stay the same
They change radically throughout every stage, including those in late adulthood
They change, though their most basic dispositions do not change
As humans, we are constantly trying to adapt to our circumstances which disposes us to almost a constant state of change. There are also developmental stages that every person goes through that can and do make marked changes in one's personality, beliefs, values, habits, and physical appearance. This is the field of developmental psychology.
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