AP Psychology Personality Unit 10

TEST EXTRAS***

-person situation controversy: we react different in different situations, even if our personality is enduring -Electra complex: Carl Jung's female equivalent to Freud's Oedipus Complex; the theory that during the Freud's phallic stage of childhood development, girls develop a sexual attachment to their father (or father figure), leading them to want to kill mother and marry their father. -oral fixation: obsession with oral stimulation -false consensus effect: overestimate how much other people agree with us. self-reference phenomenon: when we relate to things we remember them more then if we don't (facts vs. stories)

Learned helplessness and Control***

-self control is like muscle: weakens, and develops stronger when "will power" is used. Requires attention and energy. -the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events (experience little or no control) -little control brings more stress and less morale... under conditions of personal freedom people thrive. - TO MANY CHOICES TODAY CONTRIBUTE TO LOW LEVELS OF SATISFACTION. (JELLY SCHEME) "TYRANNY OF CHOICE"

Neo-Freudians/ socialpsychoanalitic

Believed freud but thought that more of the conscious mind then freud did, and also believed there were other drives other then sex and aggression i.e. social norms and interactions Carl Jung: We all wear a mask in social situations. (Collective consciousness) Alfred Adler: inferiority complex... we all strive to be superior and powerful. Karen Horney (eye): childhood anxiety caused helplessness and that this triggered our need for love and security. -countered Freud's assumption that women have weak superegos and "penis envy"

Collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history - explains why we have deep rooted beliefs and why people in different cultured share certain myths/images.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transference—and the therapist's interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight. - jokes: sexual and agressive tendencies - dreams: "royal road to unconscious"

Terror Management Theory

The theory of death related anxiety- explores peoples emotional and behavioral responses to their impending death. -idea of death causes people to be religious -reaching out to loved ones.

Unconditional positive regard (Carl Rogers- humanistic)

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed to be conducive to developing self-awareness and self-acceptance -genuiness, acceptance, and empathy

Trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports -gordon allport developed traits - the myers-briggs personality test... determies if you are a thinker or a feeler Exploring Trait: -over 18,000 so we use correlation clusters to describe them Eysenck proposed that we could bring traits into 4 categories (introvert, extrovert and emotional stability). -biological genes play a role in these traits

Projective Test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics. -asked to describe a stimulus and tell a story.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes -example: daydreaming boy is scene to be projecting the same inner thought as the individual viewing it.

Personality inventory

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits. -profile an individuals behavior patterns.

Self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably. - we take responsibly for the good much more then the bad. -overlooking out flaws ( "I am better than average" ) - we live in a world where we all think we are above average - when we threaten someones ego they can become dangerous. -thinking has a naturally positive bias -DEFENSIVE SELF ESTEEM: focuses on sustaining itself, criticism and failure seem threatening. -SECURE SELF-ESTEEM: feeling of acceptance for who we are, more external, allows us to focus beyond ourselves... working to achieve a greater quality of life.

Personal Control

a sense of controlling your environment rather than feeling helpless -how we see ourselves in our environment: do we control it? or does it control us? -Julian Rooter

Empirically derived test

a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups - example Hathaway grouped 10 questions that distinguished masculine vs. feminine, introvert vs. extrovert, and depressive tendencies -today MMPI-2 assesses for work attitudes, family problems, and anger.

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father -fear of castration (by dad) -oposite for girls called (electra complex)

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. -consciousness is the top of the iceberg... i.e. there is a lot underneath (unconscious).

Self-actualization (Maslow - humanistic)

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 -secure in the sense of who they are... willing to be unpopular -affectionate to the ones that deserve it and uneasy about cruel behavior

Self-concept (Carl Rogers- humanistic)

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?" -our ideal self... how we fit into the mold of whatever that may be. -action requires enough realism to fuel concern and enough optimism to provide hope. -Julian Rotter: Locus of control -Albert Bandura: open your channels for good, not bad -Walter Mischel: "karma"-- what goes around comes around.

Personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. -our variation on general evolutionary design

Id

contains 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. -deals with drives i.e. to eat, sex, survival, and aggress

Denial

defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities -it never happened

Rationalization

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions - excuses used to justify our mis success/ behavior

Individualism

giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining ones identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications. -western world

Collectivism

giving priority to the goals of the group and defining one's identity accordingly. - eastern asian countries

Self (possible selves)

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions. - what we dream to become and what we fear becoming.

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. -usually relating back to childhood

Repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness. -WE DON'T Remember our childhood lust for parent of opposite sex.

Defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. - according to Freud done due to seething impulses but actually done to protect our self image.

Self-esteem

one's feelings of high or low self-worth -high sense of self contributes to more sleep, feel less pressure to conform, and are more successful (high self esteem affects future success. -low sense of self contributes to prejudice, thin skinned, and judgmental.

Spotlight Effect

overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us) -fewer notice then we presume. -public speakers: understanding that others don't hear them messing up as much as they feel.

Projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others -"I dont trust him" -when really... "I don't trust myself" -not taking ownership

Reaction formation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings. -being uncomfortable with sexuality (glee)

Regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated. -example: college student sucking thumb while talking to mom.

Displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet -kicking the dog

Psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Fixation

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set.

Reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment -importance of interaction of all 3. -you choose your environment and then it shapes you -our personalities shape how we see and respond to events (anxious people see the world a threatening etc.) -our views affect how others view and treat us.

Ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates 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 -judge

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes. -created by Starke Hathaway -scored objectively. however people lie making them less valid (can be detected when people answer questions like "i get angry sometimes" as if they don't= lie scale)

Rorschach inkblot test

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. -diagnose many adults as pathological -old tool

Superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations. -focuses on ideal -superego and ids demands don't usually match up (opposites).

External locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate. -quick gratification

Internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate. -tend to achieve more in school and work, more independent, better health,less depressed

Identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos -"can't beat em' join em'"

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. (focused on our strengths and virtues. -optimism: expect good things from others and you will receive good things from others. be optimistic but also realistic. - people are most "over confident when most incompetent" it pays to invite others assessment. (others see us objectively) - past behavior is the best indicator for future behavior.

Barnum effect***

type of subjective validation in which a person finds personal meaning in statements that could apply to many people. (horoscope etc.)

Social-cognitive perspective

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context. -Albert Bandura: individuals respond to situation (interaction between self and environment)

Big Five***

-"common currency of personality psychology" -Conscientiousness, Agreeable, Neuroticism, Openness, Extraversion (CANOE) -very stable traits in adults -Heredity accounts for about 50% - as people age their personalities stabilize (we tend to be stable in our personalities; Tolkien's assumption of stability. -or inconsistency in is what makes personality tests weak indicators of behavior.- better at detecting our "average" happiness or outgoingness * situation influences behaviors; however when we take an average of many occasions we find that we have distinct personality traits.

Frueds Flaws (Sci theory?)

-his theory isn't testable scientifically -no testable predictions -Fredrick Crew: what is good about frueds theory isn't original, what is bad is. - but F does draw us to the unconscious and the irrational and to our self protective defenses.