General Psychology Exam 4

psychoanalysis

-Sigmund Freud's therapeutic technique -the first formal psychotherapy to emerge -the aim of this therapy is to bring repressed feelings into conscious awareness where the patient can deal with them and gain self-insight -the patient lies on a couch and speaks about whatever comes to their mind

aversive conditioning

-a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol) -it seeks to condition an aversion to something the person should avoid -ex: to treat nail biting, one can paint the fingernails with a nasty-tasting nail polish

systematic desensitization

-a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant, relaxed state, with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli -commonly used to treat phobias -ex: if a person is afraid of spiders and becomes anxious every time he sees one, his fear of spiders can be gradually "unlearned" and his anxiety can be replaced with relaxation

phobia

-an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation -specific phobias may focus on animals, insects, heights, blood, or close spaces -many people avoid the triggers, such as high places, that arouse their fear, and they manage to live with their phobia -not all phobias have certain triggers

reaction formation

-the defense mechanism that causes the ego to unconsciously switch unacceptable impulses into their opposites -people may express feelings of purity when they may be suffering anxiety from unconscious feelings about sex -ex: repressing angry feelings, a person displays exaggerated friendliness

projection

-the defense mechanism that leads people to disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others -ex: you might hate someone, but your superego tells you this behavior is unacceptable, so instead, you solve the problem by believing that they hate you

rationalization

-the defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions -ex: a habitual drinker says she drinks with her friends "just to be sociable"

displacement

-the defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person -redirecting anger toward a safer outlet -ex: a little girl kicks the family dog after her mother sends her to her room

eclectic approach to therapy

-uses various forms of healing techniques depending upon the client's unique problems -an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy

interpretation

in psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight

resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

negative symptoms of schizophrenia

the absence of appropriate behaviors, like expressionless faces, toneless voices, or mute and rigid bodies

positive symptoms of schizophrenia

the presence of inappropriate behaviors, like laughter, tears, or rage, hallucinations, and talk in disorganized or delusional ways

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

Freud's psychosexual stages

-Freud believed that personality formed during the first few years of life divided into stages -during these stages, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on pleasure sensitive body areas (erogenous zones) -oral (0-18 months): pleasure centers on the mouth, like sucking, biting, and chewing -anal (18-36 months): pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control -phallic (3-6 years): pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings -latency (6 to puberty): dormant sexual feelings -genital (puberty on): maturation of sexual interests

attribution theory

-Fritz Heider suggested we have a tendency to give casual explanations for someone's behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition -ex: in class, we notice that Julia seldom talks and over coffee, Jack talks nonstop; that must be the sort of person they are, we decide, so Julia must be shy and Jack outgoing

major depression disorder

-a disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or other medical conditions, 2 or more weeks with 5 or more symptoms of depression, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure -depression is the "common cold" of psychological disorders -signs include: lethargy and fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, loss of interest in family and friends, loss of interest in activities, significant challenges regulating appetite, weight, and sleep, problems in thinking, concentrating, or making decisions, and thinking repetitively of death and suicide

Electra complex

-a girl's desire for her father -a girl's psychosexual competition with her mother for possession of their father -also occurs during the phallic stage of psychosexual

mania

-a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgement is common -in milder forms of bipolar disorder, mania's energy and flood of ideas fuel creativity

group think

-a mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides the realistic appraisal of alternatives -attack on Pearl Harbor and Watergate cover-up

antisocial personality disorder

-a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members -people with this disorder may be aggressive and ruthless or a clear con artist -formally, this person was called a sociopath or psychopath -before the age of 15, this male begins to lie, steal, fight, or display unrestrained sexual behavior -about half of such children become antisocial adults, which means they are unable to keep a job, irresponsible as a spouse and parent, and assaultive or otherwise criminal -they may show lower emotional intelligence, which is the ability to understand, manage, and perceive emotions -antisocial personalities behave impulsively, and then feel and fear little

projective tests

-a personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics -aim to provide this "psychological X-ray," by asking test-takers describe an ambiguous stimulus or tell a story about it -the clinician may presume that any hopes, desires, and fears that people see in the ambiguous image are projections of their own inner feelings or conflicts -the Rorschach inkblot test is the most widely used projective test that seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

