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Introduction to Psychology > Personality > Flashcards

Personality Flashcards

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1
Q

Define personality.

A

The unique, enduring pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions.

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2
Q

What are the four perspectives on the study of personality?

A
  1. Psychodynamic theories
  2. Cognitive-social theories
  3. Humanistic theories
  4. Behavioural theories
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3
Q

What is the basis of psychodynamic theories?

A

A person’s behaviour is caused by the interaction of inner force, and unconscious thought.

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4
Q

What is the basic assumption of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory?

A

Unconscious and intrapsychic processes shape and drive a person’s behaviour.

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5
Q

What does intrapsychic mean

A

Being or occurring within the psyche, mind, or personality.

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6
Q

What was Sigmund Freuds theory about dreams?

A

Freud proposed that dreams represent the fulfilment of our wishes. He believed that through the interpretation of dreams, you could gain insight into the hidden parts of a person’s personality.

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7
Q

How is personality tested?

A

Using tests that meet scientific standards of reliability and validity.

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8
Q

What determines the reliability of a test?

A

It’s consistency

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9
Q

What are the three factors of contributing to a reliable test?

A
  1. Test-retest reliability: consistency over time
  2. Internal consistency
  3. Inter-rater reliability: consistent results between experimenters
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10
Q

What determines the validity of a test?

A

The test measures what its supposed to.

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11
Q

What are the four factors that contribute to the validity of a test?

A
  1. Face validity
  2. Content validity
  3. Criterion validity
  4. Construct validity
    a. Convergent validity
    b. Discriminant validity
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12
Q

Is a measurement valid if it is reliable?

A

No:
- Measures can be reliable but NOT valid
- If a measure is not reliable then it CANNOT be valid

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13
Q

What was the first comprehensive theory of personality?

A

Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory

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14
Q

What are the four aspects of the Freudian theory of personality?

A
  1. Levels of consciousness
  2. Structural model of personality
  3. Defensive mechanisms
  4. Psychosexual development
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15
Q

What are the three Freudian levels of consciousness?

A
  1. Conscious
  2. Preconscious
  3. Unconscious
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16
Q

What are the three agencies of Freud’s structural model of personality?

A
  1. Id
  2. Ego
  3. Superego
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17
Q

Explain Freud’s concept of Id.

A

Id is:
* Present at birth
* Unconscious
* Eros and Thanatos
* Pleasure principle
* Immediate gratification

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18
Q

Explain Freud’s concept of Ego.

A

The Ego:
* Lies mainly in conscious and preconscious
* Mediates the demands of the id, superego and reality
* Reality principle

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19
Q

Explain Freud’s concept of Superego.

A

Superego:
* Rules of parents and society
* Morality principle
* ‘Shoulds’ and ‘should nots’
* Guilt
* Conflict with Id

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20
Q

According to Freud, how do the intrapsychic agencies interact?

A

The ego (“the executive”) attempts to mediate the intrapsychic conflicts between Superego and Id in the unconscious.

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21
Q

According to Freud, what happens when the Ego fails to negotiate with the Superego and Id?

A

We feel anxious, and because this is uncomfortable, the ego tries to distort reality with defence mechanisms.

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22
Q

What is the most important defence mechanism of the ego according to Freud? Explain what it is.

A

Repression - preventing painful or dangerous thoughts or memories from entering the consciousness

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23
Q

What are the three defence mechanisms of the ego?

A
  1. Repression
  2. Projection
  3. Sublimination
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24
Q

How is projection used as a defence mechanism?

A

Unacceptable thoughts or impulses are transferred onto others

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25
Q

How is sublimination used as a defence mechanism?

A

Unacceptable impulses are channelled into constructive/socially acceptable activities

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26
Q

What was Freud’s theory of Personality development?

A

Personality develops as we navigate through a series of psychosexual stages, each characterised by a conflict centered on an erogenous (sexually aroused) zone.

If conflicts not resolved during each stage, fixation can occur.

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27
Q

At what age did Freud believe personality development occurs in people?

A

First few years of life.

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28
Q

What are the five erogenous zones Freud connected to his theory of personality development?

A

Oral, Anal, Phallic, [latency], and Genital

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29
Q

How did Neo-Freudian theories vary to Freud’s original theories?

