AP Psych Personality Test Review

Charles Darwin

1809-1882; Field: geology, biology; Contributions: transmutation of species, natural selection, evolution by common descent; Studies: "The Origin of Species" catalogs his voyage on the Beagle

Hermann Ebbinghaus

1850-1909; Field: memory; Contributions: 1st to conduct studies on forgetting: first, a rapid loss followed by a gradual declining rate of loss; Studies: memory-series of meaningless syllables/words

Sigmund Freud

1856-1939; Field: psychoanalytic, personality; Contributions: id/ego/superego, reality and pleasure principles, ego ideal, defense mechanisms (expanded by Anna Freud), psychoanalysis, transference

Alfred Binet

1857-1911; Field: testing; Contributions: general IQ tests, designed test to identify slow learners in need of remediation-not applicable in the U.S. because too culture-bound (French)

Charles Spearman

1863-1945; Field: intelligence; Contributions: found that specific mental talents were highly correlated, concluded that all cognitive abilities showed a common core which he labeled 'g' (general ability)

Alfred Adler

1870-1937; Field: neo-Freudian, psychodynamic; Contributions: basic mistakes, style of life, inferiority/superiority complexes, childhood influences personality formation; Studies: Birth Order

Walter B. Cannon

1871-1945; Field: motivation; Contributions: believed that gastric activity as in empty stomach, was the sole basis for hunger; Studies: inserted balloons in stomachs

Edward Thorndike

1874-1949; Field: behaviorism; Contributions: Law of Effect-relationship between behavior and consequence; Studies: Law of Effect with cats

Carl Jung

1875-1961; Field: neo-Freudian, analytic psychology; Contributions: people had conscious and unconscious awareness; archetypes; collective unconscious; libido is all types of energy, not just sexual; Studies: dream studies/interpretation

Robert Yerkes

187601956; Field: intelligence, comparative; Contributions: social behavior of gorillas/chimps, Yerkes-Dodson law-level of arousal as related to performance

Lewis Terman

1877-1956; Field: testing; Contributions: revised Binet's IQ test and established norms for American children

John B Watson

1878-1958; Field: behaviorism; Contributions: generalization-inductive reasoning, emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; Studies: Little Albert

Stanley Schachter

1922-present; Field: emotion; Contributions: stated that in order to experience emotions a person must be physically aroused and know the emotion before you experience it

Robert Zajonc

1923-present; Field: motivation; Contributions: believes that we invent explanations to label feelings

Albert Bandura

1925-present; Field: sociocultural; Contributions: pioneer in observational learning, stated that people profit from the mistakes/successes of others; Studies: Bobo Dolls-adults demonstrated 'appropriate' play with dolls, children mimicked play

Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

1926-2004; Field: development; Contributions: 5 stages the terminally ill go through when facing death (1. death, 2. anger/resentment, 3. bargaining with God, 4. depression, 5. acceptance)

Lawrence Köhlberg

1927-1987; Field: cognition, moral development; Contributions: created a theory of moral development that has 3 levels; focuses on moral reasoning rather than overt behavior

Noam Chomsky

1928-present; Field: language; Contributions: disagreed with Skinner about language acquisition, stated there is an infinite # of sentences in a language, humans have an inborn native ability to develop language

Stanley Milgram

1933-1984; Field: social psychology; Contributions: wanted to see how the German soldiers in WWII fell to obedience, wanted to see how far individuals would go to be obedient; Studies: Shock Study

Robert Rosenthal

1933-present; Field: social psychology; Contributions: focus on nonverbal communication, self-fulfilling prophecies; Studies: Pygmalion Effect-effect of teacher's expectations on students

Philip Zimbardo

1933-present; Field: social psychology; Contributions: proved that peoples behavior depends to a large extent on the roles they are asked to play; Studies: Stanford Prison Study-studied power of social roles to influence people's behavior

Paul Ekman

1934-present; Field: emotion; Contributions: found that facial expressions are universal

Carol Gilligan

1936-pres; Field: cognition; Contributions: maintained that Köhlberg's work was developed by only observing boys and overlooked potential differences between the habitual moral judgments of boys and girls; girls focus more on relationships than laws and principles

Martin Seligman

1942-present; Field: learning; Contributions: Positive Psychology, learned helplessness; Studies: Dogs demonstrating learned helplessness

Howard Gardner

1943-present; Field: intelligence; Contributions: devised the theory of multiple intelligences (logical-mathematic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, linguistic, musical, interpersonal, naturalistic)

Elizabeth Loftus

1944-present; Field: memory; Contributions: expert in eyewitness testimony (false memories or misinformation effect); Studies: Reconstruction of Auto. Destruction, Jane Doe Case (repressed memories of Nicole Taus' sex abuse)

