Final part of final Flashcards
Personality definition
An enduring set of internally-based characteristics that create uniqueness and consistency in a person’s thoughts and behaviors.
MMPI
Objective personality measure that assesses both personality traits and the presence of mental illness
- In its second version and is the most widely used objective personality measures used by trained psychologists.
- Major psychological disorders
- Unique= way traits chosen - unique traits in people with disorders picked out
MMPI personality profile
Certain profiles with specific patterns of response found to be associated with different psychiatric disorders and personality characteristics
- Medical, personal, and correctional setting uses
Projective techniques
Psychoanalytically based on Freud’s belief in unconscious.
- Ambiguous stimuli may be an inkblot/ drawing of an ambiguous situation (TAT).
- No correct answers, and reliability estimates of projective techniques are low (which means that there is no validity)
Rohrschach inkblot test
Look at blot, what do you see
- When responding to an inkblot, a participant may give an elaborate answer; however, different clinicians often come to very different conclusions about responses because scoring is vague and highly subjective.
Historical approaches to personality
Bumps (phrenology): skull bumps= regions of brain enlargement
- Psychograph: Measured bumps
Blots: As described
Bodies: fluid types and somatotypes
Neo-Freudian approach to personality
Agrees with Freuds basic ideas, but disagrees in some areas:
- Jung’s collective consciousness: universal human experiences, archetypes representing personality style
- Adler’s striving for superiority
- Horney’s need for security: Given by caregivers, moving toward people, moving against people, moving away
Humanistic approach to personality
Free will and personal growth
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- Roger’s self theory: Parents set up conditions of worth
- unconditional positive regard= acceptance without conditions, empathy
Social-cognitive approach to personality
Processes by which people develop certain cognitions about themselves are based on noting the consequences of their behaviour and observing the behaviour of others across a variety of situations.
- Bandura’s self system
- Rotter’s social learning, control
Biological approach to personality
The perspective on personality assumes personality characteristics are a function of various biological factors, including behavioral genetics, the neurological perspective, and an evolutionary perspective.
Trait approach to personality
Uses factor analysis & stat techniques to tell number and kind of traits
- Eysenck’s three factor: extra/introversion (higher arousal), neuroticism/stability, psychotics (high test)/impulse control
- The big 5 (OCEAN): openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
Defense mechanism of Ego, repression
Ways to avert the expression of id impulses without conscious awareness.
- Repression: the ego removes the threatening stimulus from conscious awareness.
Psychosexual stages
- Oral 2 (mouth): Conflict w/ weaning from feeding - learned delay gratification/overindulgence
- Anal 2-3 (anus): Conflict w/ toilet training - right time & place/cleanliness, mess, inappropriate
- Phalic 3-6(genitals): Conflict w/ competition w same sex parent for affection of other - appropriate sex role/problems w dealing w people in power
- Latency 7-11(none): Conflict w/ practicing sex role behaviour w same sex - same sex role behaviours/sexism, racism, stereotyping
- Genital 11+ (genitals): Conflict w/ expression of feelings w/ opposite sex - healthy affection/intimacy issues
Erogenous zone
Area of the body associated with pleasure.
Fixation
According to Freud, if one did not successfully navigate a psychosexual stage, he or she would become stuck at that stage, which would subsequently affect one’s personality development and behavior in adulthood.
Regression
A defense mechanism where an individual reverts to an earlier stage of psychosexual development in times of stress.
Anxiety (reality, moral, neurotic)
Reality: Serves as a warning sign for real danger.
Moral: Serves to notify the superego that the ego is considering violation one’s moral code.
Neurotic: Warns the ego of threatening expressions of id impulses at a level of conscious awareness
Archetype
Universal knowledge stored in the collective unconscious by a variety of thought patterns and behaviour rituals that persist over time
- Jung: proposed three of these archetypes were the persona (patterns of behaviour used in social settings), the shadow (darker, more primitive side to personality), & the self (considered most important because it unites all aspects of one’s personality)
Locus of control (LOC)
A personality construct that represents the degree to which individuals believe that they are in control of their outcomes and experiences.
Learned helplessness
After repeated attempts to avoid an unpleasant outcome fail, a person or animal may give up and stop trying even though future success would be possible.
Delay of gratification
The ability to resist the temptation for something desirable that is immediately available in favor of waiting for something more desirable but required waiting some span of time (that may vary).
- willpower.
Delay of gratification
The ability to resist the temptation for something desirable that is immediately available in favour of waiting for something more desirable but required waiting some span of time (that may vary).
- willpower.
Extraversion-introversion
Eysenck’s three factor
- Level of cortical arousal (neuronal activity)
- Thought that introverts have higher levels of arousal than extraverts so extraverts need to seek out eternal stimulation to raise the level of arousal in brain to more optimal level
Neuroticism-impulse control
Eysenck’s three factor
People high on neuroticism stability dimension tend to be overly anxious, emotionally unstable and easily upset
- Thought this was because of a more reactive sympathetic nervous system (flight/fight)
Psychoticism-impulse control
Eysenck's three factor Psychoticism-impulse control trait concerned with aggressiveness, impulsiveness and empathy - Thought psychotocism due to: 1. High testosterone 2. Low MAO-A (warrior gene)
Striving for superiority
Adler proposed that at a conscious level, individuals are motivated by efforts to achieve excellence and improvements over for our past selves and to act in ways to benefit social interest.
- overcome infantile sense of inferiority, without = inferiority complex
Eysenck’s Three factor theory
A theory of personality that consists of three trait dimensions: extraversion/introversion, neuroticism/emotional stability, and psychoticism/impulse control. Each trait dimension has associated personality characteristics and specific biological components.
Big 5 theory
A measure that identified five distinct components of personality often referred to as “the Big 5,” and consist of the following factors: openness; conscientiousness; extraversion/sociable; agreeableness; and neuroticism.
Carl Jung
Collective unconscious: Represents universal human experiences that we all share
Alfred Adler
Striving for superiority: To overcome the sense of inferiority that we feel as infants given our totally helpless and dependent state
Carl Rogers
Self theory
- Parents set up conditions of worth, meeting conditions continues throughout life and develop self-concept of what others think they should be
- Unconditional positive regard
Hans Eysenck
Using factor analysis argued for 3 trait dimensions
Normal vs. abnormal
subjective. abnormal = opposite of normal
- Atypical, maladaptive, maladjusted, unhealthy, unusual, strange
Def. of disorder (deviance, distress, dysfunction, dangerous)
Deviance: departure from what is normal, behaviours thoughts and feelings that are not accepted (Statistical or cultural)
Distress: Behaviours thoughts and feeling that are upsetting and cause pain
Dysfunctional: Behaviours thoughts and feelings are disruptive to routine/interfere with functioning
Dangerous: Behaviours thoughts and feelings may lead to harm or injury to self/others
Biopsychosocial model
Current model, suggests there is not one single factor/event that causes disorder
- Interactions of person’s biological makeup, psychological experiences, social environment
DSM-5
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder
- List of symptoms and a decision rule on how many of these symptoms must be present for diagnosis
- Uses a lifespan development organization scheme to classify disorders in 19 major areas, starting w childhood disorders ending in adult
- onset age, predisposition, course, prevalence, sex ratio, cultural, differential
Problems with classification systems
- Subjective
- Fosters overdiagnosis
- confuses serious mental disorders w everyday problems
- Creates illusion of objectivity
- Looks at disorders in categorical fashion
- Homosexuality considered deviant
- Gender identity disorder – gender dysphoria
Stigma
Disapproval, poor treatment, discrimination, or isolation due to being different.
Anxiety disorders
Panic disorder General anxiety disorder Phobia Social anxiety disorder Agoraphobia
General anxiety disorder
- Continuous chronic anxiety and worry that is hard to control and interferes with daily functioning
- Usually believe in benefits of worry
Panic disorder
- Unexpected panic attacks: erupt surge of fear
- Followed by consistent concern and worry about additional attacks or their consequences/avoidance
Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Intrusive symptoms (nightmare, flashbacks)
- Avoidance of internal feelings and thoughts/ external reminders
- Negative alterations in mood and cognitions (exaggerated negative beliefs about others)
- Alterations in arousal and reactivity (irritability, insomnia)
Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Recurrent unwished for thoughts or images (obsessions)
- Repetitive ritualized behaviours (compulsions) that a person feels unable to control
- Some people have abnormalities in prefrontal cortex
- Amygdala may be more reactive
Bipolar disorder
1: At leas one manic episode no major depressive episode required
2. At least one hypomanic episode and one major depressive episode required
- mania: inflated self-esteem, decreased sleep, racing thoughts, goal activity, risk taking, talkativeness
Depressive disorders
Persistence depressed mood/lack of interest/pleasure in activities accompanies by
- change in appetite & sleep
- change in speed of movement
- Loss of energy & concentration
- Worthlessness, guilt, thoughts of death
Causes significant stress/impairment in functioning
Vulnerability-stress model of depression
Highlight interactions between individual vulnerabilities and stressful experience
- Stressful triggering events + Individual vulnerability = severe depression
Cognitive habits in depression
Rumination
Focusing repetitively and passively on symptoms of distress and on possible causes and consequences of distress
Attributional theory of depression
Negative events attributed to causes that are - Internal (vs external)
- Stable (vs temporary)
- Global (vs specific
Schizophrenia
Experience severe and persistent symptoms that significantly impair their functioning
Positive psychotic symptoms
NEW behaviours that were not present prior
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Disorganized thinking
- Abnormal motor behaviours
Negative psychotic symptoms
Behaviours that were LOST since onset of disorder
- Loss of motivation to take care of oneself (abolition)
- Flat affect
- Reduction in speech output (alogia)