A
  • More emphasis on the conscious mind
  • More emphasis on social and cultural influences
  • Less emphasis on sex and aggression
  • Believed personality development extends beyond childhood
30
Q

What are the three main points of contemporary psychodynamic theories of personality?

A
  1. A lot of mental life is unconscious
  2. We often struggle with inner conflicts among our wishes, fears, and values
  3. Childhood experiences and early relationships with caregivers have an important influence on adult personalities (e.g., object relations and attachment theory)
31
Q

How are unconscious processes assessed?

A

Through free association, hypnosis, dream analysis, case histories.

32
Q

What is ineffective in assessing unconscious processes? Why?

A

Objective personality tests: they only capture conscious material

33
Q

How are projective tests used to assess a person’s unconscious thoughts?

A

When a person is presented with an ambiguous and vague stimulus, they ‘project’ their unconscious thoughts, feelings and conflicts into their description of it. (e.g., Rorschach Inkblot Test)

34
Q

Why is the Rorschach Inkblot Test ineffective at assessing the unconscious mind?

A
  1. Inter-rater reliability often low
  2. Validity is questionable
    a. Limited success in discriminating
    between people who do and don’t have
    psychological disorders
    b. Poor ability to predict behaviour
  3. Offers few insights beyond those available via interviews and objective testing
35
Q

What are the three main contributions of psychoanalytic theories?

A
  1. Emphasis on unconscious processes
  2. Importance of childhood experiences in shaping adult personality
  3. Many ideas live on- defense mechanisms, fixation, unconscious, Freudian slips etc.
36
Q

What are the four observed limitations of psychoanalytic theories?

A
  1. Not solidly based on scientific observation
  2. Not testable
  3. Gender and culture biases
  4. Recent contradictory evidence
37
Q

Describe the basic principles of the humanistic theories of personality.

A

The humanistic theories emphasise:
1. the idea of free will; personal responsibility in a person’s actions
2. Self-actualisation is the driving force for personality development
3. The phenomenology of the individual guides behaviour and shapes personality

38
Q

Who are the two main humanistic theorists of personality?

A

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

39
Q

What are the three main points of Carl Roger’s personality theory?

A
  1. Innate tendency towards growth and fulfillment (the actualising tendency)
  2. Unconditional positive regard: an attitude of total acceptance toward another person
  3. Conditions of worth
40
Q

According to Carl Roger’s, what two things combine to form a person’s personality?

A

Self-Actualisation + Conditions of Worth = Personality

41
Q

According to Carl Roger’s, what are the three conditions of self-actualisation?

A
  1. Genuineness
  2. Empathy
  3. Acceptance- unconditional positive regard
42
Q

According to Carl Roger’s, what are the four conditions of worth?

A
  1. Rules we should abide by (e.g., “boys don’t play with dolls”)
  2. Reduces self-acceptance (e.g., “If I play with dolls, I’m not worthwhile”)
  3. Behaviour changes to meet these conditions and feel accepted
  4. Incongruence between actual self and true self

These add up to influence personality development (block self-actualisation)

43
Q

What was Abraham Maslow’s main point for his humanistic theory of personality?

A

Behaviour is motivated by a tendency towards growth

44
Q

What are the 5 stages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs starting with stage 1 (at the bottom)?

A

Stage 5 - Self-actualisation

                                                  Stage 4 - Esteem needs

                                     Stage 3 - Belongingness and love needs

                         Stage 2 - Safety needs

                Stage 1 - Physiological needs
45
Q

What are the deficit and growth needs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

A

Growth = stage 5
stage 4
stage 3

Deficit = stage 3
stage 2
stage 1

46
Q

What are three contributions of the Humanistic approach?

A
  1. Focuses on ‘higher’ human functioning, and innate growth potential
  2. Impact on popular ideas about child-rearing, education, management, etc.
  3. Successful therapeutic techniques
47
Q

What are three limitations of the Humanistic approach?

A
  1. Naïve, romantic, unrealistic and limited in scope
  2. Genetics, situational/environmental factors?
  3. Concepts like free will and self-actualisation are vague and hard to examine
48
Q

Describe the Trait approach for measuring personality.

