Psychology Chapter 2

Front 1

personality

Back 1

a distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual

Front 2

trait

Back 2

a characteristic of an individual, describing a habitual way of behaving, thinking, or feeling

Front 3

psychoanalysis

Back 3

a theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy developed by Sigmund Freud; it emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts

Front 4

psychodynamic theories

Back 4

theories that explain behavior and personality in terms of unconscious energy dynamics within the individual

Front 5

id

Back 5

in psychoanalysis, the part of personality containing inherited psychic energy, particularly sexual and aggressive instinsts

Front 6

libido

Back 6

in psychoanalysis, the psychic energy that fuels the life or sexual instincts of the id

Front 7

ego

Back 7

in psychoanalysis, the part of personality that represents reason, good sense, and rational self-control

Front 8

superego

Back 8

in psychoanalysis, the part of personality that represents conscience, morality, and social standards

Front 9

defense mechanisms

Back 9

methods used by the ego to prevent unconscious anxiety or threatening thoughts from entering consciousness

Front 10

psychosexual stages

Back 10

in Freud's theory, the idea that sexual energy takes different forms as a child matures, the stages are oral, anal, phallic (Oedipal), latency, and genital

Front 11

Oedipus comlex

Back 11

in psychoanalysis, a conflict occurring in the phallic stage, in which a child desires the parent of the other sex and views the same-sex parent as a rival

Front 12

collective conscious

Back 12

in Jungian theory, the universal memories and experiences of humankind, represented in the symbols, stories, and images (archetypes) that occur across all cultures

Front 13

object-relations school

Back 13

a psychodynamic approach that emphasizes the importance of the first two years of life and an infant's formative relationships, especially with the mother

Front 14

objective tests (inventories)

Back 14

standardized questionnaires requiring written responses; they typically include scales on which people are asked to rate themselves

Front 15

factor analysis

Back 15

a statistical method for analyzing the intercorrelations among various measures or test scores; clusters of measures or scores that are highly correlated are assumed to measure the same underlying trait, ability, or attitude (factor)

Front 16

epigenetics

Back 16

the study of stable changes in the expression of a particular gene that occur without changes in DNA

Front 17

temperaments

Back 17

psychological dispositions to respond to the environment in certain ways; they are present in infancy and are assumed to be innate

Front 18

heritability

Back 18

a statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in some trait that is attributable to genetic differences among individuals within a group

Front 19

behavioral genetics

Back 19

an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with the genetic bases of individual differences in personality, behavior, and abilities

Front 20

social-cognitive learning theory of personality

Back 20

a view that holds that traits result from a person's learning history and his or her expectations, beliefs, perceptions of events, and other cognitions

Front 21

reciprocal determinism

Back 21

in social-cognitive learning theory, the two-way interaction between aspects of the environment and aspects of the individual in the shaping of behavior and personality traits

Front 22

nonshared envrionment

Back 22

unique aspects of a person's environment and experience that are not shared with family members

Front 23

individualist cultures

Back 23

cultures in which the self is regarded as autonomous, and individual goals and wishes are prized above duty and relations with others

Front 24

collectivist cultures

Back 24

cultures in which the self is regarded as embedded in relationships, and harmony with one's group is prized above individual goals and wishes

Front 25

humanist psychology

Back 25

a psychological approach that emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential

Front 26

unconditional positive regard

Back 26

to Carl Rogers, love or support given to another person with no conditions attached

Front 27

existentialism

Back 27

a philosophical approach that emphasizes the inevitable dilemmas and challenges of human existence