Unit 4: Part 2 Flashcards
personality
Our unique and persistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving
What are 2 important western theories of personality
Psychodynamic theories and humanistic theories
What are the classic perspectives on persoanlity
Psychoanalytic theory
humanistic theories
trait theories
social-cognitive theories
psychodynamic theories
Psychodynamic theories
Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious mind and the importance of childhood experiences
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
What theory was derive from Psychoanalysis
Psychodynamics
Where did Freud assume that psychological troubles originated from
Unresolved conflicts of men and women from their expected roles
unconscious
According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware
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 embarassing
What would free association allow to happen
It would allow the therapist to retrace the conflict to its origin in the memory where it would be retrieved, reviewed, and released
What is the preconscious
An area that is outside consciousness but still can be retrieved into consciousness
What did Freud believe human personality arose from
Conflicts between impulse and restraint and how a person expresses their impulses
What are the 3 interacting systems that Freud proposed
Id, ego, and supergo
Id
A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. It operates on the pleasure principle and demands immediate gratification
ego
The partly conscious, executive part of the personality that mediates among the demands of the Id, superego, and the reality. It operates on the reality principle and seeks to satisfy the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure
superego
The partly conscious part of the personality that according to Freud, represents the internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement and for future aspirations
According to Freud, what stages do children pass through concerning id?
Psychosexual stages where the id focuses on different pleasure-sensitive areas of the body called erogenous zones
What are the 5 stages of the psychosexual stages
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
Identification process
When children’s superego gain strength and incorporate many of their parent’s values
What would occur if conflicts during psychosexual stages were unresolved
It could resurface as maladaptive behavior that causes fixations on certain erogenous zones
defense mechanisms
The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality
repression
The basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories
What did Freud believe about repression
It underlined all defense mechanisms
regression
Retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage
Reaction formation
Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites
projection
Disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others
Rationalization
offering self-justifying explanations in pace of the real more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions
displacement
shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person
Sublimation
transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives
Denial
refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities
Neo-freudians
People who supported Freud and accepted his basic ideas
What did the neo-freudians support about his ideas
They supported the personality structures, importance of the unconscious, childhood roots, and defense mechanisms
How did the Neo-Freudians break away from his ideas
They emphasized the importance of the conscious mind
They doubted that sex and aggression were the only motivations, focused on bigger motives and social interactions
Collective unconscious
Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history
What are ways that modern psychologists disagree with Freud (6)
- Development is lifelong, not fixed in childhood
- Gender identity is formed earlier and not when children resolves their complexes
- dream research refutes the idea of latent and manifest
- Freudian slips can just be mistakes
- Can’t be tested
- Doesn’t predict behavior and traits
How common is repression in traumatic cases?
It is extremely rare
How does repression actually affect memory
High stress and associated stress hormones enhance memory
False consensus effect
Tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors
Terror management theory
A theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death
Thematic Apperception Test
Created by Henry Murray - a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes
projective test
a personality test that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics and explore the preconscious and unconscious mind
Rorschach inkblot test
A projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots
Humanistic theorists, who where they
Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
Hierarchy of needs
Abraham Maslow - level of human needs that is portrayed as a pyramid with needs nearer to the base taking priority
What are the needs on the Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological, safety, belonging and love, esteem, self-actualization, self-transcendence
Self-actualization
one of the ultimate psychological needs that arise after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieve, the motivation to fulfill one’s potential
self-transcendence
The striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self
How did Maslow come up with his description for self-actualization, what is the problem with this
He based his description off of the study of people and who he found to have achieved it, which makes the description open to bias
What was Carl Roger’s person-centered perspective
People are good and have self-actualizing tendencies
What are the factors that promote growth according to Carl Rogers
Acceptance, genuineness, empathy
unconditional positive regard
A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which carl rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and acceptance
Self concept
All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, “Who am I”
How did Humanistic psychologists assess personality
Questionnaires that evaluating self-concepts (ideal and actual self) and deep, intimate interviews (life story approach)
What are the criticisms of Humanist theories
- focus in individualism can be selfish
- may be biased towards Maslow and other psychologist values
- doesn’t account for humanities capacity for evil
traits
A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports
How is factor analysis used in trait theory
It is a statistical procedure that identified clusters that showed the basic components of a trait
What are the 2 dimensions of traits
Extraversion - introversion
emotional stability - instability
What is a biological reason that extraverts seek stimulation
Their normal brain arousal is low and require activity to be stimulated. Dopamine and its activity also tends to be higher in extraverts
Personality inventories
A questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors, used to assess selected personality traits
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders and used for other screening purposes
How is trait theory assessed?
