PSY230 Midterm Example Answers-2
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University of Toronto *
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230
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Jan 9, 2024
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docx
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Example short answers:
Q1:
Isaiah is in his early forties. He is currently going through a difficult time in his life.
He recently lost his job. He didn’t really like the job, so he sees this as an
opportunity to find something better. Nonetheless, he is still feeling pretty down
about it and concerned not achieving what he has hoped to achieve at this point his
life. Not being able to work has also left him in a state of boredom and he spends
his days sitting on the couch watching television. He knows he should apply for jobs
but is not really sure what he wants to do. He has a daughter, but their relationship
is strained. He was not around much when his daughter was young because he had
trouble being close and intimate in his marriage, finding that he often pulled away,
which may be why he eventually divorced. He has been struggling to deal with
these problems and finds that he is using alcohol to cope.
Answer the following - make sure you use course content and relevant
terms/defining features of theories as you answer each question. Do not exceed 250
words in your answer (two to three sentences per question below)
I realized in
responding that 300 words as a limit would be more appropriate. I will check this for
questions on exam to ensure you have enough space for a suitable response.
:
What advice do you think Viktor Frankl would give Isaiah? Try to use all relevant
knowledge about Frankl's theories to explain the current state Isaiah is in. (3 marks)
Victor Frankl would most likely say that Isaiah’s struggles may be improved by finding meaning
in his life. He is struggling with relationships as evidenced by is divorce and lack of relationship
with his daughter, with his career (work productivity) as evidenced by his recent job loss, and he
is experiencing suffering as it explicitly notes this is a difficult time in his life. Handling his
suffering with integrity will allow him to find meaning through it, according to Frankl – perhaps
not using alcohol and reflecting on how he might grow from this experience. His boredom
suggests he may be experiencing an existential vacuum, and this may be why he is using alcohol
to cope.
What stage of development would Erickson say Isaiah is at - what is the conflict he
is resolving and why? How might is ability to resolve this impact the next stage of
his life? (3 marks)
Erickson would say Isaiah is in the generativity versus stagnation stage of
development which occurs during adulthood. During this stage of life, we
experience conflict between are ability to care for others (e.g., looking after
children) and create through work (generativity) and not being able to do this
(stagnation). Currently, Isaiah is struggling to do this as he is not able to actively
contribute to his daughter’s life and he is not employed. The example notes that he
is concerned about not achieving what he had hoped to at that time suggesting
feelings of stagnation. If he is not able to resolve this conflict, he may go into the
next stage which is
integrity versus despair feeling as though he did not accomplish what he
wanted or did not have a meaningful life. This may lead to despair.
After reading this, what type of attachment style do you think Isaiah might have?
Explain your reasoning. (2 marks)
I believe Isaiah has an avoidant attachment style as evidenced by trouble being
close and intimate and often pulling away. People with this attachment style are
high in fear of closeness to others but low on fear of abandonment, hence is fear of
intimacy and ability to pull away.
Q2
According to the podcast, what did Lee Ross argue was the key reason we see
consistency in personality? What was the provided explanation as to why this is the
case? What was Walter Mischel's argument regarding the relationship between
people and situations (e.g., where we see stability), and how is this different from
Lee Ross' explanation. Do not exceed 250 words.
Lee Ross argued that we see consistency in personality because of situations. People tend to be
in consistent situations, and it is the situation and social roles that a person occupies behaviour
Brings out their behaviour. He also recognized
that people change across situations
(might be a different person with your children than who you are at work), but ultimately it is
the situations that shapes people. Mishal i
nitially argued personality can be found in situation-
behaviour relationships. He argues in the podcast that the mind is what stands in between your
personality and the situations you are in - the mind contains expectations, beliefs, encodings, etc. which
impact how we see situations and what we do. And while there is some stability in the mind it can also
change.
This is different from Ross’ explanation as Mishel does put emphasis on internal processes which
influence how people respond to situations and acknowledges that these may be different across people
– so not all people will respond the same way in every situation. Therefore, it is not entirely the
constraints of the situation that determines our response but also our unique minds.
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