Introduction to Personality Theory and Psychodynamic Theory Flashcards
Define
Longitudinal study
A study that collects data on the same people at more than one time
Define
Confounding variables
In a correlational study, an outside variable related to the primary variables; also known as third variables
Define
Correlational study
Studies that examine the relationship between two or more characteristics of people
Define
Triangulation
Using different research methods to answer the same question, in order to be more certain of the answer
Define
Repressive copers
People who deny their anxiety even when they’re feeling very worried; they score high on social desirability and low on self-report measures of anxiety
Define
Physiological measures
Measurements assessing physical reactions such as heart rate or sweating
Define
Intercoder reliability
Occurs when people coding stories or written material agree, using a set of rules, that it meets a certain criteria
Define
Informant reports
When the people close to someone (roommates, family, friends) report on his or her personality
Define
Normal distribution
A distribution of scores in which most people score in the middles and fewer score at the extremes; also known as a “bell curve”
Define
Mode
The most frequent score
Define
Median
The score that falls in the middle of all the scores on the test (also called the 50th percentile)
Define
Descriptive statistics
Numbers such as the mean, median and mode
Define
Discriminant validity
When a scale does not correlate with unrelated scales
Define
Convergent validity
When a scale correlates with other scales measuring the same construct
Define
Internal reliability
When all of the items on a questionnaire measure the same thing
Define
Statistically significant
Having a probability of less than 5% that the results are due to random chance
Define
Null correlation
When two variables are not related to each other
Define
Negative correlation
When one variable is high, the other variable tends to be low
Define
Positive correlation
When one variable is high, the other variable tends to be high as well
Define
Correlation
The statistical relationship between two variables
Define
Acquiescence response set
The tendency of some respondents to agree with many items on a questionnaire
Define
Reverse-scored items
Items scored in the opposite direction from the responses
Define
Self-report measure
Questionnaires asking people to report on their own personalities, usually through rating themselves on a list of adjectives or statements
Define
Personality assessment
The way we measure and capture personality, using a variety of methods
Define
Socially desirable responding
The tendency of people to make themselves look better than they actually are
Define
Conscientiousness
Organised, ambitious and self-controlled; opposite: being messy, unmotivated, and impulsive
Define
Person-situation interaction
When the person and situation work together to determine behaviour
Define
Nature-nurture debate
The view that geneitcs cause personality traits versus the view that the environment causes personality traits
Define
Person-Situation Debate
The view that stable personality traits predict behaviour versus the view personality doesn’t really exist and the situation is much more important
Define
Situation
The other people and the physical environment surrounding a person
Define
Introversion
How shy and reserved someone is, the opposite of extraversion
Define
Extraversion
How outgoing, assertive, and talkative someone is
Define
Personality
Someone’s usual pattern of behaviour, feelings, and thoughts
Define
Random Assignment to Condition
A process ensuring that all participants have an equal chance of taking part in any condition of an experiment; through random assignment, researchers can be relatively certain that differences in the participants’ personalities or backgrounds are distributed evenly across conditions
Define
Independent Variable
The variable a researcher changes or varies to see if it has an effect on some other variable
Define
Experimental Method
The method in which the researcher randomly assigns participants to different conditions and ensures that these conditions are identical except for the independent variable (the one thought to have a causal effect on people’s responses)
Define
Dependent Variable
The variable a researcher measures to see if it is influenced by the independent variable; the researcher hypothesises that this variable will depend on the level of the independent variable
Define
Projective tests
Measures designed to elicit personality characteristics without directly asking
Define
Barnum Effect
The tendency for people to believe vague positive statements about themselves
Define
Face validity
When scale items appear, at face value, to measure what they are supposed to measure
Define
Mean
The average score on a scale, calculated by adding everyone’s scores anc dividing by the number of scores
Define
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
a device that measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow
Define
Test-Retest Reliability
Taking the test at to different times produces roughly the same result
Define
Validity
When a scale measures what it’s supposed to measure
Define
Reliability
Consistency, either within a scale or over time
Define
Predictive validity
When a scale is related to a concrete outcome or behaviour
Define
Percentile score
The percentage of people someone scores higher than on a scale or test; a score at the 90th ______ means someone scores higher than 90% of the people who took the scale
Define
Likert scale
A range of numbers that correspond to how much someone agrees or disagrees with an item
Define
Cronbach’s alpha
a statistical measire of internal reliability
Definition
A study that collects data on the same people at more than one time