Through objective testing with the MMPI and personality inventories
Big 5 Factors
Five traits that describe personality
openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
Are traits stable
Most personalities remained stable, but exhibited a maturity principle, meaning they become more conscientious and agreeable, along with less neurotic
Person-situation controversy
Is our behavior more influenced by external or inner influences
What occurs with traits as people age
Personality traits become more stable
How well do personality traits predict behavior in situations
They fail to consistently predict behavior I certain situations, but they are able to predict average behavior across many situations
Social cognitive perspective
Proposed by Albert Bandura, a view of behavior influenced by their interaction between people’s traits and their social context
behavioral approach
Focuses on the effect of learning on our personality development
Reciprocal determinism
The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment
Assessment center approach
Assessing someone’s ability by placing them in a simulated environment
How is the social cognitive theory assesed
Assessment center approach
possible selves
versions of yourself you dream of becoming and fear becoming that help motivate you toward your goals
spotlight effect
overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders
What are 2 ways to reduce the spotlight effect
To be in acknowledgement of the spotlight effect and to empathize from the audience point of view
self-esteem
our feelings of high or low self-worth
self-efficacy
our sense of competence and effectiveness
How does self-esteem change over time
it increases dramatically from adolescence to middle adulthood, then continues to climb
When happens when praise doesn’t follow good work
It results in people preforming less well
What happens when self-esteem is threatened
People became more likely to disparage others and themselves along with expressing racial prejudice
Dunning Kruger effect
When people are most often overconfident in times when they are the most incompetent
self serving bias
readiness to percieve ourselves favorably
narcissim
excessive self-love and self-absorption
What are the 2 types of self-esteem
defense and secure
What is defensive self-esteem
it is fragile and focuses on sustaining itself which makes failure and criticism feel threatening. People would response with anger and aggression
What is secure self-esteem
it is less fragile and less contingent on external evaluations
individualist
a cultural pattern that emphasizes people’s own goals over group goals and defined ientity mainly in terms of unique personal attributes
collectivism
a cultural pattern that prioritizes the goals of important groups
What do individualist and collectivist cultures think of changing behavior
Individualist cultures believe in staying true to yourself and believe it to be dishonest and shady. While collectivist cultures believe that adapting to other people is polite
motivations
a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
What are the 4 theories behind motivation
instinct theory, drive-reduction theory, arousal, and abraham maslow’s hierarchy of needs
instinct
a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned
physiological needs
basic bodily requirement
What do physiological needs do
They create an aroused motivated state when that need is lacking and in requirement of more
drive Reduction theory
the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state that motivates and organism to satisfy the need
homeostasis
the tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state, the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry such as blood glucose around a particular level
incentives
a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior
What do positive incentives do
It increases dopamine levels and causes our drives to become more active impulses
What terms go along with Drive reduction theory
physiological needs
incentives
homeostasis
sensation seeking theory
People display traits like experience seeking, the desire for novel sensory of memory experiences, or a thrill or adventure seeking, fear-inspiring activities, or disinhibition, a loss of self control, or boredom susceptibility, inability to tolerate monotony or repeititon
What do human motivation do concerning arousal
they seek optimal levels of arousal
Yerkes Dodson law
the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performances decreases
Is the order of Maslow’s hierarchy universally fixed
It is not universally fixed and is changed by culture and personal motives that can lead to temporoary ignorance of certain stages.
What are high level motivations like belongingness and achievement powered by
psychological factors
affiliation need
the need to build and maintain relationships and to feel part of a group
How did social bonds increase our ancestor’s chance of survival
Adults who worked together and formed attachment were more likely to survive and reproduce
self determination theory
the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness
intrinsically motivated
desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake because they are inherently meaningful or satisfying that enhance feelings in the self-determination theory
extrinsicially motivated
the desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment that undermine our feelings in the self-determination theory
What can be 2 results of insecure attachment
anxiety, craving acceptance but being open to rejection
avoidance, feeling discomfort over getting 2 close
ostracism
deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups
How do people usually respond to ostracism
efforts to restore their acceptance, depression, then withdrawal
How does ostracism effect the brain
the anterior cingulate cortex that responds to physical pain is activated
achievement motivation
a desire for significant accomplishment for mastery of skills or ideas, for control and for attaining a high standard
grit
passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long term goals
glucose
The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues
How does the hypothalamus regulate hunger, what are the appetite hormones?