schizophrenia

-a psychological disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished, inappropriate emotional expression -is a disease of the brain manifested in symptoms of the mind -the literal translation is "split mind," which refers to a split from reality -people with this disorder live in a private inner world, preoccupied with illogical ideas and unreal images -most studies link schizophrenia with abnormal brain tissue and genetic predispositions -dopamine over activity: researchers found that schizophrenic patients express higher levels of dopamine D4 receptors in the brain -schizophrenia has also been observed in individuals who contracted a viral infection, like the flu, during the middle of their fetal development

id

-a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives -operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification -to envision an id-dominated person, think of a newborn infant crying out for satisfaction, caring nothing for the outside world's conditions and demands

inappropriate emotions and actions (schizophrenia)

-a schizophrenic person may laugh at the news of someone dying or show no emotion at all, which is flat affect -patients with schizophrenia may continually rub an arm, rock a chair, or remain motionless for hours (catatonia) -on other occasions, a person with this disorder may cry when others laugh or become angry for no apparent reason -most have impaired theory of mind, which means they have difficulty perceiving facial emotions and reading others' states of mind

disturbed perceptions (schizophrenia)

-a schizophrenic person may perceive things that are not actually there, hallucinations -frequently, such hallucinations are auditory (sounds) and lesser visual (see), somatosensory (feel), olfactory (smell), or gustatory (taste) -these sounds are frequently voices making insulting remarks or giving orders (voice may tell the person that she is bad or that she must burn herself with a cigarette lighter) -when the unreal seems real, the resulting perceptions are at best bizarre, and at worst terrifying

psychological disorders--historical understanding (demon possession, etc.)

-a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior -from 1952 to 1973, homosexuality was classified as a psychological disorder -in earlier times, people often viewed strange behaviors as evidence that strange forces, like the movements of stars, godlike powers, or evil spirits, were at work -people considered "mad" were sometimes caged or given "therapies" such as genital mutilation, beatings, removal of teeth or lengths of intestines, or transfusions of animal blood -in some places, people are chained to a bad, locked in their rooms, or even locked in a room with wild hyenas, in the belief that the animals will see and attack evil spirits -maltreatment of the insane throughout the ages was the result of irrational views -people believed madness was demon possession, but Philippe Pinel said that madness was a sickness of the mind caused by severe stress and inhumane conditions

Oedipus complex

-according to Freud, a boy's unconscious sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father -occurs during the phallic stage of psychosexual -Freud thought that boy's also experience guilt and a lurking fear of punishment, perhaps by castration from their father -called this because of the Greek legend Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother

fixation

-according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved -at any point in the oral, anal, or phallic of Freud's psychosexual stages, strong conflict can lock, or fixate, the person's pleasure-seeking energies in that stage -a person who had been either overindulged or deprived (perhaps by abrupt, early weaning) might fixate at the oral stage because he did not resolve primary conflicts during this stage -the fixated adult might continue to seek oral gratification by nail-biting, smoking, gum-chewing, or excessive drinking

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 -observing patients led Freud to his "discovery" of this

self-actualization

-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

unconditional positive regard

-according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person, despite their failings -occurs in the growth-promoting climate condition of acceptance

kinds of phobias

-agoraphobia: phobia of open places -acrophobia: phobia of heights -claustrophobia: phobia of closed spaces -hemophobia: phobia of blood

Carl Rogers

-also believed in an individual's self-actualization tendencies -Rogers said that unconditional positive regard is an attitude of total acceptance toward another person, despite their failings -his person-centered perspective held that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies -unless thwarted by an environment that inhibits growth, each of us is like an acorn, primed for growth and fulfillment -Rogers believed that a growth-promoting climate required 3 conditions: genuineness, acceptance, and empathy -Rogers believed that genuineness, acceptance, and empathy, are the water, sun, and nutrients that enable people to grow like vigorous oak trees -developed the widely used humanistic technique he called client-centered therapy