Longitudinal study
Definition
In a correlational study, an outside variable related to the primary variables; also known as third variables
Confounding variables
Definition
Studies that examine the relationship between two or more characteristics of people
Correlational study
Definition
Using different research methods to answer the same question, in order to be more certain of the answer
Triangulation
Definition
People who deny their anxiety even when they’re feeling very worried; they score high on social desirability and low on self-report measures of anxiety
Repressive copers
Definition
Measurements assessing physical reactions such as heart rate or sweating
Physiological measures
Definition
Occurs when people coding stories or written material agree, using a set of rules, that it meets a certain criteria
Intercoder reliability
Definition
When the people close to someone (roommates, family, friends) report on his or her personality
Informant reports
Definition
A distribution of scores in which most people score in the middles and fewer score at the extremes; also known as a “bell curve”
Normal distribution
Definition
The most frequent score
Mode
Definition
The score that falls in the middle of all the scores on the test (also called the 50th percentile)
Median
Definition
Numbers such as the mean, median and mode
Descriptive statistics
Definition
When a scale does not correlate with unrelated scales
Discriminant validity
Definition
When a scale correlates with other scales measuring the same construct
Convergent validity
Definition
When all of the items on a questionnaire measure the same thing
Internal reliability
Definition
Having a probability of less than 5% that the results are due to random chance
Statistically significant
Definition
When two variables are not related to each other
Null correlation
Definition
When one variable is high, the other variable tends to be low
Negative correlation
Definition
When one variable is high, the other variable tends to be high as well
Positive correlation
Definition
The statistical relationship between two variables
Correlation
Definition
The tendency of some respondents to agree with many items on a questionnaire
Acquiescence response set
Definition
Items scored in the opposite direction from the responses
Reverse-scored items
Definition
Questionnaires asking people to report on their own personalities, usually through rating themselves on a list of adjectives or statements
Self-report measure
Definition
The way we measure and capture personality, using a variety of methods
Personality assessment
Definition
The tendency of people to make themselves look better than they actually are
Socially desirable responding
Definition
Organised, ambitious and self-controlled; opposite: being messy, unmotivated, and impulsive
Conscientiousness
Definition
When the person and situation work together to determine behaviour
Person-situation interaction
Definition
The view that geneitcs cause personality traits versus the view that the environment causes personality traits
Nature-nurture debate
Definition
The view that stable personality traits predict behaviour versus the view personality doesn’t really exist and the situation is much more important
Person-Situation Debate
Definition
The other people and the physical environment surrounding a person
Situation
Definition
How shy and reserved someone is, the opposite of extraversion
Introversion
Definition
How outgoing, assertive, and talkative someone is
Extraversion
Definition
Someone’s usual pattern of behaviour, feelings, and thoughts
Personality
Definition
A process ensuring that all participants have an equal chance of taking part in any condition of an experiment; through random assignment, researchers can be relatively certain that differences in the participants’ personalities or backgrounds are distributed evenly across conditions
Random Assignment to Condition
Definition
The variable a researcher changes or varies to see if it has an effect on some other variable
Independent Variable
Definition
The method in which the researcher randomly assigns participants to different conditions and ensures that these conditions are identical except for the independent variable (the one thought to have a causal effect on people’s responses)
Experimental Method
Definition
The variable a researcher measures to see if it is influenced by the independent variable; the researcher hypothesises that this variable will depend on the level of the independent variable
Dependent Variable
Definition
Measures designed to elicit personality characteristics without directly asking
Projective tests
Definition
The tendency for people to believe vague positive statements about themselves
Barnum Effect
Definition
When scale items appear, at face value, to measure what they are supposed to measure
Face validity
Definition
The average score on a scale, calculated by adding everyone’s scores anc dividing by the number of scores
Mean
Definition
a device that measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Definition
Taking the test at to different times produces roughly the same result
Test-Retest Reliability
Definition
When a scale measures what it’s supposed to measure
Validity
Definition
Consistency, either within a scale or over time
Reliability
Definition
When a scale is related to a concrete outcome or behaviour
Predictive validity
Definition
The percentage of people someone scores higher than on a scale or test; a score at the 90th ______ means someone scores higher than 90% of the people who took the scale
Percentile score
Definition
A range of numbers that correspond to how much someone agrees or disagrees with an item
Likert scale
Definition
a statistical measire of internal reliability
Cronbach’s alpha
Why do we study psychology?
