AP Psychology Unit 10: Personality Flashcards

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1
Q

Personality

A

An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

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2
Q

Psychodynamic Theories

A

Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

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3
Q

Psychoanalysis

A

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

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4
Q

Unconscious

A

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

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5
Q

Free Association

A

In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing. Freud believed that he could trace this line of thoughts and access the unconscious, where he could retrieve, review, and release painful unconscious memories.

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6
Q

Preconscious Mind

A

Latent parts of the brain that are readily available to the conscious mind, although not currently in use.

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7
Q

Id

A

A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

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8
Q

Ego

A

The largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

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9
Q

Superego

A

The part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations. Its demands often oppose the demands of the id

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10
Q

Psychosexual Stages

A

The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

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11
Q

Erogenous Zones

A

Distinct pleasure-sensitive areas on the body. During Freud’s psychosexual stages, pleasure-seeking energies focus on different erogenous zones

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12
Q

Oedipus Complex

A

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

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13
Q

Electra Complex

A

According to Freud, a girl’s sexual desires toward her father and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival mother

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14
Q

Psychosexual Stages: Oral

A

0-1.5 years
Pleasure centers on the mouth - sucking, biting, chewing

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15
Q

Psychosexual Stages: Anal

A

1.5-3 years
Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

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16
Q

Psychosexual Stages: Phallic

A

3-6 years
Pleasure zone is in the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings

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17
Q

Psychosexual Stages: Latency

A

6-puberty
A phase of dormant sexual feelings

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18
Q

Psychosexual Stages: Genital

A

Puberty on
Maturation of sexual interests

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19
Q

Identification

A

The process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos. Oftentimes, this process provided people with their gender identity

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20
Q

Fixation

A

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

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21
Q

Defense Mechanisms

A

In psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. All defense mechanisms function indirectly and unconsciously

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22
Q

Repression

A

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories. It is often incomplete, so urges may appear as symbols in dreams or as slips in casual conversation

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23
Q

Freudian Slips

A

An unintentional error in speech regarded as revealing subconscious feelings

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24
Q

Regression

A

Relating to an earlier psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

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25
Q

Reaction Formation

A

Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

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26
Q

Projection

A

Disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

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27
Q

Rationalization

A

Offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions

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28
Q

Displacement

A

Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

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29
Q

Sublimination

A

Transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives

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30
Q

Denial

A

Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

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31
Q

Neo-Freudians

A

A group of psychoanalysts who adopted Freud’s techniques (interviews) and accepted his personality structures (id, ego, and superego). They broke off from Freud in two ways:
1. They placed more emphasis on the conscious mind’s role in interpreting experience and in coping with the environment
2. They doubted sex and aggression were all-consuming motivations, trying to emphasize loftier motives and social interactions

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32
Q

Collective Unconscious

A

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traced from our species’ history. Modern psychologists doubt that experiences are inherited but they believe that shared evolutionary history shaped universal dispositions and that experience can leave epigenetic marks affecting gene expression.

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33
Q

Projective Tests

A

A personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger the projection of one’s inner dynamics

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34
Q

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

35
Q

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A

The most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

36
Q

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A

The most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

37
Q

False Consensus Effect

A

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors. This confirms Freud’s theory of projection, though it is less motivated by unconscious sexual drives and more motivated by the need to protect our self-image

38
Q

Terror-Management Theory

A

A theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death. Supports Freud’s idea that we unconsciously defend ourselves against anxiety

39
Q

Humanistic Theories

A

Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

40
Q

Hierarchy of Needs

A

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

41
Q

Self-Actualization

A

According to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

42
Q

Self-Transcendence

A

According to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

43
Q

Person-Centered Perspective

A

Rogers’ and Maslow’s idea that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies.