chronic schizophrenia

-also called process schizophrenia -a form of schizophrenia in which symptoms usually appear by late adolescence or early adulthood -as people age, psychotic episodes last longer and recovery periods shorten -when schizophrenia is slow to develop and recovery is doubtful -patients usually show negative symptoms (the absence of appropriate behaviors)

acute schizophrenia

-also called reactive schizophrenia -a form of schizophrenia that can begin at any age -frequently occurs in response to an emotionally traumatic event, and has extended recovery periods -when schizophrenia rapidly develops -patients usually show positive symptoms (the presence of inappropriate behaviors)

generalized anxiety disorder

-an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal -is marked by excessive and uncontrollable worry -concentration is difficult as attention switches from worry to worry -to use Freud's term, the anxiety is free-floating, meaning it is not linked to a specific stressor or threat -may lead to physical problems, like high blood pressure -women are twice more likely than men to experience this disorder -some people with this disorder were maltreated and inhibited as a child -as time passes, emotions tend to mellow, and by age 50, this disorder becomes fairly rare

panic disorder

-an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread, in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening situations -often followed by worry over a possible next panic attack -physical symptoms: irregular heartbeat, chest pains, shortness of breath, choking, trembling, or dizziness -after several panic attacks, people may avoid situations where the previous panic attacks have struck -if their fear is intense enough, people may develop agoraphobia, fear or avoidance of situations in which escape might be difficult when panic strikes -smokers have a doubled risk of panic disorder

social-responsibility norm

-an expectation that people will help those needing their help, even if the costs outweigh the benefits -young children and others who cannot give as much as they receive -ex: when a father and his 2 daughters witnessed a man in front of them collapse in a seizure, then got up and fell onto the tracks while a train's headlights were approaching, the father made a split decision to leap from the platform, push the man off the tracks and into a foot-deep space between them, and lay atop him

token economy

-an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange their tokens for various privileges or treats -ex: when a person cleans up their room, they receive a token, and later can exchange their tokens for TV time

prejudice

-an unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members -often directed towards different cultural, ethnic, or gender groups -works at the conscious and (more at) the unconscious level, therefore, it is more like a knee-jerk response than a conscious decision

Zimbardo's prison study

-assigned the roles of guards and prisoners to random students and found that guards and prisoners developed role-appropriate attitudes -he gave the guards uniforms, clubs, and whistles and instructed them to enforce certain rules -the prisoners were locked in barren cells and forced to wear humiliating outfits -at first, the volunteers self-consciously "played" their roles, but then the simulation became too real -most guards developed disparaging attitudes, and some devised cruel and degrading routines -one by one, the prisoners broke down, rebelled, or became passively resigned

counterconditioning

-behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors -ex: pairing of the enclosed space of the elevator (trigger stimulus) with relaxation (new response that is incompatible with fear)

components of prejudice

-beliefs (stereotypes): a generalized belief about a group of people -emotions: hostility, envy, or fear -predisposition to act (to discriminate): unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members

Carl Jung

-believed in the collective conscious, which contained a common reservoir of images derived from our species' past -this is why many cultures share certain myths and images such as the mother being a symbol of nurturance -placed less emphasis on social factors and agreed with Freud that the unconscious exerts a powerful influence -to Jung, the unconscious contains more than our repressed thoughts and feelings -he believed we also have a collective unconscious, a common reservoir of images, or archetypes, derived from our species' universal experiences

Aaron Beck

-cognitive therapist that believes that changing people's thinking can change their functioning -when Beck analyzed depressed people's dreams, he found recurring negative themes of loss, rejection, and abandonment that extended into their waking thoughts -Beck suggests that depressed patients believe that they can never be happy (thinking) and thus associate minor failings (like failing a test) in life as major causes for their depression -he believes that cognitions such as 'I can never be happy' need to change in order for depressed patients to recover -gentle questioning seeks to reveal irrational thinking, and then to persuade people to remove the dark glasses through which they view life -we often think in words, therefore, getting people to change what they say to themselves is an effective way to change their thinking

dissociative disorders

-controversial, rare disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings -symptoms include having a sense of being unreal, being separated from the body, and watching yourself as if in a movie

regression

-defense mechanism that leads an individual faced with anxiety to retreat to a more infantile psychosexual stage -ex: a little boy reverts to the oral comfort of thumb sucking in the car on the way to his first day of school

