Chapter 10 Vocab Flashcards
personality
an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.
free association
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.
psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts.
unconscious
according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.
id
a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on thepleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.
ego
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.
superego
the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.
psychosexual stages
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.
oedipus complex
according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.
identification
the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.
fixation
(1) the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set. (2) according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.
defense mechanisms
in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.
repression
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.
regression
psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.
reaction formation
psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.
projection
psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.
rationalization
psychoanalytic defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions.
displacement
psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet.
sublimation
psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people re-channel their unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities.
denial
psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.
collective unconscious
Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.
projective test
a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.
thematic apperception test TAT
a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.
rorschach inkblot test
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.
terror management theory
a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.
self actualization
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.
unconditional positive regard
a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients to develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.
self concept
all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”
trait
a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.
personality inventory
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.
minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI)
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. (p. 496)
empirically derived test
a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups. (p. 496)
social-cognitive perspective
views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.
reciprocal determinism
the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.
personal control
the extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless.