- Allows us to try to understand the person as a whole such that individuals can be seen as:
- integrated
- coherent
- Unique
- Personality theories have influenced:
- the whole field of Psychology
- Society
What is personality?
- Personality is someone’s usual pattern of beliefs, feelings, and thoughts.
- Personality includes tendencies all humans share, but also individual differences.
- Some personality differences are obvious; others less so.
- Personality is shaped by genetics, parents, peers, birth order, and culture.
What is the aim of personlaity psychology?
Personality psychology aims to define and measure what it can, while acknowledging that there are many other influences on behaviour.
Personality is a “hub” topic, at the centre of various subareas within psychology including what?
- Developmental psychology
- Neuroscience
- Clinical psychology
- Industrial/organizational psychology
- Social psychology
Where Can We See Personality?
Personality is everywhere.
- Social interaction
- Facebook use
- Choice of product brand
- Offices and bedrooms
- Physical appearance
Overall, definitions of personality typically include
- Has organisation
- Is dynamic (some fluidity, not exactly the same across all situations)
- Relates to physical systems and experiences
- Is causal in terms of how the individual relates to the world
- Has a predictive quality to it (patterns)
- Is displayed in thought, behaviour and emotion
True or False
Personality can be measured accurately enough to predict behavior
True
What is the person–situation debate?
- On one side, the view that stable personality traits predict behavior
- On the other side, the view that situation is much more important and personality doesn’t really exist
What are theories of personality influenced by?
Personal factors
The spirit of the time
Philosophical assumptions characteristic of members of a given culture
What two drives suggested by Freud through the psychodynamic theory are said to shape personality?
‘Eros’ ‐ life/sexual instinct or drive, libido is the psychic energy associated with sexual instinct.
‘Thanatos’ ‐ death/aggressive instinct or drive
What was Freud’s view of the person?
- The mind as an energy system
- The mind is a system that contains and directs instinctual drives
- Major scientific problem is to explain how mental energy flows, gets sidetracked, gets dammed up
What were the three core ideas of Freud’s view of mental energy?
- There is a limited amount of energy
- Energy can be blocked but does not “just go away”; instead gets expressed in some other manner, along a path of least resistance
- The mind functions to achieve a state of quiescence
What are the two implications of catharsis?
- Mind is an energy system
- The mind has more than one part
- A region of ideas of which people are consciously aware
- A more mysterious, hidden region of ideas that lie outside of awareness: “unconscious”
What did Freud believe about individuals in society?
- Prevailing belief was that people are essentially good, but society corrupts them
- In psychoanalysis, sexual and aggressive drives are an inborn part of human nature
- Individuals function according to a pleasure principle, seek the pleasurable gratification of those drives
- Society teaches the child that biologically naturally drives are socially unacceptable and maintains social norms and taboos that drive this lesson home
According to Freud, what are the two levels of consciousness?
Conscious
Unconscious
According to Freud, what are the functional systems in the mind?
Id
Ego
Superego
What does the conscious, preconscious and unconscious include?
- Conscious level includes thoughts of which we are aware
- Preconscious level contains mental contents of which we easily could become aware if we attended to them
- Unconscious mental contents are parts of the mind of which we are unaware and cannot become aware except under special circumstances
What phenomena did Freud believe revealed content of the inconscious?
slips of the tongue
neuroses
psychoses
works of art
rituals
dreams
Which functional system operated according to the pleasure principle?
Id
Which functional system operates according to the reality priniciple?
Ego
What is manifest content?
the actual literal subject matter of the dream
What is latent content?
the underlying meaning of the symbols in a dream
According to Freud, which type of dream content is important for accessing the unconscious?
Latent content
What are some relationships found between personality traits and dreams?
People high in neuroticism have more nightmares.
People low in neuroticism and high in openness to experience tend to have more dreams about flying.
