chapter 15

Question 0

Free association

Answer 0

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 1

Personality

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Psychoanalysis

Answer 2

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 3

Id

Answer 3

contains 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 4

Ego

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Superego

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Psychosexual stages

Answer 6

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 7

Oedipus complex

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Identification

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Fixation

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Defense mechanisms

Answer 10

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Question 11

Repression

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Regression

Answer 12

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Question 13

Reaction formation

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

Projection

Answer 14

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Question 15

Rationalization

Answer 15

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions

Question 16

Displacement

Answer 16

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive threatening object of person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet.

Question 17

Collective unconscious

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Projective test

Answer 18

a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

Question 19

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Terror management theory

Answer 21

proposes that faith in one’s worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death.

Question 22

Self actualization

Answer 22

according to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

Question 23

Unconditional positive regard

Answer 23

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

Question 24

Self concept

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Trait

Answer 25

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Question 26

Personality inventory

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Answer 27

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality test. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

Question 28

Empirically Derived Test

Answer 28

a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

Question 29

Social cognitive perspective

Answer 29

views behavior as influence by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context

Question 30

Reciprocal determinism

Answer 30

the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors.

Question 31

Personal control

Answer 31

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Question 32

External locus of control

Answer 32

the perception that chance or outside forces byond one’s personal control determine one’s fate.

Question 33

Internal locus of control

Answer 33

the perception that one control one’s own fate.

Question 34

Learned helplessness

Answer 34

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Question 35

Positive psychology

Answer 35

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individual and communities to thrive

Question 36

Spotlight effect

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Self esteem

Answer 37

one’s feeling of high or low self-worth.

Question 38

Unconscious

Answer 38

The part of the no that contains material of which we are unaware but that strongly influenced our behavior

Question 39

Carl Rogers

Answer 39

Believed that in order or self actualization to occur. three conditions were required
1 genuineness
2 acceptance
3 empathy

Question 40

Gordon allport

Answer 40

Less concerned with explaining traits than identifying with them