Test 4 (13,14,15,16) Flashcards
What is personality?
characteristics pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving
What are the four main approaches to the study of personality?
Psychodynamic approach
Humanistic
Trait
Social-cognitive
What is the psychodynamic approach?
by talking through these emotions and behaviors with a social worker, clients come to know themselves better and make better decisions for themselves.
Who developed the first major theory of personality?
Freud
Who was Sigmund Freud?
(1856-1939),doctor who specialize in nervous disorders lived in the victorian era (characterized by social conservatism)
Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in the psyche, through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst
What were the main focuses of Freud’s theory? What was his theory called?
psychoanalytic theory: first major theory of personality, very influential even though it was based on nothing, not based on science or supported by science
Childhood experience, sexual and aggressive urges, and the unconscious mind
Unconscious mind: thoughts, feelings, desires and memories that are there but not in our conscious awareness
Free association: involving have people talk without centering themselves
Dream analysis: highly symbolic analysis of the unconscious mind, they would require interpretation
What is the unconscious? How does it relate to psychological disorder in Freud’s theory?
Unconscious mind: thoughts, feelings, desires and memories that are there but not in our conscious awareness
psychological disorder:
How did Freud attempt to access the unconscious mind?
Had patients that medical situations made no sense began to think their issues were more psychological than biological, asked if something was going on mentally and patients would deny these issues. Led him to believe these problems are hidden in their unconscious mind.
What are defense mechanisms (in general), and what is repression?
Defense mechanisms: unconscious, physiological, behavioral tactics that protect us from unpleasant emotions by hiding or distorting reality
Other defense mechanism: projecting one of your urges onto another person “it’s not me, it’s them”
Acting immature, turning an unacceptable impulse into the opposite
Unconscious psychological and behavioral tactics
Repression: Freud believed that the main defense mechanism above all others Repression, pushing troubling things out of consciousness
What are the id, ego, and superego? What are their characteristics?
Id:
Pleasure principle, seeks out pleasure
Immediate gratification
Think of the devil on your shoulder
Ego:
Developed in the first few years of life to satisfy the id in more socially acceptable ways
Operates on a reality principle, takes into account the constraints of reality
Tries to get the ID to Delay gratification
Mediator between the ID and the superego
Trying to satisfy both angel and devil
Superego:
Develops around ages 4-5 as a child internalizes the values of its parents and society
Serves as one’s Conscience
Operates on the Morality principle (urges you to do what is morally correct)
Demands perfection
Think of angel on your shoulder
What are Freud’s psychosexual stages of development and what happens during each?
Oral Stage: lasts from 0-18 months, the erogenous zone is the mouth
Freud believed infants had particular pleasure from sucking and biting
Conflict: occurs when society demands weaning, bc the ID does not want to be deprived of the nipple (milking)
Weaning: Things that could happen if weaned too early, constantly trying to indulge the mouth. ex: Smoking, over eating, being really talkative, chewing gum
Anal Stage: 18 months- 3 years old. erogenous zone is the anus, Freud believed that toddlers got special pleasure from holding in or pooping, because it stimulates the anus.
Conflict: comes when society demands potty training
We say“Anal” or “anal retentive” bc Freud believed if toddlers were potty trained too early they would be: uptight, controlling, detail oriented, rigid adherence to rules
Phallic Stage: 3-6 years, erogenous zone is the penis, clitoris. Freud believed this age enjoyed stimulation of the genitals
Conflict: boys experienced an oedipus complex (boy has an unconscious sex attraction to his mother, wants her all to himself, but dad is in the way, wants dad out of the picture)
Girls undergo a negative oedipus complex, called the Electra complex
Latency Period: no erogenous zone, no conflict
Dormant sexual feelings
Genital Stage: once reaching adolescence, genitals becomes the focus of pleasure: specifically penis and vagina (Frued said any enduring on the clitoris is infantile)
Freud believed if everything went well growing up, babies are just penis substitutes for women
What are erogenous zones?
pleasure points on a body
What is fixation?
a focus on a particular erogenous zone, which leads to maladaptive traits in adulthood
What are the supposed characteristics of oral and anal fixation?
Oral Stage: lasts from 0-18 months, the erogenous zone is the mouth
Freud believed infants had particular pleasure from sucking and biting
Conflict: occurs when society demands weaning, bc the ID does not want to be deprived of the nipple (milking)
Weaning: Things that could happen if weaned too early, constantly trying to indulge the mouth. ex: Smoking, over eating, being really talkative, chewing gum
Anal Stage: 18 months- 3 years old. ergoenous zone is the anus, Frued believd that toddlers got special pleasure from holding in or pooping, because it stiumlates the anus.