DID

-dissociative identity disorder -a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities -formally called multiple personality disorder -the two or more distinct identities, each having its own voice and mannerisms, seem to control a person's behavior at different times -psychologists have interpreted DID symptoms as ways of coping with anxiety -one side of the debate on DID are those you believe multiple personalities are the desperate efforts of people trying to detach from a horrific existence -on the other side of the debate on DID are the skeptics who think DID is a condition constructed out of the therapist-patient interaction and acted out by fantasy-prone, emotionally vulnerable people

ECT

-electroconvulsive therapy -a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient -is used for severely depressed patients who do not respond to drugs -the patient receives a general anesthetic and a muscle relaxant (to prevent injury from convulsions) before they receive a 100 volt shock that lasts 30 to 60 seconds

active listening

-emphatic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies -a feature of Roger's client-centered therapy

bipolar disorder

-formally called manic-depressive disorder -a disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania -depressive symptoms: gloomy, withdrawn, inability to make decisions, tired, and slowness of thought -manic symptoms: elation, desire for action, hyperactive, and multiple ideas -symptoms may have a seasonal pattern -those who rely on precision and logic, such as architects and journalists, suffer bipolar disorder less often that do those who rely on emotional expression and vivid imagery, such as composers, artists, and entertainers -it afflicts adult men and women about equally

growth-promoting climate's 3 conditions

-genuineness: when people are genuine, they are open with their own feelings, drop their facades, and are transparent -acceptance: when people are accepting, they offer unconditional positive regard, an attitude of grace that values us even knowing our failures -empathy: when people are empathetic, they share and mirror other's feelings and reflect their meanings

Freud

-his psychoanalytic theory proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality -his clinical experience led him to develop the first comprehensive theory of personality, which included the unconscious mind, psychosexual stages, and defense mechanisms -established freed association -believed that the mind is mostly hidden -in his view, human personality arises from a conflict between impulse and restraint, between our aggressive pleasure-seeking biological urges and our internalized social controls over these urges -to understand the mind's dynamics during this conflict, he proposed three interacting systems, the id, ego, and superego

humanistic approach to therapy

-humanistic therapists aim to boost self-fulfillment by helping people grow in self-awareness and self-acceptance -promoting this growth, not curing illness, is the therapy focus, and therefore, those in therapy become "clients," rather than "patients" -the path of growth is taking immediate responsibility for one's feelings and actions, rather than uncovering hidden determinants -conscious thoughts are more important than unconscious -the present and future are more important than the past, meaning the goal is to explore feelings as they occur, rather than achieve insights into the childhood origins of the feelings -client-centered therapy is a form -also in client-centered therapy, the therapist listens to the needs of the patient in an accepting and non-judgmental way, addressing problems in a productive way, and building their self-esteem

social facilitation

-improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others -Triplett noticed cyclists' race times were faster when they competed against others than when they just raced against the clock

obsessions

-in OCD, they are repetitive thoughts -concern with dirt, germs, or toxins -something terrible happening like a fire, death, or illness -symmetry, order, or exactness

freed 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 -Freud believed free association would allow him to retrace the line, following a chain of thought leading into the patient's unconscious, and there, painful unconscious memories from childhood could be retrieved and released -Freud used free association in order to tap the unconscious

repression

-in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness -according to Freud, it underlies all the other defense mechanisms -because it is often incomplete, repressed urges may appear as symbols in dreams or as slips of the tongue in casual conversation

defense mechanisms

-in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality -for Freud, all defense mechanisms function indirectly and unconsciously

OCD

-obsessive-compulsive disorder -a disorder characterized by the persistence of unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), and urges to engage in senseless rituals actions (compulsions), or both, that cause distress -OCD has a strong genetic basis -more common among teens and young adults than among older people -obsessions (repetitive thoughts) include concern with dirt, germs, or toxins, something terrible happening (fire, death, illness), and symmetry, order, or exactness -compulsions (repetitive behaviors) include excessive hand washing, bathing, tooth brushing, or grooming, repeating rituals (in/out of a door, up/down from a chair), and checking doors, locks, appliances, car brake, and homework

