15: Personality Psychology Flashcards
What was the historical understanding of the personality?
To have a personality, you must have something wrong with you
Disposition was the more common term
What was the view of the personality in the 30s?
It had many meanings depending on the topic and the context
Questions over valid measures of personality were raised and which were the most useful
What is the nomothetic appoach?
Basic, generalisable dimensions of the personality that can be used to talk about cause and effect amoung people in general
What are some examples of the nomothetic approach being used to study personality?
Personality and IQ testing
Cattell and Eysenck both developed personality tests
Big 5
What is the idiographic approach?
Knowing individuals in depth and disregarding nomothetic approaches which lack in depth and meaning
What is the idea of functional autonomy?
A positive view of the ego and it’s abilities to manage conflicts in our unconscious
What were Jung’s major contributions?
Argued that the unconscious doesn’t have to be sexually motivated
Analytic psychology and the collective unconscious
Word association tests and reaction times are evidence of unconscious conflicts
What is the thematic apperception test?
Participants are asked to talk about unclear photos and develop a story. The plot of the story reflects how you think about things in your head
Who came up with the thematic apperception test?
Murray and Morgan
What is the Rorschach inkblot test?
How you interpret inkblots will diagnose any mental illnesses
What kind of things were the Rorschach test used for?
Diagnosing schizophrenia
Military screening in WW2
Clinical psychology
Diagnosing homosexuality
What is humanistic psychology?
Focused on helping people acheive their potential
What therapy did Rogers come up with?
Client-centred therapy
Unconditional positive regard
Who were the main psychologists in the Freedom v Determinism debate?
Rogers and Skinner
What theory did Maslow come up with?
Hierarchy of needs as a theory of human motivation
