Personality Vocab Flashcards
What is personality?
Our patterns of thinking, feeling, acting.
What does the Psychodynamic Perspective focus on?
Unconscious motives and unresolved conflicts shape us.
What is psychoanalysis?
Expose and interpret unconscious motives and conflicts.
What is Freud’s view of the mind represented by?
The Iceberg model.
What is free association?
Relax and say whatever, unconscious things surface.
What is the preconscious?
When unconscious things become conscious.
What is the unconscious?
Mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, and memories.
What does the Id represent?
Shoulder devil. Want to do, pleasure principle.
What does the Superego represent?
Shoulder angel. What we should do, morality principle.
What does the Ego represent?
Kronk. What you can do, reality principle.
What are Freud’s Psychosexual Stages?
- Oral Stage (Birth-18 mon.) = Weaning conflict
- Anal Stage (18 mon.-3 yrs.) = Potty training conflict
- Phallic Stage (3 yrs.-6 yrs.) = Human anatomy conflict
- Latency Stage (6 yrs.-puberty) = Gender identity conflict
- Genital Stage (starts @ puberty) = Dating conflict
What are defense mechanisms?
Ego protecting us.
What is repression?
Blocking things out entirely.
What is regression?
Going back to child-like behavior.
What is denial?
Refuse to admit things.
What is reaction formation?
Think/feel one way, do the opposite.
What is projection?
Our thoughts or feelings, but we pretend they’re others.
What is rationalization?
When we justify things.
What is displacement?
Put unacceptable thoughts/feelings onto something more acceptable.
Who are the Neo-Freudians?
Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, Karen Horney.
What is Alfred Adler known for?
Inferiority Complex.
What is Carl Jung known for?
Collective Unconscious.
What is Karen Horney’s perspective?
Freud’s theories were male dominated; social expectations shape personality.
What are projective tests?
Use ambiguous stimuli to trigger inner thoughts/feelings.
What is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)?
Show them a picture, they tell a story.
What is the Rorschach Inkblot Test?
Use inkblot to ask what they see.
What does Humanistic Psychology focus on?
Experience, freedom to choose, and growth.
What is Abraham Maslow known for?
Hierarchy of Needs.
What is self-actualization?
Highest level of hierarchy, full unique potential.
What is Carl Rogers known for?
Importance of acceptance, genuineness, empathy in human growth.
What is unconditional positive regard?
Attitude of total acceptance.
What is self-concept?
Interview about actual self vs ideal self.
What are traits?
Consistent aspects of personality.
What is the Social Cognitive Perspective?
States people’s environment affects how they think, which affects how they act/feel.
Who is Gordon Allport?
Researched the idea that everyone has a unique personality.
Who is Raymond Cattell?
Believed traits predicted others; identified 16 human traits.
Who is Hans Eysenck?
Predicted personality traits were inherited; introvert/extrovert is genetic.
What are the Big Five Traits?
Conscientiousness, Openness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Neuroticism.
What is validity in personality testing?
Measures what it should.
What is reliability in personality testing?
Gets consistent results.
What is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)?
The most widely used professional personality test.
Who is Albert Bandura?
Believed understanding personality requires knowing someone’s thoughts before, during, and after an event.
What is reciprocal determinism?
Behavior is influenced by both personality and environment.
What is an external locus of control?
You control your own fate.
What is an internal locus of control?
Chance/things you can’t control decide your fate.
Who is Martin Seligman?
Researched learned helplessness before turning to optimism and positive psychology.
What is positive psychology?
Study of optimal function and allowing people to thrive.
How can personality be assessed in situations/positive psychology?
Do actual experiments to test personality.