Maslow

-offered a third-force perspective that emphasized human potential -proposed that we are motivated by a hierarchy of needs -if our physiological needs are met,we become concerned with personal safety; if we achieve a sense of security, we then seek to love, to be loved, and to love ourselves; with our love needs satisfied, we seek self-esteem -having achieved self-esteem, we ultimately seek self-actualization -Maslow developed his idea by studying healthy, creative people rather than troubled clinical cases

spotlight effect

-overestimating our concern that others' are noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us) -our self-focused perspective may motivate us, but it can also lead us to presume too readily that others are noticing and evaluating us -this absence of attention applies not only to our dorky clothes and bad hair, but also to our nervousness, irritation, or attraction, fewer people notice than we presume

Stanley Milgram's experiment

-people comply to social pressures -Milgram designed a study that investigates the effects of authority on obedience -Milgram's assistant asks 2 participants of the study to draw slips from a hat to see who will be the "teacher" and who will be the "learner" -because (unknown to the participants) both slips say "teacher," the participant draws a "teacher" slip and is asked to sit down in front of a machine, which has a series of labeled switches -the supposed learner, is led to an adjoining room and strapped into a chair that has wires running through the wall to the "teacher's" machine -the teacher is given the task to teach and then test the learner on a list of word pairs -if the learner gives a wrong answer, the participant is to flip a switch to deliver a brief electric shock -for the first wrong answer, the teacher will flip the switch labeled "15 volts-slight shock" and with each succeeding error, the teacher will move to the next higher voltage -once flipping the switch a few times, the learner begins to grunt -after the participant activates the eighth switch, labeled "120 volts-moderate shock," the learner cries out that the shocks are painful -after then tenth switch, labeled "150 volts-strong shock," the learner begins shouting "get me out of here! I refuse to go on!" -the teacher draws back, but the stern experimenter prods the participant to continue and that it is essential for them to continue -if the participant obeys, they hear shrieks of agony from the learner and after the 330-volt level, the learner refuses to answer and falls silent -still, the experimenter pushes the teacher towards the final, 450-volt switch, and once the teacher asks the question and the learner does not respond, the teacher must administer the next shock level -the learner was never actually being shocked and was pretending to feel pain -when Milgram conducted the experiment with other men aged 20 to 50, 60% complied fully, right up to the last switch, and the same happened when he did it with women -Milgram discovered some conditions that influence people's behavior: the person giving the orders was close at hand and perceived to be a legitimate authority figure, the authority figure was supported by a prestigious institution, the victim was depersonalized or at a distance, even in another room, and there were no role models for defiance -these experiments demonstrated that strong social influences can make people conform to falsehoods or capitulate to cruelty

disorganized and delusional thinking and speech (schizophrenia)

-people with schizophrenia have fragmented, bizarre thinking, with distorted false beliefs called delusions -thoughts spill out in no logical order -jumbled ideas may make no sense even within a sentence, forming what is known as word salad -one cause of disorganized thinking may be a breakdown in selective attention -people with schizophrenia cannot give their undivided attention to one set of sensory stimuli while filtering out others, thus, tiny, irrelevant stimuli may distract their attention from a bigger event or a speaker's meaning -ex: Maxine, a young women with schizophrenia, believed she was Mary Poppins

PTSD

-post traumatic stress disorder -a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for 4 weeks or more after a traumatic experience -survivors of war, accidents, disasters, and violent and sexual assaults have experienced PTSD symptoms -the greater one's emotional distress during a trauma, the higher the risk for post-traumatic symptoms -PTSD patients have smaller amygdala, that acorn-shaped brain region that governs fear -genes: twins more commonly share PTSD cognitive risk factors -gender: the odds of getting this disorder after a traumatic event are about 2 times higher for women than for men

biomedical therapies

-prescribed medications or procedures that uses techniques from various forms of therapy -uses drugs or other procedures that act on the patient's nervous system, treating their psychological disorders -some psychologists consider psychotherapy to be a biological treatment because changing the way we think and behave can prompt physical changes in the brain -ex: a person with severe depression may receive antidepressants, electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT), or deep-brain association

