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Personality Psychology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the id?

A

Reservoir of all psychic energy and consists of everything psychological that’s present at birth; functions according to the pleasure principle (opposite of delayed gratification); imagining what the body wants = wish fulfillment

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2
Q

What is the ego?

A

operates according to the reality principle (called secondary process); the aim of the reality principle is to postpone the pleasure principle until the actual object that will satisfy the need has been discovered or produced; interrupts the id, but in the service of the id; their interaction encourages the growth of perception, memory

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3
Q

What is the superego?

A

not directly in touch with reality (like id) but strives for the ideal rather than the real

a. conscience: whatever a child is punished for is incorporated here
b. ego-ideal: whatever a child is rewarded for is incorporated here

Ultimately, a system of right and wrong is subbed for parents’ reward/punishment system

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4
Q

What are instincts according to Freud?

A

Instinct: an innate psychological representation (wish) of a bodily (biological) excitation (need)

Instincts are the propelling aspects of Freud’s dynamic theory of personality

Two types of instincts: life (Eros) and death (Thanatos)

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5
Q

What are defense mechanisms according to Freud?

A
  • The ego’s recourse to releasing excessive pressure due to anxiety is referred to as defense mechanisms: all deny, falsify, or distort reality; and all operate subconsciously
    1. repression
    2. suppression
    3. projection
    4. reaction formation
    5. rationalization
    6. regression
    7. sublimation
    8. displacement
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6
Q

What was Carl Jung’s theory of personality?

A

psycholoanalytic + interpersonal, sociological and cultural influences

ego = conscious mind;
ego – personal unconscious (painful or threatening memories) + collective unconscious (archetypes; explain similarities between cultures)

major archetypes:

  1. Persona: mask
  2. Anima: feminine
  3. Animus: masculine
  4. Shadow

Distinguished between two major personality orientations:

  1. introversion
  2. extroversion

Four psychological functions:

  1. thinking
  2. feeling
  3. sensing
  4. intuiting
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7
Q

What was Alfred Adler’s theory of personality?

A

downplayed the importance of the unconscious and focused on the role of the ego

believed people motivated by fear of failure and desire to be superior to others; coined the term “inferiority complex”

also known for his work about the importance of birth order in shaping personality

creative self and style of life enable individuals to developed their uniqueness; family environment crucial for this; coined the term lifestyle

fictional finalism: individuals motivated ore by expectations of future than data from past

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8
Q

What was Karen Horney’s theory of personality?

A

believed that the neurotic personality is governed by one of ten needs; ex: need for affection/approval; exploit others; self-sufficiency/independence

difference between healthy and neurotic:

  1. disproportionate in intensity
  2. indiscriminate in application
  3. partially disregard reality
  4. tendency to provoke anxiety

child seeks to overcome anxiety and achieve basic security

  1. move toward others to obtain good will of those who provide security
  2. moving against others to achieve the upper hand
  3. moving away/withdrawing

basic concept: primary anxiety; strategies carry over into adulthood

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9
Q

What was Anna Freud’s contribution to psychology?

A

extended Freud’s theories through work with children

augmented understandings of defense mechanisms

considered founder of ego psychology

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10
Q

What is the behaviorist’s theory of personality?

A

the reinforcement contingencies to which one is exposed creates one’s personality; by changing the environment, can change personality

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11
Q

What is the social-cognitive theory of personality?

A

Meld behaviorism and cognitive psychology; personality is created by an interaction between the person (traits), the environment, and the person’s behavior: triadic reciprocality/reciprocal determinism

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12
Q

What is the theory of triadic reciprocality/reciprocal determinism?

A

personality is created by an interaction between the person (traits), the environment, and the person’s behavior

Bandura

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13
Q

What is vicarious reinforcement?

A

Learning occurs not only by having behavior enforced (Skinner), but also by having others’ behavior enforced

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14
Q

What is the main approach of cognitive behavioral therapy?

A

tries to change/restructure distorted/irrational thoughts; do not believe symptom relief is adequate therapy; new symptoms will develop to replace old ones: called symptom substitution (ex: replacing alcohol with exercise)

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15
Q

What is the theory of hierarchy of needs?

