After reading Chapter 1, you should be able to:

1. Express your own definition of personality.
2. Differentiate theory from (a) philosophy, (b) speculation, (c) hypothesis, and (d) taxonomy.
3. Defend the need for more than one theory.
4. Show how an understanding of the various theorists' life story is related to their theory.
5. Explain the relationship between theory and observations.
6. List and explain the criteria of a useful theory.
7. Explain why falsifiability is a positive characteristic of a theory.
8. Discuss various components for a concept of humanity.
9. Define reliability and validity and explain why both concepts are important in personality research.