It releases hormones that either stimulates or inhibits appetite. Ghrelin, Orexin, Leptin, and PYY
Ghrelin
Hormones secreted by empty stomach, sends hunger signals to the brain
Orexin
hunger triggering hormones secreted by the hypothalamus
Leptin
Protein hormones secreted by fat cells that causes the brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger
PYY
Digestive tract hormone, sends hunger-inhibiting signals
set point
The point at which your normal weight may be set. When the body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight
basal metabolic rate
The body’s resting rate of energy output
What occurs when someone eats less calories
Their basal metabolic rate drops by a certain amount
What is settling rate
The point a person’s weight settles at in response to caloric intake and expenditure
How do carbohydrates effect hunger
Foods with high amounts of cryohydrates boosts levels of serotonin which has calming effects
What happens when we eat with friends
We eat more
How does serving size correlate with food intake
People eat more if it is a bigger portion
How does variety influence food intake
When people have more choices in front of them, they chose different and more food
emotion
a response of the whole organism
What are the 3 parts of emotion
bodily arousal, expressive behavior, conscious experience and feelings
What are the 2 questions surrounding emotion
- Does bodily arousal come before or after emotional feelings
- How does thinking and feeling interact? Does cognition always come before emotion
James Lange Theory, who was behind it?
emotions is a result from our attention/notice of our bodily activity
William James and Carl Lange
What was the Cannon-Bard theory. Who was behind it
He disagreed with James-Lange theory. He believed that bodily arousal and emotions occured simultaneously.
Walter Cannon and Philip Bard
What is the evidence behind the Cannon Bard theory according to the psychologist behind it
Bodily responses occur too slowly to cause different emotions
What is a critique piece of evidence against the Cannon Bard theory
People with high spinal cord injuries had a noticeable change in emotion. For example, they had less anger and more sadness
What is the 2 factory theory, who was behind it
THe 2 factor theory believed emotions were made of physical arousal and cognitive appraisal. The emotional experience requires a conscious interpretation of arousal. It was made by Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer
Spillover effect
How arousal spills from one event to the next
What are the 2 pathways emotions can follow
high road and low road
What is the highroad
A pathways a stimulus follows through the thalamus to the brain cortex, analyzed, then to the amygdala
What is the lowroad
A pathway a stimulus takes that goes through the thalamus, skips the brain cortex, and goes to the amygdala
What did Richard Lazarus believe about emotions
He believed that emotions arise when an event is appraised
Zajanc Ledoux belief
Some responses happen instantly without conscious appraisal
Reappraisal
reappraising a situation that can reduce distress and amygdala response
What are the 10 basic emotions
joy, interest-excitement, surprise, anger, sadness, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt
What are the 2 dimensions that emotion Is categorized along
valence and arousal
Do different emotions activate in separate parts of the brain
They can activate in the same brain region. Such as the insula region that is activated by separate negative emotions
Do emotions have distinct brain circuits
Yes, different emotions activate different parts of the brain when observed
How do women differ from men with emotion
- Women are better at detecting emotion and expressing themselves, and showing empathy
What differ among cultures with emotional expression
There are different triggers and display rules on how much emotion to express
facial feedback effect
the tendency of facial muscles states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness
Behavioral theories
Suggests that personality is a result of interaction between the individual and the environment
Operant Conditioning Theory
Personality is the sum of behaviors learned as responses to rewards or through positive reinforcement
environmental determinism
Proposes that all behavior is caused by outside environmental forces
approach avoidance conflict
The organism is attracted and repulsed by elements of the same situation
approach approach conflict
the organism is forced to choose between 2 desirable outcomes that are mutually exclusive
avoidance avoidance conflicts
the organism is forced to choose between 2 different undesirable outcomes
Broaden and Build Theory
Positive emotions temporarily expand a persons’ though-action repertoire