Daniel Goleman

1946-present; Field: intelligence; Contributions: emotional intelligence

Robert Sternberg

1949-present; Field: intelligence; Contributions: devised the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (academic problem-solving, practical, and creative)

Francis Galton

1822-1911; Field: differential psychology AKA "London School" of Experimental Psychology; Contributions: behavioral genetics, maintains that personality & ability depend almost entirely on genetic inheritance; Studies: Twin Studies-compare identical & fraternal twins, Hereditary Genius-used bell curve for normal distribution, & "Law of Errors"-differences in intellectual ability

Phineas Gage

1823-1860; Field: neurobiology; Contributions: 1st person to have a frontal lobotomy (by accident), his accident gave information on the brain and which parts are involved with emotional reasoning

William Wundt

1832-1920; Field: structuralism, voluntarism; Contributions: introspection, basic units of experience; Studies: 1st psychological laboratory in world at University of Leipzig

William James

1842-1910; Field: functionalism; Contributions: studied how humans use perception to function in our environment; Studies: Pragmatism, The Meaning of Truth

Karl Wernicke

1848-1905; Field: perception; Contributions: area of left temporal lobe involved language understanding; Studies: person damaged in this area uses correct words but they do not make sense

Gustav Fechner

1801-1887; Field: perception; Contributions: stated that the magnitude of a sensory experience is proportionate to the # of JND's that the stimulus causing the experiences above the absolute threshold

Repression

A Defense mechanism that protects the person from anziety by ejecting anxiety-evoking ideas and impulses from awareness.

Oedipus Complex

A conflict of the phallic stage in which the boy wishes to possess his mother sexually and perceives his father as a rival love. This complex is usually resolved by the ages of 5 or 6 and desires are then displaced or transferred to socially appropriate members of the opposite gender.

Electra Complex

A conflict of the phallic stage in which the girl longs for her father and resents her mother. This complex is usually resolved by the ages of 5 or 6 and desires are then displaced or transferred to socially appropriate members of the opposite gender.

Psychoanalysis

A type of mental dectective work that Sigmund Freud engaged in to explore the unconscious mind. Aka, a method of exploring human personality.

Little Albert

ca. 1920; Field: behaviorism; Contributions: subject in John Watson's experiment, proved classical conditioning principles: Studies: Little Albert-generalization of fear

Judith Langlois

dates ?; Field: developmental; Contributions: social development & processing, effects of appearance on behavior, origin of social stereotypes, sex/love/intimacy, facial expression

David Rosenhan

dates?; Field: social psychology; Contributions: proved that once you are diagnosed with a disorder, your care would not be very good in a mental health setting; Studies: Hospital experiment-checked into hospital to check diagnosis

Identification

Occurs in the superego psychic structure. The unconscious adoption of another person's behavior.

Ernst Weber

1795-1878; Field: perception; Contributions: just-noticeable-difference (JND) that eventually becomes Weber's law; Studies: 1st study on JND

Hermann Rorschach

1884-1922; Field: personality, psychoanalysis; Contributions: developed one of the first projective tests, the Inkblot test which consists of 10 standardized inkblots where the subject tells a story, the observer then derives aspects of the personality from the subject's commentary

Clark Hull

1884-1952; Field: motivation; Contributions: maintains that the goal of all motivated behavior is the reduction or alleviation of a drive state, mechanism through which reinforcement operates

Karen Horney

1885-1952; Field: neo-Freudian, psychodynamic; Contributions: criticized Freud, stated that personality is molded by current fears and impulses, rather than being determined solely by childhood experiences and instincts, neurotic trends

Kurt Lewin

1890-1947; Field: social psychology; Contributions: German refugee who escaped Nazis, proved the democratic style of leadership is the most productive; Studies: Leadership syles-studied effects of 3 leadership styles on children completing activities

Ivan Pavlov

1891-1951; Field: Gastroenterology; Contributions: developed foundation for classical conditioning, discovered that a UCS naturally elicits a reflexive behavior; Studies: dog salivation

Harry Stack Sullivan

1892-1949; Field: psychoanalysis; Contributions: groundwork for enmeshed relationships, developed the Self-System-a configuration of personality traits

Henry Murray

1893-1988; Field: intelligence, testing; Contributions: devised the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) with Christina Morgan, stated that the need to achieve varied in strength in different people and influenced their tendency to approach and evaluate their own performances

Anna Freud

1895-1982; Field: psychoanalysis; Contributions: focused on child psychoanalysis, fully developed defense mechanisms, emphasized importance of the ego and its constant struggle

