Psychological Attributes and Their Assessment

Jul 1, 2024

Lecture on Psychological Attributes

Points to Note

  • Listen carefully to each term and remember. Use all major terms in the answers.

Main Topics

  1. Individual Differences

    • Everyone is different in their physical and psychological characteristics.
    • Primary types: Physical attributes, mental attributes, patterns of behavior.
  2. Situational Factors

    • Behavior depends on the situation. As the situation changes, behavior also changes.
    • Example: Conduct at home and in the office.
  3. Assessment of Psychological Attributes

    • Psychological attributes: Intelligence, aptitude, personality, interests, values.
    • Formal assessment: by standardized and objective methods.

Use of Psychological Testing

  • Interview: To extract information.
  • Case Study: Detailed study of one subject.
  • Observation: Scientific observation.
  • Self-report: Factual information.

Intelligence

  • Various qualities of the mind.
  • Multi-dimensional: not confined to one area.
  • Intelligence to perform tasks.
  • Aptitude, personality, and values.

Definitions of Intelligence

  • Definitions by Bachelor, Oxford Dictionary.

Two Approaches of Intelligence

  • Psychometric and Information Processing.
  • Nature and nurture: The role of intelligence.

Testing Theories

  • IQ and mental age.
  • Normal curve: Population intelligence distribution.
  • Intellectual deficiency and giftedness.

Intelligence Tests

  • Individual/group test.
  • Verbal/non-verbal test.
  • Formal/informal assessment.
  • Cultural bias test.

Role of Culture

  • Culture affects intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence

  • Understanding and monitoring one's own and others' emotions.
  • This intelligence is more important in life.

Creativity

  • Ability to produce something new and unique.
  • No direct relation to intelligence.

Major Theories

  • Multiple Intelligences Theory: 8 types of intelligence.
  • Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory: Three types of intelligence.
  • PASS Model: Planning, attention, simultaneous successive processing.

Note: For more information, see the detailed video of the chapter.