A

People strive for higher-level needs only when lower-level needs are met; Highest order: self-actualization – more likely to have peak experiences – profound experiences with lasting impacts (compare with Levine)

Maslow

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16
Q

Kay Deaux

A

found that women’s successes at stereotypical “male” tasks are attributed to luck, while men’s successes are attributed to skill

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17
Q

Sandra Bem

A

studied androgeny; created that Bem Sex Role Inventory

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18
Q

Matina Horner

A

suggested that females shunned masculine-type successes not because of fear of failure or lack of interested, but because they feared success and its negative repercussions, such as resentment and rejection

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19
Q

Alice Eagly

A

found an interaction between gender and social status with regard to how easily an individual might be influence or swayed

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20
Q

Eleanor Macoby and Carol Jacklin

A

scrutinized studies of sex differences and found that relatively few existed that could not be explained away by simple social learning; most consistent difference: women – verbal; men – spatial/visual

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21
Q

Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman

A

studied Type A personality

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22
Q

Grant Dahlstrom

A

linked Type A to heart disease

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23
Q

Barnum effect

A

tendency to agree with and accept personality interpretations that are provided

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24
Q

Hans Eyesneck

A

phlegmatic; melancholic; choleric; sanguine

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25
Henry Murray
developed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT); consists of ambiguous story cards; tell story; project their own “needs”
26
Objective personality inventories:
o Objective tests do not allow subjects to make up their own answers • Structure: often seen as more objectively scored than projective tests
27
Q-sort or Q-measure: technique of sorting cards into a normal distribution
Each card is a statement about personality One side: not at all like me Other: very much like me Center: neutral
28
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
550 true/false/not sure | Able to discriminate between different disorders
29
California Personality Inventory (CPI)
Used for more “normal” less clinical groups than MMPI
30
Myers-Briggs
* Introverted vs. Extroverted * Sensing vs. Intuition * Feeling vs. Thinking * Judgment vs. Perception
31
Julian Rotter
• Internal Locus of Control Scale
32
Projective personality test
Projective tests allow the subject to create his own answer, thus facilitating the expression of conflicts, needs, impulses Content interpreted by test administrator
33
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
31 cards – 30 with scenarios; 1 blank Subject – story Project needs; for example, nACH
34
Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study
Cartoons – 1 person frustrating another – subject describes how the frustrated person responds
35
Zajonc
Birth order
36
Psychoanalysis
Freud: desire to gain insight into repressed matieral so energy could be freed up/used elsewhere 1. hypnosis 2. free association 3. dream interpretation 4. transference (countertransference)
37
Behaviorism
behavior is learned as people interact with the environment • rather than focus on unconscious, look at behavior patters • John Dollard • Neal Miller • B.F. Skinner • the reinforcement contingencies to which one is exposed creates one’s personality • by changing the environment, can change personality • -Radical behaviorists criticized for not recognizing the importance of cognition
38
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
* tries to change/restructure distorted/irrational thoughts * Beck * Ellis * do not believe symptom relief is adequate therapy * new symptoms will develop to replace old ones: called symptom substitution (ex: replacing alcohol with exercise)
39
Kurt Lewin
Field therapy: personality is always changing Divided personality into every changing systems Under optimal conditions – well integrated Under stress – articulation between various regions is diffused
40
Abraham Maslow
hierarchy of needs People strive for higher-level needs only when lower-level needs are met Highest order: self-actualization – more likely to have peak experiences – profound experiences with lasting impacts (compare with Levine)
41
George Kelly
set aside traditional ideas re: motivation, drive, unconscious, emotions, and reinforcement Instead: individual as scientist – devise and test predictions about the behavior of significant people in our lives Anxious person: has trouble doing this Psychotherapy helps to develop this capacity In their attempt to understand the world, people develop their own personal constructs; use these constructs to evaluate the world; pairs of opposites: fair/unfair; smart/dumb/exciting/dull People’s behavior determines how they interpret the world