Conflict: comes when society demands potty training
We say“Anal” or “anal retentive” bc Freud believed if toddlers were potty trained too early they would be: uptight, controlling, detail oriented, rigid adherence to rules
What are the Oedipus and Electra complexes?
Both occur during the phallic stages
Conflict: boys experienced an oedipus complex (boy has an unsoconsious sex attraction to his mother, wants her all to himself, but dad is in the way, wants dad out of the picture)
Around this age boys have noticed that not everyone (girls) do not have penisis. Come to the conclusion, they were cut off. So he comes to the conclusion that his father will cut his penis off, give up on mom, and try to be more like dad so mom likes him the way she likes dad. (This is how gender identity develops according to Freud)
Girls undergo a negative oedipus complex, called the Electra complex
She is into mom, has noticed some people have penises and she does not, neither does mom. Develops desire to have her own penis, comes to the conclusion that her mom must have cut her penis off, changes perspective of mom, her affection goes to father. → Sexual desire for her father, wants her all to himself, but afraid of losing her mother’s love, so then, and tries to be more like mom. This is how gender identity develops according to Freud)
What does identification refer to in psychoanalytic theory?
the process by which a child takes on attitudes and values of the same-sex parent.
How did the theories of the neo-Freudians differ from Freud’s theory?
Contemporary early psychologists that were inspired by Freud are known as Neo-Freudians. They focused more on social influences and the conscious mind, not as focused on sex and aggression as Freud
As mentioned in class, with what idea is Jung associated? Adler? Horney?
Includes Erik Erinson, Alfred Adler (all suffer from inferiority complex, always trying to overcome it), Jung (believed there is some common reservoir of symbols that all humans share), Karen Horney (debated the existence of penis empty, argued men have womb envy): all had theories that were influential on their own
Modern day: focuses on the conscious and unconscious and childhood
What are the major problems with Freud’s psychoanalytic theory? Is it supported by scientific research?
Problems: does not really make alot of predictions, hard to experiment
Did not hold up well, not based on science and science has not supported it or supported by research
Freud would try to find a psychoanalytical way to read every patient
What is the false consensus effect? (see text)
also known as consensus bias, is a pervasive cognitive bias that causes people to “see their own behavioral choices and judgments as relatively common and appropriate to existing circumstances
ex: someone believing that the political candidate that they favor has more support in the population than other candidates, even when that isn’t the case
What is the main premise of the humanistic approach?
Goal: enhance self-acceptance, and remove the barriers that are preventing a person from reaching their full potential (promoting self-actualization)
More for self-improvement
What does Rogers’ person-centered perspective indicate?
Therapist is there to listen and provide companionship
The therapists will typically avoid judging, interpreting, or offering advice, bc it is believed the client has the ability to solve their own problems, they just do not realize it
Do not want to undermine client’s self confidence
What factors promote or inhibit growth according to Roger’s perspective?
Three important elements of RCCT: (therapists must provide their client with)
Acceptance
Aim to exhibit unconditional positive regard for their patient
Genuineness
Have to like and value their clients
Empathy
Reflection: active listening technique that involves paraphrasing what the client just said bc it makes the client feel heard, encourages them to elaborate more on what they were saying
What is meant by ideal self and actual self and who emphasized them?
Ideal: who we want to be
Actual: who we want to be
Cal Rogers emphasized them
What is the trait approach?
Trait theorists: tend to see personality in terms of specific, stable, internal characteristics called traits.
Interested in identifying what fundamental traits dimensions that make personality
Do this by giving out large questionnaires to large groups of people asking them about their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. They then perform a factor analysis: on that data, (a mathematical procedure that identifies statistically correlated clusters of test items)
What is the purpose of factor analysis in the trait approach?
In other words, factor analysis answers questions
According to the Eysencks, upon what biological factors were these trait dimensions based (introvert/extrovert)?
2 dimensions
If you are high on Introversion you are low on extraversion and vice versa
High on Emotional stability low on instability and vice versa
He believed these trait dimensions were biologically based, inheritance levels of baseline activity in the nervous system and how reactive someone’s nervous system is
Reflect the baseline level of arousal in the nervous system and how reactive it tends to be
How do introverts and extraverts tend to differ?