People high in openness to experience see more strange and different people and are more likely to remember their dreams.
Highly agreeable people see more people in their dreams.
What is day residue?
Experiences from the day incorporated into a dream’s manifest content
What are defence mechanisms?
Strategies used to keep unconscious thoughts from the conscious mind
What is the anima/animus?
The soul; the archetype of the opposite sex of the individual
What is the shadow?
The archetype of the same sex as the individual
What are archetypes?
Unconscious psychic structures shared by all people
What is ego functioning?
The ways the individual interprets the world
What is the self?
The archetype at the center of the collective unconscious
What is the collective unconscious?
Jung’s term for the unconscious archetypes shared by all humans
What is personal unconscious?
Jung’s term for the unconscious of the individual
What is defensive pessimism?
Thinking negative thoughts to prepare for negative outcomes
What is displacement?
Moving a troubling impulse onto a different, less threatening object
What is sublimation?
Channeling unconscious impulses into work
What is repressive coping?
Not allowing your anxiety to become fully conscious
What is projection?
Seeing one’s own unconscious content in others rather than oneself
What is dream interpretation?
The therapeutic technique of uncovering the hidden meaning of dreams
What is repression?
Keeping the unconscious from consciousness by pushing it away
What is reaction formation?
Disguising unconscious content by turning it into its opposite
What is denial?
Not acknowledging unconscious content
What is the Electra complex?
The daughter’s love for the father and wish for the mother’s death (attributed to Jung)
What is anal retentive?
Gaining pleasure from retaining the bowels
What is oral fixation?
Having libido attached to the mouth
What is wish fulfillment?
The unconscious desire to have one’s fantasies realised
What is penis envy?
The idea that girls desire to have penises
What is castration anxiety?
The male child’s fear of being castrated by the father
What is the Oedipus complex?
The male child’s love for the mother and wish for the father’s death during the phallic stage
What is anal expulsive?
Gaining pleasure from releasing the bowels
What is the genital stage?
When the child begins adult sexual development in puberty
What is the latent stage?
The quieting of the libido from age 6 until puberty
What is the superego?
The strict and demanding part of the mind
What is the phallic stage?
The attachment of libido to the genitals
What is the anal stage?
The attachment of libido to the anus
What is the oral stage?
The attachment of libido to the mouth
What are developmental stages according to Freud?
The stages children go through as the libido moves through the body
What is a talking cure?
Freud’s term for the treatment of hysteria by talking in therapy sessions
What is cathexis?
The attachment of libido to thoughts, objects, or parts of the body
What is libido?
Freud’s term for sexual psychic energy
What is a Freudian slip?
When what you really think deep down comes out as a slip of the tongue
What is the ego?
The conscious part of the mind that navigates between the id and super-ego
What is the structural model?
Freud’s model of the mind with three parts: the id, the ego, and the super-ego
What is the reality prinicple?
The goals of the conscious mind, which finds what works in reality
What is the pleasure principle?
The driving force of the unconscious that wants whatever brings pleasure
What is censorship according to Freud?
The process of keeping the unconscious from entering consciousness
What is the Id?
The unconscious mind, motivated for pleasure and wish fulfillment
What is the preconscious mind?
The barely conscious part of our minds that keeps the unconscious out of conscious awareness
What is the topographical model?
Freud’s model of the minf that highlights the conflict between the pleasure principle and the reality principle
What is a mandala?
A squared circle; a classic representation of the Self in Jungian theory
What is free association?
A psychoanalytic technique involving saying whatever comes into your head
What is hysteria?
A psychological disorder characterised bu unexplained physical symptoms such as blindness, fainting or paralysis
What is analytical psychology?
The study of the personal and collective unconscious developed by Jung
What is transferance?
The way the client perceives the therapist
What is the conscious?
The part of the mind within our usual awareness
What is the unconscious?
The part of the mind outside of conscious awareness
What are neo-analytic theories?
The psychodynamic theorists who came after Freud and took his ideas in new and interesting directions
What is psychoanalysis?
The study of the dynamics of the mind developed by Freud
What is isolation?
Impulse, thought, or act is not denied access to consciousness, but is denied the normal accompanying emotion
What is rationalisation?
Ego constructs a rational motive to explain an unacceptable action that is actually caused by the irrational impulses of the id
What are some examples of defense mechanisms?
