Personality & Abnormal Psych Flashcards
E.G. Boring
Development of psych is not due to efforts of great people, but to zeitgeist beginning w tichener’s introspection, to functionalism, behaviorism, gestalt, cognitive, psychoanalysis, and humanism.
William Sheldon
Characterized people by body type, relating body type to personality type. Endomorphy (soft and round), mesomorphy (hard, muscular), and ectomorphy (thin,fragile).
Humanism
Arouse in opposition to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Believes in free will and ppl should be treated as wholes. Maslow and Rogers
Phillipe Pinel
Reformed an asylum in 1792 to treat patients w humanity & the reform spread
Dorothea Dix
Advocate in mid 1800s for treating the mentally ill in a humane way.
General paresis
Delusions of grandeur, mental deterioration, death caused by syphilis. Brought to light that physiological factors could underlie mental disorders
Cerletti and Bini
Introduced electroshock for schizo patients (they were incorrect in thinking that the convulsions could cure this disorder).
Intro of antipsychotic drugs in the 1950’s
Surgeons stopped performing lobotomies and using Electro shock therapy
Emil Kraepelin
Wrote the precursor to the DSM. Described mental disorders and worked out a system of classifying these disorders
Psychodynamic theory
Structural dynamic model: Id (primary process, desire to relieve tension, obtain satisfaction now not later, mental image of the object is wish fulfillment), ego (the secondary process, the reality principle, promotes problem solving, thinking and reality testing; cannot be independent of the id), superego (similar to id in that it is not in touch w reality & strives for the ideal, moral branch, conscience- linked to punishment, ego-ideal- linked to reward)
Instincts
The propelling aspects of Freud’s dynamic theory of personality. Eros (instinct of life, linked to libido), Thanatos (instinct of death- unconscious wish for absolute state of quiescence)
Defense mechanism
Ego’s resource to releasing excessive pressures due to anxiety. They 1. Distort reality and 2. They are unconscious . There are 8 in total
- Repression 2. Suppression 3. Projection
- Unconscious forgetting of anxiety producing memories 2. More deliberate, conscious form of forgetting 3. When a person attributes his forbidden urges to others
- Reaction formation 5. Rationalization 6. Regression
- A repressed wish is warded off by its diametrical opposite 5. Developing a socially acceptable explanation for inappropriate behavior or thoughts 6. Reverting to an earlier stage of development
- Sublimation 8. Displacement
- Transforming unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behaviors 8. Pent-up feelings are discharged on objects and people less dangerous than the cause of the feelings
Carl Jung
Psychoanalyst that gives more emphasis to interpersonal, social, and cultural influences. Thinks of libido as a psychic energy (as opposed to sexual). Ego- conscious mind; & personal & collective unconscious
Collective unconscious
Shared among all humans & a residue of the experiences of our early ancestors. An archetype is a thought or image that has an emotional element, such as having a mother or father
Extroversion and introversion
Jung. Extroversion is an orientation to the external, objective world. Introversion toward inner, subjective world. Ordinarily one is dominant. Four functions of personality: thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting
Alfred Adler
Originator of the inferiority complex- incompleteness, imperfection, socially and physically. Striving toward superiority that drives the personality. Striving enhances the personality when it’s socially oriented, when it’s not it becomes the root of personality disorders
Creative self and style of life.
Adler. 1. Force by which each individual shapes his uniqueness makes own personality. 2. Manifestation of creative self and describes a persons unique way of achieving superiority. Adler coined the term “lifestyle”
Fictional finalism
An individual is more motivated by his expectations of the future than by past experiences. (Fictional estimate of life’s values rather than past objective data)
Karen Horney
Moving away from others
Karen Horney cont.
Children use 3 strategies in his relationship w others- obtain good will of people who provide security, fighting ppl to obtain the upper hand, and withdrawing from ppl. Highly threatened children will use one of these strategies rigidly and exclusively
Ego psychologists
Anna Freud. More direct investigation of the conscious ego and it’s relation to the world, the unconscious, and superego is beneficial to psychoanalytic theory
Erik Erickson
Ego psychologist. Reworked Sigmund Freud’s stages to cover the entire lifespan
Object-relations theory.
Also psychodynamic. “Object” refers to the symbolic representation of a significant part of the young child’s personality. Look at creation and development of these objects. Melanie Klein, Winnicott, Mahler, and Kernberg
Psychoanalysis
Freud used hypnosis to free repressed thoughts from unconscious, but dropped it in favor of other methods. Free association (client says whatever comes to their mind). Dream interpretation- leads to understanding of unconscious mind. Resistance- (to therapy) is a major part of analysis. Transference involves attributing feelings to the therapist that developed in past relationships w others. Therapists can use this to recreate past experiences. Countertransference where therapist expresses feelings toward the patient- must be careful it doesn’t interfere w therapy
Neo-Freudian approach
Less expensive and time consuming than traditional psycho-analysis. Places more emphasis on current interpersonal relationships and life situations than on childhood
Behaviorism
Basic assumption of behavior theory regarding personality is that behavior is learned as ppl interact w their environment. John Dollard & Neal miller blended psychoanalytic concepts in a behavior stimulus-response reinforcement learning theory approach. Focused on conflicting motives in the devel of personality
B.F. Skinner
Considered personality to be a collection of behavior that happens to have been sufficiently reinforced to persist. So personality is the result of behavioral development of an organism
Bandura
Contends that learning principles are sufficient to account for personality development. Learning can also occur by observing other people’s behavior get reinforced- called vicarious reinforcement (or vicarious Learning)
Seligman’s learned helplessness theory of depression
Dogs were shocked & couldn’t escape. Later when they could escape, they didn’t try. Developed an external locus of control. Extrapolated this to human depression.
Behavior therapy
Abnormal behavior as a result of learning faulty coping patterns. Behaviorists consider the symptoms to be the disorder. Successful with phobias, impulse control, and personal care maintenance
Cognitive- behavior therapy
Blending cognitive and behavioral approaches. Tries to change & restructure patients distorted or irrational thoughts. I.e Beck’s cognitive therapy for depression and Ellis’s RET. (Both challenge irrational beliefs and replace them w more constructive ones)
Symptom substitution
Psychoanalysts do not believe that symptom relief is adequate. Because cause is still there, new symptoms will develop to replace the old one.
Phenomenological theorists
Similar to humanists bc they focus on that which distinguishes us from animals. Looks at internal processes rather than overt behavior. Also similar to existentialists. Gestalt has a holistic view of self, also close to both existentialist and humanism.
Kurt Lewin’s field theory
Puts little stock in constraints on personalities such as fixed traits, habits, or structures (eg id, ego, superego). Influenced by gestalt. Personality is dynamic and ever changing. Under optimal conditions, regions within personality fxn in an integrated fashion. Under stress, systems don’t work smoothly together
Maslow
Hierarchy of human motives and for his views on self-actualization. Peak experiences.