A

Identifying and describing the consistent characteristics and differences between us.

49
Q

What are 3 assumptions of the Trait Approach?

A
  1. Personality traits are relatively stable: over time and in varying situations
  2. Can predict a person’s behaviour based on their traits
  3. Everyone’s trait profile is different
50
Q

Define personality traits.

A

Personality traits are relatively stable cognitive, emotional and behavioural characteristics of people that help establish their individual identities and distinguish them from others.

51
Q

What are the two major approaches to discover and define personality traits?

A

The lexical, and the factor analysis approach

52
Q

How is the factor analysis approach used to determine personality traits?

A

Factor analysis is used to identify clusters of behaviours that are highly positively or negatively correlated with one another, but not with behaviours in other clusters.

(e.g., introversion vs extraversion)

53
Q

What is the one main hypothesis of modern day trait theories?

A

Everyone has the same traits, but in different amounts; like a spectrum.

54
Q

What are the four key issues faced with the trait theories?

A
  1. How many traits are there?
  2. What are they?
  3. How do they develop?
  4. What can they predict?
55
Q

Who developed the Five Factor Model trait theory?

A

McCrae & Costa (2003)

56
Q

What are the five factors of the Five Factor Model? accronym: OCEAN

A
  1. Openness (to experience)
  2. Conscientiousness
  3. Extraversion
  4. Agreeableness
  5. Neuroticism
57
Q

What theory is the Five Factor Model (McCrae & Costa, 2003) based on?

A

Cattel’s 16 personality factor (16PF) theory (1965)

58
Q

What is the revised name of the trait assessment of the Five Factor model?

A

NEO Personality Inventory, Revised (NEO-PI-R)

59
Q

Outline how trait assessments work?

A

People self-report to statements to give objective personality measures.

60
Q

What are three contributions of the trait approach to personality?

A
  1. Traits can be empirically and objectively measured
  2. Useful for predicting many things, not only behaviours but also health, various life outcomes, and much more (criterion validity)
  3. Other approaches use the measures
61
Q

How does McCrae & Costa’s (2003) Five Factor Model compare to Cattel’s 16PF theory (1965)?

A

The Five Factor Model is composed of 5 higher-order factors with each containing several of Cattel’s more specific factors.

The Five Factor Model contains 5 large categories of behaviours (facets) compared to the 16PF theory which has 16 basic personality traits.

62
Q

What are three limitations of the trait approach to personality testing?

A
  1. Depends on self-report, objective measures
  2. Descriptive rather than explanatory
  3. No accounting for change
63
Q

Briefly describe the social learning approaches to personality theory.

A

Personality is simply the learned patterns of thinking and behaviour

64
Q

What is the main premise behind the social learning theories?

A

Personality is driven by classical and operant conditioning; situations determine how people behave

65
Q

What is reciprocal determinism in the social learning theories?

A

The process of in which we shape and are shaped by our environment

66
Q

What are the three main points of Rotter’s expectancy theory?

A
  1. Behaviour is guided by learned expectancies
  2. Expectancies result from prior learning
  3. Expectancies are also influenced by locus of control
67
Q

What are the two types of locus of control in Rotter’s expectancy theory?

A

Internal: the perception that one controls one’s fate

External: the perception that chance or outside forces beyond one’s control determine one’s fate

68
Q

What is Rotter’s equation for behaviour potential?

A

Behaviour potential (likelihood) = expectancy x reinforcement value

69
Q

What are the factors of Bandura’s reciprocal determinism? What’s the acronym?

A

(B)ehaviour
(E)xternal environment
(P)ersonal factors (thoughts, feelings, biology)

70
Q

Briefly explain Bandura’s reciprocal determinism.

A

B —— E
\ /
P

71
Q

What are the three major contributions of the social-cognitive theories?

A
  1. good scientific method
  2. recognises the importance of situations in shaping behaviour and
    personality
  3. forms the basis of treatments for a range of psychological disorders
72
Q

What are the two major limitations of the social-cognitive theories?

A
  1. Fails to consider unconscious motives and minimises the role of traits
  2. Limited in scope: fails to capture the complexity of personality

Introduction to Psychology (6 decks)

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