594 Part VI Learning-Cognitive Theories
Key Terms and Concepts
∙ (^) Basic to Kelly’s theory is the idea of constructive alternativism, or the
notion that our present interpretations are subject to change.
∙ (^) Kelly’s basic postulate assumes that all psychological processes are
directed by the ways in which we anticipate events. Eleven corollaries
derive from and elaborate this one fundamental postulate.
∙ (^) The construction corollary assumes that people anticipate future events
according to their interpretations of recurrent themes.
∙ (^) The individuality corollary states that people have different experiences
and therefore construe events in different ways.
∙ (^) The organization corollary holds that people organize their personal
constructs in a hierarchical system, with some constructs in superordinate
positions and others subordinate to them. This organization allows
people to minimize incompatible constructs.
∙ (^) Kelly’s dichotomy corollary presumes that all personal constructs are
dichotomous; that is, people construe events in an either-or manner.
∙ (^) His choice corollary states that people choose the alternative in a
dichotomized construct that they see as extending their range of future
choices.
∙ (^) The range corollary assumes that constructs are limited to a particular
range of convenience; that is, they are not relevant to all situations.
∙ (^) The experience corollary holds that people continually revise their
personal constructs as the result of experience.
∙ (^) The modulation corollary maintains that some new experiences do not
lead to a revision of personal constructs because they are too concrete or
impermeable.
∙ (^) The fragmentation corollary recognizes that people’s behavior is
sometimes inconsistent because their construct system can readily admit
incompatible elements.
∙ (^) Kelly’s commonality corollary states that, to the extent that we have had
experiences similar to other people’s experiences, our personal constructs
tend to be similar to the construction systems of those people.
∙ (^) The sociality corollary states that people are able to communicate with
other people because they can construe other people’s constructions. Not
only do people observe the behavior of another person but they also
interpret what that behavior means to that person.
∙ (^) Kelly’s fixed-role therapy calls for clients to act out predetermined roles
continuously until their peripheral and core roles change as significant
others begin reacting differently to them.
∙ (^) The purpose of Kelly’s Rep test is to discover ways in which people
construe important people in their lives.