Ap Psych Unit 8

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personality

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an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and acting

"an individual's unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature"

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free association

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in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarassing

allows patients to trace the mental line from past to present

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psychoanalysis

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Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; techniques use in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

theory of personality and associated treatment

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unconscious

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reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

in preconscious awareness, we can get them to conscious awareness

Freud believed in repressed memories

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id

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reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

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ego

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the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality

operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

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superego

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the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement and for future aspirations

develops around age 4 or 5

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psychosexual stages

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the childhood stages of development during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital

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Oedipus complex

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according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

happens during the phallic stage when boys seek genital stimulation

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identification

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the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

superegos gain strength

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fixation

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according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

ex: someone orally deprived at a young age may fixate at the oral stage

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defense mechanisms

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in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

when the ego fears losing control of inner war between the id and superego

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regression

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defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psych energy remains fixated

first day of school, child may revert to thumb-sucking

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repression

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basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consiousness

repression underlies all other defense mechanisms

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reaction formation

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defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites

ex: "I hate Dad" becomes "I love him"; timidity becomes daring

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projection

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defense mechanism the offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

ex: saying "He doesn't trust me" may be a projection of the actual feeling "I don't trust him" or "I don't trust myself"

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rationalization

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defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

ex: say that they are drinking a lot just to be sociable

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displacement

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defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting our anger towards a safer outlet

anger at parents expressed by kicking a pet

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sublimination

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defense mechanism by which people re-channel their unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities

DaVinci painting of Madonna a sexual desire to be with mother

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denial

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defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities

dying patients may deny the gravity of their illness

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collective unconscious

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Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

derived from ancestors' experience

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projective test

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a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics

aim to provide a 'psychological X-ray'

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Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

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a projective test in which people express their inner feeling and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

one use of storytelling has been to assess achievement motivation

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Rorschach inkblot test

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the most widely use projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feeling by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

based off a childhood game

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self-actualization

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according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychologincal needs are mat and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

connected to self-transcendence (meaning, purpose, and communication beyond the self)

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unconditional positive regard

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according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

an attitude of grace, an attitude that values us even knowing out failings

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self-concept

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all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "who am I?"

if positive, tend to act and perceive positively, same with negative

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trait

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a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Freud more concerned with describing traits

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personality inventory

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an questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

analyze personality

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Minnesota Multiphastic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

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the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many other screening purposes

one of creators is Starke Hathaway

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empirically derived test

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a test developed by testing a pool of items and selecting those that discriminate between groups

large pool of items

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personal control

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the extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless

controlled by vs. controlling the environment

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external locus of control

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the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate

feel more depressed

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internal locus of control

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the perception that you control your own fate

achieve more in school, act more independently, enjoy better health, and fell less depressed

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positive psychology

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the scientific study of human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

also concerned with weakness and damage

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self

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in contemporary psych, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

underlying reasearch

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spotlight effect

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overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders

thinking someone is looking at you and noticing you more than they actually are

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self-esteem

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one's feelings of high or low self-worth

high self esteem pays dividends

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self-serving bias

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a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

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individualism

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giving priority to one's own goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

greater priority to independent self

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collectivism

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giving priority to the goals of one's group and defining one's identity accordingly

greater priority to the interdependent self