STAGE TWO PSYCHOLOGY EXAM Flashcards
Personality
The complex network of emotions, cognitions and behaviours that provide coherence and direction to a persons life.
Personality conceptions + theorists
- Psychodynamic conceptions: Sigmund Freud
- Humanistic conceptions: Abraham Maslow
- Trait conceptions: Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck
Sigmund Freud
Freud (1856-1939) was a very influential and controversial Austrian theorist, who proposed the following psychodynamic conceptions of personality; mental forces, mental processes, defence mechanisms and psychosexual stages.
Psychodynamic conceptions
- Mental processes
- Mental forces
- Defence mechanisms
- Psychosexual stages
Mental processes/iceberg analogy
- Conscious mental processes
- Preconscious mental processes
- Unconscious mental processes
Conscious mental processes
The thoughts that we are aware of and hence only make up a small part of the mind (tip of the iceberg). Attention may wander to other conscious thoughts like wondering what the time is or noticing discomfort so we can change position.
Preconscious mental processes
Things we are not currently aware of but can easily bring to the surface as it just below the surface.
Unconscious mental processes
Processes that are inaccessible to our conscious and we cannot become aware of them. Freud believed that these have been repressed as they would be too upsetting. He believed they make up majority of the mind and influence behaviour.
Mental forces
- The id
- The ego
- The superego
The id
Consists of totally unconscious instincts which an individual is born with. It is based on the pleasure principle and demands immediate gratification of its urges (eat, sleep). The id is primitive, illogical, irrational and fantasy oriented.
The ego
Emerges within the first years of life as children experience the demands and constraints of their life experiences. The ego operates according to the reality principle seeking to delay gratification of the ids urges until appropriate situations can be found.
The superego
…Is the moral branch of personality. The superego develops by the age of five in repose to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by caregivers. It forces the ego to consider ideal behaviours.
Why are defence mechanisms used?
If the ego constrains desires of the id, or if the superego is disobeyed, internal conflict may be felt. Defence mechanisms are used to resolve such conflicts, unconsciously between the id, ego and superego.
Defence mechanisms
Largely unconscious self-deceptions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt.
Psychosexual stages of development
Freud believed humans have sexual energy that develops through 5 ‘psychosexual stages’ each based on a particular erogenous zone.
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
What happens if frustration is experienced?
If frustration is experienced at a stage, the person feels anxiety and becomes fixated on that particular erogenous zone, which will affect adult personality and mental health.
Oral stage (birth to 18 months)
During the oral stage, the child is focused on oral pleasures, specifically sucking. Too much or too little gratification results in an ‘oral fixation’ which is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities such as smoking, drinking alcohol, over eating or nail biting. These individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible and perpetual followers.
Anal stage (18 months to 3 years)
During the anal stage, the childs focus of pleasure is on eliminating and retaining faeces. A fixation at this stage will cause ‘anal retentiveness’ or ‘anal expulsiveness’ in adulthood. Anal retentive stimulates controlling, hoarding and excessive neatness. Anal expulsive stimulates messiness, disorganisation and destructiveness.
Phallic stage (3 to 6 years)
During the phallic stage, the pleasure zone focuses on the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage, boys develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Boys see their father as competition for their mothers affection and develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings. This is known as the oedipus complex. For girls, the Electra complex states girls envied their fathers penis and blame their mother for the anatomical ‘deficiency’.
Latency stage (6 years to puberty)
During the latency stage sexual urges remain repressed in the service of learning and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers. Too much repression can lead to a suppression of sexual activity.
Genital stage (puberty onwards)
The genital stages begins at puberty and represents the resurgence of the sex in adolescence. Freud began to see problems, resulting from unresolved conflicts in earlier stages.
Advantages of freud
- First comprehensive theory of personality development, which stimulated further theories
- Ideas persisted in our society through neo-freudians (Carl Jung). They recognised the value of ideas about early childhood experiences affecting adulthood.
Weaknesses of freud
- No real empirical evidence for theory, as he only based his opinions on his experience with clients, through dreams and ‘Freudian slips’.
- Biased towards women (phallic stage)
- Narrow focus on sex
- Difficult to test
Abraham Maslow (1954)
Proposed the very popular theory that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs.
Rule of the hierarchy of needs
The lower need must be met before going to next level. The deficiency needs must be met before growth needs can be focused on.
Maslows simplified ‘hierarchy of needs’ model
Growth Needs: - Self actualisation (personal growth and fulfillment) Deficiency Needs: - Esteem - Belonging and love - Safety - Physiological needs
Maslows expanded ‘hierarchy of needs’ model
Growth Needs: - Transcendence - Self actualisation - Aesthetic - Understanding Deficiency Needs: - Esteem - Belonging and love - Safety - Physiological needs
Transcendence
Helping others reach their potential
Aesthetic
Need for aesthetic beauty
Understanding
Need to know and understand
Esteem
Self respect. Respect from others. High self esteem. Status.
