Personality Flashcards
catharsis
explosive release of previously dammed up emotions
free associations
method of reminding patient of repressed emotions by saying anything in associative network that comes into their mind
conversion disorder
“wounded” from carrying out no only the forbidden behavior but the conscious thought and urge that goes with it.
pleasure principle
ID: immediate satisfaction
reality principle
ego: tries to satisfy the id pragmatically, in accordance with the real world and its real demands
anxiety
unpleasant threat to selfhood
displacement
the boss kicked his employee, because it was unacceptable to kick the boss back, instead kicked his wife who then kicked the child who then kicked the dog who then bit the cat
reaction formation
“I don’t hate you, I love you”
rationalization
sour grapes– “i didnt want them anyway”
projection
I don’t hate you, it is you who hates me
isolation
repression not of the cognitive aspects of an unacceptable memory but of the uncomfortable emotions ordinarily inspired by that memory
erogenous zones
mouth, anus and genitals
oral character
class of personality type
fixation
weaning focuses the infant’s attention upon anus rather than away from the pleasures that can be obtained orally
reaction formation
infant would come to excessively devalue any activity associated with the mouth and the pleasures obtained thereby, such as eating, kissing, etc.
anal character
obsessive concern with cleanliness and order of a generalized stubbornness and obstinacy toward complying with the wishes of others, or of an overall stinginesss
castration anxiety
fear that father will castrate them for desiring mother
latency period
period between 7 (onset of adolescence) where young boys renounce mothers and all genital pleasures
Electra complex
how girls achieve their female gender identity
latent content
anxiety is generated that activates some defenses to censor the dreams true meaning
manifest content
symbolic disguise of dreams
ego psychology
stresses the healthy aspects of the self as it tries to cope with the world, dealing with reality as it is rather than to distort it or hide away from it
phenomenology
the study of the individual’s own unique first-person conscious experience and how the individual makes sense of the world around him/her. –> realize potentials within the world (Self-actualize)
Traits
relatively stable patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that characterize an individual
states
temporary patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior
Raymond Cattell’s personality inventory
- derived from a factor analysis of 171 trait names based on thousands of words used to describe personality attributes
- assesses 16 primary dimensions
Warren Norman’s Five crucial dimensions of personality?
- Openness to experience: unconventionality, intellectual curiosity, and interest in new ideas, foods, and activities
- Conscientiousness: having organized, efficient, and disciplined approach to life
- Extraversion: having an energetic approach toward the social and physical world
- Agreeableness
- neuroticism: tendency toward unstable emotions
Self-report data
data supplied by the research participant describing him or herself rather than that collected by the experimenter
Informant data
data about a person derived from others who know the person well
Taxonomy
top-down into generalization-specialization relationships
Walter Mischel, CAPS, & personality paradox
-CAPS
1) encodings: set of construals
2) expectancies and beliefs/ sense of self-efficacy
3) emotional responses to situations
4) goals and values
5) competencies and self-regulatory okabs
-critic of trait theories of personality–> found that people behave much less consistently across situations than trait theory predicts
weak situation
allow for a wider variety of behavior and greater expression of traits– our personalities shape our actions
strong situations
allow for less variety in behavior and expression of traits based on situation
Self-Monitoring Scale
a personality measure that seeks to determine the degree to which a person alters or adjusts their behavior in order to act appropriately in new circumstances
temperament
characteristic pattern of emotion, attention, and behavior that is evident from an early age and is determined to a considerable degree by genetic patterns
physiological data
how people with different personality traits differ in biological functioning
Hans Eysenck’s theory
hint: you are in the middle
classification of personalities on the basis of a rating on Introversion/Extroversion and Neuroticism
sensation seeking
a predisposition due to underactive neurotransmitter systems to seek novel experiences, look for thrills and adventure, and be highly susceptible to boredom
National character
people in different cultures have different personalities
birth order
later borns being more rebellious and open to newer experiences than first borns
gender
differential treatment for men and women+ biological factors between the sexes
oedipus complex
- pivotal point that occurs during the phallic period
- “authority problem” with his father because the father stands in the way between him and his mother
Trobriand Islands
-little boys develop an “authority problem” not toward their mother’s eldest brother (the disciplinarian) who except for sleeping with the mother, has the total say over what is and is not permitted in the household, including what the little boy is and is not allowed to do
Freud and dreams
- Freud believed all dreams are attempts at wish fulfillment (present unfulfilled ID impulses in disguised form)
- we are able to protect ourselves to an extent even in our sleep
object relations & Attachment theory
school of psychodynamic thought that emphasizes the real as opposed to fantasized relations an individual has with others
internal working model
people’s relations to objects in the world about them are based on a working model derived from early relationship with primary attachment figure–usually mother
secure base
if the relationship is secure (based on contact comfort) person will ten to feel safe to explore and relate to the world around him/her
What are Freud’s scientific shortcomings ?