external locus of control

-refers to the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate -ex: when a person gets a promotion at work, they believe their success was due to environmental factors, such as luck, fate, timing, other people, or some type of divine intervention

internal locus of control

-refers to the perception that we can control our own fate -ex: when a person gets a promotion at work, they believe their success was a direct result of their hard work

social roots of prejudice

-social inequalities (just-world phenomenon): the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get; when people have money, power, and prestige, and others do not -social divisions (ingroup and outgroup): ingroup is "us" and the people with whom we share a common identity, then the outgroup is "them" and those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup -emotional scapegoating: prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

psychosurgery

-surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior -is used as a last resort in alleviating psychological disturbances -psychosurgery is irreversible -removal of brain tissue changes the mind -lobotomy is a psychosurgical procedure that cuts the nerves connecting the frontal lobess to the emotional-controlling centers of the inner brain -the lobotomy's intention was simply to disconnect emotion from thought, but it also produced a permanently lethargic, immature, and uncreative person

MMPI

-the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory -the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests -it was originally developed to identify emotional disorders -an empirically derived test that was developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

psychiatrist

-they are physicians who specialize in the treatment of psychological disorders -not all psychiatrists have extensive training in psychotherapy, but as MDs, they can prescribe medications

group polarization

-the enhancement of a group's prevailing attitudes through discussion within the group -if a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its prevailing options and attitudes -ex: after a discussion about racism, members of the group who are racist will defend their attitudes far more strongly than they would have beforehand

ego

-the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality -operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain -contains our partly conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgements, and memories

superego

-the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations -the voice of our moral compass (conscience) that forces the ego to consider not only the real, but the ideal -it strives for perfection, judging actions and producing positive feelings of pride or negative feelings of guilt -someone with an exceptionally strong superego may be virtuous yet guilt ridden -another person with a weak superego may be outrageously self-indulgent and remorseless

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

-the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request -ex: a son first asking to borrow his father's car for the night, later asks his father if he can use the car for a 5 day road trip

social loafing

-the tendency of an individual in a group to exert less effort toward attaining a common goal than when tested individually or when individually accountable -ex: you are working on a class project in a group of 10 students. If you were working on your own, you would have broken down the assignment into steps and started work right away. But since you are part of a group, it makes it likely that you would put less effort into the project. Instead of assuming responsibility for certain tasks, you might just think that one of the other group members will take care of it

fundamental attribution error

-the tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition and underestimate the impact of the situations, in analyzing the behaviors of others -ex: we see Joe as quiet, shy, and introverted most of the time, but with friends he is very talkative, loud, and extroverted

cognitive dissonance

-the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (congitions) are inconsistent -for example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes to justify the acts -to relieve ourselves of this tension, we bring out attitudes closer to our actions

psychodynamic therapies

-therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition -views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences and seeks to enhance self-insight -influenced by Freud, in a face-to-face setting, psychodynamic therapists understand symptoms and themes across important relationships in a patient's life -interpersonal psychotherapy focuses on symptom relief here and now, not an overall personality change -in these sessions, patients gain by exploring defended-against thoughts and feelings

behavior therapies

-therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors -to treat phobias or sexual disorders, behavior therapists do not delve deeply below the surface looking for inner causes -the goal is to reinforce desirable behaviors and eliminate unwanted ones -is action-based, rather than rooted in insight -behavioral therapists are focused on using the same learning strategies that led to the formation of unwanted behaviors

cognitive therapies

-therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting based on the assumptions that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions -self-blaming and overgeneralized explanations of bad events are often an integral part of the vicious cycle of depression -the depressed person interprets a suggestion as criticism, disagreement as dislike, praise as flattery, and friendliness as pity -lost job >>> internal beliefs: I'm worthless and it's hopeless >>> depression -lost job >>> internal beliefs: my boss is a jerk and I deserve something better >>> no depression

personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

catatonia

people with schizophrenia may remain motionless for hours and then become agitated

agoraphobia

phobia of open places