Unit 10

Question 1

personality

Answer 1

an individuals characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Question 2

free association

Answer 2

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrasing

Question 3

psychoanalysis

Answer 3

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Question 4

unconscious

Answer 4

a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Question 5

id

Answer 5

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Question 6

ego

Answer 6

the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according ot Freud, meditates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Question 7

superego

Answer 7

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement(the conscience) and for future aspirations.

Question 8

psychosexual stages

Answer 8

the childhood stages of development ( oral, anal, phalic, latency, gentical) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Question 9

Oedipus Complex

Answer 9

a boy’s sexual desires towards his mother and feelings of jealous and hatred for rival father

Question 10

identification

Answer 10

children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

Question 11

fixation

Answer 11

a lingering focus on pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

Question 12

defense mechanisms

Answer 12

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Question 13

repression

Answer 13

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from conscious anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Question 14

regression

Answer 14

retreating to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Question 15

reaction formation

Answer 15

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites.

Question 16

projection

Answer 16

disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Question 17

rationalization

Answer 17

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions.

Question 18

displacement

Answer 18

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person.

Question 19

sublimation

Answer 19

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives.

Question 20

denial

Answer 20

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities.

Question 21

psychodynamic theories

Answer 21

modern-day approaches that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

Question 22

collective unconscious

Answer 22

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

Question 23

projective test

Answer 23

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.

Question 24

Thermatic Apperception Test

Answer 24

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Question 25

Rorschach inkblot test

Answer 25

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Question 26

false consensus effect

Answer 26

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and our behaviors.

Question 27

terror-management theory

Answer 27

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.

Question 28

humanistic theories

Answer 28

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.

Question 29

self-actualization

Answer 29

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

Question 30

unconditional positive regard

Answer 30

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptances toward another person.

Question 31

self-concept

Answer 31

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question “Who am I?”

Question 32

trait

Answer 32

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

Question 33

personality inventory

Answer 33

a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Question 34

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Answer 34

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

Question 35

empirically derived test

Answer 35

a test devloped by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between the groups.

Question 36

big five personality traits

Answer 36

CANOE ( conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion )

Question 37

social-cognitive perspective

Answer 37

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits and their social context.

Question 38

behavioral approach

Answer 38

in personality theory, this perspective focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development.

Question 39

recriprocal determinism

Answer 39

the interaction influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Question 40

self

Answer 40

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Question 41

spotlight effect

Answer 41

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders.

Question 42

self-esteem

Answer 42

one’s feeling of high or low self-worth.

Question 43

self-efficacy

Answer 43

one’s sense of competence and effectiveness.

Question 44

self-serving bias

Answer 44

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably.

Question 45

narcissism

Answer 45

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Question 46

individualism

Answer 46

giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications.

Question 47

collectivism

Answer 47

giving priority to the goals of one’s group and defining one’s identity accordingly.