Unit 11 Flashcards
Sigmund Freud
Believed we are driven primarily by our unconscious mind.
Established the theory of psychoanalysis which attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious (outside of awareness) motives and conflicts.
Free association
in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.
Id
the unconscious part of us that strives to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress.
• Operates according to the pleasure principle: the drive to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
Ego
the rational aspect of personality that directs and controls instincts and guides our decisions.
•Operates according to the
reality principle: the drive to meet the demands of the id in ways that are realistic.
Superego
the voice of our moral compass (conscience) that forces the ego to consider not only the real but the ideal.
Identification
the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.
Psychosexual Stages
the childhood stages of development during which, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct
erogenous zones (sensitive parts of the body).
Psychodynamic Theories
modern-day approaches that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.
Projective tests
a personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by the person into the test.
Humanistic theorists
focused on the ways people strive for self-determination (personal freedom to control one’s own life) and self-realization (personal fulfillment).
Abraham Maslow
Strongly critical of behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
An arrangement of innate needs, from strongest to weakest, that activates and directs behavior.
self-actualization
the process of fulfilling our potential
self-transcendence
achieving meaning, purpose, and communion beyond the self
Carl rogers
Believed that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies.
Positive self-concept
we tend to act and perceive ourselves and the world positively.
Negative self-concept
we fall short of our ideal self and feel dissatisfied and unhappy.
Albert Bandura
Proposed the
social-cognitive
theory of personality
Social-Cognitive Perspective
Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits and their social context.
Reciprocal Determinism
The notion that a person’s behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment
External Locus of Control
The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.
Internal Locus of Control
The perception that you
control your own fate.
Learned Helplessness
When an individual continuously faces a negative, uncontrollable situation and stops trying to change their circumstances
Spotlight effect
People tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are
Self-esteem
One’s feelings of high or low
self-worth
Self-efficacy
One’s sense of competence and effectiveness; an individual’s confidence in their ability to complete a task or achieve a goal
Self-serving bias
A tendency to perceive oneself in an overly favorable manner
Individualism
Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications
Collectivist
Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity as part of a group rather than an individual
Personality psychology
Examines personality and it’s variation among individuals
Unconscious
Outside of our awareness
According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable, thoughts, wishes and memories
Oedipus complex
During the phallic stage, a boys, sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father
Fixation
A lingering focus of pleasure sinking energies at an earlier psychosexual Stage in which conflict for unresolved
Interpretation of dreams
According to Freud dreams are the disguise fulfillment of repressed infantile wishes
Manifest content
The dream that the conscious individual remembers experiencing
Latent content
Hidden psychological meaning of the dream 
