Chapter 12 Flashcards
Personality
The unique characteristics that account for enduring patterns of inner experience and outward behaviour
Personality Structure
Conscious Mind
Preconcious Mind
Unconscious Mind
Conscious Mind
Thoughts and feelings that we are aware of at any given moment
Preconcious Mind
Contains thoughts, memories and ideas tat can be easily brought into the conscious mind
Unconscious Mind
Most of the content of our minds, we are unaware of this content and cannot become aware of it except underspecial circumstances
Central forces in Personality development
Id
Ego
Superego
Id
- Basic instinctual drives (eating, sleeping, sex, comfort)
- Resides largely in unconscious
Ego
- Satisfy the drives of the id while complying with the constraints place on behaviour by the environment
- Develops due to learning that impulses of Id cannot always be met
Superego
- In charge of determining which impulses are acceptable to express openly and which are unacceptable
- Devlops as we observe and internalize the behaviours of others in our culture
Psychosexual stages
Stages in the development of personality, influenced by sexuality and aggression
What are the Psychosexual Stages?
Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital
Oral
0-18 months
Erogenous Zone: Mouth
Conflict: Weaning
Symptoms: Dependency on pleasures of the mouth, dependence on mother
Anal
18 months - 3 years
Erogenous Zone: Anus
Conflict: Toilet training
Symptoms: Excessive neatness, orderliness, stubbornness, stingy, controlling
Phallic
3-6 years
Erogenous Zone: Genitals
Conflict: Attraction to opposite sex parent
Symptoms: Sexual role rigidity or confusion
Latency
6 years- puberty
Erogenous Zone: None
Conflict: Repression of sexual impulses, identification with same sex parent
Symptoms: No fixations
Genital
Puberty - Adulthood
Erogenous Zone: Genitals
Conflict: Establishing mature sexual relations and emotional intimacy
Symptoms: Sexual dysfunction and unsatisfactory relationships
Neurosis
Abnormal behaviour pattern caused by unresolved conflicts between the id, ego and superego
Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious tactics employed by the ego to protect the individual from anxiety
Repression
- The most basic defense mechanism
- Process of keepig unpleasant memories or thoughts buried deep within the unconscious mind
Denial
- A defense mechanism
- Process of refusing to recognize an existing
Other Defense Mechanisms
Rationalization Reaction Formation Projection Displacement Sublimation Regression Identification Intellectualization
Maslow
Humanistic Psychology
Studied well-adjusted individuals
Self-actualization
Positive Psychology
Focuses on positive experiences and healthy mental functioning
Personality Traits
Tendencies to behave in certain ways that remain relatively constant across situations
General disposition
Central Traits
People have innate tendencies to respond to situations in certain ways (traits)
These tendencies can be linked together to form broad habits (central traits)
Such principles can be used to form the foundation of a scientifically testable theory
Superfactors
A fundamental dimension of personality made up of a related cluster of personailty traits
Each person displays certain degree of each superfactor
Examples of Superfactors
Extroversion
Neuroticism
Psychoticism
Extroversion
The degree to which a person is outgoing and enjoys interacting with others
Neuroticism
The degree to which a person tends to experience negative emotions (mental instability)
Psycnoticism
The degree to which a person is vulnerable to developing the serious disorders known as psychoses - Contact with reality is lost in key ways
Five Factor Model
Openness Conscientiousness Extroversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
Situationalism
The view that behaviour is governed primarily by the variables in a given situation rather than by internal traits
Interactionist
A view emphasizing the relationsip between a person’s underlying personality traits and the reinforcing aspects of the situations in which they choose to put themselves
Social Psychology
Seeks to understand, explain and predict how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced bu the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others
Social Cognition
The way in which people perceive and interpret themeslves and others in their social world
Attitudes
Relatively stable and enduring evaluations of things and people
ABC Model of Attitudes
A model proposing that attituds have three components:
Affective
Behavioural
Cognitive
Affective Component
How we feel toward an object
Behavioural Component
How we behave toward an object
Cognitive Component
What we believe about an objec
Cognitive Dissonance
A state of emotional discomfort people experience when they hold two contradictory beliefs or hold a belief that contradicts their behaviour
Self Perception Theory
A theory suggesting that when people are uncertain of their attitudes, they infer what the attitudes are by observing their own behaviour
Implicit Attitude
An attitude of which the person in unaware
IAT (Implicit Attitudes Test)
Assesses attitudes by measuring reaction times and the strength of implicit associations people have in minds
Four Stages of IAT
- Exposed to Broad Categories and asked to categorize words into categories
- Asked to categorize words as pleasant or unpleasant
- Categories are combined
- Categories are reversed
Stereotypes
Fixed overgeneralization and oversimplified belief about a person or a group of people based on assumptions about the group
Prejudice
Negative and unjust feelings about individuals based on their inclusion in a particular group
Social Identity Theory
A theory that emphasizes social cognitive factors in the onset of prejudice
How does Prejudice Emerge according to Social Identity Theory
Social Categorization
Social Identity
Social comparison
Social Categorization
Person affiliates with a particular group as a way of figuring out how to act and react in the world
Social Identity
Person forms an identity within the group
Social Comparison
The group member compares the group favourable with other groups, and in turn derives a sense of positive well-being from looking at himself as superior in some way
Attributions
Casual explanations of behaviour
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to use dispositional attributions to explain the behaviour of other people
Actor-Observer Effect
The discrepancy between how we explain other people’s behaviour (dispositonally) and how we explain our own behaviour (situationally)
Self Serving Bias
The tendency people have to attribute their successes to internal causes and their failures to external ones
Milgram’s Experiment
Shocking one
Asch Studies
Conformity
Group performing Additive Task
Members perform parallel actions
Group productivity increases directly with group size
Group performing Conjunctive Task
