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109 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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traits
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relatively enduring predispositions that influence our behavior across many situations
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nomothetic approach
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approach to personality that focuses on identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all individuals
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idiographic approach
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approach to personality that focuses on identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences within a person
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molecular genetic studies
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investigations that allow researchers to pinpoint genes associated with specific personality traits
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somatogenic
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physiologically caused
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catharsis
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feeling of relief following a dramatic outpouring of emotion
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psychogenic
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psychologically caused
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psychic determinism
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the assumption that all psychological events have a cause
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id
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reservoir of our most primitive impulses, including sex and aggression
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pleasure principle
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tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification
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ego
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psyche's executive and principle decision maker
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reality principle
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tendency of the ego to postpone gratification until it can find an appropriate outlet
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superego
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our sense of morality
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defense mechanisms
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unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety
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reaction-formation
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transformation of an anxiety-provoking emotion into its opposite
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projection
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unconscious attribution of our negative characteristics to others
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displacement
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directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target onto a safer and more socially acceptable target
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rationalization
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providing a reasonable-sounding explanation for unreasonable behaviors or failures
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repression
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motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses
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denial
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motivated forgetting of distressing external experience
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regression
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the act of returning psychologically to a younger, and typically simpler and safer, age
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intellectualization
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avoiding emotions associated with anxiety-provoking experiences by focusing on abstract and impersonal thoughts
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identification with the aggressor
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process of adopting the characteristics of individuals we find threatening
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sublimation
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transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admirable goal
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erogenous zone
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sexually arousing zone of the body
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oral stage
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psychosexual stage that focuses on the mouth
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anal stage
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psychosexual stage that focuses on toilet training
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phallic stage
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psychosexual stage that focuses on the genitals
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Oedipus complex
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conflict during phallic stage in which boys supposedly love their mothers romantically and want to eliminate their fathers as rivals
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Electra complex
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conflict during phallic stage in which girls supposedly love their fathers romantically and want to eliminate their mothers as rivals
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penis envy
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supposed desire of girls to possess a penis
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latency stage
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psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious
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genital stage
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psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses awaken and typically begin to mature into romantic attraction toward others
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non-Freudian theories
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theories derived from Freud's model, but that placed less emphasis on sexuality as a driving force in personality and were more optimistic regarding the prospects for long-term personality growth
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style of life
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according to Adler, each person's distinctive way of achieving superiority
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inferiority complex
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feelings of self-esteem that can lead to overcompensation for such feelings
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collective unconscious
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according to Jung, our shared storehouse of memories that ancestors have passed down to us across generations
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archetypes
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cross-culturally universal emotional symbols
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object relations theorists
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follows of Freud who emphasized children's mental representations of others
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social learning theorists
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theorists who emphasize thinking as a cause of personality
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locus of control
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extent to which people believe that reinforces and punishers lie inside of outside of their control
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self-actualization
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drive to develop our innate potential to the fullest possible extent
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conditions of worth
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according to Rogers, expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behavior
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incongruence
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inconsistency between our personalities and innate dispositions
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peak experiences
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transcendent moments of intense excitement and tranquility marked by a profound sense of connection to the world
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factor analysis
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statistical technique that analyzes the correlations among responses on personality inventories and other measures
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Big Five
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five traits that have surfaced repeatedly in factor analyses of personality measures: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience
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structured personality tests
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paper-and-pencil tests consisting of questions that respondents answers in one of a few fixed ways
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Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
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widely used structured test designed to assess symptoms of mental disorders
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empirical/data-based method of test construction
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approach to building tests in which researchers begin with two or more criterion groups, and examine which items best distinguish them
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face validity
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extent to which respondents can tell what the items are measuring
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rational/theoretical method of test construction
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approach to building tests that requires test developers to begin with a clear-cut conceptualization of a trait and then write items to assess that conceptualization
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projective tests
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tests consisting of ambiguous stimuli that examinees must interpret or make sense of
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projective hypothesis
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hypothesis that in the process of interpreting ambiguous stimuli, examinees project aspects of their personality onto the stimulus
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Rorshach Inkblot Test