Denial
Projection
Isolation
Rationalisation
Sublimation
Repression
Are defense mechanisms adaptive or malasadaptive?
Whether it is adaptive or maladaptive depends on the extent of distortion, how pervasive it is and the circumstances under which it occurs
What is the order of psychosexual development?
0 - 1 years: Oral stage
1 - 3 years: Anal stage
3 - 5 years: Phallic stage
6 - 11 years: Latency stage
12 - 18 year: Genital stage
Do children actually display Oedipal behaviors or are they distorted memories of patients in psychoanalytic treatment?
Watson and Getz (1990)
- Collected parents’ reports of parent‐child interactions and analyzed children’s responses to stories involving parent‐child interaction
- At around age four, children show increased preference for the parent of the opposite sex and an increased antagonism toward the parent of the same sex
- These behaviors diminish at around the age of five or six
What were Jung’s ideas about personality?
- Emphasis on evolutionary foundations of the human mind
- Collective unconscious holds cumulative experiences of past generations; is universal
- Contains universal images or symbols, or archetypes
- Seen in fairy tales, dreams, myths, and some psychotic thoughts
- Mother archetype expressed in different cultures in a variety of forms: as life giver, as all giving and nurturant, as the witch or threatening punisher
- Evidence for archetypes being part of collective unconscious is their universality across cultures
What are some examples of Jung’s archetypes?
Persona
Shadow
Anima
Animus
Self
What are the limitations of Freud’s theory?
- Concepts were poorly designed
- What is psychic energy and what unit is it measured in?
- Not scientifically testable
- Role of environment overlooked
- Experiences beyond first 5 years of life affect personality
- Women seen as inferior
- Case study method/data (neurotic, wealthy European women)
- Few child patients
- Over‐emphasis on sexual drive
- Pessimistic psychic determinism‐ is there no free will?
- Time consuming, expensive therapy and of questionable efficacy (e.g., Eysenck, 1952)
- Freud sees society as
a) frustrating a person’s basic desires.
b) necessary for happiness.
c) prohibiting any gratification.
d) conflicting with demands of the ego.
- Freud sees society as
a) frustrating a person’s basic desires.
b) necessary for happiness.
c) prohibiting any gratification.
d) conflicting with demands of the ego.
- Psychoanalysis is
a) a theory of personality.
b) a method of therapy.
c) a technique for research.
d) all of the above.
- Psychoanalysis is
a) a theory of personality.
b) a method of therapy.
c) a technique for research.
d) all of the above.
- Emotional relief gained through talking about one’s problems is covered under the concept of
a) cathexis.
b) anticathexis.
c) mechanism of defense.
d) catharsis.
- Emotional relief gained through talking about one’s problems is covered under the concept of
a) cathexis.
b) anticathexis.
c) mechanism of defense.
d) catharsis.
- Which of the following phenomena did Freud NOT analyse in order to understand the properties of the unconscious?
a) Slips of the tongue.
b) A person’s behaviour.
c) Works of art.
d) Dreams.
- Which of the following phenomena did Freud NOT analyse in order to understand the properties of the unconscious?
a) Slips of the tongue.
b) A person’s behaviour.
c) Works of art.
d) Dreams.
- The characteristics of the unconscious are seen most clearly in
a) dreams.
b) mechanisms of defense.
c) guilt.
d) all of the above.
- The characteristics of the unconscious are seen most clearly in
a) dreams.
b) mechanisms of defense.
c) guilt.
d) all of the above.
- A part of psychoanalytic theory is that psychic life can be described in terms of the degree to which we are aware of phenomena. There are three such levels of awareness. Which of the following is not one of these levels?
a) conscious.
b) unconscious.
c) conscience.
d) preconscious.
- A part of psychoanalytic theory is that psychic life can be described in terms of the degree to which we are aware of phenomena. There are three such levels of awareness. Which of the following is not one of these levels?
a) conscious.
b) unconscious.
c) conscience.
d) preconscious.
- The preconscious differs from the unconscious in that
a) the preconscious relates to phenomena we are able to be aware of if we attend to them.
b) the preconscious relates to phenomena we cannot be aware of.
c) the preconscious relates to phenomena before they happen.
d) there is no difference.
