Exam 1 Flashcards
public vs private selves
public: how others view us based on public information, interactions with others, and action
private: perception of one’s self based on inner feelings + self-concepts
paradigms/models/theories
synonymous
paradigm: typical example or pattern of something
theory: mechanism for predicting psychological outcomes/explaining mental processes
map of the human psyche
***must describe public and private selves AND work on nomothetic and idiographic levels
personality/character
a set of psychological traits that influence interactions and adaptations
- organized
- relatively enduring
nomothetic
generalizable; applies to the general public
-Aristotle took a nomothetic approach
idiographic
“how does this apply to the individual?”
applied to aspects of the individual
- galileo took an idiographic approach
a singular exception to a law disproves it (disproving the null hypothesis)
psychic determinism
there are no coincidences within the mind
ex: recalling an old song
nothing is wasted psychologically
talking abt aversive childhood experiences (kid trauma)
- freud
- active system that wants to express itself
- conflict theory
- early in development
parapraxis
mistakes that reveal the unconscious
- part of Freudian slips (dont mean what we say)
- accidents or errors
associations
store similarities
the general term of how people store memories/thoughts/feelings based on similarities
topographical theory
1895 - first of freuds 4 periods
the idea that the mind must have different levels (3)…is divided
unconscious, preconscious, conscious
- defense mechanism
- gets updates (the iceberg)
- conflict theory
- started by watching his own kids
defense mechanisms
processes that the ego uses to distort reality to protect itself
censorship or censor system
denial, reaction formation, projection, displacement, sublimation, regression, rationalization, repression
denial
unconsciously motivated negation (reality disconnect)
- type of defense mechanism
seduction theory
the mind can defend itself from knowing painful things
- the environment is not open to accepting new things. —> denying them instead
men in town were angered –> Freud rejects this theory –> claims women “made up” the situations he suggested
manifest content
manifest: a dream you actually have
- superficial content
- secondary elaboration–> distorted meaning because we want to know but dont
part of interpretation of dreams (1899)
latent content
deeper level content thats potentially frightening or contains secrets
when this content comes out in full awareness its a nightmare
- part of dream interpretation (1899)
secondary elaboration
distort the meaning because we want to know but also don’t
- manifest content, interpretation of dreams 1899
mourning + melacholia
1915, published 1917
mourning: the process of grieving
melancholia: earlier term for depression, semantic causes (integrating biology)
- external events happened
- predisposition (depression runs in fam)
- both
pleasure principle/primary processes
principle of the id: the id strives solely to satisfy its desires and reduce inner tension
anything we do is in the pursuit of life instinct (pleasure)
Ex: the baby is motivated to suck (obtain pleasure, relax, satisfy need for food)
Oedipus complex
to describe a boys sexual feeling for his mother and rivalries with his father
- a boy will identify with his father (assuming characteristics and therefore his mother)
- penis envy
- castration anxiety
- phallic stage
electra complex
girls transfer love from mother to father as moms are “blamed” for their lack of penis
- phallic stage
penis envy
phenomenon that girls are envious that boys get penes and they don’t –> leading to the electra complex
fixation, regression
Regression: mostly in children, this mechanism is where an individual regresses to the stage at which there was previously a fixation
fixation –> unresolved conflict/trauma
repetition compulsion & mastery
RC: the repeating of patterns…we psychologically become fired up when a similar situation occurs again
- transference + countertransference
mastery –> part of Erikson’s psychosocial theory where an individual achieves resolution within a stage
projection
a defense mechanism in which anxiety arousing impulses are externalized by placing them or projecting them onto others
inner threats are attributed to those around them
criticisms of freudian theory
- difficult to test scientifically
- self-reported data (of one’s earlier recollections
- too much emphasis on sexual underpinning
- unconscious may be given too much credit