Love and belonging
Close relationships with other people. Group membership.
Physiological needs
Food, water, air, sleep
Self actualisation
Someone who transcends all lower needs to achieve a state of complete personal and intellectual fulfilment. Their qualities include: embrace realities, spontaneity, creative, problem solving, closeness to others, appreciative of life, morality, and lack of judgment towards others.
Peak experiences
Sudden feelings of intense happiness and wellbeing, possibly the awareness of an ‘ultimate truth’, and unity of all things. The experience fills the individual with wonder and awe in which they feel at one with the world. All individuals are capable of these experiences wherein they transcend, or go beyond the limitations of the self.
Advantages of Maslow
- Theory provides a holistic personality developmental perspective
- Considers all factors which can affect a persons life
- Suggests that individuals are involved in the development of their personality and therefore have the ability to voluntarily grow.
Weaknesses of Maslow
- Theory is believed to be too optimistic and doesn’t factor in struggles that a person may feel.
- Works mainly for ‘western societies’ as in some ‘eastern societies’ people strive for enlightenment even though they are unable to meet basic needs.
- Lacks evidence to support theory as it is difficult to test.
Trait conception
Suggests that personality is based on a number of relatively stable characteristics/traits. This approach can describe peoples behaviour and predict how they will behave in certain situations.
Trait
A persons enduring characteristics or dispositions that give rise to their behaviour patterns.
Temperament
The manner of thinking, behaving or reacting characteristic of a specific person from a very young age or at birth.
Factor Analysis
Raymond Cattell used factor analysis; the statistics procedure conduced to identify clusters of related factors on a test, to formulate 16 personality factors.
Personality Dimensions
Hans Eysenck (1960s) undertook factor analysis to arrive at 3 main personality dimensions:
- Neuroticism vs Stability
- Extroversion vs Introversion
- Psychoticism vs Impulse control
Neuroticism
Ranges from calm and collected to anxious and nervous.
Eysenck suggested people high on this scale have a more responsive sympathetic nervous system, causing them to feel fear in minor emergencies. They are more likely to develop mental disorders.
Extroversion
Ranges from shy and quiet to outgoing and loud.
Eysenck suggested people high on extroversion have a cerebral cortex that is under aroused, they therefore behave in extroverted ways to increase this arousal to a more preferable level.
Psychoticism
Ranges from altruistic and conventional to troublesome and uncooperative.
Advantages of Trait conception
- Eysenck theories can be scientifically tested
- Traits conveniently describe the structure of personality
- Eysencks theories led to considerable research into biology of personality
Weaknesses of Trait conception
- No agreement about how many traits exist or are necessary
- People behave differently in different situations, but trait theory suggests their traits should be consistent and stable over time
- Eysenck over emphasised genetic rather than social influences
- Eysenck fails to explain as he only describes human personality
Personality assesemnts
Projective tests: - Word association tests - Rorschach inkblot test - Thematic apperception test (TAT) Standardised self-report inventories: - 16 PF test - EPQ Behaviour Observations Interviews
Projective tests
Tests designed to access mental processes from the unconscious part of the mind.
Word association tests
Analyse responses to a word through what the person says and how quickly.
Rorschach inkblot test
The person is asked to describe what a series of inkblot shapes look like, which the psychologist then interprets in a subjective way.
Thematic apperception test (TAT)
The client is shown pictures that are vague, about people interacting, and is asked to make up stories about the pictures. Themes of the stories are then interpreted by the psychologist. Validity and reliability are a problem as the interpretation depends on the examiner.
Standardised self-report inventories
Standardised = Designed to be administered and scored in a specified, uniform manner to ensure comparability.
Self reports = People complete the test themselves.
Inventory = Series of questions
Cattell developed the 16PF test
A self report test of nearly 200 questions which has 16 scales, measuring the 16 factors/dimensions of personality and produces subjective quantitative data.
Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ)
Tests personality based on his three personality dimensions.
Problems with standardised self-report inventories
- Person may not know themselves well
- ‘Social desirability effect’ may be a problem
- Person may not understand questions
Behaviour Observations
1 - Identify trait needing assessment
2 - Specific behaviours are listed on a checklist which observers use to do a ‘behaviour count’
Checklists are usually less carefully structured than inventories and have lower levels of validity and reliability.
Clinical interviews
A structured clinical interview involves a qualified professional asking specific questions in a standardised way so the clients personality can be assessed more objectively and thus allow comparisons to be made.
What does it mean to be…
Agressive?
Passive?
Assertive?
