chapter 14-15 psychology
state
temporary activation of a particular behav- ior.
self- actualization,
the achievement of one's full potential.
collective unconscious,
the collective unconscious, present at birth, relates to the cumulative experience of preceding generations. Whereas the conscious mind and the personal unconscious vary from one person to another, the collective unconscious is similar for nearly all people. it contains archetypes,
superego
the memory of rules and prohibitions we learned from our parents and others, such as, "nice little boys and girls don't do that." i
projection.
Attributing one's own undesirable characteristics to other people is known as projection. if someone tells you to stop being angry, you might reply, "i'm not angry! you're the one who's angry!" suggesting that other people have your faults might make the faults seem less threatening. For example, someone who secretly enjoys pornography might accuse other people of enjoying it. however, the research finds that people using projection do not ordinarily decrease their anxiety or their awareness of their own faults (holmes, 1978; sherwood, 1981).
phallic stage,
Beginning at about age 3, in the phallic stage, chil- dren begin to play with their genitals and according to Freud become sexually attracted to the opposite- sex parent. Freud claimed that every boy is afraid of having his penis cut off, whereas girls develop "penis envy." These ideas have always been doubtful, and they have few defenders today.
genital stage.
Beginning at puberty, young people take a strong sexual interest in other people. This is known as the genital stage. according to Freud, anyone who has fixated a great deal of libido in an earlier stage has little libido left for the genital stage. But people who have successfully negotiated the earlier stages now derive primary satisfaction from sexual intercourse.
displacement
By diverting a behavior or thought away from its natural target toward a less threatening target, displacement lets people engage in the behavior with less anxiety. For example, if you are angry with your employer or your professor, you might yell at someone else.
Antabuse,
Disulfiram, available under the trade name Antabuse, is sometimes used in treating alcoholism. Alcoholics who take a daily Antabuse pill become sick if they have a drink. The threat of sickness is more effective than the sickness itself
regression
a return to a more immature level of functioning, regression is an effort to avoid the anxiety of the current situation. By adopting a childish role, a person returns to an earlier, more secure, way of life. For example, after a new sibling is born, an older child may cry or pout. an adult who has just gone through a divorce or lost a job may move in with his or her parents.
biological roots
The biological roots of abnormal behavior include genetic factors, infectious diseases, poor nutrition, inadequate sleep, drugs, and other influences on brain functioning.
repression
The defense mechanism of repression is motivated removal of something to the unconscious—rejecting unacceptable thoughts, desires, and memories. For ex- ample, someone who has an unacceptable sexual impulse might become un- aware of it. Freud maintained that people repress painful, traumatic memories. repressed material is removed from consciousness but not forgotten. Freud once compared a repressed thought to a rowdy person expelled from a polite room who continues banging on the door, trying to get back in.
exposure therapy, also known as systematic desensitization,
The most successful type of therapy for phobia. it's a method of gradually exposing people to the object of their fear (wolpe, 1961). someone with a phobia of snakes, for example, is exposed to pictures of a snake in the reassuring environment of a therapist's office. The therapist might start with a cartoon draw- ing and gradually work up to a black-and-white pho- tograph, a color photograph, and then a real snake
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
The person is asked to make up a story for each picture, describing what events led up to this scene, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. christiana morgan and henry murray devised this test to measure people's needs (murray, 1943). it includes 31 pictures, including some showing women, some showing men, some with both or neither, and one that is totally blank. a psychologist selects a few cards to use with a given client
MMPI-2,
The second edition, MMPI-2, published in 1990, has 567. example items are "my mother never loved me" and "i think i wouldliketheworkofapharmacist."(Theitemsstated in this text are rewordings of actual items
Barnum effect,
This tendency to accept vague descriptions of our personality is known as the Barnum effect, named after p. t. Barnum, the circus owner who specialized in fooling people out of their money.
rationalization.
