Personality Glossary
Table of Contents
List of Terms
A-D
E-G
H-M
N-Q
R-S
T-Z
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This page contains a list of definitions of terms related to personality. Visitors may also wish to see the
Personality Self-Quiz
and the
Personality Courses
.
Acquisition Behavior
--behavior that results in the addition of a thing or event to a situation.
Activation
--activity of the visceral brain responsible for the fight-or-flight response in the face of danger; possible basis for neuroticism.
Agreeableness
--tendency to be a nice person.
Arousal
--activity in the cortico-reticular loop of the brain's ascending reticular activating system (ARAS); possible basis for extraversion.
Antecedent Events
--conditions present prior to the occurrence of a behavior.
Avoidance Behavior
--behavior that results in the removal of an ongoing event, or prevents a future event from occurring.
Behavioral Approach System (BAS)
--brain system that underlays the tendency to seek out pleasant stimuli.
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
--brain system that underlays the tendency to avoid unpleasant stimuli.
Biological Preparedness
--evolved predisposition to learn a behavioral contingeny.
Circumplex
--circular arrangement of variables in two-dimensional space, including all possible blends of the two dimensions.
Conscientiousness
--tendency to set high goals, to accomplish work successfully, and to behave dutifully and morally.
Consequence
--contingent result of a behavior.
Disinhibition
--tendency to act without regard for consequences.
Environment, Non-Shared
--environment that is unique to the individual, such as the individual's peer group.
Environment, Shared
--environment that is shared by siblings reared in the same family, such as parents' education and socioeconomic status.
Escape Behavior
--behavior that terminates an ongoing event.
Existentialism
--philosophical approach that emphasizes individual freedom and responsibility in the face of limitations, including the ultimate limitation of death.
Extinction
--procedure of terminating the contingency between a behavior and its previously contingent consequence; the consequence is either removed or is available non-contingently.
Extraversion
--trait associated with sociability and positive affect.
Factor
--hypothetical construct that explains the correlations among observed variables, such as items on a test.
Factor Loading
--correlation of an item with a factor.
General Factor
--usually a factor on which all items have a positive factor loading, such as the factor known as general intelligence (
g
).
Heritability
--degree to which variation among individuals can be attributed to genetic factors.
Humanism
--term loosely applied to North American psychologies that emphasize the self and self-actualization.
Impulsivity
--personality trait characterized by acting on impulse, nonplanning, liveliness, and risk-taking.
Negative Punishment
--procedure of removing an event or thing from a situation--or preventing a future event from occurring--contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior decreases.
Negative Reinforcement
--procedure of removing an event or thing from a situation--or preventing a future event from occurring--contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior stays the same or increases.
Neuroticism
--trait associated with emotional instability and negative affect.
Novelty-Seeking
--tendency to seek out-of-the-ordinary experiences.
Openness to Experience
--tendency to be intellectual, interested in the arts, emotionally aware, and liberal.
Phenomenology
--philosophical approach that emphasizes subjective experience, and assumes that "existence precedes essence."
Positive Manifold
--all-positive correlation matrix, which results in (but is not identical to) a general factor.
Positive Punishment
--procedure of adding an event or thing to a situation contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior decreases.
Positive Reinforcement
--procedure of adding an event or thing to a situation contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior remains unchanged or increases.
Psychoticism
--also called toughmindedness; trait associated with nonconformity, disagreeablenss, and nonconscientiousness.
Punisher
--event or thing added to or removed from a situation that is contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior decreases.
Reinforcer
--event or thing added to or removed from a situation that is contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) or the related behavior remains unchanged or increases.
Reliability
--the correlation of a test with a test just like it.
Response
--behavior or group of behaviors to be analyzed--target behavior.
Risk Factor
--condition that increases the likelihood of a particular outcome.
Sensation-Seeking
--tendency to seek exciting experiences.
Situational Demands
--events, conditions, or expectations associated with a particular setting.
Surgency
--trait characterized by being outgoing, socially dominant, and high on positive affect; see also extraversion.
Trait
--temporally stable, cross-situational individual difference.
Transference
--condition in which a patient feels and behaves toward a therapist as if the therapist were the patient's parent.
Validity
--the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
Vulnerability
--increased likelihood of a particular outcome.
Personality Glossary Links
Personality Glossary: Websites Elsewhere
A Glossary of Freudian Terminology
This is a glossary of psychoanalytic concepts. By Douglas A. Davis.
Glossary of Measurement Terms
This is a glossary of basic concepts in tests and measurements. By Harcourt, Inc.
Glossary of Terms for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
This is a glossary of concepts used in behaviorism. By Edward A. Wasserman.
Mirriam-Webster Online Language Center
This is a free on-line dictionary and thesaurus. By Mirriam-Webster.
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Last modified October 2002
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