As productive as weakest member
Greater number of people does not mean better performance
Group performing Disjunctive Task
Single solution, large groups are more productive
Group Performing Divisible Tasks
Simultaneous performance of several different activities, Larger groups are more productive
Social Facillitation
An effect in which the presence of others enhances performance
Social Loafing
A phenomenon in which people exert less effort on a comparable task than they would on a comparable individual task (free-riding)
When members all desire and value membership in group it disappears
Group Polarization
The intensification of an initial tendency of individual group members brought about by group discussion
Group Think
A form of faulty group decision making that occurs when group members strive for unanimity, and this goal overrides their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action
Abnormal Psychology
Scientific study of psychological disorders
Abnormality D’s
Deviance
Distress
Dysfunction
Danger
Deviance
Behaviour, thoughts and emotions are considered abnormal when they differ from a society’s ideas about proper functioning
Distress
Behaviours, ideas or emotions usually must also cause distress or unhapiness
Dysfunction
Behaviour tends to interfere with daily functioning
Danger
Some people become dangerous to themselves or others
Mood Disorders
Major Depressive Disorder
Bipolar disorder
Depression
A persistent sad state in which life seems dark and its challenges overwhelming
Bipolar Disorder
Periods of mania alternate with periods of depression
Mania
A persistent state of euphoria or frenzied energy
Major Depressive Disorder
Characterized by a depressed mood that is significantly disabling and is not caused by such factors as drugs or a general medical condition
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which people feel excessive anxiety and worry under most circumstances
Social Anxiety Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which people feel severe, persistent, and irrational fears of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur
Phobias
A persistent and unreasonable fear of a particular object, activity or situation
Panic Attacks
Periodic, short bouts of panic
Panic Disorder
An Anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and unpredictable panic attacks that occur without apparent provocation
Agoraphobia
A phobia that makes people avoid public places or situation in which escape might be difficult or help unavailable should panic symptoms develop
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
A mental disorder associated with repeated, abnormal anxiety provoking thoughts and/or repeated rigid behaviours
Acute Stress Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which fear and related symptoms are experienced soon after a traumatic event an last less than a month
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which fear and related symptoms continue to be experienced long after a traumatic event
Anxiety Disorders
PTSD Acute Stress Disorder OCD Panic Disorder Social Anxiety Disorder General Anxiety Disorder
Schizophrenia
A mental disorder characterized by disorganized thoughts, lack of contact with reality and sometimes hallucinations
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Represent pathological excesses in behaviour: delusions, disorganized thinking and speech, hallucinations
Not seen in people who do not have the disorder
Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Reflect pathological deficits, including poverty of speech, flat affect, loss of volition and social withdraws
Characteristics that are lacking in an individual but are seen in individuals without the disorder
Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Affected cognitive functions: memory, executive function, attention, working memory and intelligence
Biological Treatments
Drug Therapy
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Psychosurgery
Psychotropic Drugs
Medications that act primarily on the brain
Antipsychotic Drugs
Psychotropic drugs that help correct grossly confused or distorted thinking
Antidepressant Drugs
Psychotropic drugs that lift the mood of depressed people
Mood Stabilizing Drugs
Psychotropic drugs that help stabilize the moods of people suffering from bipolar disorder
Antianxiety Drugs
Psychotropic drugs that reduce tension and anxiety
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Use of electric shock to trigger a brain seizure in hopes of relieving abnormal functioning
Psychosurgery
Brain surgery often used in hopes of relieving abnormal functioning
Trephining
Prehistoric practice of chipping a hole in the skull as a treatment for various brain conditions
Lobotomy
Surgical practice of cutting the connections between the frontal lobe and the lower centres of the brain
Deep Brain Stimulation
A procedure in which implanted electrodes deliver constant low stimulation to a small area of the brain; used to treat severe depression, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy
Psychoanalysis Therapy
An insight therapy that emphasizes the recovery of unconscious conflicts, motives, and defenses through a variety of techniques.
Comes from Psychodynamic Theory
More helpful with anxiety than schizophrenia
Behavioural Therapy
Therapy based on the application of learning principles to human behavior. It focuses on changing overt behaviors rather than on understanding subjective feelings, unconscious processes, or motivations. It attempts to replace undesirable behaviors with more adaptive ones.
Techniques used by Beahvioural Therapists
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Social Skills Training
Modelling
Cognitive Behavioural Therapies
An insight therapy that emphasizes recognizing and changing negative thoughts and adaptive beliefs.
Propositions of Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive activity affects behavior
Cognitive activity can be monitored
Behaviour changes can be effected through cognitive changes
Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy
Ellis’s therapy technique designed to help clients discover and change the irrational assumptions that govern their emotions, behaviours and thinking
Cognitive Therapy
Beck’s cognitive therapy technique designed to help clients recognize and change their dysfunctional thoughts and ways of thinking
Humanistic and Existential Therapies
Client Centered Therapy
Gestalt Therapy
Existential Therapy
Client Centered Therapy
Humanistic therapy designed to help clients experience unconditional positive regard and look at themselves honestly and acceptingly
Gestalt Therapy
Move clients toward self recognition and self acceptance and do this by challenging and frustrating the clients
Existential Therapy
Encourage clients to accept responsibility for their lives and their problems, recognize their freedom
