Unit 10- Personality Flashcards
What are all of the personality theory perspectives and how are they put in order in terms of how much they weigh nature and nurture?
TPCHB (Trait, Psychodynamic, Cognitive, Humanism, Behaviorism) is put in to order in a way that the Trait perspective gives much of its weight to the role of nature and that the Behaviorism perspective gives much of its weight to the role of nurture.
Define everything about heritability.
Heritability: to what degree do differences in genes account for differences in our personality traits.
Heritability ranges from 0 (genetics explains nothing about traits) to 1 (genetics explains everything about traits); where personality traits fall in the middle.
Heritability studies rely on measuring the personality of twins often using assessments that may be unreliable and thus not valid.
Define Personality
the psychological qualities that bring continuity to an individual’s behavior in different situations and at different times.
According to the psychodynamic, humanistic, and cognitive theories, personality is a continuously _____ process, shaped by our _____ and _____ and by _____ from the social environment.
Changing- Internal Needs- Cognitions- External Pressures
Most psychodynamic theories of personality call attention to _____, especially _____ motives, and the _____ on our mental health.
Motivation- Unconscious Motives- Influence of Past Experiences
Humanistic theories emphasize our _____, _____ reality: What we believe is important now and how we think of ourselves in relation to others.
Present- Subjective
Define Psychoanalysis
Freud’s system of treatment for mental disorders. The term is often used to refer to psychoanalytic theory, as well.
Define the Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud’s theory of personality.
Define the Unconscious
in Freudian theory, this is the psychic domain of which the individual is not aware but that is the storehouse of repressed impulses, drives, and conflicts unavailable to consciousness.
Define Libido
the Freudian concept of psychic energy that drives individuals to experience sensual pleasure.
According to Freud, what did the personality of every individual consist of?
According to Freud, the personality of an individual was constructed of three main parts: id, ego, superego (IES)
Define Id
the primitive, unconscious portion of the personality that houses the most basic drives and stores repressed memories; like a child, the id always acts on impulse and pushes for immediate gratification and it is the only present aspect of personality at birth.
Define Superego
the mind’s storehouse of values, including moral attitudes learned from parents and society; roughly the same as the common notion of conscience.
How does the superego act with respect to the id?
Understandably, the superego frequently conflicts with the id’s desires because the id wants to do what feels good, while the superego insists on doing what is right and moral.
Define Ego
the conscious, rational part of the personality, charged with keeping peace between the superego and the id.
Define Psychosexual Stages
successive, instinctive patterns of associating pleasure with stimulation of specific bodily areas at different times of life.
What are the psychosexual stages?
The psychosexual stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital (OAPLG)
Describe everything about The Oral Stage
The Oral Stage occurs during the first year of birth; desires include oral stimulation by sucking, eating, crying, and babbling while the challenge is overcoming dependency. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include smoking and chewing.
Describe everything about The Anal Stage
The Anal Stage occurs between approximately between 1-3 years; desires include anal stimulation by bladder function while the challenges are toilet training and self-control. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include messiness and temper tantrums.
Describe everything about The Phallic Stage
The Phallic Stage occurs between approximately 3-6 years; desires include stimulation of genitals while challenges include resolving the Oedipus complex, involving erotic attraction to the parent of opposite sex and hostility to the parent of the same sex. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include jealousy and egocentric sex.
Describe everything about The Latency Age
The Latency Stage occurs between approximately 6 years to puberty; desires include repression of sexual and aggressive desires, including those involved in the Oedipus complex while challenges include learning modesty and shame and dealing with the repressed Oedipal conflict. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include excessive modesty and preference for company of the same sex.
Describe everything about The Genital Stage
The Genital Stage occurs between puberty and adulthood; desires include mature sexual relationships while challenges include displacing energy into healthy activities and establishing new relationships with parents.
Define the Oedipus Complex
according to Freud, a largely unconscious process whereby boys displace an erotic attraction toward their mother to females of their own age and, at the same time, identity with their fathers.
Define Identification
the mental process by which an individual tries to become like another person, especially the same-sex parent.
Define Penis Envy
according to Freud, the female desire to have a penis- a condition that usually results in their attraction to males.
Define Fixation
occurs when psychosexual development is arrested at an immature stage; for instance, an oral stage fixation, caused by a failure to throw off the dependency of the first year of life, may lead to dependency on others in later childhood and adulthood.
Define Ego Defense Mechanisms
largely unconscious mental strategies employed to reduce the experience of conflict or anxiety.
Define Repression
an unconscious process that excludes unacceptable thoughts and feelings of awareness and memory; for example, repression may explain the behavior of a student who suspects she failed an important test and “forgets” to attend class the day the graded tests are returned.
What are all of the ego defense mechanisms?
All of the ego defense mechanisms include: Denial-Rationalization-Reaction Formation-Repression-Regression-Sublimation-Progression-Displacement (D2R4SP)
Describe everything about Denial
“I don’t have a problem.” Denial is a defense frequently seen, for example, in alcoholics, child abusers, people who have problems managing anger, and people who engage in risky behavior, such as casual, unprotected sex.
Describe everything about Rationalization
people using this defense mechanism give socially acceptable reasons for actions that are really based on motives that they believe to be unacceptable. A student who feels stressed by academic pressure may decide to cheat on a test, rationalizing by saying that “everyone does it.”
Describe everything about Reaction Formation
this ego defense mechanism occurs when people act in exact opposition to their true feelings. Accordingly, those troubled by their own sexual desires may initiate a crusade against “dirty books” in the city library.
Describe everything about Regression
under stress, some people hide; others cry, throw things, or even wet their pants. That is, they adopt immature, juvenile behaviors that were effective ways of dealing with stress when they were younger.
Describe everything about Sublimation
gratifying sexual or aggressive desires in ways that are acceptable in one’s culture, as in acting or sports.
Describe everything about Projection
when we are upset or aroused, we may use the defense of projection to attribute our own unconscious desires to other people or objects. An example frequently seen in small children involves each accusing one another of starting a conflict.
Define Projective Tests
personality assessment instruments, such as the Rorscach and TAT, which are based on Freud’s ego defense mechanism of projection.