Trait theory

Is an approach to studying human personality that identifies and measures the degree to
which certain personality traitsrecurring patterns of thought and behavior, such as

anxiousness, shyness, openness to new thingsexist from individual to individual

A trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to
behave in certain ways. The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical

areas in the study of personality.

The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed of these broad

dispositions.
Trait theory is focused on identifying and measuring these individual personality
characteristics.

Gordon Allports Trait Theory 1936

went through a dictionary and picked out more than 4,000 words that describe the

human personality
He then smaller his scope of human personality into 3 categories:
1. Cardinal Traits: These are traits that dominate an individuals whole life, often to
the point that the person becomes known specifically for these traits. People with
such personalities often become so known for these traits that their names are
often synonymous with these qualities. Consider the origin and meaning of the
following descriptive terms: Freudian, Machiavellian, narcissistic, Don Juan,
Christ-like, etc. Allport suggested that cardinal traits are rare and tend to develop
later in life.
2. Central Traits: These are the general characteristics that form the basic
foundations of personality. These central traits, while not as dominating as
cardinal traits, are the major characteristics you might use to describe another
person. Terms such as intelligent, honest, shy and anxious are considered
central traits.
3. Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes or
preferences and often appear only in certain situations or under specific
circumstances. Some examples would be getting anxious when speaking to a
group or impatient while waiting in line.

Raymond Cattells (1940s): Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire / 16PF assessment

method.

Due to Gordon Allports 4000 personality traits, Raymond Cattell decided to narrows it

down to something more manageable.

Through factor analysis method, Cattell found 16 main personality traits that determined

our personalitiescharacteristics like warmth, dominance and apprehension.

According to Cattell, we all have these main traits, and our personalities are determined
by the degree to which each is present.

Eysencks Three Dimensions of Personality

1. Introversion/Extraversion:
Introversion involves directing attention on inner experiences, while extraversion relates
to focusing attention outward on other people and the environment. So, a person high in
introversion might be quiet and reserved, while an individual high in extraversion might
be sociable and outgoing.
2. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability:
This dimension of Eysencks trait theory is related to moodiness versus eventemperateness. Neuroticism refers to an individuals tendency to become upset or
emotional, while stability refers to the tendency to remain emotionally constant.
3. Psychoticism:
Later, after studying individuals suffering from mental illness, Eysenck added a
personality dimension he called psychoticism to his trait theory. Individuals who are high
on this trait tend to have difficulty dealing with reality and may be antisocial, hostile, nonempathetic and manipulative.

Big Five personality traits (acronyms OCEAN or CANOE)

The Big Five personality traits / five factor model (FFM)

It suggests five broad dimensions used by some psychologists to describe the human

personality and psyche.

This five-factor model of personality represents five core traits that interact to form
human personality

1. Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious):

This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait
also tend to have a broad range of interests. People who are high in this trait tend to be more
adventurous and creative. People low in this trait are often much more traditional and may
struggle with abstract thinking.
2. Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless):
Standard features of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse
control and goal-directed behaviors. Those high on conscientiousness tend to be organized and
mindful of details.
3. Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved):
is characterized by excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of
emotional expressiveness. People who are high in extroversion are outgoing and tend to gain
energy in social situations. People who are low in extroversion (or introverted) tend to be more
reserved and have to expend energy in social settings.
4. Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. analytical/detached):
This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection and
other prosocial behaviors. People who are high in agreeableness tend to be more cooperative
while those low in this trait tend to be more competitive and even manipulative.
5. Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident):
is a trait characterized by sadness, moodiness, and emotional instability. Individuals who are
high in this trait tend to experience mood swings, anxiety, moodiness, irritability and sadness.
Those low in this trait tend to be more stable and emotionally resilient.
Strengths of trait theory

Its fairly understandable and straightforward

Its objective: Trait theory usually relies on hard data, or statistical analysis that much
personality theory doesnt have on its side.

Criticisms of trait theory

it does not address how or why the traits develop (because it is objective)
Traits are often poor predictors of behavior.
While an individual may score high on assessments of a specific trait, he or she may not

always behave that way in every situation.

Someone can be analyzed using trait theory to come up with key indicators of how they

tend to behave, but that behavior, in practice, might be quite different.

For example, a subject might rate heavily toward introversion, the tendency to want to be
internal and avoid overly social situations, but next Friday night find herself having a
lovely time in a crowded party. People dont always behave according to their

tendencies, depending on the situation

Trait theories do not address how or why individual differences in personality develop or
emerge.

Sources:
http://traittheory.com/
https://www.verywell.com/trait-theory-of-personality-2795955
https://www.verywell.com/the-big-five-personality-dimensions-2795422
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits

Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) Theory

Referred to as simply "information processing."

Information processing theories focus on how people:
i. attend to environmental events,

ii. encode information to be learned and relate it to knowledge in memory,

iii. store new knowledge in memory, and
iv. retrieve it as needed.
Thus, learners are viewed as active seekers and processors of information.