When people attempt to show that their actions are justifiable, they are us- ing rationalization. For example, a student who wants to go to the movies says, "more studying won't do me any good anyway." someone who takes unfair advantage of another says, "learning to deal with disappointment will make him a better person."
transference:
You might react to your therapist, or your husband or wife, or other people in a particular way because they remind you of someone else, especially your parents.
delusion of persecution
a belief that enemies are persecuting you.
delusion
a belief that someone holds strongly despite evidence against it.
delusion of grandeur
a belief that you are unusually important, perhaps a special messenger from god.
Rorschach inkblots
a projective technique based on people's interpretations of 10 ambiguous inkblots, is the most famous, most widely used, and most con- troversial projective personality technique. it was created by hermann rorschach (roar-shock), a swiss psychiatrist, who showed people inkblots and asked them to say whatever came to mind (pichot, 1984). other psychiatrists and psychologists gradu- ally developed the rorschach into the projective technique we know today.
catharsis
a release of pent-up emotional tension,
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA),
a self-help group of people who are trying to abstain from al- cohol use and help others do the same. aa meetings take place in community halls, church basements, The group has a strong spiritual focus, including a reliance on "a power greater than ourselves," but no affiliation with any particular religion. although aa imposes no requirements on its members other than making an effort to quit alcohol, new members are strongly encouraged to attend 90 meet- ings during the first 90 days. The idea is to make a strong commitment. from then on, members attend as often as they like.
social phobia,
a severe avoidance of other people and a fear of doing anything in public. hey develop these fears because they are afraid of being incapacitated or embarrassed by a panic attack in a public place. in a sense, they are afraid of their fear itself
Openness to experience
a tendency to enjoy new intellectual experiences and new ideas. people high in this trait enjoy modern art, unusual music, and thought-provoking films and books. They enjoy meeting unusual people and explor- ing new ideas (mccrae, 1996).
Emotional stability
a tendency to minimize unpleasant emotions. the opposite term is neuroticism. emotional stability correlates with self-control, good rela- tions with others, and mental health.
Extraversion
a tendency to seek stimulation and to enjoy the company of other people. The oppo- site of extraversion is introversion. extraversion is associated with warmth, gregariousness, as- sertiveness, impulsiveness, and a need for ex- citement. The unpleasant side of extraversion is an increased chance of alcohol abuse and other risky behaviors (martsh & miller, 1997). The pleasant side is that extraverts tend to feel good and report high life satisfaction (Gale, Booth, mottus, Kuh, & deary, 2013). The rela- tionship goes in both directions: Feeling happy makes people more outgoing, and outgoing be- havior makes people feel happy (lucas, le, & dyrenforth, 2008). even pretending to be extra- verted makes introverted people feel happier (Fleeson, malanos, & achille, 2002; Zelenski, santoro, & Whelan, 2012). many people have assumed that extraverts are the best salespeo- ple, but the research says the best salespeople are only mildly extraverted—somewhat asser- tive and enthusiastic, but not overconfident or domineering (
Conscientiousness
a tendency to show self- discipline, to be dutiful, and to strive for achieve- ment and competence. people high in conscien- tiousness work hard and complete their tasks on time (Judge & ilies, 2002). They exercise, eat a healthy diet, and in general act to advance their health and longevity (Bogg & roberts, 2013). agreeableness and conscientiousness both correlate with success in a wide variety of jobs (sackett & Walmsley, 2014).
delusion of reference
a tendency to take all sorts of messages personally.
defense mechanisms
according to Freud, the ego defends itself against anxieties by relegating un- pleasant thoughts and impulses to the unconscious mind. among the defense mechanisms that the ego employs are repression, denial, rationalization, dis- placement, regression, projection, reaction formation, and sublimation. he saw these as normal processes that sometimes went to extremes. his daughter, anna, developed and elaborated descriptions of these mechanisms.
striving for superiority,
according to adler, everyone has a natural striving for superiority, a desire to seek personal excel- lence and fulfillment. e
social interest,
according to adler, people's needs for one another require a social interest, a sense of solidar- ity and identification with other people that leads to constructive action. note that social interest does not mean a desire to socialize. it means an interest in the welfare of society. people with social interest want to cooperate. in equating mental health with social interest, adler saw mental health as a positive state, not just a lack of impairments. in adler's view, people with excessive anxieties are not suffering from an illness. rather, they set immature goals, follow a faulty style of life, and show little social interest. Their response to new opportunity is, "yes, but . . ."