Introversion: solitary and reserved
High baseline levels of arousal in the nervous system (even when nothing is going on) not motivated to seek out more stimulation, can be easily over aroused, have more reactive nervous systems (salivate more if a drop of lemon juice is placed on their tongues) overall greater reactions
More neutral emotions
Greater sedation levels which reflects a greater level of arousal
Dress for comfort rather than style
Extraversion: sociable and outgoing
Low baseline levels of arousal in their nervous system, (arousal level is usually too low), so they seek out stimulation to bring it to a higher level. (social, entertained)
Extroverts tend to be happier, they tend to be more positive overall, less sensitive to pain, more likely to be decorative and welcoming
High emotional stability: calm and relaxed
High instability: moody and anxious
What is Gray’s biopsychological theory?
According to gray, personality arises from two related brain systems (behavioral and inhibition)
What is the behavioral approach system and behavioral inhibition system?
One system: behavioral approach (BAS)
Affects our sensitivity to reward as well as our motivation to seek out rewards
People with a high BA are more likely to obtain rewards because they experience rewards more intensely than do other people on average
Tend to be impulsive since they think it can be rewarding, may not care about the punishment
Behave according to what they want to happen
One system: behavioral inhibition (BIS)
….And our motivation to avoid punishment
People with a highly active BIS tend to be more motivated to avoid punishments because they experience punishment more intense;y than other people do
(Biological basis) Genes impact how much our brains react to reward + punishment
Behave according to what they don’t want to happen
Seen as two separate dimensions so possible to seen high on both or low on both
What traits make up the Big Five model of personality?
The Big Five Model (CANOE)
Conscientiousness: organized, careful, discipled
Agreeableness: softhearted, trusting, helpful
Neuroticism: same as emotionally stability/instability in E’s theory
Openness: imaginative, prefers variety, independent
Extraversion: sociable, fun-loving, affectionate
What are personality inventories? (objective personality tests that measure several traits
at once)
Come in the form of personality inventory (measures several personality traits at once) aka tests
What is the NEO-PI-R? The MMPI?
Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R)
Assess the big five personality traits and other sub-categories of personality
Can predict job success
Used in research
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
Asses various personality traits as well as symptoms of psychological disorder
About 567 true or false questions
Used in research and as a screening tool
Psychologists do not have a strong opinion of it
There are problems with it, puts thinking and feeling as opposites
It is not highly regard, not a lot of faith in results
What is the social-cognitive approach?
personality, thinking, behavior, and situation influences interact. To understand one, you have to look at the others as well
What is Bandura’s concept of reciprocal determinism/influences?
our environments influence our personalities, but our personalities also influence our environments
How you react to other people and situation and what happens influences your personality
If you are depressed you may isolate yourself more, making yourself more depressed
Can lead to ostracism, makes people less interested in hanging out with you, makes you more depressed
Products and producers of our environments
What is Rotter’s expectancy theory (of personal control)?
what we expect to happen as a result of our behavior
Strongly influenced by our feelings of personal control
What is meant by internal and
external locus of control?
Internal locus (location) of control
Believe that their actions control what happens to them, they have a sense of control over their lives
Better associated with achievement, happiness, and health
External locus of control
Believe their actions have little control over what happens to them
Tend to believe that what happens to them depends on luck or fate
Events control, you, you don’t control events (associated with depression)
Learned helplessness
What is learned helplessness and how does it relate to the concept of personal control?
external locus of control: tendency to give up on one’s efforts to control the environments after previous efforts made no difference
Could have suffered from traumatic events
What is the spotlight effect? (see text)
the phenomenon where people tend to overestimate how much others notice aspects of one’s appearance or behavior
What characterizes collectivist and individualist cultures?
Collectivists: typical of African and Asian cultures
Group is seen as more important than the individual (could be in a family line)
A person is more likely to consider the impact of their decisions and how it affects the groups they belong to
Will sacrifice their own needs for the good of the group
Individualists: self fulfillment, self if bigger than the group
What is the relationship between self-esteem and aggressive behavior?
