Applied Psychology Flashcards
Define psychosomatic. How can it affect somebody?
A psychosomatic reaction is where an illness is exacerbated by a mental state.
For example, stressful situations lead to the secretion of stress hormones which can lead to death
GAD (anxiety) may lead to cardiovascular events which may lead to heart problems.
Psychogenic death = death caused by physiological shock, fatal drop in B.P from fear
What are psychodynamics and psychodynamic perspectives?
Psychodynamics are the workings between the conscious and subconscious mind, proposed by sigmund freud.
Psychodynamic = relating the to unconscious mind, which includes our repressed desires and traumas and make up for our personalities and motivations.
Define psychoanalysis and what it often includes.
Psychoanalysis is the field of psychology proposed by sigmund freud.
Free association = revelation of subconscious mechanisms through analysing the immediate expressions of thought; saying what comes to mind immediately
Hypnosis = hypnotising the patient to reveal the hidings of their subconscious
Dream Analysis = analysing the content of dreams to reveal subconscious workings
Object relations theory = early experiences with caregivers during childhood shape outlook on others and ourselves; proper upbringing leads to spontaneous and confident selves
What is behaviourism? What is radical behaviourism? What is cognitive behaviourism?
Behaviourism = we are products of our environment.
radical behaviourism = we are solely products of our environment and no other factors come into play
cognitive behaviourism = experiences + environment influence what we expect and how we behave; an example is when an incel gets rejected they will avoid any further attempts to not get rejected again
What is the humanistic approach in psychology?
Emphasizes free will and encourages having a meaningful life. Amplifies the significance of human relationships, and most of all self efficiency.
The most influential figure is carl rogers,
The goal of person centric humanistic therapy is to:
- create the conditions for maximum personal growth
- eliminate feelings of distress
- raise self-esteem
- raise self awareness
The three conditions which must be met in humanistic therapy are to:
- Unconditional positive regard: even if you are against what the client is doing, you must give them non-judgemental support.
- Genuineness: have a genuine interest in the client; if you can’t, find the closest thing you care about
- Empathy: show emapthy; be very present in the conversation
How can you look at something from a cognitive perspective?
From the perspective of cognitive processing; memory, perception, attention, planning, reasoning
What is Socialisation?
The process of being integrated in a culture and the norms of the people around you.
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals released by the nerve cells which allow them to communicate with one another.
What three characteristics does personality need to have in order to be considered a “personality”?
- Consistent behaviour
- Stable behaviour
- Unique to the individual
What is the psychoanalytic theory of libido?
Libido is psychic energy which is always longing for release either directly or indirectly.
Directly = sexual activities Indirectly = recreational activities such as painting
What is the freudian slip?
known as parapraxis, when you say one thing and you accidentally reveal what is happening in the subconscious.
evidence is to be taken with a grain of salt
What are the three structures of consciousness relating to psychodynamics?
SUPEREGO
EGO
ID
ID: unconscious, present at birth, irrational,
operates on the Pleasure Principle; disregard consequences and seek hedonism
EGO: contact with reality, suppresses ID for control, Reality Principle; allows the ID to release itself at convenient times
SuperEgo: morality,
What are some psychodynamic ego defence mechanisms?
Defence mechanism: distortions of reality created by the ego to protect the person from reality and resolve emotions, all to protect their self-esteem.
Ego defence mechanisms are all unconscious apart from repression, which involves the conscious effort to do.
- Compensation; overshadow bad with another good to cope
- Denial; refuse to accept the existence of bad
- Displacement; displace feelings about bad in a way which lets you deal with them unlike direct confrontation to cope
- Identification; cope with bad by becoming bad
- Introjection; cope with bad by internalising ideas which disallow for bad
- Projection; see your bad in others to cope
- Rationalization; logically and coldly process the bad
- Reaction Formation; usually an extension of denial, behaving like the opposite of how they feel/are
- Regression; cope with bad by acting younger and more innocent
- Repression; refuse to feel the effects of bad
- Sublimation; socially acceptable displacement, take bad and let out your feelings in a socially acceptable way
Define the term intrapsychic.
Referring to psychological processes inside the person.
What are the Level 1 pathological psychodynamic ego defence mechanisms?
Pathological defence mechanisms erase the need to cope with reality by pathologically distorting it.
Pathological expressions of psychodynamic defence mechanisms make the person look insane. These are psychotic and are common in people with psychosis.
Common in healthy children before age of 5.
Delusional projection; firm belief in the implications of projection.
Denial
Distortion; distortions of reality ranging from mild (ugly self, ugly others), major (autistic fantasies, projective identification), dysregulation (psychotic delusions)
Extreme projection
What are the Level 2 “immature” psychodynamic ego defence mechanisms?
Seen in insecure adults, healthily expected in ages 3-15.
Used to cope with threatening and uncomfortable reality.
Level 2 psychodynamic defence mechanisms lead to inability to mature and cope with reality effectively.
Very often present in people with personality disorders.
Projection Schizoid fantasies Hypochondrias Passive aggressive behaviour Acting out Blocking Regression Introjection Somatization
What are hypochondriacs?
People who live under the irrational fear of having a serious undiagnosed medical condition. Delusional hypochondria is when the person rejects clear diagnostics tests and continue to believe that they are suffering from a condition.
What are Level 3 “Neurotic” psychodynamic ego defence mechanisms?
Common in adults.
Have short term advantages by distorting reality, but can cause long term problems in relationships when used as the primary way to cope with reality.
Intellectualization Repression Displacement Reaction formation Dissociation Controlling Externalization Inhibition Rationalization Sexualization
What are the Level 4 “Mature” psychodynamic ego defence mechanisms?
