AP Psychology Modules 55-56

collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from out species' history

psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

projective test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projecting of one's inner dynamics

Thematic Apperception Test

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

terror-management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories; according to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

psychodynamic theories

modern-day approaches that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, accruing to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality

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

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment and for future aspirations

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parent's values into their developing superegos

false consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share out beliefs and our behaviors