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Why are statistics useful in explaining group behavior but not reliable for explaining or predicting individual behavior?
This is the very nature of statistics. The simplest examples would be the measures of central tendency. The mean, or average, is one single number that can tell you something meaningful about any collection of "scale-level" data, regardless of how much data you have. You want to know something about the thing that is being measured, and no individual piece of data has meaning except as it affects the whole collection of data. Of course, the mean can't tell you a lot all by itself, but the following is a basic example of how the mean could be used. Someone doing educational research might want to know if a new teaching method in mathematics has had an effect on performance on a national, standardized math exam. She would compare the average (mean) performance on the standardized exam for students who took it after completing the oldmethod, with the average performance on the standardized exam for students who took it after completing the new method. There would be a need to control for many variables, and a lot more would have to be calculated than the means discussed. But if done carefully, the researcher could conclude with some degree of confidence that the new method had, or did not have, a significant affect on standardized exam performance. The performance of any individual (unless it was the researcher's daughter preparing to apply to MIT) would be of no particular interest to the researcher.
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Biographical characteristics in influencing individual behavior?
Biographical characteristics such as age, gender, education level, and cultural background can influence individual behavior by shaping perspectives, values, and preferences. These characteristics can impact how individuals perceive situations, make decisions, and interact with others, ultimately shaping their behavior in various contexts. Understanding these biographical characteristics can help in predicting and explaining individual behavior in different situations.
Are personality traits more useful than environmental influences for predicting behavior?
Personality traits and environmental influences both play important roles in predicting behavior. Personality traits provide insight into an individual's typical patterns of behavior, while environmental influences can shape behavior in response to external factors. Both factors should be considered when predicting behavior, as they can interact and influence each other in complex ways.
What is a behavioral force?
A behavioral force refers to the internal and external factors that influence an individual's behavior or actions. These forces can include psychological, social, environmental, and cultural factors that shape an individual's decision-making and actions. Understanding behavioral forces is important in psychology and sociology for predicting and explaining human behavior.
What are the goals of psychology with meaning?
The goals of psychology include understanding and explaining human behavior and mental processes, predicting future behavior based on current understanding, and applying this knowledge to enhance individual well-being and promote positive change. Psychology seeks to uncover the underlying mechanisms that drive behavior and thought, ultimately aiming to improve individuals' quality of life and overall mental health.
What theories are less concerned with the explanation for personality development and changing personality than they are with describing personality and predicting behavior based on description?
Trait theories are less focused on explaining the development of personality and more concerned with describing personality traits and predicting behavior based on these traits. Trait theories suggest that individuals have stable characteristics that influence their behavior across different situations. Examples of trait theories include the Big Five personality traits.
What psychologist takes the position that learning is essential in describing predicting controlling and explaining behavior?
Behavioral
Biographical characteristics in influencing individual behavior?
Biographical characteristics such as age, gender, education level, and cultural background can influence individual behavior by shaping perspectives, values, and preferences. These characteristics can impact how individuals perceive situations, make decisions, and interact with others, ultimately shaping their behavior in various contexts. Understanding these biographical characteristics can help in predicting and explaining individual behavior in different situations.
What is explaining behavior?
As a verb, "explaining behavior" is the act of using words to explain a behavior. As an adjective, "explaining behavior" is the observable behavior in which a person tends to explain her/himself.
Are personality traits more useful than environmental influences for predicting behavior?
Personality traits and environmental influences both play important roles in predicting behavior. Personality traits provide insight into an individual's typical patterns of behavior, while environmental influences can shape behavior in response to external factors. Both factors should be considered when predicting behavior, as they can interact and influence each other in complex ways.
The most significant individual risk factor for predicting later delinquency is?
The most significant individual risk factor for predicting later delinquency is a history of prior delinquent behavior. Research has consistently shown that individuals who have engaged in delinquent behavior in the past are more likely to continue such behaviors in the future. This pattern of behavior can contribute to a higher risk of future delinquency.
What is a behavioral force?
A behavioral force refers to the internal and external factors that influence an individual's behavior or actions. These forces can include psychological, social, environmental, and cultural factors that shape an individual's decision-making and actions. Understanding behavioral forces is important in psychology and sociology for predicting and explaining human behavior.
What did C Wright Mills most attribute to sociologists explaining individual behavior?
C. Wright Mills attributed the concept of "sociological imagination" to sociologists explaining individual behavior. This entails understanding how personal experiences are shaped by broader social forces and historical contexts, emphasizing the connections between individual lives and society as a whole.
How forces effect the behavior of matter?
Forces affect the behavior of matter by causing objects to accelerate, change direction, or deform. Forces like gravity, electromagnetic, and nuclear forces determine how particles interact and move within substances, influencing their properties and behavior. Understanding these forces is essential to predicting and explaining the behavior of matter on different scales.
What are the goals of psychology with meaning?
The goals of psychology include understanding and explaining human behavior and mental processes, predicting future behavior based on current understanding, and applying this knowledge to enhance individual well-being and promote positive change. Psychology seeks to uncover the underlying mechanisms that drive behavior and thought, ultimately aiming to improve individuals' quality of life and overall mental health.
What common element are all the contemporary approaches studying?
Contemporary approaches in psychology all study human behavior and mental processes. They aim to understand how individuals think, perceive, feel, and behave, and how these processes are influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.
What theories are less concerned with the explanation for personality development and changing personality than they are with describing personality and predicting behavior based on description?
Trait theories are less focused on explaining the development of personality and more concerned with describing personality traits and predicting behavior based on these traits. Trait theories suggest that individuals have stable characteristics that influence their behavior across different situations. Examples of trait theories include the Big Five personality traits.
What are the limitations of expectancy theory in predicting an individual's work effort and behaviour?
The expectancy theory ignores the central role that emotions play on effort and behavior (McShane and Von Glinow).
