PSYC2014 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Electrodermal Activity, South Dakota Highway 10, Stanine

• School: University of Sydney
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC2014
• Professor: Niko Tiliopoulos

Document Summary

Psychological measurements: the process of assigning numbers (ex: psychometric test scores, blood pressure, electrodermal activity) to a person, in such a way that some attributes of the person being measured are faithfully represented by some properties of these numbers. You cannot perform calculations with words gotta convert words into numbers. It cannot measure the whole person (physically and psychologically), it assesses (or should assess) a single psychological attribute. Personality exists and is real (concepts vs constructs) Personality can be represented by numbers in similar (but not identical) ways to (most) physical properties / entities / phenomena (ex: what is neuroticism squared?) Regardless of the mathematical concept, the construct stays the same. Length and distance is a concept that will exist whether we exist or not. Degrees celsius is the mathematical constructs that exists to represent the concept of heat. Individual differences in personality possess a relative, either or both temporal and spatial (situational) stability, or predictable variability (change)