- remember good scientific theories explain observations and offer testable hypotheses
- freuds theory rests on few objective observations and offers few hypothesis to verify or reject
Criticism
- Freud had to “reinterpret” evidence in order for it to be properly appreciated
- theory fails to predict behavior and traits; only offers after-the-fact explanations
What was Freuds contribution to psychology and to western thinking?
- influence on literature and arts in the first half of the 20th centrury
- idea that many important psychological processes operate outside our awareness
- idea that motives and impulses are often at odds with one another
- understanding of children learning acceptable ways of managing sexual/aggresive impulses–> productive maturity
construal
interpretation of the world around him
Maslow & hierarchy of needs
- self-actualizers have an admirable list of human qualities:
- –are realistically oriented, accept themselves and others, are spontaneous, care more about the problems they’re working on than themselves, have intimate relationships with a few people rather than superficial relationships with many, etc.
- lower, physiological needs, and striving for self actualization is at the top
self-actualization
realizing one’s full potential, especially in a satisfying way
Carl Rogers
even though self-actualization is rare, each of us has within us the impulse to self-actualize
self-schema
an organized body of knowlege about the self that shapes one’s behaviors perceptions and emotions
possible selves
visions of the self you dream of becoming and fear of becoming—> specific goals
spotlight effect
overestimating others’ noticing our appearance, performance, blunders
self-reference effect
we remember info better if we encode it in terms of ourselves
E. Tory Higgins & promotion focus
when we compare our actual selves to our ideal self, we become motivated to narrow the distance between the two and develop a promotion focus
prevention focus
if we compare actual self to ought self, we develop a preventional focus that motivates us to avoid doing harm and experience feelings of relief in doing so
positive psychology
- scientific study of optimal human functioning
- aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and committees to thrive
- a research movement that emphasizes factors that make people psychologically happy, healthy, or able to cope well with their life circumstances
Happiness set point
a level that appears to be heavily influenced by genetics and is remarkably stable across the lifetime and is thus relatively independent of life circumstances
Happiness set point study
-Compared the sense of well-being in people in two differrent groups
GROUP 1: recently won the lottery
Group 2: group of paraplegics
Results: the two groups were not surprisingly quite different in their level of happiness soon after winning the lottery or losing the use of their limbs
BUT when surveyed a few months later, both groups were similar in their sense of contentment with their livess
Social cognitive Approach
-power of people’s beliefs in shaping their responses to others and to the world around them
Outcome expectations
behavioral roots
a set of beliefs drawn from experience about what the consequences of certain actions are likely to be
Self-efficacy
behavioral roots
the sense a person has about what things he can plausibly accomplish
personal constructs (cognitive roots)
the dimensions used by a person to organize his or her experience
control: Infants kicking mobile
babies are happier if an overhead mobile turns because of their actions than if it turns on its own
control: Nursing home patients
patients who were given small plants to care for were more active and felt better than patients who were told the staff would care for the plants
attributional style
- the way a person typically explains the things that happen in his or her life
- internal (i did not study enough) v. external (the teacher misled me) (me or the situation)
- global: im stupid v. specific: im stupid with this material (in general or this case)
- stable: i am always bound to fail v. unstable: with some extra studying, I can recover (always or just this time)
self-control
the ability to pursue a goal while adequately managing internal conflicts about it, or to delay pursuing a goal because of other considerations or constraints
delayed gratification
to function effectively, we must learn to postpone our immediate rewards for greater long-term rewards
Mischel Studies with children & Delayed Gratifications
- 4-5 year olds shown two snacks, one preferable to the other (eg. two marshmallows vs. one)
- to obtain the preferred snack, had to wait abut 15 minutes
- if they did not want to wait, or grew tired of waiting, they could receive the less desirable treat and forgo the better one
Results: found that childhood ability to delay gratification (age 4) is positively correlated with
- academic and social competence
- attentiveness and verbal fluency
- general coping ability
- self-reliance
Unconditional positive regard
basic acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does, especially in the context of client-centered therapy
Rorschach Inkblot test
- responses differ depending upon diagnotic group to which they belong
- content, location, determinants
What is the correct order of the psychosexual stages?
1) oral
2) anal
3) phallic
4) latency
5) genital