42
Humanism-Phenomenonological - name 3
Kurt Lewin Abraham Maslow George Kelly
43
Human-Existential
emphasize the process of finding meaning in one’s life by making one’s own choices mental disorders stem from alienation, depersonalization, loneliness, lack of meaningful existence
44
Carl Rogers
client-centered therapy/person-centered therapy/nondirective therapy Unconditional positive regard People not slaves to unconscious (psychoanalysts) nor subject to faulty learning (behaviorists)
45
Victor Frankl
survivor of Nazi concentration camps | Mental illness stems from meaningless life
46
Type theorists
attempt to characterized people according to specific types of personality
47
Trait theorists
attempt to ascertain the fundamental dimensions of personality
48
Nomothetic Approach
trait theories same basic set of characteristics can be used to describe all people’s personalities Cattel Eysenck Costa & McCrae
49
Raymond Cattell
- identified 16 different traits to account for the underlying factors that determine personality
50
Hans Eysenck
- tried to use scientific methodology to test Jung’s division of introversion/extroversion - “Confirmed” 1. introversion vs. extroversion 2. emotional stability vs. neuroticism 3. psychoticism
51
Paul Costa and Robert McCrae
big 5 1. Openness to experience 2. Conscientiousness 3. Emotional stability (or neuroticism) 4. Agreeableness 5. iNtroversion/extroversion
52
Factor Analysis
Trait theorists use factor analysis to find correlations (ex: punctuality, diligence, neatness correlate together – cluster as “conscientiousness”
53
Idiographic Approach
Trait theories impossible to use the same set of terms for all people; each person needs to be seen in terms of which few traits characterize his/her unique self
54
Gordon Allport
listed 3 basic types of traits or dispositions 1. cardinal – organize life around (only some) 2. central – major characteristics (everyone) 3. secondary – limited (everyone) functional autonomy: a given activity or form of behavior may become an end/goal itself; allows for many types of motives distinguished between idiographic approach to personality and nomothetic 1. idiographic (morphogenic): case studies 2. nomothetic (dimensional): commonalities among groups Allport thought we should pursue idiographic and avoid nomothetic
55
David McClelland
identified a personality trait referred to as the need for achievement (nAch) Avoid high risk (fear of failure) and low risks (no achievement) Stop striving toward goals if outcome seems unlikely
56
Herman Witkin
- Field independence: capacity to make specific responses to perceived specific stimuli Field dependence: more diffuse response to a perceived mass of somewhat undifferentiated stimuli Classified people according to their degree of field dependence Ex: people who are field dependent will be more influenced by opinions of others
57
Julian Rotter
- Internal locus of control: believe that they can control their own destiny External locus of control: situational influence – luck or task ease used to explain success
58
Sandra Bem
Androgyny | Masculine and feminine must be distinct if someone can have both
59
Walter Mischel
Criticized explaining personality via type/trait Believed human behavior largely determined by the power of the situation (Stanford Prison Experiment)
60
Psychic Determinism
pathological behavior, dreams, and unconscious behavior are all symptoms of underlying, unresolved conflict, which are manifested when the ego does not find acceptable ways to express conflict
61
Abreaction
Another word for catharsis; discharge of repressed emotion
62
Undoing
performing an often ritualistic activity in order to relieve anxiety about unconscious drives
63
Dreams (Frued)
manifest content (the actual content of the dream); latent content (the unconscious forces the dreams are trying to express)
64
Screen memory
memories that serve as representations of important childhood experiences
65
Aaron Beck
Beck Depression Inventory (Aaron beck): most frequently used as a research tool to determine the number of depressive symptoms a particular person has ``` Maladaptive cognitions: lead to abnormal behavior or disturbed affect • Arbitrary inference (no evidence) • Overgeneralization (forever) • Magnifying/minimizing • Personalizing (all my fault) • Dichotomous thinking (black-or-white) ``` Criticisms: removing the symptoms (maladaptive cognitions) may not cure the problem
66
Albert Ellis
rational-emotive theory (thing Cites does – argue with yourself, etc.) o Activating event o Belief about event o Consequences o Directive therapy leads to disputing irrational beliefs o Effective rational beliefs = goal
67
Rollo May
contributer to existential therapy (along with Frankl)
68
Melanie Klein
pioneered object-relations therapy with children
69
Third force
• Humanistic therapy also called “third force” in response to psychoanalysis and behavioralism
70
Stress-inoculation training
developed by Donald Meichenbaum – prepares people for foreseeable stressors
71
Neil Miller
proved experimentally that abnormal behavior can be learned

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