44
Q

Growth-Promoting Environments

A

Rogers believes that growth-promoting environments include:
1. Acceptance
2. Genuineness
3. Empathy

45
Q

Unconditional Positive Regard

A

A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

46
Q

Self-Concept

A

All of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I.” A positive self-concept allows us to act and perceive the world positively, and vice-versa

47
Q

Life Story Approach

A

A humanistic psychologist’s preference to engage in deep conversation with their clients to collect a rich narrative detailing their life history

48
Q

Trait

A

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

49
Q

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A

A popular personality test that sorts people into one of Carl Jung’s personality types. Even though most people agree with the personality they are classified as, a National Research Council report noted that the test’s use has outrun its validity as a job performance predictor

50
Q

Factor Analysis

A

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters (factors) of test items that tap basic components of a trait

51
Q

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

A

A test composed by Hans and Sybil Eysenck that measured personality on two dimensions: extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability

52
Q

Personality Inventory

A

A questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

53
Q

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

A

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes

54
Q

Empirically Derived Test

A

A test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups

55
Q

The Big Five Factors

A

Five major aspects of the personality as defined by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Neuroticism (emotional stability vs. instability)
Openness
Extraversion

56
Q

Conscientiousness

A

Disorganized, careless, impulsive –> organized, careful, disciplined

57
Q

Agreeableness

A

Ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative –> soft-hearted, trusting, helpful

58
Q

Neuroticism

A

Calm, secure, self-satisfied –> anxious, insecure, self-pitying

59
Q

Openness

A

Practical, prefers routine, conforming –> Imaginative, prefers variety, independent

60
Q

Extraversion

A

Retiring, sober, reserved –> sociable, fun-loving, affectionate

61
Q

Maturity Principle

A

As we age, we become more conscientious and agreeable and less neurotic

62
Q

Person-Situation Controversy

A

the question of which is more important in predicting behavior: one’s personality traits or their situations?

63
Q

Social-Cognitive Perspective

A

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context

64
Q

Behavioral Approach

A

Focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development

65
Q

Reciprocal Determinism

A

Interacting influences of behavior, internal condition, and environment

66
Q

Self

A

In contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

67
Q

Possible Selves

A

Your visions of the self you dream of becoming (rich, loved, admired) and of the self you fear becoming (unemployed, lonely, hated). Possible selves motivate our behavior and cause us to lay out specific goals

68
Q

Spotlight Effect

A

Ovrtestimsting others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

69
Q

Self-Esteem

A

One’s feelings of high or low self-worth

70
Q

Self-Efficacy

A

One’s sense of competence and effectiveness

71
Q

Dunning Krueger Effect

A

The principle that those who are most incompetent tend to perceive themselves as the most competent

72
Q

Self-Serving Bias

A

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably

73
Q

Narcissism

A

Excessive self-love and self-absorption

74
Q

Purposes of Self-Disparagement

A
  1. Sometimes self-directed put-downs are subtly strategic, eliciting reassuring strokes
  2. They may prepare a person for failure
  3. They help us learn from our mistakes
  4. It frequently pertains to one’s old self
75
Q

Defensive Self-Esteem

A

A fragile type of self-esteem that focuses on sustaining itself, making failure or criticism threatening. Defensive people respond to threats with aggression or anger

76
Q

Secure Self-Esteem

A

A less fragile form of self-esteem that is less contingent on external evaluations and focuses on one’s internal characeristics

77
Q

Individualism

A

Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributed rather than group identifications

78
Q

Collectivism

A

Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly

79
Q

Individualism vs. Collectivism: The Self

A

Individualists: View the self as independent and derived from individual traits
Collectivists: Viewed the self as interdependent and derived from their group

80
Q

Individualism vs. Collectivism: Life Task

A

Individualists: To discover and express one’s uniqueness
Collectivists: To maintain connections, fit in, and perform a role

81
Q

Individualism vs. Collectivism: What Matters

A

Individualists: “Me;” personal achievement and fulfillment, rights and liberties, self-esteem
Collectivists: “Us;” group goals and solidarity, social responsibilities and relationships, and family duty

82
Q

Individualism vs. Collectivism: Coping Methods

A

Individualists: To change reality
Collectivists: To accommodate to reality

83
Q

Individualism vs. Collectivism: Morality

A

Individualists: Defined by the individual (self-based)
Collectivists: Defined by social networks (duty-based)

84
Q

Individualism vs. Collectivism: Relationships

A

Individualists: Many, often temporary or casual. Confrontation is acceptable
Collectivists: Few, close and enduring. Harmony is valued