Lev Vygotsky

1896-1934; Field: child development; Contributions: investigated how culture & interpersonal communication guide development, zone of proximal development; play research

Jean Piaget

1896-1980; Field: cognition; Contributions: created a 4-stage theory of cognitive development, said that two basic processes work in tandem to achieve cognitive growth (assimilation and accommodation)

David Weschler

1896-1981; Field: testing; Contributions: established an intelligence test especially for adults (WAIS)

Mary Cover-Jones

1896-1987; Field: learning; Contributions: systematic desensitization, maintained that fear could be unlearned

Benjamin Whorf

1897-1941; Field: language; Contributions: his hypothesis is that language determines the way we think

Gordon Allport

1897-1967; Field: trait theory of personality; Contributions: list of 11,000 traits, 3 levels of traits-cardinal, central, and secondary

William Sheldon

1898-1977; Field: personality; Contributions: theory that linked personality to physique on the grounds that both are governed by genetic endowment: endomorphic (large), mesomorphic (average), and ectomorphic (skinny)

Carl Rogers

1902-1987; Field: humanistic; Contributions: founded person-centered therapy, theory that emphasizes the unique quality of humans especially their freedom and potential for personal growth, unconditional positive regard, fully functioning person

Erik Erikson

1902-1994; Field: neo-Freudian, humanistic; Contributions: created an 8-stage theory to show how people evolve through the life span. Each stage is marked by a psychological crisis that involves confronting "Who am I?"

BF Skinner

1904-1990; Field: behavioral; Contributions: created techniques to manipulate the consequences of an organism's behavior in order to observe the effects of subsequent behavior; Studies: Skinner box

Harry Harlow

1905-1981; Field: development; Contributions: realized that touch is preferred in development; Studies: Rhesus monkeys, studied attachment of infant monkeys (wire mothers v. cloth mothers)

Raymond Cattell

1905-1998; Field: intelligence; Contributions: fluid & crystal intelligence; 3 domains of personality sphere (personality, ability, & motivation), 16 Personality Factors (personality test)

Solomon Asch

1907-1996; Field: social psychology; Contributions: studied conformity, found that individuals would conform even if they knew it was wrong; Studies: conformity, opinions and social pressures

Abraham Maslow

1908-1970; Field: humanism; Contributions: hierarchy of needs-needs at a lower level dominate an individual's motivation as long as they are unsatisfied, self-actualization, transcendence

Mary Ainsworth

1913-1999; Field: development; Contributions: compared effects of maternal separation, devised patterns of attachment; Studies: The Strange Situation-observation of parent/child attachment

Albert Ellis

1913-2007; Field: cognitive-behavioral; Contributions: Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET), focuses on altering client's patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive behavior and emotions

Kenneth Clark

1914-2005; Field: social psychology; Contributions: research evidence of internalized racism caused by stigmatization; Studies: Doll experiments-black children chose white dolls

HJ Eysenck

1916-1997; Field: personality; Contributions: asserted that personality is largely determined by genes, used introversion/extroversion

David McClelland

1917-1998; Field: intelligence, testing; Contributions: devised a way to measure Murray's theory (TAT), developed scoring system for TAT's use in assessing achievement motivation, not the TAT

Aaron Beck

1921-present; Field: cognitive; Contributions: father of Cognitive Therapy, created Beck Scales-depression inventory, hopelessness scale, suicidal ideation, anxiety inventory, and youth inventories

Phallic Stage

Children enter this psychosexual development stage during the 3rd year of life. It is characterized by a shift of libido to the phallic region. The major eroneous zone is the phallic region (the penis and the clitoris). Parent/child conflict is likely to develop over masturbation, to which parents may respond with threats or punishments. Complexes that may arise from this stage are called Oedipus and Electra.

Reality Principle

Consideration of what is practical along with what is urged by the id. And possible in gratifying needs; it is the governing principle of the ego.

Repression

Ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas from awareness. Ex: a student forgets that a difficult term paper is due or a person in therapy forgets an appointment when "deep" material is too be discussed.

Reaction Formation

Engaging in behavior that opposes one's genuine impulses to keep those impulses repressed. Ex: a person who is angry with a relative behaves in a "overly sweet" manner toward that relative. Or a sadistic individual becomes a physician.

Libido

Generally speaking it is sexual interest or drive. But in the psychodynamic theory, it is the energy of eros; the sexual instinct.

Defense Mechanism

In psychodynamic theory, an unconscious function of the ego that protect it from anxiety-evoking material by preventing accurate recognition of this material.

