Chapter 14 Textbook

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Question 2

psychodynamic theories

Answer 2

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Question 3

psychoanalysis

Answer 3

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Question 4

unconscious

Answer 4

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

Question 5

free association

Answer 5

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

Question 6

id

Answer 6

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

Question 7

ego

Answer 7

the largely conscious 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

Question 8

superego

Answer 8

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represent internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations

Question 9

psychosexual stages

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Oedipus complex

Answer 10

according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Question 11

Identification

Answer 11

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

Question 12

Fixation

Answer 12

a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved

Question 13

defence mechanisms

Answer 13

the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Question 14

repression

Answer 14

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defence mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Question 15

6 Defence mechanisms

Answer 15

1) regression
2) reaction formation
3) rationalization
4) displacement
5) denial
6) projection

Question 16

Regression

Answer 16

retreating to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixed

ex: little boy reverts to the oral comfort of thumb sucking in the car on the way to his first day of school

Question 17

Reaction Formation

Answer 17

switching unacceptable impulses to their opposites

ex: repressing angry feelings, a person displays exaggerated friendliness

Question 18

Projection

Answer 18

disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

ex: the thief thinks everyone else is a thief

Question 19

Rationalization

Answer 19

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions

ex: a habitual drinker says she drinks with her friends jut to be sociable

Question 20

Displacement

Answer 20

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

ex: kicking the dog

Question 21

Denial

Answer 21

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

Ex: the partner denies evidence of his loved one’s affair

Question 22

collective unconscious

Answer 22

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species history

Question 23

projective test

Answer 23

a personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

Question 24

thematic apperception test

Answer 24

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interest through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Question 25

Rorschach inkblot test

Answer 25

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, seeks to identify peoples inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the dots

Question 26

terror-management theory

Answer 26

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioural responses to reminders of their impending death

Question 27

Three big ideas from Freud’s work

Answer 27

1) the importance of childhood experiences
2) the existence of the unconscious mind
3) our self-protective defence mechanisms

Question 28

humanistic theories

Answer 28

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

Question 29

self-actualization

Answer 29

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

Question 30

unconditional positive regard

Answer 30

an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

Question 31

self-concept

Answer 31

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “who am I?”

Question 32

personality inventory

Answer 32

a questionnaire (often there-false, agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviours; used to assess selected personality traits

Question 33

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Answer 33

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders. This test is now used for many other screening purposes

Question 34

Empirically derived test

Answer 34

a test developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

Question 35

Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck

Answer 35

Introversion and Extroversion and emotional stability and instability

Question 36

Big 5 Personality Factors

Answer 36

1) Conscientiousness
2) Agreeableness
3) Neuroticism
4) Openness
5) Extraversion

(CANOE)

Question 37

Why are the big 5 personality factors scientifically useful

Answer 37

these factors may be objectively measured, and research suggests that these factors are relatively stable over the life span and apply to all cultures in which they have been studied

Question 38

Personality stability

Answer 38

with age, personality traits become more stable

Question 39

social-cognitive perspective

Answer 39

view behaviour as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and social context

Question 40

reciprocal determinism

Answer 40

the interacting influences of behaviour, internal cognition, and the environment

Internal personal factors: thoughts and feelings about risky activities

Behaviour: learning to climb

Environmental factors: rock climbing friends

Question 41

Major Personality Theories

Answer 41

1) psychoanalytic (Freud)
2) Psychodynamic (Adler, Horney, Jung)
3) Humanistic (Rogers, Maslow)
4) Trait (Allport, Eysenck, McCrae, Costa)
5) Social-cognitive (Bandura)

Question 42

Psychoanalytic

Answer 42

Emotional disorders spring from unconscious dynamics such as unresolved sexual and other childhood conflicts, and fixation at various developmental stages. Defence mechanisms fend off anxiety

Question 43

Psychodynamic

Answer 43

The unconscious and conscious minds interact. Childhood experiences and defence mechanisms are important

Question 44

Humanistic

Answer 44

Rather than examining the struggles of sick people, it’s better to focus on the ways healthy people strive for self-realization

Question 45

Trait

Answer 45

We have certain stable and enduring characteristics influenced by genetic predispositions

Question 46

Social Cognitive

Answer 46

Our traits and the social context interact to produce our behaviours

Question 47

Self

Answer 47

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the centre of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 48

spotlight effect

Answer 48

overestimating others noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us)

Question 49

Best way to predict a persons future behaviour

Answer 49

to examine the person’s past behaviour patterns in similar situations

Question 50

self-esteem

Answer 50

one’s feelings of high or low self worth

Question 51

Self-efficacy

Answer 51

one’s sense of competence and effectiveness

Question 52

self-serving bias

Answer 52

a readiness to perceive oneself favourably

the tendency to accept responsibility for success and blame circumstances or bad luck for failures (unfair test)

Question 53

narcissism

Answer 53

excessive self-love and self-absorption