individual psychology.
adler founded a rival school of thought, which he called individual psychology. adler did not mean "psychology of the individual." rather, he meant "indivisible psychology," a psychology of the person as a whole rather than parts such as id, ego, and superego. adler emphasized the importance of conscious, goal- directed behavior.
psychosexual pleasure
all strong, pleasant excitement arising from body stimulation. he maintained that how we deal with our psychosexual development influences nearly all aspects of personality.
social and cultural context.
also, behavior must be understood in a social and cultural context. behavior that is considered ac- ceptable in one society might be labeled abnormal in another. for example, loud wailing at a funeral is expected in some societies, but not in others. public drunkenness is acceptable in some cultures, but strictly forbidden in others.
inferiority complex
an exaggerated feeling of weakness, inadequacy, and helplessness.
agoraphobia
an excessive fear of open or public places,
self-concept,
an image of what they really are,
ideal self
an image of what they would like to be.
negative symptoms
are defined by the absence of a behavior. common negative symptoms include lack of emotional expression, lack of motivation, and lack of social interactions. curiously, most people with schizophrenia report feeling normal degrees of emotion, even when they show very little expression
Self-esteem
is the evaluation of one's own abilities, performance, and worth.
anal stage,
at about age 11⁄2, children enter the anal stage, when they get psychosexual pleasure from the sensations of bowel movements. if toilet training is too strict—or too lenient—the child becomes fixated at this stage. someone fixated at the anal stage goes through life "holding things back"—being orderly, stingy, and stubborn—or less commonly, goes to the opposite extreme, becoming messy and wasteful.
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
block the metabolic breakdown of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin by the enzyme monoamine oxidase (mao) Thus, maois also increase the effects of these neurotransmitters. people taking maois must be careful with their diet, avoiding red wine, raisins, and many kinds of cheese. psychiatrists seldom prescribe maois except for patients who did not respond to the other drugs.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
but block reuptake of only serotonin.
unconscious
central to Freud's theory was his concept of the unconscious, a repository of memories, emotions, and thoughts, many of them illogical, that affect our behavior even though we cannot talk about them.
idiographic approach
concentrates on intensive studies of individuals, looking for what makes someone special (allport, 1961). For example, a psy- chologist might study one person's goals, moods, and reactions. The conclusions would apply to this person and possibly no one else.
trait.
consistent tendency in behavior, such as shy- ness, hostility, or talkativeness,
Personality
consists of all the consistent ways in which the be- havior of one person differs from that of others, espe- cially in social situations. (differences in learning, memory, sensation, or athletic skills are generally not considered personality.)
id
consists of sexual and other biological drives that demand immediate gratification.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (mercifully abbreviated MMPI)
consists of true-false questions intended to measure certain personality dimensions, especially for identify- ing clinical conditions. The original mmpi, developed in the 1940s and still in use, has 550 items.
Big Five personality traits or five-factor model:
emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, conscien- tiousness, and openness to new experience (mccrae & costa, 1987). The case for these five traits is that (1) each correlates with many personality dimensions for which our language has a word and (2) none of these traits correlates highly with any of the other four, so they are not measuring the same thing. The Big Five di- mensions are described in the following list (costa, mccrae, & dye, 1991):
psychoanalysis.
explaining and dealing with personality, based on the interplay of conscious and un- conscious forces.
Alcoholism
is the habitual overuse of alcohol.
positive symptoms
hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, and movement disorder are considered positive symptoms, meaning that they are defined by the presence of some behavior.
panic disorder (PD)
have frequent periods of anxiety and occasional attacks of panic—rapid breathing, increased heart rate, chest pains, sweating, faintness, and trembling. panic disorder occurs in 1 to 3 percent of adults at some time during their lives. it is more common in women than in men (weissman, warner, wickramaratne, moreau, & olfson, 1997), and— like other anxiety disorders—it is more common in whites than in blacks (gibbs et al., 2013; ▼●Figure 15.4). it is fairly common in adolescents and young adults, and its prevalence declines as people age (swoboda,
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
have two kinds of problems. which is obsession and compulsion. obsessions generally lead to compulsions, as an itching sensation leads to scratching. for example, someone obsessed about dirt and disease develops compulsions of continual cleaning and washing. someone obsessively worried about doing something shameful develops compulsive rituals that maintain rigorous self-control.
denial.
he refusal to believe unpleasant information ("This can't be happening") is denial. Whereas repression is the motivated removal of information from con- sciousness, denial is an assertion that the information is incorrect, generally accompanied by a wish-fulfilling fantasy. For example, someone with an alcohol problem may insist, "i'm not an alcoholic. i can take it or leave it." someone whose marriage is headed for divorce may insist that all is going well. people who are about to get fired may believe that they are highly successful on the job
fixation
if normal sexual development is blocked or frustrated at any stage, Freud said, part of the libido is held in fixation at that stage, and the person continues to be preoccupied with the plea- sure area associated with that stage. ■
unshared environment,
in addition to the role of genetics, much of the variation among people's personalities relates to the unshared environment, the aspects of environ- ment that differ from one individual to another, even within a family. unshared environment includes the effects of a particular playmate, a particular teacher, an injury or illness, or any other isolated experience. Because of its idiosyncratic nature, unshared envi- ronment is difficult to investigate.
oral stage,
in the oral stage, from birth to about age 1 1⁄2, the infant derives intense pleasure from stimulation of the mouth, particularly while sucking at the mother's breast. according to Freud, someone fixated at this stage continues to receive great pleasure from eating, drinking, and smoking and may also have lasting concerns with dependence and independence.
biopsychosocial model
in western cultures today, the predominant view is the biopsychosocial model that emphasizes biological, psychological, and sociological aspects of abnormal behavior.
NEO PI-R (NEO personality inventory-revised)
includes 240 items to measure neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. a typical conscientiousness item resembles this:
Tricyclic drugs
interfere with the axon's ability to reabsorb the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin after releasing them. Thus, tricyclics prolong the effect of these neurotransmitters at the synapses.
phobia
is a fear that interferes with normal living. it is not necessarily irrational. many people have phobias of snakes, spiders, lightning, heights, and other items that really are dangerous. what is irrational is the degree of the fear, leading to extreme distress in the presence of the feared object. most people with phobias are not so much afraid of the object itself but of their own reactions ). They fear that they will have a heart attack or that they will embarrass themselves by trembling or fainting. consequently, they vigorously avoid the object or any reminder of it.
Agreeableness
is a tendency to be compassion- ate toward others. it implies a concern for the welfare of other people and is closely related to adler's concept of social interest. people high in agreeableness trust other people and ex- pect other people to trust them. They are more likely than average to have stable marriages and stable employment (roberts et al., 2007). They are less likely than average to have prejudices (akrami, ekehammar, & Bergh, 2011). They re- cover better than average from an injury, partly because they have good social support (Boyce & Wood, 2011).
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
is a test of normal personality, loosely based on Carl Jung's theories.
standardized test
is one that is administered accord- ing to rules that specify how to interpret the results. an important step for standardizing a test is to deter- mine the distribution of scores. We need to know the mean score and the range of scores for a representa- tive sample of the population and how these scores differ for special populations, such as people with severe depression. Given such information, we can determine whether a particular score on a person- ality test is within the normal range or whether it is more typical of people with a disorder.
methadone
is sometimes offered as a substitute for opiates. chemically similar to morphine and heroin, methadone can be addic- tive also, but it is considered a safer addiction. methadone satisfies the craving and blocks heroin or morphine from reaching the same receptors. however, methadone does not eliminate the addiction. people who try to reduce their use of methadone generally report that their drug craving returns. The drugs buprenorphine and levo-a-ace- tylmethadol acetate (laam) have effects similar to methadone.
belief in a just world
maintain that life is fair and peo- ple usually get what they deserve. people with a strong belief in a just world usually handle stressful situations well, feeling confi- dent that things will turn out favorably after all. ). They are more likely than average to offer help to a person in distress or to seek revenge against who- ever caused the harm, presumably to restore a sense of justice (Furnham, 2003; Kaiser, Vick, & major, 2004). however, they are also more likely than aver- age to "blame the victim" for an illness or other disad- vantage (ebneter, latner, & o'Brien, 2011). (after all, if it is a just world, then people get what they deserve.) compared to people with a low belief in a just world, people with a high belief are less likely to support preferential hiring for Blacks or women (Wilkins & Wenger, 2014). (if you believe life is already fair, you don't need to do much to improve its fairness.) The point is that a personality trait—in this case, belief in a just world—manifests itself in many ways. The way someone acts in one situation provides a clue to how that person will act in other situations.
personality disorder
maladaptive, inflexible way of dealing with the environment and other people, such as being unusually self-centered. the authors of DSM-5 moved partway in that direction, but only for personality disorders.
implicit personality test
measures some aspect of your personality without your awareness.
major depression
more extreme condition lasting weeks at a time, during which the person experiences little interest, pleasure, or motivation. sadness is characteristic of depression, but lack of happiness is even more characteristic. many people with depression say they cannot even imagine anything that would make them happy.
neuroticism.
neuroticism correlates positively with anxiety, hostility, self-consciousness, frequent conflicts with other people, and many physical and men- tal illnesses (lahey, 2009).
humanistic psychology
nother perspective on personality, humanistic psychology, deals with conscious- ness, values, and abstract beliefs, including spiritual experiences and the beliefs that people live and die for. according to humanistic psychologists, personality depends on people's beliefs and perceptions of the world. if you believe that a particular experience was highly meaningful, then it was highly meaningful.
mania
opposite of depression. in mania, people are sometimes but not necessarily cheerful, and they are constantly active, uninhibited, and often irritable. They are sometimes dangerous to themselves or others. some mental hospitals have had to disable the fire alarms, because manic patients impulsively pull the alarm every time they pass it. people with a mild degree of mania ("hypomania") are also energetic and uninhibited, but to a lesser degree. lifetime prevalence rates vary from less than 0.5 percent in asia to almost 1.5 percent in europe, with the united states at about 1 percent
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
or those who don't respond to either psychotherapy or antidepressant drugs, another option is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , in which a brief electrical shock is administered across the patient's head to induce a convulsion similar to epilepsy. ect, widely used in the 1940s and 1950s, fell out of favor because of its history of abuse. some patients were subjected to ect hundreds of times without informed consent, and sometimes, ect was used more as a punishment than a therapy.
e trait approach to personality,
people have consistent characteristics in their behavior.
seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
people repeatedly become depressed dur- ing a particular season of the year. it is common in scandinavia, which has many hours of sunlight in summer and few in winter (haggarty et al., 2002), and it is almost universal among explorers who spend long times in antarctica
dependence on or an addiction
people who are unable to quit a self-destructive habit
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have frequent and exaggerated worries. They worry that "i might get sick," "my daughter might get sick," "i might lose my job," or "i might not be able to pay my bills." although they have no more reason for worry than anyone else, they grow so tense, irritable, and fatigued that they have trouble working, maintain- ing social relationships, or enjoying life (henning, turk, mennin, fresco, & heimberg, 2007). because anxiety is common in so many disorders, including depression, we could regard generalized anxiety as a symptom more than a disorder.
Bipolar disorder,
previously known as manic- depressive disorder, is a condition in which some- one alternates between mood extremes. effective treatments for bipolar disorder include lithium salts and anticonvulsant drugs, such as valproate (trade names Depakene, Depacote), all of which can be tolerated for long-term treatment, if the dose is carefully monitored. psychotherapy is helpful for handling the anxiety that many patients experience (
libido
psychosexual energy, during infancy, libido is focused in the mouth. as the child grows older, libido flows to other body parts. children go through five stages of psychosexual development, and each leaves its mark on the adult personality.
