Chapter 1: The Study of the Person Flashcards
Psychological Triad
the three essential topics of psychology
how people think, how they feel, and how they behave
Basic Approach (to Personality)
a theoretical view of personality that focuses on some phenomena and ignores others
the basic approaches are trait, biological, psychoanalytic, phenomenological, learning, and cognitive (the last two being closely related)
Trait Approach
the theoretical view of personality that focuses on individual differences in personality and behavior, and the psychological processes behind them
Biological Approach
the view of personality that focuses on the way behavior and personality are influenced by neuroanatomy, biochemistry, genetics, and evolution
Psychoanalytic Approach
the theoretical view of personality, based on the writing of Sigmund Freud, that emphasizes the unconscious processes of the mind
Phenomenological Approach
the theoretical view of personality that emphasizes experience, free will, and the meaning of life
closely related to humanistic psychology and existentialism
Learning
in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of experience
Learning Approach
the theoretical view that focuses on how behavior changes as a function of rewards and punishments
also called behaviorism
Funder’s First Law
great strengths are usually great weaknesses, and surprisingly often the opposite is true as well
Humanistic Psychology
the approach to personality that emphasizes aspects of psychology that are distinctly human
closely related to the phenomenological approach and exstentialism
What is the psychological triad?
thinking, feeling, and behaving
How does personality psychology differ in its approach to studying feelings, thoughts, and behaviors from other areas of psychology or psychology in general?
personality considers cognition, thoughts, and beliefs as important for behavior
social psych says people behave similarly, minimize individual differences
What are the things that personality psychologists study?
psychological triad: thinking, feeling, and behaving
overlap with clinical psychology: focus more on extremes of behavior or thoughts that impair people’s behavior
the whole person: how all other areas of psychology come together, perspectives related to many areas of psych
What are some definitions of personality?
“an individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms - hidden or not – behind those patterns”
an individual’s unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving
What are the goals of personality psychology?
explain the whole person in his or her daily environment
think of an important behavior that you performed recently and all the reasons for that behavior: it is complicated and impossible to try to explain all the reasons behind a person’s behavior