Ppl with unrealistically high self esteem (narcissist) tend to behave aggressively when their self esteem is challenged by someone they see as inferior
What is defensive self-esteem?
higher self esteem, more defensive when challenged
What is the self-serving bias?
tendency to think well of ourselves
Take credit when things go well, dismiss credit when things go wrong
Affects our memories: remember the past in self enhancing ways (remember the good behavior over the bad)
What is the better-than-average or above-average effect?
more people see themselves as above average
Illusion of superiority:
Positive attributes
70% of college students think they are better, smarter, etc
90% of professors and business managers believe they are better than those in their field
1% think they are below average in their job
Every state often claims student test scores are above average
Tend to see our friends as superior to others, but see ourselves as superior to our friends
What is self-efficacy? (see text)
reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behavior, and social environment
What is narcissism?
a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. have a lack of empathy
How does depression relate to the self-serving bias?
most people believe this does not apply to them.
Cross culturally, but less pronounced in Asian cultures (modesty and humility tend to be more valued in their cultures)
Associated with mental health, people with depression tend to lack the self-serving bias
Some studies show people with depression see the world more realistically than those who are not depressed (only some studies, some studies say people with depression are not as realistic)
Ex: In one study they had subjects come to the lab to socialize, some had depression and some didn’t. Asked to interact, but are secretly being watched by independent observers to rate their social skills (did not know about the depression in subjects). In the experiment people rated themselves in the experiment. Depressed peoples ranking matched observers more, people without depression rated themselves higher.
Conclusion: being in touch with reality can be a good thing
What is abnormal psychology?
study of psychopathology, deals with psychological disorders
How is psychological disorder defined?
an ongoing pattern of thinking, feeling, and or behaving that causes distress, deviates from the norm, and impairs functioning
How common are psychological disorders in the United States?
very common, 46% of people will have a psychological disorder at some point: can include phobias and drug dependency
When do psychological disorders typically appear?
by age 14, and 3/4 begin by age 24
How are psychological disorders related to poverty?
Twice as prevalent for people below the poverty line
lack of resources
Downward mobility (schizophrenia): tend to fall into poverty
Monitor kids overtime that when they fall above the poverty line, the kids express fewer behavioral issues
higher stress, higher likelihood of having a PD
Do all cultures have the same psychological disorders?
Some disorders are found in all cultures, symptoms may vary, but it is clear it is the same disorder
Voices in your head:
Western culture voices are more harsh and mean
Eastern more kind
Some disorders are particular to certain cultures:
Western/Westernized: anorexia, bulimia, eating disorders
What is the DSM-V?
Classifies and defines all the recognized psychological disorders
Provides criteria that a person must meet in order to be diagnosed with the various disorders (over 400)
Based on rigorous research
Allows for consistency and diagnosis: criteria is spelled out and allows for communication
What happened when teachers were led to falsely believe that some students were gifted?
the targets of the expectations internalize their positive labels, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly; a similar process works in the opposite direction in the case of low expectations
What implications does this have for diagnostic labels as self-fulfilling prophecies (above average effect)?
deterministic – students are not as passive as it suggests – not every student is effected negatively by a negative label
How can labelling someone as mentally ill be problematic? (see text)
have the potential to both stigmatise and alienate individuals. Labels create an artificial divide between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal
Are people with mental illness more likely to perpetrate violence or be victims of violence?
Individuals with serious mental illness are victimized by violent acts more often than they commit violent acts
Are most people with psychological disorders dangerous? (see text)
The vast majority of people with mental health problems are no more likely to be violent than anyone else
What are the general symptoms of anxiety disorders?
Being excessively anxious most of the time, for no apparent reason, worry about a lot of things, but does not really explain why they are so anxious so much of the time
To be diagnosed: excessively anxious (for no reason) most of the time for 6 months
Difficulty concentrating, exhibit an exaggerated startle response
Hypervigilant, constantly monitoring the environment for possible threats
Correlates with depression
What are the anxiety disorders
we covered?
Panic Disorder: Recurring, unpredictable panic attacks
Panic attack: sudden episode of intense anxiety
To be diagnosed: more than one panic attack with no reason to panic
Heart may feel like it’s beating out of your chest, sweat, tremble, detached from yourself in some way, feel like you cannot breathe, feel like you are about to die/no control
Agoraphobia: fear of being situations where help might be unavailable or escape might be difficult
⅓ of people who have panic attacks will develop it
Some people will just stay in their houses bc of it
Not just for people with panic disorder, people more to falling will stay in as well
Specific phobia: Strong irrational fear of some object, situation, or activity that is unlikely to be dangerous or the fear is greater than the threat posed (disproportionate fear)
Recognize that their fear is irrational
Great lengths to avoid the thing that they fear, can be disruptive
Only be diagnosed with a phobia if it interferes with their ability to function
Social anxiety disorder: fear of negative evaluations or a fear of doing something that will embarrass yourself in front of others
Limit their social activities
Avoid speaking or eating in public or just might avoid social situations in general
how do the anxiety disorders differ from each other
panic disorder: brief attacks of anxiety with no cause
agoraphobia: more prone to falling and could have an accident by themselves, some sort of condition
social anxiety disorder: fear the negative evaluations of others
What is posttraumatic stress disorder?