Aggressive - Being demanding, hostile, insensitive
Passive - Being submissive, not expressive of needs/feelings
Assertive - Firmly standing up for rights and asking for what you want
Assertiveness training
Involves helping the person learn to stand up for their rights without violating the rights of others (assertive).
Steps of assertiveness training
- Changing unhelpful thinking: (it doesn’t matter if I don’t get a turn or I have the right to yell) to assertive thinking (I have the right to ask for my turn)
- Changing unhelpful verbal behaviour (speaking quietly or threatening) to assertive verbal language (clear, respectful explanation of thoughts)
- Changing unhelpful non-verbal behaviour: (slumped posture or glaring) to assertive non-verbal behaviour (upright posture, eye contact)
ROR Method
Rehearse:
- Prepare for scenarios using role-play
- Learn variations of assertive behaviours
- Use ‘I’ statements
Over learn:
- Must rehearse over and over again
- ‘I’ statements and assertive behaviour should be almost automatic
- Overlearning = good performance
Repeat:
- Use ‘broken record’ method
- Restate request as many times and in as many ways as possible
- Prevents assertiveness become aggressive
Personality disorders
Personalities that are outside social normals and associated with maladaptive behaviours, emotions and thoughts.
The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders fourth edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) identifies 10 personality disorders.
- Paranoid (distrust and suspicious)
- Schizoid (detachment from relationships)
- Schizotypal (social and interpersonal deficits)
- Antisocial (fail to conform to social norms)
- Borderline (instability of relationships, self image, identity)
- Histrionic (excessive attention seeking)
- Narcissistic (lack of empathy, self importance)
- Avoidant (avoidance of social situations)
- Dependent (excessive need to be taken care of)
- Obsessive-compulsive (preoccupation with orderliness, control, perfectionism)
Personality disorders treatment
Cognitive behaviour therapy
Preferred learning style
The way a person prefers to learn. It has been theorised that personality (extroversion) may be related to the way people prefer to learn.
Extroverts learning style
- Love to talk, participate, organise and socialise
- Prefer to figure out things while talking
- Learn best by talking and physically engaging with environment
- Work best when discussing, talking and working out
- Physical activity
- Difficulty listening
Introverts learning style
- Prefer to reflect on their thoughts, memories and feelings
- Can be sociable but need time and space alone
- Figure out things before discussing
- Enjoy reading and written work over oral work
- Enjoy listening to others talk while privately processing information
- Prefer to work independently and often feel uncomfortable in group discussions
Ethical standards (5)
- only registered psychologists can administer tests
- informed consent before tests
- privacy must be respected
- results only used for stated purpose
- right to refuse or withdraw
Other ethical considerations
- used to make important decisions (job suitability, going to prison)
- may be biased against a particular group, social class or racial group
- interviews may be subject to ‘halo effect’ in which one positive trait (looking well presented) is assumed to be correlated to person being honest and intelligent
Repression
The banishment of threatening thoughts, feelings and memories into the unconscious mind.
Regression
The displacing of immature behaviours that have relieved anxiety in the past.
Independent variable and dependent variable
Independent - variable is that the experimenter can manipulate or vary in some way.
Dependent - variable that is used to observe and measure the effects of the independent variable.
Informed Consent
Procedures involved in the research must be explained to people and they must be given written consent prior to the study.
Objective data + examples
Data based on measurements of a participants response that can be directly observed and verified by the researcher.
Examples: heart rate, IQ score, behaviour counts
Subjective data + examples
Data determined by the research participants that the researcher cannot directly verify and therefore be certain of their accuracy.
Quantitative examples: responses on checklists, rating scales, questionnaires.
Qualitative examples: content analysis of focus group statements
Define psychology
The scientific study of how people think, feel and behave and the factors which influence these.
Define Hypothesis
A testable prediction about the relationship between at least two events, characteristics or variables.
Voluntary Participant
Participation must be voluntary and it must be ensured that no coercion or pressure is felt to particpate.
Right to withdraw
People must know they are free to withdraw at any time without any negative consequences.
Confidentiality
Participants privacy must be protected and no details about them or their individual results can be disclosed (ID Numbers)
Debriefing
After the investigation, it is essential that people receive an explanation of the study and are helped to overcome any negative effects (counselling).
Accurate reporting
Results must be reported accurately.
Professional conduct
Researchers must behave in a professional way.
Vulnerable groups
Special care and consideration must be taken for vulnerable groups (children, animals, mentally ill).
What is content analysis?
Process used called coding which analyses large amounts of qualitative data and reduces it into fewer categories.