- The preconscious differs from the unconscious in that
a) the preconscious relates to phenomena we are able to be aware of if we attend to them.
b) the preconscious relates to phenomena we cannot be aware of.
c) the preconscious relates to phenomena before they happen.
d) there is no difference.
- The id
a) seeks perfection.
b) seeks reality.
c) seeks pleasure.
d) all of the above.
- The id
a) seeks perfection.
b) seeks reality.
c) seeks pleasure.
d) all of the above.
- The psychoanalytic concept for the aspect of human functioning associated with rewards for striving for ideals and punishments for violating moral standards is the
a) unconscious.
b) superego.
c) ego.
d) id.
- The psychoanalytic concept for the aspect of human functioning associated with rewards for striving for ideals and punishments for violating moral standards is the
a) unconscious.
b) superego.
c) ego.
d) id.
- Id is to pleasure principle as ego is to
a) pain principle.
b) perfection principle.
c) societal principle.
d) reality principle.
- Id is to pleasure principle as ego is to
a) pain principle.
b) perfection principle.
c) societal principle.
d) reality principle.
- For Freud, the goal of all behaviour is
a) survival.
b) consciousness.
c) pleasure.
d) all of the above.
- For Freud, the goal of all behaviour is
a) survival.
b) consciousness.
c) pleasure.
d) all of the above.
- “Not looking” is expressive of the mechanism of defense called
a) projection.
b) denial.
c) repression.
d) blind-sight.
- “Not looking” is expressive of the mechanism of defense called
a) projection.
b) denial.
c) repression.
d) blind-sight.
- Rationalization involves
a) dismissing a thought from consciousness.
b) perception of an action but not the motive for it.
c) denial of the emotion accompanying an act.
d) rationing the affect to fit the situation.
- Rationalization involves
a) dismissing a thought from consciousness.
b) perception of an action but not the motive for it.
c) denial of the emotion accompanying an act.
d) rationing the affect to fit the situation.
- Intellectualization occurs with the defense mechanism of
a) denial.
b) repression.
c) undoing.
d) isolation.
- Intellectualization occurs with the defense mechanism of
a) denial.
b) repression.
c) undoing.
d) isolation.
- Which defense mechanism plays a part in all other defense mechanisms?
a) reaction-formation.
b) repression.
c) rationalization.
d) regression.
- Which defense mechanism plays a part in all other defense mechanisms?
a) reaction-formation.
b) repression.
c) rationalization.
d) regression.
- Which of the following defense mechanisms involves replacement of the original object of gratification with a higher cultural goal?
a) repression.
b) denial.
c) sublimation.
d) reaction-formation.
- Which of the following defense mechanisms involves replacement of the original object of gratification with a higher cultural goal?
a) repression.
b) denial.
c) sublimation.
d) reaction-formation.
- One can expect the operation of defense mechanisms to appear
a) under all conditions.
b) under conditions of threat.
c) when the person is asleep.
d) when a person is intoxicated or tired.
- One can expect the operation of defense mechanisms to appear
a) under all conditions.
b) under conditions of threat.
c) when the person is asleep.
d) when a person is intoxicated or tired.
- According to psychoanalytic theory, various forms of pathology are associated with
a) particular stages of development.
b) particular mechanisms of defense.
c) particular wishes and fears.
d) all of the above.
- According to psychoanalytic theory, various forms of pathology are associated with
a) particular stages of development.
b) particular mechanisms of defense.
c) particular wishes and fears.
d) all of the above.
- Universal images or symbols are known as
a) archetypes.
b) instincts.
c) neurotic trends.
d) basic drives.
- Universal images or symbols are known as
a) archetypes.
b) instincts.
c) neurotic trends.
d) basic drives.
- Alfred Adler and Carl Jung are different from Freud in that they
a) place greater emphasis on sex and aggression.
b) place lesser emphasis on sex and aggression.
c) place greater emphasis on psychotherapy.
d) place lesser emphasis on psychotherapy.
- Alfred Adler and Carl Jung are different from Freud in that they
a) place greater emphasis on sex and aggression.
b) place lesser emphasis on sex and aggression.
c) place greater emphasis on psychotherapy.
d) place lesser emphasis on psychotherapy.