Personality Ch. 3

Question 0

Psychoanalysis

Answer 0

A lengthy therapy procedure in which the primary goal is to bring crucial unconscious material into consciousness where can be examined in a rational manner

Question 1

Freud

Answer 1

1. Freud was the first to develop a comprehensive theory of personality.
2. Freud was the first to place a large emphasis on unconscious processes and to incorporate dream interpretation.
3. Human personality can divided into, conscious, preconscious, and unconscious parts.
4. Personality can be divided into the id, ego, and superego.
5. Psychological activity is powered by psychic energy called libido.
6. Intrapsychic conflict creates tension.
7. The goal of human behavior is to return to a tension less state.

Question 2

Free Association

Answer 2

1. Allows patients to discuss and describe previously hidden material that seems related to the cause and cure of their hysterical symptoms.
2. Freud discovered that memories uncovered during free association often concerned traumatic sexual experiences.

Question 3

The topographic model

Answer 3

Freud divided personality into three parts 1. the conscious 2. the preconscious and 3. the unconscious. This is known as the topographic model.

1. The conscience contains the thoughts you are currently aware of, this is constantly changing as new ideas are coming and going into your mind.
2. The pre-conscience is a large body of retrievable information.
3. The unconscious is material to which you have no immediate access. These are the vast majority of thoughts and the most important from the psycho analytic viewpoint. You cannot bring unconscious thought into consciousness except under certain extreme situations. Unconscious material is responsible for much of your everyday behavior.

Question 4

The structural model

Answer 4

Divides personality into 1. the ID 2. the ego 3. the super ego

1. ID: The only personality at birth, this is the selfish part of you concerned only with satisfying your personal desires. Based on the pleasure principle.
2. Ego: based on the reality principle, the egos job is to satisfy ID impulses and superego demands. Moves freely among the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious parts of your mind.
3. Superego: Societies and parents’ values and standards. The super ego places restrictions on what we can and cannot do.

(desire for self-indulgence, a concern for reality, in the enforcement of the strict moral code).

Question 5

Defense mechanisms

Answer 5

Sublimation, displacement, reaction formation, denial, intellectualization, and projection.

Question 6

Repression

Answer 6

A defense mechanism in which traumatic information is pushed out of awareness.

Question 7

Displacement

Answer 7

Channeling impulses to non-threatening objects. EX. If a woman is abused by someone dangerous, she may express anger at less threatening people like coworkers or children who are less threatening.

Question 8

Denial

Answer 8

Refusing to accept that certain facts exist, insisting something is not true despite evidence to the contrary. This is an extreme form of defense, and if used it moves us far away from reality.

Question 9

Sublimation

Answer 9

Sublimation channels threatening unconscious impulses into socially acceptable actions. Ex. Aggressive people can become hockey players and sublimate their aggress. id impulses and be rewarded for them.

Question 10

Reaction formation

Answer 10

Hiding from threatening unconscious ideas or urges and acting in a manner opposite to our unconscious desires. EX. Being hateful towards gay people because you are gay.

Question 11

Intellectualization

Answer 11

Removing emotional content from thought before allowing it into awareness

Question 12

Projection

Answer 12

Projecting unconscious impulses to other people instead of ourselves, thereby freeing ourselves from the perception that we are the one who actually holds this thought. EX. A woman who thinks everyone in the neighborhood is committing adultery, when she may be harboring sexual desires for the married man next door.

Question 13

Freudian slip

Answer 13

Misstatements or slips of the tongue that are sexual in nature.

Question 14

Projective tests

Answer 14

Tests that present testtakers with ambiguous stimuli and are then asked to respond by identifying objects, telling a story, or perhaps drawing a picture. Responses are said to provide insights into what’s going on in the unconscious

Question 15

Rorschach inkblot

Answer 15

Cards that contain a block of ink in which patients are asked to describe and respond to what they think each card represents. Scored for personal insight and intuition when interpreting responses.

Question 16

Dreams

Answer 16

Dreams are id impulses represented in ways that satisfy wish fulfillment. Our unconscious desires that may be unacceptable are represented symbolically though our dreams.

Question 17

Strength of Freudian theory

Answer 17

1. First comprehensive theory of human behavior and personality.
2. Frauds observations set a direction for subsequent personality theory and research, using psychotherapy (treating psychological disorders through discussions with a therapist) etc.
3. Freud is credited with identifying important psychological concepts like anxiety.

Question 18

Weakness of Freudian theory

Answer 18

1. Critics say Freud’s ideas were not so original, Freudian ideas appear in literature that predates Freud’s work.
2. Hypothesis generated by Freudian theory are not testable.
3. Freud’s case study data were biased.

Question 19

Humor

Answer 19

1. People often find jokes and cartoons funnier when they contain sexual and aggressive themes.
2. We appear to enjoy hostile humor more when aimed at someone we don’t like.
3. Hostile humor may reduce tension although it does not necessarily reduce hostility.
4. Jokes are funnier when when the listener’s tension is built up before the punch line.

Question 20

Defense mechanism research

Answer 20

1. Young children tend to rely on unsophisticated defense mech. such as denial, whereas adults more often use identification.
2. People show individual differences in preferred def. mech.
3. People who rely on immature def. mech. May have more difficulties with personal adjustment and well being than those who use more efficient and productive ones.

Question 21

Hypnosis research

Answer 21

1. Although hypnotic participants often behave as if they are in an altered state of consciousness, skeptics explain these phenomena in terms of expectancies, motivation, and relaxation.
2. Hypnotic responsiveness is largely a participant variable.
3. Those generally able to become absorbed in a situation tend to be responsive to hypnotic suggestion.