- he made the image of humans too negative
- culture and gender bias
free association + resistance
a treatment/therapy technique where you say whatever comes to mind
- talking with no hesitation
- Freudian principle
- spontaneous, free flowing
economic/dynamic theory
to explain why people struggle and why personalities might develop
economic: we only have so much psychic energy at our disposal, so if we use too much for one thing we will be out of balance
dynamic:
4 period
- topographical period (1895)
- fantasy & instinct (1911)
- structural period (revision) (1923)
- object relations (1937)
conscious
easily accessible sector of the mind/brain in freud topographical theory
where the ego mainly operates (updated model)
preconscious
part of the mind that we might not know…space separating the conscious and unconscious
ego + superego at this level
- buffer + background of mind
- mind protects itself through this layer
ex: favorite film character, number, color, etc
unconscious
The deeper you go the more painful/frightening the stuff in our minds
- censor system + defense mechanisms
- domain of the id
conflict theory
Freudian theory that looks at the negative aspects of people (problems)
- during the topographic period
- psychological problems resulting from conflicts between the different levels of the mind
- fighting with yourself (explaining illogical/irrational behaviors)
censorship
defense mechanism
a system that protects the conscious level from the unconscious by screening it
- a wall to block the dark, negative thoughts from your conscious thinking
repression
part of censor system/defense mechanisms
forgetting something and forgetting you forgot it
—-blocking: partial repression (selective info)
dreamwork
- distortion
- displacement (painful mems transferring somewhere else)
- symbolization
- condensation (things are thrown together in dreams to distort further)
- incorporation
instinct theory
humans have a biological imperative toward the continuation of the human race
Eros = life - sex
Thanatos = death –> aggression
- for own survival
- fight, flight, fright
- misqualified (incorrect)
- potential regression/fixation
structual theory
needed to further address human development
id, ego, superego
oral -id + ego
anal -
phallic - superego, oedipus, electra
latency - hidden/repressed
genital
id
THE DEVIL that wants the most basic human impusles
FOOD, FIGHTING, FUCKING
follows pleasure principle
strives solely to satisfy its desires and reduce inner tension
- unconscious level
ego
YOUR HEAD
figures out how to make the id + superego happy
- shutting them both up
- mediating
- mainly conscious but also preconscious level
reality principle
superego
THE ANGEL that demands perfection
societies demands within us
goal-seeking behaviors toward socially acceptable pursuits
means over-I
reality principle
The ego must solve real problems
satisfy is and the superego
psychosexual development
how the human psyche develops and our parent’s impact…how the world offers conflict to us
oral stage - satisfy thirst/hunger
anal - potty train, orders/instincts/timing
phallic - sexual energy focused on genitals
latency - n/a
genital - beginning of adult life
libido –> psychosexual energy
castration anxiety
part of the phallic stage + Oedipus complex
unconscious fear associated with castration
–> attachment to dad
transference
you meet someone who reminds you of someone you already know so you place those feelings on to the new person
countertransference
what the therapist feels for the patient
When a therapist projects their own unresolved conflicts onto a client
trouble = erotic transference involving trauma
displacement
take a safe person and expel emotions there
painful memories are transferring somewhere safer (dreamwork)
the shifting of the target of one’s unconscious fears or desires
hydraulic displacement model
object relations
looking at a subject or object and then your emotions
- critical to relationships between mothers and babies
- experiences during infancy translate to adult interaction with the world
masterson + offer 3 types of children
- normal
- Vulnerable (responsive, wont resist)
- disorders (unresponsive, will resist)
erikson’s 8 psychological stages
- Trust vs mistrust
- Autonomy vs shame & doubt
- initiative vs guilt
- Industry vs inferiority
- identity vs role confusion/diffusion (moratorium)
- Intimacy vs isolation
- generativity vs stagnation/self-absorption
- integrity vs despair
ego psychology
Erikson
a healthier view of people or inherent strength
- life span development
- ego strength
- mastery
- importance of social world on the individual