hyperventilation,
rapid deep breathing. almost anything that causes hyperventilation makes the body react as if it were suffocating, thereby triggering other sympathetic nervous system responses such as sweating and increased heart rate (coplan et al., 1998; Klein, 1993). fluctuations in heart rate and breathing usu- ally begin well before the panic attack itself—some- times half an hour or more—even though the panic attack seems to occur suddenly and spontaneously
psychodynamic theory
relates personality to the inter- play of conflicting forces, including unconscious ones, within the individual. That is, internal forces that we do not understand push us and pull us. sigmund Freud (1856-1939), an austrian physician, developed the first psychodynamic theory.
compulsion
repetitive, almost irresistible action.
obsession
repetitive, unwelcome stream of thought, such as worrying about doing something shameful.
nomothetic approach
seeks broad, general prin- ciples of personality based on studies of groups of peo- ple. For example, we might make the nomothetic state- ment that more extraverted people are more likely to introduce themselves to a stranger. most personality re- search uses the nomothetic approach.
physical dependence.
someone who uses a drug to reduce unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. however, physical dependence cannot be the whole ex- planation for addiction. many users feel strong cravings long after the end of their withdrawal symptoms.
psychological dependence
strong desire for something without withdrawal symptoms. for example, habitual gamblers have a psychological dependence. a psychological dependence can be extremely in- sistent, and the distinction between physical and psychological dependence is not always helpful.
psychological component
the psychological component includes reactions to stressful experiences. for example, people who were physically or sexually abused in childhood are more likely than others to develop psychological problems in adulthood (J. g. Johnson, cohen, brown, smailes, & bernstein, 1999). people who live in poverty are more likely to engage in risky behavior (haushofer & fehr, 2014).
ego
the rational, decision-making aspect of the personality. it resembles the concept of central executive or execu- tive functioning,
sublimation.
the transformation of sexual or aggressive energies into culturally acceptable, even admirable, behaviors is sublimation. according to Freud, sublimation lets some- one express an impulse without admitting its existence. For example, painting and sculpture may represent a sublimation of sexual impulses. someone may sublimate aggressive impulses by becoming a surgeon. sublimation is the one proposed defense mechanism that is associated with socially constructive behavior. however, if the true motives of a painter are sexual and the true motives of a surgeon are violent, they are well hidden indeed.
reaction formation
to avoid awareness of some weakness, people sometimes use reaction formation to present themselves as the opposite of what they really are. in other words, they go to the opposite extreme. a man troubled by doubts about his religious faith might try to convert others to the faith. someone with unacceptable aggressive tendencies might join a group dedicated to preventing violence.
schizophrenia,
to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, someone must exhibit a prolonged de- terioration of daily activities such as work, social relations, and self-care, and some combination of the following: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and thought, movement disorder, and loss of normal emotional responses and social behaviors. The symptoms must include at least one of the first three (delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech) and at least two of the five overall. as you can see, two people diagnosed with schizophrenia might have no symptoms in common.
unconditional positive regard,
to promote human welfare, rogers maintained that people should relate to one another with unconditional positive regard, a relationship that Thomas harris (1967) described as "i'm oK—you're oK." unconditional positive regard is the complete, unqualified acceptance of another person as he or she is, much like the love of a parent for a child. if you feel unconditional positive regard, you might disapprove of someone's actions or intentions, but you would still accept and love the person. (This view resembles the christian advice to "hate the sin but love the sinner.") The alternative is conditional positive regard, the attitude that "i shall like you only if . . . ." people who are treated with conditional positive regard feel restrained about opening themselves to new ideas or activities for fear of losing someone else's support.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
to standardize their definitions and diagnoses, psychiatrists and psychologists developed a reference book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) that sets specific criteria for each psy- chological diagnosis. the latest edition, DSM-5, was published in 2013 (american psychiatric association, 2013).
archetypes
vague images— or at least the predisposition to form images—that have always been part of the human experience. as evidence for this view, Jung pointed out similarities in the art of cultures throughout the world as well as similarities in their myths and folklore.
Oedipus complex,
when he develops a sexual interest in his mother and competitive aggression toward his father.
projective techniques,
which are designed to encourage people to project their personality characteristics onto ambiguous stimuli. let's consider two well-known projective techniques: the rorschach inkblots and the Thematic apperception test.