Common among mature, stable and secure adults.
Adapted through the years of maturity and are suited for a well adjusted adult lifestyle.
Helps cope with reality in a healthy way which helps set people up for success.
Altruism
Humour
Sublimation
Suppression
A person says: “My donny is not an alcoholic, he’s a social drinker!”
Denial. That person is exhibiting a pathological psychodynamic ego defence mechanism which distorts their reality to make them feel better. It can be called pathological denial.
Blocking or disowning thoughts which may be painful or may lead to emotional distress.
A person with diabetes eats a snickers bar every lunch.
Denial. That person is exhibiting a pathological psychodynamic ego defence mechanism which distorts their reality to make them feel better. It can be called pathological denial.
Blocking or disowning thoughts which may be painful or may lead to emotional distress.
A person with severe abdominal pain says they’ll wait it out and go to the doctor in a few days.
Denial. That person is exhibiting a pathological psychodynamic ego defence mechanism which distorts their reality to make them feel better. It can be called pathological denial.
Blocking or disowning thoughts which may be painful or may lead to emotional distress.
What are the three levels of pathological distortion defence mechanisms?
Distortion: pathological reshaping of reality to accommodate person.
- minor; distortions in perception of self, body or others which may be used to maintain self-esteem, which can also be reduced to different modes-
- Devaluation: exaggerated negative qualities to self or others
- Idealization: exaggerated positive qualities to self or others
- Omnipotence: acting as if self is special or powerful
- major; major misattribution in self-image
- Autistic fantasies; excessive daydreaming to cope
- Projective identification; falsely attributing another bad things they themselves are doing, however believe themselves to be correct as they believe their actions are justified
- dysregulation; severe breaks from reality, psychotic, dangerous
- Delusional projection; psychotic and exaggerated delusions to others
- Psychotic denial; dangerously impaired denial of reality
- Psychotic distortions; dangerously distorted perception of reality
A person believes that all people named Barry are going to simultaneously come together and slash them to death.
Psychotic delusion. That person is exhibiting a dysregulated pathological psychodynamic ego defence mechanism which severely distorts their reality. It can be called a psychotic delusion.
A woman is cheating on their boyfriend because she believes that he is going to cheat on her anyway, so he ends up cheating on her when he finds out and she continues to cheat.
Projective identification. That person is exhibiting a major pathological psychodynamic defence mechanism which distorts their reality. It can be called a major distortion of reality.
That person may have an unhealthy outlook on men; perceiving all of them as cheaters, which she may be using the cheating she induced to justify her actions. She may be attempting to circumvent what to her is an inevitable heartbreak by cheating first and projecting that his cheating, later to identify with the cheating she induced.
A person believes that they are a grotesque, putrid looking gremlin.
Minor devaluation. That person is exhibiting a minor pathological psychodynamic defence mechanism which distorts their reality. It can be called a minor distortion of reality.
A closeted gay person becomes an anti-queer activist online.
Reaction formation. That person is exhibiting an immature psychodynamic defence mechanism which distorts their reality. It can be reaction formation
To cope with homophobia, the closeted homosexual became homophobic to do the polar opposite of their uncomfortable feelings.
A closeted gay person accuses their friends of being homosexuals.
Projection. That person is exhibiting an immature psychodynamic defence mechanism which distorts their reality. It can be called simple projection.
To cope with being a homosexual in a homophobic environment, the closeted homosexual began accusing their friends of being gay.
A person blubbers and groans like a child in front of their spouse.
Regression. That person is exhibiting an immature psychodynamic defence mechanism which distorts their reality. It can be called regression.
The person attempts to return to an earlier libidinal phase where they would feel safe, relaxed and have their needs met.
What is the difference between a healthy and pathological psychodynamic defence mechanism?
An ego defence mechanism becomes pathological only when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behavior such that the physical and/or mental health of the individual is adversely affected
What are the stage 4 healthy psychodynamic defence mechanisms?
Altruism - helping others in a way which is not compensating
Anticipation - Realistic planning and acceptance of future discomfort. A positive outlook on the future and anticipation for the good of the future.
Sublimation - Converting anxiety arousing (and usually socially undesirable) emotions into something constructive and socially acceptable
What is trait theory?
Cardinal traits: traits which can be used to define and label a person due to their prevalence
one or two of these traits can be used to define a person due to how much they appear in their behaviour. Defines and predicts their behaviour as the most important part
Central traits: traits which are fundamental to a persons personality but are not the most dominant compared to others.
people have 5-10 of these to be defined but define the person
Secondary traits: traits which are only relevant based on the context and the environment the person finds themselves in
general fears of public speaking, hating waiting in lines
What is the 5 factor model when it comes to personality?
Robert McCrae
Otherwise known as the ocean model.
O - Openness to imagination, new actions and new ideas;
High scorers: curious, wide range of interests, independent, imaginative, creative
Low scorers: Practical, conventional, prefers routine
C - Conscientiousness, self-discipline, thoughtfulness, pragmatism, goals
High scorers: Hardworking, goal oriented, organized, dependable,
Low scorers: Impulsive, careless, disorganized
E - Extroversion,
A - Agreeableness to cooperate, trustworthy and good natured
high scoring - helpful, trusting and empathetic
low scoring: critical uncooperative and suspicious
N - Neuroticism, tendency towards emotional instability
high scorers: anxious, unhappy, prone to negative emotions
low scorers: calm, even-tempered, secure
What are the three conditions needed in a humanistic client counsellor relationship?
The three core conditions, empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence
