Introduction Flashcards
1
Q
What is personality?
A
The inner psychological experience of the self
Adjustable
Influences behaviour through internal stable patterns
2
Q
What are lay definitions of personality?
A
Linked to implicit personality theory
Allow starting point for psych defnitions
Judged in social context
3
Q
What are psychological definitions of personality?
A
According to characteristics
Allport: dynamic orgsnisation inside of psychological systems that create characteristic patterns of behaviour
4
Q
What are the two approaches to studying personality?
A
Nomothetic and idiographic
5
Q
What is the idiographic approach?
A
Focus on the individual for an unique understanding
6
Q
What is the nomothetic approach?
A
Assumptions from set variables
Studies large groups
7
Q
Who looked at the conceptualisation of individual differences?
A
Cooper and Lubinski
8
Q
What did Cooper and Lubinski say?
A
To understand ID we have to address the issues (structural so the nature of people differ due to different factors and process model to give depth on how people differ
9
Q
What are the factors when evaluating personality theories?
A
Description, explanation, empirical validity, testable concepts, comprehensiveness, parsimony, heuristic value and applied value
10
Q
What is description?
A
A theory should bring to light behaviours
11
Q
What is explanation?
A
Understanding the why
12
Q
What is empirical validity?
A
Generation of prediction
13
Q
What is testable concepts?
A
If they are be operationalised
14
Q
What is parsimony?
A
Simple explanation
15
Q
What is comprehensiveness?
A
Explanation of normal and abnormal behaviour
16
Q
What is heuristic value?
A
Stimulation of interest
17
Q
What is applied value?
A
Wider context and the usefulness
18
Q
Who looked at state vs traits?
A
Steyer et al
19
Q
What did Steyer et al say a trait is?
A
Traits are a disposition that exerts influence on behaviours
20
Q
What did Steyer et al say a state is?
A
A response to a situation that an individual is in at that given time
21
Q
What is continuity?
A
How a person behaves across time
22
Q
What is uniqueness?
A
The distinctiveness of a person’s behaviour
23
Q
What is consistency?
A
How a person behaves across situations
24
Q
What are implicit personality theories?
A
Theories of human behaviour that helps us understand others
Descriptions and talking to others will help determine perspective of their personality
25
What do observations do in implicit personality theory?
Determine cause and effect
26
What are the problems of implicit theories?
Less opportunities to fully check our implicit theory
Not scientific
Based on casual observation
27
What are the three theories of personality?
Psychodynamic, humanistic and behaviourist
28
What are the levels of consciousness?
Preconscious, conscious + unconscious
29
What is the preconscious?
Thoughts that are unconscious in the instant but can be recalled
30
What is the conscious?
Accessible thoughts
31
What is the unconscious?
Thoughts and memories that we are unaware of due to them being unacceptable through repression, an active process
32
What occurs in dreams?
Repression of unconscious thoughts is weaker
33
What is the manifest dream content?
Description of the dream that is recalled by the dreamer
34
What is the latent dream content?
Symbols (snakes and knives representing penises)
35
What do dreams represent?
Primary process thinking which will keep us asleep fulfilling the pleasure principle with unconscious desires
36
What does the primary process thinking contrast with?
Secondary process thinking (rational thought from the ego) and characteristics of the conscious + preconscious mind
37
Who looked at dream content?
Panksepp 1999
38
What did Panksepp find?
The goal-seeking behaviour which causes behaviour cravings in dreaming
39
What is the libido?
A child has a fixed amount of mental energy which develops into sexual drives in adulthood
40
What is the death instinct?
Response to the WWI, it is the self destructive instinct
41
What is subliminal perception?
Occurs when pp register stimulu without conscious awareness
Stimuli will effect behaviour
42
Who looked at research on the unconscious?
Patton, 1992
43
What did Patton find?
PPs with Eds presented with upsetting subliminal messages ate more after
44
Who criticised the unconscious?
Norman, 1981
45
What did Norman find?
Freudian slips are due to cog and attentional errors and due to a lack of arousal so they can use the word more commonly used instead of the correct
46
What is the structure of personality?
ID, superego + ego
47
What are the characteristics of the ID?
Instinctual energy, drives such as food, sexuality, reproduction, seen in infants (infants have a lack of delayed gratification if you wait your needs will be met), demands from ID become socialised
48
What are the characteristics of the ego?
Secondary process thinking, the mediator, reality principle, use of defense mechanisms to mediate
49
What are the characteristics of the superego?
Conscience, internalised parental attitudes, opposes the ID
50
What does conflicts in the tripartite cause?
Intra-psychic conflict
51
How does personality develop?
In 5 stages, development of sexual drives, each stage libido is focused in one erogenous zone determined by biological development, focal point of gratification, no attention to social factors
52
When is the oral stage?
Birth- 1 year
53
What is the point of fixation in the oral stage?
Mouth, lips, tongue
54
What are the characteristics of the oral stage?
Helps meet the need of self-preservation
Investing libidinal energy into the mother is called cathexis so how the energy is in the pleasure provider
Allows trust in the caregiver
55
What are the consequences from the oral stage?
Excessive eating, chewing, eating disorders and smoking
56
Who looked at over-indulgence in the oral stage?
Blum, 1953
57
What did Blum find?
Over-indulgence can cause an oral repetitive character: over dependent, being trusting and gullible
58
Who looked at underindulgence in the oral stage?
Fenichel, 1945
59
What did Fenichel find?
Under-indulgence can cause oral aggressive: exploitative attitude, sadistic attitudes, envy
60
When is the anal stage?
18m-3 years
61
What is the fixation in the anal stage?
Anus
62
What are the characteristics of the anal stage?
Pleasure from bowel movements
Toilet training and reward when they show control
Anal region- erogenous
Resistance to the demands
63
What are the 2 consequences from the anal stage?
Anal retentive + expulsive
64
What are the characteristics of anal retentive?
Stingy, stubborn and delaying of gratification until the last moment (due to delay of bowel movements)
65
What are the characteristics of the anal expulsive?
Disorganised, untidy, disregard norms
66
When is the phallic stage?
3-5 years
67
What is the fixation during the phallic stage?
Libidinal energy to the genitals
68
Who looked at castration anxiety?
Rapport, 1960
69
What did Rapport find?
The changes in relation to parents, boys become aware and perceive their mother as sexual object
70
What is the oedipal compkex and how is it resolved.
Father is seen as a sexual rival
Boy identifies with father to resolve it
71
What is the electra complex?
Father as sex object
Mother as rival and possesses some power but not as much as the father
Lower anxiety towards mother
Identify with mother
Girls cannot balance ID and superego so have weaker ego functioning
72
What is the consequence of the phallic stage?
Male may be promiscuous and seek gratification they did not have as a child
If make does not adopt masculine traits they will develop feminine (same for women)
Homosexuality
73
When is the latency stage?
5-12 years
74
What are the characteristics of the latency srage
Energy in socialisation and learning
Peer group interaction with same sex children
Defense mechanisms
75
When is the genital stage?
13-18 years
76
What are the characteristics of the genital stage?
Puberty reawakens the libido
Conflicts in other stages will change sexual orientation
77
Who looked at research into the stages of psychosexual development?
Fisher and Greenberg (1996)
Hunt (1979)
78
What did Fisher and Greenberg find?
Concluded there is empirical evidence to support oral and anal personalities and weak evidence for oedipal and none for electra
79
What did Hunt find?
Anal characteristics in adults but not related with toilet training
80
What is the evaluation for Freud?
Heuristic value= caused debate and motivation to develop alternative treatments
Applied value= advance in treatment such as therapy
Parsimony= sexuality and aggression being main motivators
Comprehenstiveness= addresses normal and abnormal behaviour
81
What did Pavlov look at and find?
Salivary response of animals and humans, natural response from dogs to salivate when seeing food.
Food= UCS, salivation= UCR, bell= NS. Association. (CC)
82
What can classical conditioning explain?
Emotional reactions
83
What is operant conditioning?
Consequence will encourage or discourage behaviour
NR, PR + Punishment
84
Who spoke about shaping?
Skinner
85
What is shaping?
Initial reward for behaviour for a desired goal
86
What does random + partial reinforcement do?
Produce behaviours that are resistant to change
87
Who did the Little Albert experiment?
Watson and Rayner
88
Who applied learning theory to personality?
Dollard and Miller
89
What did Dollard and Miller say?
Thoughts and memories can cue behaviour
We are unaware of some processes as we acquire drives from before we learn to talk
Defence mechanism of repression is learnt as we fail to label the upsetting thought so they are not easy to recall, recalling reinforces the neg experience
90
Which journal article speaks about personality development and SLT?
Bandura
91
What are the key points from Bandura?