Psychosexual development

In psychodynamic theory, it is the process by which libidinal energy is expressed through different erogenous zones during stages of development. Freud hypothesized 5 periods or stages of development and termed this. The stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.

Unconscious

In the psychodymamic theory, not available to awareness by the simple focusing of attention.

Psychic Structures

In the psychodynamic theory, this is a hypothesized mental structure that helps explain different aspects of behavior. They cannot be seen or measured directly, byt their presence is suggested by behavior, expressed thoughts and emotions. There are 3 total

Fixation

Insufficient or excessive gratification in ANY stage could lead to this. The attachment to objects of an earlier stage. Freud theorized that adults with oral ____, could experience exxagerated desires for oral actvities such as smoking, thumb sucking, overeating, alcohol abuse, and nail biting.

Erogenous Zones

Libidinal energy is expressed through sexual feelings or stimulation in different parts of the body, these are called blank. Areas of the body that are sensitive to sexual sensations. To Freud, human development involves the transfer of libidinal energy from one blank to another.

Conscious

Self aware.

Psychodynamic Theory

Sigmund Freud's perspective which emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as forces that determine behavior.

Denial

Te refusal to face or accept the true nature of a threat. Ex: Belief that one will not contract cancer even though one smokes heavily. Saying to oneself "no, it can't happen to me".

Latency Stage

The 4th pyschosexual development stage characterized by the repression of sexual impulses. The pressures of the Oedipus and Electra complexes cause the child to repress all sexual urges. During this stage, their sexual feelings remain unconscious. It is expect that children will prefer playmate of their own gender during this stage. This stage occurs after age 5 or 6.

Sublimation

The channeling of primitive impulses into positive constructive efforts. Ex: A hostile person becoming a boxer or a tennis star.

Oral Stage

The first stage in psychosexual development, occurs during the 1st year of life. During this stage, gratification is to be attained primarily through oral activities. Freud argued that oral activities such as sucking and bitig give the child sexual gratification as well as nourishment. Conflict resulting from this stage stems from the nature and extent of oral gratifiction. Early weaning (stopping of breast feeding) could lead to frustration. On the other hand excessive gratification caould lead to an infant expecting to get anything it wants. Oral traits include dependence, gullibility, excessive optimism or pessimism.

Pleasure Principle

The governing principle of the id which demands instant gratification of instincts without consideration of law, social custom, or the needs of others..

Moral principle

The governing principle of the superego, which sets moral standards and enforces adherence to them. Throughout life, it monitors the ego and hands out judgements of right and wrong.

Id

The psychic structure present at birth, that represents physiological drives and is entirely unconscious. Freud describes this structure as "a chaos, a couldron of seething excitations. It follows what Freud termed the "pleasure principle".

Eros

The psychodynamic theory's meaning for the basic instinct to preserve and perpetuate life.

Personality

The reasonably stable pattern of emotions, motives and behavior that distinguish one person from another.

Regression

The return, under stress, to a form of behavior characteristic of an earlier stage of development. Ex: An adolescent cries like a child when forbidden to use the family car. Or an adult becomes highly dependent on his parents after a bad divorce.

Ego

The second psychic structure which develops during the 1st year. It is characterized reason and good sense, by self awareness, planning, delay of gratification, and rational ways of coping with frustrations. It is guided by the "reality principle". It also acts as a censor that screens the impulses of the id. Thus causing defense mechanisms to develop during this structure.

Anal Stage

The second stage in psychosexual development, during which sexual gratification is attained through contraction and relaxation of the muscles that control the elimination of waste products from the body. This stage is said to begin in the 2nd year of life. Children learn to delay the gratification that comes from eliminating as soon as they feel the urge. The general issue of self control may become an issue between parent and child in this stage. Some develop a strong need for order, and exxagerated neatness and cleanliness (anal expulsive traits) or careless, messy and even sadistic.

Superego

The third psychic structure which functions as a moral guardian and sets forth high standards for behavior. It develops through childhood as the child incorporates the moral standards and values of their parents and community members in a process called identification. It functions according the the "moral principle".

Projection

The thrusting of one's own unacceptable impulses onto others so that other are assumed to have those impulses. Ex: A gay man who is in the closet accusing many other men of being gay. Or A sexually frustrated person interprets innocent gestures as sexual advances.

Displacement

The transfer of ideas and impulses from threatening or unsuitable objects to less threatening objects. Es: A working picks a fight with her spouse after being reprimanded by her boss at work.

Rationalization

the use of self-deceiving justifications for unacceptable behavior. Ex: a student blames her cheating on her teacher's leaving the room during a test. Or a man explains his cheating on his income tax b saying "everyone does it".