The information processing approach is based on a number of assumptions, including:

1. information made available by the environment is processed by a series of processing
systems (e.g. attention, perception, short-term memory);
2. these processing systems transform or alter the information in systematic ways;
3. the aim of research is to specify the processes and structures that underlie cognitive
performance;
4. information processing in humans resembles that in computers.
CIP's Memory Model

Its proposed memory system

Uses the computer metaphor with its inputs and outputs.
CIP theory focuses on what happens in between input and output, i.e., on information
processing.

Pay attention not only to the basic components or memory stages:

sensory memory;
short-term memory (STM); and
long-term memory (LTM),
but also to the processes that keep information "alive" or help transfer it from one memory stage
to the next:
attention;
rehearsal;
chunking;
encoding; and
retrieval.

Figure 1 ; CIP's Memory Model

The Components of Memory
Above displays the 3 basic components of CIP's proposed
1. memory system - sensory memory (SM)
Holds information associated with the senses (e.g., vision, hearing) just long enough for
the information to be processed further (mere seconds).
2. short-term memory (STM)
Functions as a temporary working memory, whereby further processing is carried out to
make information ready for long-term storage or for a response. Working memory holds
information for a limited amount of time and holds a limited amount of information.
3. long-term memory (LTM)
Represents our permanent storehouse of information, capable of retaining an unlimited
amount and variety of information.

The Flow of Information During Learning

Information is transformed or processed as it passes from one stage of memory to the

next.
However, processing doesn't really occur in the unidirectional, linear way implied by the
diagram. For example, the mental representation one forms of a sentence s/he reads is
determined both by the information itself (data-driven, bottom-up processing) and by

one's prior knowledge (conceptually driven, top-down processing).

Additionally, in some way, an executive monitor keeps track of the information flow and

makes decisions about processing priorities.

This may occur in a conscious, strategic fashion or in an unconscious, automatic way.

Keep these two things in mind:

The computer provided a concrete metaphor for human information processing and,

thus, a language for describing it.

For learning and instruction to be meaningful and relevant, it must build upon the
learner's prior knowledge and help the learner to make connections between what they
already know and what they are about to learn.

Selective Attention: refers to the learner's ability to select and process certain information
while simultaneously ignoring other information. Several factors influence attention:

The meaning that the task or information holds for the individual

Similarity between competing tasks or sources of information

Task complexity or difficulty (influenced also by prior knowledge)
Ability to control attention (which differs with age, hyperactivity, intelligence, and learning
disabilities)

Our sensory memory acts as a filter, by focusing on what is important, and forgetting what is
unnecessary. Sensory information catches our attention, and thus progresses into working
memory, only if it is seen as relevant, or is familiar.
Short-Term Memory (STM) / Working memory

At this stage, concepts from LTM (long-term memory) will be activated for use in making

sense of the incoming information.

STM has limited capacity: Seven bits of information (7 2) have been shown to

constitute the memory span for a great variety of materials.

However, each bit of information can vary tremendously in size.
Hence, working memory capacity may be increased through creating larger bits, the

process known as chunking.

Accordingly, learning tasks should be organized so that they can be easily chunked by

the learner.
Unrehearsed information will be lost from working memory in about 15 to 30 seconds.
To prevent the loss and ensure that information is transferred to LTM, 2 processes are
necessary:

rehearsal
encoding

Rehearsal

Maintenance rehearsal refers to the repetition of information in order to maintain it in

STM for some designated period of time.

Maintenance rehearsal is not enough for complex or meaningful information to reach

LTM.
This can be accomplished through elaborative rehearsal, otherwise known as encoding.

Encoding

Refers to the process of relating incoming information to concepts and ideas already in
memory in such a way that the new material is more memorable.
Various encoding schemes include:
Organization, e.g.:
grouping information into categories
outlines
hierarchies

concept trees
Mnemonics
Imagery

Which approach is best depends upon the learners and the material to be learned.

Retrieval of Information from LTM

The process of retrieval from LTM involves bringing to mind previously learned information, to
either
(a) understand some new input or
(b) make a response. Making a response may involve either recall or recognition.
Recall

learners must retrieve previously stored information with no cues or hints to help them

remember
Cued recall tasks are those in which a hint or cue is provided to help learners remember
the desired information.

Recognition: involves a set of pregenerated stimuli (e.g., multiple-choice questions) presented

to learners for a decision or judgment.
Retrieval Cues
The process of retrieval can be greatly influenced by the cues available to learners at test time.
For example, the encoding specificity principle states that whatever cues are used by a learner
to facilitate encoding will also serve as the best retrieval cues at test time.

SOURCES:
https://psysc613.wikispaces.com/Information+Processing+Theory
https://www.learning-theories.com/information-processing-theory.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/information-processing.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_processing_theory
http://www.expertlearners.com/cip_theory.php