Comparative Differential
and Personality Psychology
1. Concepts
2. Approaches
3. Measurement
Comparative Differential and Personality Psychology
- Measurement Methods
For more information see Uher,
2008a, 2008b,
2011, and www.primate-personality.net.
Measuring individuial-specific patterns of behaviour
Validating personality ratings for efficient assessments
of individuals
The Great Ape Personality Inventory (GAPI)
Measuring individual-specific patterns in behaviour
The primary method to study variations individual-specific patterns
empirically is their measurement in the individuals’
observable, spontaneous behaviour using ethological methods. This requires sufficient aggregation
at least over multiple observations. Aggregation is important because it
reduces the impact of behavioural fluctuations on individual behaviour and
allows to extract the individual's stable behavioural tendencies (Epstein, 1979,
1980). When sufficiently aggregated, individual differences and individual
profiles in
primate behaviour are considerably stable across time showing that their
individual-specific patterns (personality differences) can be measured reliably and at high face-validity
in observable behaviour (Uher et al.,
2008; Uher
& Asendorpf, 2008; Uher, in press a,b).
Validating personality ratings for efficient assessments
of individuals
Personality ratings capitalise on the human ability to aggregate many observations mentally
to form overall judgements (Funder, 1995, 1999). This facilitates large-scale data
collection, but renders ratings prone to bias and leaves their validity open to some extent.
To show what ratings measure at all in a given species, and whether they
really measure what they purport to measure, rating items must be validated
through systematic convergence with observable behaviour measures of
individual-specific patterns in nomological networks (Baumeister et al.,
2007; Uher, in press b; Uher & Asendorpf). This step is indispensable for nonhuman research that - in lack of
self-reports of the studied individuals - can only rely on human raters
that inherently access nonhuman species from their human perspective. Only
after successful validation in a species can ratings be used as efficient
tools for personality assessment in a studies (Uher, in press; Uher,
2008b; Uher
& Asendorpf,
2008).
| The Great Ape Personality Inventory (GAPI) The Great Ape Personality Inventory (GAPI; Uher, in press b; Uher & Asendorpf, 2008) is a psychometric instrument for assessments of individual-specific patterns of behaviour (personality differences) in Great Apes (bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans). The GAPI is based on the Behavioural Repertoire x Environmental Situations Approach (Uher, 2008a, 2008b), and thus represents a comprehensive assessment instruments for captive great apes. It is available in two complementary formats for behaviour descriptive ratings (GAPI-B) and for adjective ratings (GAPI-A). The two formats showed sufficient inter-rater agreement, test-retest stability over 5 -6 weeks on the single-item level both in variable-oriented analyses and in individual-oriented analyses. To establish the GAPI's validity for personality ratings in great apes, relations to observable behaviour were analysed systematically. They showed notable cross-method coherence from the variable-oriented as well as from the individual-oriented view. |
References:
- Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Funder, D. C. (2007). Psychology as the science of self-reports and finger movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior? Perspectives in Psychological Science, 2, 396–408.
- Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 281–302.
- Epstein, S. (1979). The stability of behavior: I. On predicting most of the people much of the time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1097–1126.
- Epstein, S. (1980). The stability of behavior: II. Implications for psychological research. American Psychologist, 35, 790–806.
- Funder, D. C. (2006). Towards a resolution of the personality triad: Persons, situations and behaviors. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 21–34.
- Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Funder, D. C. (2007). Psychology as the science of self-reports and .nger movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior? Perspectives in Psychological Science, 2, 396–408.
- Uher, J. (in press a). Individual behavioral phenotypes: An integrative meta-theoretical framework. Why 'behavioral syndromes' are not analogues of 'personality'. Developmental Psychobiology.
- Uher, J. (in press b). Personality in nonhuman primates: What can we learn from human personality psychology? In A. Weiss, J. E. King, & L. Murray (Eds.), Personality and behavioral syndromes in nonhuman primates. New York, NY: Springer.
- Uher, J. (2008a). Comparative personality research: Methodological approaches (Target article). European Journal of Personality, 22, 427-455. [pdf] DOI
- Uher, J. (2008b). Three methodological core issues in comparative personality research. European Journal of Personality, 22, 475-496. [pdf] DOI
- Uher, J., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2008). Personality assessment in the Great Apes: Comparing ecologically valid behavior measures, behavior ratings, and adjective ratings. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 821–838. [pdf] DOI
- Uher, J., Asendorpf, J. B., & Call, J. (2008). Personality in the behaviour of Great Apes: Temporal stability, cross-situational consistency and coherence in response. Animal Behaviour, 75, 99–112. [pdf] DOI