Chapter 14 - Important Concepts Flashcards
The tendency to attribute too much of other’s behaviour to their dispositions, including their persoanlities, and not enough to the situations they confront
Fundamental attribution error
______ acount, in part, for consistencies in our behaviour across both time and situations.
traits
Most modern personality research is of this type.
nomothetic approach
This approach allows for generalization across individuals, but has limited insight into the unique patterning of attributes within one person
nomothetic approach
Most case studies of personality are of this type.
Idiographic approach
Hypotheses generated from this approach are often _____ _____.
post hoc
What are the three broad influences on personality?
Genetic factors, shared environmental factors, non-shared environmental factors
Experiences that make individuals within the same family more alike
Shared environmental factors
Experienes that make individuals within the same family less alike
non-shared environmental influences
Favouritism in the household or uneven parenting results in what?
non-shared environmental influences
What most likely, of the three broad factors, plays the greatest role in personality? The smallest?
genetics
shared environmental factors
When do shared environmental factors play a role in personality?
Play some role in childhood personality, but this role generally dissipates as we grow older.
When do shared environmental factors play a role in personality?
Play some role in childhood personality, but this role generally dissipates as we grow older.
What evidence suggests a genetic influence on persoanlity?
Identical twins reared apart are more similar than fraternals reared apart.
Adopted children resembler their biological parents more than their adoptive parents.
Does birth order matter for personality?
Probably not
Molecular genetic studies rest on what two premises?
1 - Genes code for proteins that in turn influence NT functioning
2 - the function of many NTs is associated with certain personality traits
From Freud, we know believe that:
1 - _______ have meaning
2 - Experiences in ________ can influence ________ behaviour
3 - There is meaning behind a _____ of the ______
4 - Talking about your problems can _______ them
dreams
childhood, adult
slip, tongue
relieve
How did Freud change his stance from believing that mental disorders were physiologically caused?
Worked under Charcot who was treating patients with grande hysteria
- physiology could not explain the symptoms
What are the three core assumptions of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory?
1 - Psychic determinism
2 - Symbolism
3 - Unconscious motivation
The assumption that all psychological events have a cause.
Psychic determinism
No action is meaningless
Symbolism (although even strict Freudians agree that not all behaviours are symbolic)
We rarely understand why we do what we do, although we quite readily cook up explanations for our actions after the fact
unconscious motivation
Dreams, neurotic symptoms and Freudians slips are all related to what?
Psychic determinism
Freud hypothesized that the human psyche consists of three agencies or components. What are they?
Id, ego, superego
The desires that provide much of the driving force for our behaviours.
Id
Entirely unconscious - contains libido and aggressive drive
Id
Contains the sense of right and wrong we’ve internalized from our interactions with society, particularly our parents
superego
People with overdeveloped supergos are _____-prone while those who have lower superegos feel relatively _____-free and are at risk of developing a ___________ personality.
guilt
guilt
psychopathic
Interacts with the real world and finds ways to resolve the competing demands of the other two psychic agencies
ego
Psychological distress comes from what, according to Freud?
Conflicts between the three psychological agencies
How do dreams fit into Freud’s psychoanalytic theory?
Dreams are the manifestation of the Id’s desires hidden in symbolism by the ego and superego.
According to psychoanalysts, not all dreams are ___________.
universal
The principal function of the ego is to contend with _______ from the _______ world.
threats
outside
In some cases, we cannot do much to correct threats from the outside world, so we must change our perception of it. In these cases, our ego engages in what?
defence mechanisms
Unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety
defence mechanisms
What is the cause of infantile amnesia, according to Freud.
Early childhood is too anxiety-provoking for us to remember it fully because we use repression to forget it.
Denial is found mostly in what type of people?
Those with psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia
Sucking your thumb or biting your nails is an example of what?
Regression
A mid-life crisis would be an example of what?
regression
According to Freud, homophobes that are actually more aroused by other men are undergoing what?
reaction-formation
Using a punching bag instead of your coworker is an example of what?
Displacement
Wanting to hurt other people and thus becoming a pro fighter or joining the army is an example of what?
sublimation
According to Freud, _______ can occur because children were either deprived of sexual gratification or excessively gratified during that stage.
fixation
The oral stage is from ______ to __/___ months.
birth to 12-18 months
In the oral stage, infants obtain sexual gratification by _______ and _______.
sucking and drinking
Orally fixated adults tend to react to stress how?
Become intensely dependent on others
impatient and demanding
prone to unhealthy oral activities - smoking, overeating, drinking excessively
The anal stage goes from ____ months to ___ years.
18 months - 3 years
Anally fixated adults tend towards what?
Excessive neatness, rules, stinginess
or
towards loafing and messiness and aggression
What is the most important psychosexual stage in Freud’s theory?
Phallic stage
How is the Oedipus complex resolved?
Befriend Daddy
What is penis envy?
Girl desires to possess a penis like daddy
When does the phallic stage take place?
3-6 years of age
when does the genital stage start?
around age 12
When does the latency stage take place?
6-12 years of age
in the latency stage, most boys and girls fiind members of the _________ sex appaling
opposite
If serious problems were not resolved, difficulties in forming what will occur?
establishing intimate love attachments
What were the 5 major criticisms to psychoanalytic theory?
Unfalsifiability
Failed predictions
questionable conception of the unconscious
Reliance on unrepresentative samples
Flawed assumption of shared environmental influence
What was an issue with his reliance on unrepresentative samples?
Low external validity
Methods of inquiry were idiographic but his theory was nomothetic
What is the best insight of Freud that has stood the test of time?
We are often unaware of why we do what we do.