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projective test consisting of ten symmetrical inkblots
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incremental validity
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extent to which a test contributes information beyond other, more easily collected, measures
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Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
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projective test requiring examinees to tell a story in response to ambiguous pictures
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graphology
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psychological interpretation of handwriting
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P.T. Barnum effect
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tendency of people to accept high base rate descriptions as accurate
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zygote
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fertilized egg
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developmental psycholoy
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study of how behavior changes over time
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post hoc fallacy
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false assumption that because one event occurred before another event, it must have caused that event
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cross-sectional design
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research design that examines people at different ages at a single point in time
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cohort effects
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effects observed in a sample of participants that result in individuals in the sample growing up at the same time
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longitudinal design
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research design that examines development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time
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gene-environment interaction
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situation in which the effects of genes depend on the environment in which they are expressed
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nature via nurture
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tendency of individuals with certain genetic predispositions to seek out and create environments that permit the expressions of those predispositions
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gene expression
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activation or deactivation of genes by environmental experiences throughout development
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prenatal
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prior to birth
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blastocyst
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ball of identical cells early in pregnancy that haven't yet begun to take on any specific function in a body part
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embryo
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second to eighth week of prenatal development, during which limbs, facial features, and major organs of the body take form
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fetus
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period of prenatal development from ninth week until birth after all major organs are established and physical maturation is the primary change
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tetratogens
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environmental factors that can exert a negative impact on prenatal development
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motor behaviors
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bodily motions that occur as a result of self-initiated force that moves the bones and muscles
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cognitive development
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study of how children learn, think, reason, communicate, and remember
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constructivist theory
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Piaget's theoretical perspective that children construct an understanding of their world based on observations of the effects of their behaviors
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assimilation
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Piagetian process of absorbing new experience into current knowledge structures
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accommodation
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Piagetian process of altering a belief to make it more compatible with experience
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sensorimotor stage
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stage in Piaget's theory characterized by a focus on the here and now without the ability to represent experiences mentally
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object permanence
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the understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view
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preoperational stage
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stage in Piaget's theory characterized by the ability to construct mental representations of experience, but not yet perform operations on them
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egocentrism
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inability to see the world from others' perspectives
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conservation
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Piagetian task requiring children to understand that despite a transformation in the physical presentation of an amount, the amount remains the same
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concrete operations stage
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stage in Piaget's theory characterized by the ability to perform mental operations on physical events only
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formal operations stage
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stage in Piaget's theory characterized by the ability to perform hypothetical reasoning beyond the here and now
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scaffolding
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Vygotskian learning mechanism in which parents provide initial assistance in children's learning by gradually remove structure as children become more competent
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zone of proximal development
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phase of learning during which children can benefit from instruction
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theory of mind
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ability to reason about what other people know or believe
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stranger anxiety
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a fear of strangers developing at 8 or 9 months of age
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attachment
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the strong emotional connection we share with those to whom we feel closest
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imprinting
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phenomenon observed in which baby birds begin to follow around and attach themselves to any large moving object they see in the hours immediately after hatching
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contact comfort
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positive emotions afforded by touch
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mono-operation bias
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drawing conclusions on the basis of only a single measure
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temperament
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basic emotional style that appears early in development and is largely genetic in origin
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average expectable environment
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environment that provides children with the basic needs for affection and discipline
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group socialization theory
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theory that peers play a more important role than parents in children's social development
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self-control
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the ability to inhibit an impulse to act
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gender identity
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individual's sense of being male or female
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gender roles
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behaviors that tend to be associated with being male or female
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adolescence
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the transition between childhood and adulthood commonly associated with the teenage years
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primary sex characteristics
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the reproductive organs and genitals that distinguish the sexes
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secondary sex characteristics
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sex-differentiating characteristics that don't relate directly to reproduction, such as breast enlargement in women and deepening voices in men
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menarche
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the start of menstruation
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spermarche
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boys' first ejaculation
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identity
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our sense of who we are, and our life goals and priorities
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psychosocial crisis
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dilemma concerning an individual's relations to other people
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midlife crisis
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supposed phase of adulthood characterized by emotional distress about the aging process and an attempt to regain youth
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empty-nest syndrome
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alleged period of depression in mothers following the departure of their grown children from the home
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menopause
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the termination of menstruation, marking the end of a woman's reproductive potential
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