Ch. 13

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

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

Question 2

free association

Answer 2

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

Question 3

psychoanalysis

Answer 3

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

Question 4

unconscious

Answer 4

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

Question 5

ID

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Ego

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Superego

Answer 7

The part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

Question 8

psychosexual stages

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Oedipus Complex

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Identification

Answer 10

The process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

Question 11

fixation

Answer 11

According to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved.

Question 12

defense mechanisms

Answer 12

In psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Question 13

repression

Answer 13

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

Question 14

regression

Answer 14

Defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Question 15

reaction formation

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

projection

Answer 16

Psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Question 17

rationalization

Answer 17

Dense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions.

Question 18

displacement

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

denial

Answer 19

defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities

Question 20

collective unconscious

Answer 20

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

Question 21

Projective test

Answer 21

A personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger proaction of one’s inner dynamics.

Question 22

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Answer 22

A projection test in which people explores their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Question 23

Rorschach inkblot test

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Terror-management theory

Answer 24

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

Question 25

self-actualization

Answer 25

According to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

Question 26

unconditional positive regard

Answer 26

According to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

Question 27

self concept

Answer 27

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question “who am i?”

Question 28

Trait

Answer 28

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Question 29

personality inventory

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI)

Answer 30

The most widely researched and clinically see 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.

Question 31

empirically derived test

Answer 31

A test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.

Question 32

social-cognitive perspective

Answer 32

Views behavior as influence by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context.

Question 33

reciprocal determinism

Answer 33

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Question 34

personal control

Answer 34

the extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless

Question 35

eternal locus of control

Answer 35

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate

Question 36

internal locus of control

Answer 36

the perception that you control your own fate

Question 37

learned helplessness

Answer 37

The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Question 38

positive psychology

Answer 38

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Question 39

self

Answer 39

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 40

spotlight effect

Answer 40

Overestimating other’s noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

Question 41

self-esteem

Answer 41

One’s feelings of high or low self-worth.

Question 42

self-serving bias

Answer 42

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Question 43

Terror-Mangement Theory

Answer 43

Proposes that faith in one’s worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death.