Imitation is a primary mechanism through which children acquire personality traits.
Attractiveness, status and similarity to the model will effect modelling and the acquisition of personality traits from the model
Imitation= internalisation of standards that can shape personality development
Personality traits (aggression, empathy and social competence) are acquired through modelling
92
Which journal article looked at parenting and personality?
Schofield et al
93
What did Schofield et al find?
Theorised that ‘parent warmth/responsivity is hypothesized to promote children’s prosocial behaviour’ (Hoffman, 1982) p.257
Bandura= a parent that models the behaviour will increase the chances (Criticism= will modelling the behaviour change the child’s personality)
‘high levels of parental warmth and low levels of hostility positively predicted adolescent alpha linked personality traits’ p.273
94
What is a criticism of Schofield et al?
Criticism= will modelling the behaviour change the child’s personality)
Replication is needed
95
What are instinctoid tendencies? (Maslow)
Humans having an innate tendency for healthy growth and development
They are weak and overcame with negative environments
96
What are the 2 types of human motivations?
Deficiency motives and growth motives
97
What are deficiency motives?
Basic needs (hunger), needs we lack but are motivated to get, create a neg emotional state that changes when the need is satisfied
98
What are growth motives?
Needs that are unique and gain intensity as they are met, rewarding, acts as further motivation to achieve personal goals
99
What is the hierarchy of needs?
Physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem, self-actualisation
100
What are physiological needs?
Hunger, thirst, sleep
Deficiency needs
101
What is safety needs?
Fears and anxieties of safety
102
What are safety needs influenced by?
Personality factors such as altruism
103
Who looked at safety needs?
Maslow
104
What did Maslow find?
Safety needs in infants as they are upset by loud noises and rough handling
105
What does an unsafe environment do?
Impact child development
106
What is love and belongingness
Acceptance by others
Motivated to make friends and socialise
More awareness of loneliness
107
What are the two types of love?
D-love and B-love
108
What is D-love?
Deficiency need, the love we seek due to emptiness in ourselves, is selfish as we want it for ourselves, yearning for affection and sexual arousa
109
What is B-love?
Growth need, loving others in an unconditional way for being, respect and individuality and putting their needs before your own
110
What are the two types of esteem?
Based on the need to see ourselves as competent and achieving + need for esteem based on evaluation of other
111
What is self-actualisation?
Maximising talents and finding meaning in life so they are at peace
A growth need
112
Who looked at self-actualisation?
Maslow
113
What did Maslow find?
It is prominent in adults
Not all individuals reach it
114
What are metaneeds?
The needs for the self-actualisers such as beauty, truth, ethics and justice
115
What are the characteristics of self-actualisers?
Creativity in the way they approached life
They engage more in B-cognition
Self-actualisers have more peak experiences
Higher levels of self-acceptance
Well-developed morals
Independent
Deeper personal relationships
Non-possessive B-love
Dislike humour about superiority+offensive but prefer philosophical based humour
116
What is B-cognition?
A non-judgemental form of thought about accepting yourself and the world
Occurs during peak experiences
117
How does the humanistic approach link to personality?
Children have an innate drive to develop which is positive and fuelled by motivational needs
Parental expectations and cultural expectations influence children
118
Why does mental illness occur according to Maslow?
Failure to satisfy needs causing psychological disturbance
E.g. lack of safety= anxiety
119
Who criticised Maslow?
Hoffman et al
120
What did Hoffman et al find?
Lack of correlation between peak experiences and self-actualisation
121
Who looked at applied value of Maslow?
Karney, 2014
122
What did Karney do?
Utilised hierarchy of needs to examine marital expectations in therapy
123
Which journal article speak about humanistic approach and personality?
Boyle & Woods
124
What are the key points from Boyle & Woods?
Changes in personality traits are associated with existential well-being, particularly psychological well-being
personality changes significantly correlate with changes in PWB
Supports the humanistic perspective that personal growth and self-actualization are integral to well-being.
125
What is the evaluation of Maslow?
Description= simplified (self-actualisation being the root and no genetics)
Explanation= no acknowledgement of inconsistencies in theories
Empirical validity= small samples that were not randomly selected
Comprehensiveness= not done in a systematic fashion + doesn't explain how self-actualisation can be reached
Parsimony= too parsimony due tp adoption of Freud's theories which are inconsistent
Heuristic value= caused reviewing of methologies + focus on achievement
