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AmbassadorDragon695
In Chapter 11, you learned about personality assessment, and in…
In Chapter 11, you learned about personality assessment, and in Chapter 12, you learned about personality assessment methods (including objective, projective, and behavioral methods). For this homework assignment, you will examine the sensation-seeking scale, and you will connect information you have learned to write up a discussion of the sensation-seeking scale to gain firsthand experience in thinking critically about psychological tests. There is an adapted sensation-seeking scale included as an attachment to this assignment that you should use in working on this homework assignment.
For this assignment, you will turn in a write-up (2-4 pages) discussing the sensation-seeking scale. In your write-up, you will address the two elements constituting a good test (and other relevant information from the course) and how they relate to the sensation-seeking scale. Demonstrate your understanding of what you learned in this course about what makes a good test; it will be a good place to start in terms of including expected information on this assignment, but this is an opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned by discussing other important information covered about testing throughout the course. You will also have a paragraph briefly discussing your score on the sensation-seeking scale. You can use outside resources (e.g., journal articles, books, websites, etc.). You may NOT use direct quotes (in other words, you are expected to put the ideas into your own words and then cite the source of those ideas).
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Adapted Zuckerman Sensation- Seeking Scale:
Please answer these questions using the following scale:
1 = Definitely No
2 = No, Not Really
3 = Can’t Say Either Way
4 = Yes With Reservations
5 = Yes, For Sure
_____ 1. If you have a happy home there is not much more you need in life.
_____ 2. Happily married people should never feel lonely. *
_____ 3. If I can choose I always prefer to stay in a motel or hotel when on holidays rather than camp out.
_____ 4. I wouldn’t change my job unless it is absolutely necessary. *
_____ 5. I would like to hitchhike across the country.
_____ 6. I have tried marijuana or would like to
_____ 7. I would like to try some of the new drugs that produce hallucinations.
_____ 8. I would like to make friends in some of the “far out” groups like artists and hippies.
_____ 9. I would like to meet some persons who are homosexual (men or women)
_____ 10. I would like to have new and exciting experiences even if they are a little frightening, unconventional or illegal
_____ 11. I often enjoy flouting irrational authority.
_____ 12. I sometimes like to do crazy things just to see the effect they have on others
The number circled is the item score except in the case of the items above marked “*”. To get the item score for these, the number circled must be subtracted from 6. As the name implies, the Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS) measures one’s need for a high level of stimulation. Sensation seeking involves the active pursuit of experiences that many people would find very stressful. Marvin Zuckerman (1979) believes that this drive for sensation is a general personality trait that leads people to seek thrills, adventures, and new experiences.
The version you completed is a briefer, revised version of the original scale. The test-retest reliabilities are respectable and there is plenty of evidence to support the validity of the scale. For example, studies show that high sensation seekers appraise hypothetical situations as less risky than low sensation seekers and are more willing to volunteer for an experiment in which they will be hypnotized. The scale also shows robust positive correlations with measures of change seeking, novelty seeking, extraversion, and impulsiveness. Research also shows that SSS scores tend to decline as we get older.
The norms presented below are based on percentiles reported by Zuckerman and colleagues for a sample of 62 undergraduates. Although males generally tend to score a bit higher than females on the SSS, the differences are small enough to report one general set of averaged norms. Remember, sensation-seeking scores tend to decline with age. So, if you are not in the modal college student age range (18-23), then these norms may be a bit high.
NORMS:
High Score: 44- 60
Intermediate Score: 28 – 43
Low Score: 12 – 27