Process of content analysis
- Careful reading of all the responses
- Identifying, naming and sorting core themes within the data
- Identifying sub-themes
- Noting the frequency with which these occur
- Looking for patterns in the responses
Steps followed for Delphi technique (7)
1 - Recruitment of group members
2 - Construction and distribution of a questionnaire
3 - First circulation and administration of the questionnaire
4 - Collation and categorising of results found
5 - Second circulation and administration of the questionnaire
6 - Collation of results
7 - Summary of findings
External validity
whether conclusions drawn from the results are applicable in other situations.
Face validity
whether a measure appears as though it would measure what it is designed to measure.
Limitations of a small/ unrepresentative sample
- Representativeness: Sample must be accurate representation of population interest. If sample is not large/diverse then not valid to generalise population.
- Statistical power: Small sample means higher chance of existing differences between groups. Larger Sample = Greater statistical power (less bias) = Convincing evidence
Small SD leads to …….
High validity and less variability
When is it better to use mean or median?
Mean - large sets of scores
Median - outliers are present
main features of experimental design
- random allocation
- manipulation of the independent variable
- control of other variables
main features of quantitative observational design
- uses pre-existing variables of groups
- independent variable varies naturally
- used for when experiments are not possible, ethical or too costly
main features of qualitative design
- methods produce data in comprehensive verbal and written form
- do not seek to test hypothesis
- good for investigating opinions and perceptions
main features of focus group
- group discussion led by a leader
- participants discuss, interact, seek and share information on a specific topic
- free response questions
main features of delphi technique
- questionaries used to collect data about opinions from a groups of experts in a field
- no meeting required, information in writing
- summarised information is sent back to participants and further questionaries are developed
social desirability
tendency of some respondents to report an answer in a way they believe to be more socially acceptable than their true answer
validity
whether a measurement tool actually measures what it is supposed to measure.
variability
a term used to refer how scattered or spread out scores are from the central score.
extraneous variables + types
any variable, apart from the independent variable, that can cause a change in the dependent variable and therefore affect the results of an experiment in an unwanted way. (participant, experimenter, situation)
reliability
the extent to which an experiment, test or measuring procedure yields the same result from repeated trials.
random allocation
participants are assigned randomly into groups to ensure the groups are as similar as possible. the participants are just as likely to be in the experimental group as the control group.
manipulation of the Independent variable
the researcher manipulates the independent variable, while keeping all other variables constant to test its affect on the dependent variable.
experimental design + advantages/disadvantages
an investigation design used to test whether one variable influences or causes a change in another variable.
advantages: research is replicable, control of extraneous variables, allows conclusions about cause and effect
disadvantages: artificial results, unethical/impractical, extraneous variables may decrease validity
quantitative observational design + advantages/disadvantages
an investigation design in which the researcher collects quantitative data based on pre-exisiting criteria and variables.
advantages: allow variables to be investigated that would be unethical/impossible/too costly in experiment
disadvantages: does not allow conclusions about cause and effect (lack of random allocation)
qualitative design + advantages/disadvantages
an investigation design that collects qualitative results
advantages: useful for investigating attitudes/opinions/experiences, avoids ethical problems
disadvantages: results cannot be generalised to other groups, not useful in testing hypothesis, often a small sample
focus group + advantages/disadvantages
a group interview technique that obtains data through discussion between research participants in a group setting
advantages: gain info that cannot be obtained from questionnaires, spontaneity (respondents speak because of genuine feelings not because question requires answer), snowballing (comments trigger a series of responses from other participants)
disadvantages: people may dominate discussion, observer presence may influence behaviour, people may not feel comfortable to share
Delphi technique advantages/disadvantages
a research method that uses self-administered questionnaires to obtain the opinions of experts in a field of interest
advantages: expert opinion (accurate information), convenient, not influenced by other participants
disadvantages: often forces consensus, extremely time consuming
affective component
refers to the emotional reactions or feelings an individual has towards an object, person, event or issue
ambivalence
refers to the idea that one can have both positive and negative responses towards the same thing
attitude
an evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue
behavioural component
refers to the actions that we do in response to an object ect.
central route of persuasion
route of persuasion which uses the content of the message to make the audience think carefully about the message and evaluate it (high elaboration).
cognitive component
refers to the beliefs we have about an object ect.
cognitive dissonance theory
suggests that if a person persists in behaving in a way that causes cognitive discomfort, the person tends to change their beliefs or attitudes to the behaviour
ego-defensive function
a function of attitudes which helps people to protect themselves from admitting negative things or the harsh realities of the world
impression formation
process by which people form an overall impression of someone’s character and abilities based on available information about their traits and behaviours
impression management
process by which people attempt to manage the impression of themselves that they present to others
knowledge function
a function of attitudes that operates because people need to have knowledge to give structure and order to the world in which they live
likert scale
a type of questionnaire that allows a subject to nominate a category of choice in their response. this might be a number (e.g. 1-6) when those numbers represent intensities of agreement or disagreement (e.g strongly agree - strongly disagree)