Experience flashbacks, haunting memories, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, jumpy, cranky, and withdrawn
Occurs as a result of witnessing or enduring events
Very common among combat veterans and victims of sexual assault
People who have more reactive nervous systems are more likely to get it
Secondary trauma can occur
What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?
intrusive, recurring thoughts, and irresistible urges to engage in repetitive behaviors
What are obsessions and compulsions and how do they relate to each other?
Obsession: uncontrollable thoughts, doubts, images, or impulses that cannot be controlled
These generate anxiety leading to the compulsions
Compulsions: irresistible urges to engage in reprieve ritualistic behaviors
Can refer to the urges or behaviors themselves
Common compulsions include, checking, counting, arranging, or repeating
Temporarily relieve the anxiety generated by the obsessions
Time consuming and interfere with a person’s functioning
What are some biological and psychological factors involved in anxiety disorders, PTSD, and OCD?
Neuroticism (big five personality characteristics): emotional instability, moodiness and anxious
More likely to notice things in their environment that could possibly be dangerous
Low self efficacy: feel like they are not capable, feel ineffective or cannot cope with challenges and stresses
Stress can trigger or worsen these disorders
Learning in disorders:
through classical conditioning, something bad happens, learn to fear it and things like it
Observational learning: when little be scared and terrified of something if other kids are scared too
Negative reinforcement: avoiding what you fear
Genetic predisposition, runs in families
Neurotransmitters imbalances: too much glutamate, too little serotonin
People who have more sensitive and reactive nervous systems are more prone to anxiety disorders (goes along with two factor theory)
What is major depressive disorder?
Feeling sad and experiencing hopelessness most of the time for a period of at least 2 weeks
What are the symptoms and features of major depressive disorder?
People with Major depression: more headaches, stomach aches, back aches
Extremely low levels of energy (ex: getting out of bed and getting dressed can seem impossible)
Imparied immune system, more prone to colds and viruses
Some people can have one episode and never experience again, but more often than not it comes and goes (recurring episodes)
What are some of the biological, psychological, and social factors involved in depression?
Psychological symptoms include guilt worthlessness, anxiety, lowered self esteem, pessimism, lots of crying, difficulty concentrating
Experience Anhedonia: loss of pressure
People with this disorder can find that things no longer bring them pleasure
Reward areas are less responsive in the brain
Social: Become socially isolated, and other people do not really feel like hanging out with them either (elicits social isolation)
Changes in sleeping and eating habits, usually someone with major depressive disorder have difficulty sleeping and will lose their appetite
Some people may start eating and sleep more though
Biological: depression runs in families
neurotransmitters are imbalanced: norepinephrine, serotonin
Release more stress hormones than other people do
Why are men more likely to die as a result of a suicide attempt? (text)
The methods men use, such as firing a bullet into the head, are more lethal
Why are women at greater risk for anxiety and depression? (text)
after a traumatic event, women experience PTSD more often than do men
Why is depression more common among westerners? (text)
often try to cope with negative moods by pushing them out of mind. But suppressing bad feelings in this way usually backfires, increasing the likelihood of sinking into depression
What is bipolar disorder?
extremes of mood that are not related to external circumstances
What are the symptoms of mania?
opposite of depression (manic depression)
Very agitated emotional state
Emotionally during a manic episode, people may be euphoric or irritable
Cognitively tend to be grandiose (think they are much greater than they are)
Often exhibit total optimism
Seem to think nothing can go wrong
Judgment is impaired
A lot of wild and impulsive ideas
Easily distracted
Poor insight
Behaviors
Tend to be talkative
Pressured speech: a lot of force behind their words (speak rapidly)
Hyperactive, endless amounts of energy
Decreased need for sleep
Can be silly and immature at times
Engage in a lot of reckless behavior (spend all their money without having a care they could have no money tomorrow)
Reckless sexual activities
They do have normal periods
