Psychology Final Exam Chapters 13 16 Chapter 13 Personality Personality an individual s characteristic pattern of thinking feeling and acting 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 o 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 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 Iceberg Theory Model of the Mind the mind is like an iceberg it is mostly hidden and below the surface lies the unconscious mind the preconscious stores temporary memories pg 555 see diagram 1 Manifest Content the remembered content of 2 Latent Content unconscious wishes that are dreams usually censored o Id 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 o Ego 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 o Superego the part of the personality that according to Freud represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment the conscience and for future aspirations Psychosexual Stages 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 pg 556 see chart o Oral 0 18 months Focus pleasure centers on mouth sucking biting chewing o Anal 18 36 months Focus pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination coping with demands for control o Phallic 3 6 years Focus pleasure zones in the genitals coping with incestuous sexual feelings o Latency 6 to puberty Focus dormant sexual feelings o Genital puberty on Focus maturation of sexual interests Fixation according to Freud a lingering focus of pleasure seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved Identification the process by which according to Freud children incorporate their parents values into their developing superegos Defense Mechanisms in psychoanalytic theory the ego s protective method of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality o Repression in psychoanalytic theory the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety arousing thoughts feelings and memories from consciousness o Regression psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated Neo Freudians psychoanalysts who accepted Freud s basic ideas the personality structures of id ego and superego the importance of the unconscious the shaping of the personality in childhood and the dynamics of anxiety and the defense mechanisms BUT veered away from Freud in two important ways 1 Placed more emphasis on the unconscious mind s role in interpreting experience and in coping with environment 2 Doubted that sex and aggression were all consuming motivations Alfred Adler Neo Freudian believed in childhood tensions however believed they were social in nature and not sexual o A child struggles with an inferiority complex during growth and strives for superiority and power Karen Horney Neo Freudian like Adler believed in the social aspects of childhood growth and development countered Freud s assumption that women have weak superegos and suffer from penis envy Carl Jung Neo Freudian believed in the collective unconscious which contained a common reservoir of images derived from a species past this is why many cultures share certain myths and images such as the mother being a symbol of nurturance Projective Test a personality test such as Rorschach or TAT that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one s inner dynamics Criticism lack both reliability consistency of results and validity predicting what it is supposed to o Thematic Appreciation Test TAT a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes o 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 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective o Modern Research 1 Personality develops throughout life and is not fixed in childhood 2 Freud underemphasized peer influence on the individual which may be as powerful as parental influence o Freud s psychoanalytic theory rests on the repression of painful experiences into the unconscious mind o The Modern Unconscious Mind shows the existence of non conscious information processing 1 Schemas that automatically control perceptions and interpretations 2 Parallel processing during vision and thinking 3 Emotions that activate instantly without unconsciousness Humanistic Perspective 1960 s psychologists became discontent with Freud s negativity and the mechanistic psychology of the behaviorists Criticism vague subjective lacks evidence o Abraham Maslow proposed that we as individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs beginning with physiological needs we try to reach the state of self actualization fulfilling our potential Self Actualization one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self esteem is achieved the motivation to fulfill one s potential o Carl Rogers also believed in self actualization Unconditional Positive Regard an attitude of total acceptance toward another person despite their failings To assess personality Rogers asked people to describe them selves as they would like to be ideal and as they actually are real if the two descriptions were close the individual had positive self concept Trait Perspective an individual s unique constellation of durable dispositions and consistent ways of behaving traits a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition o feel and act as assessed by self
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