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 toexpose and interpret unconscious tensionso 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 processingof 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 dreams2. Latent Content- unconscious wishes that are usually censoredo 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 gratificationo 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 paino 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, chewingo Anal- (18-36 months); Focus= pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination, coping with demands for controlo Phallic- (3-6 years); Focus= pleasure zones in the genitals, coping with incestuous sexual feelingso Latency- (6 to puberty); Focus= dormant sexual feelingso 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 realityo Repression- in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousnesso Regression- psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantilepsychosexual 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 ways1. Placed more emphasis on the unconscious mind’s role in interpreting experience and in coping with environment2. Doubted that sex and aggression were all-consumingmotivations - Alfred Adler- (Neo-Freudian); believed in childhood tensions, however believed they were social in nature and not sexualo 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 sufferfrom “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 sharecertain 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 ofone’s inner dynamics Criticism: lack both reliability (consistency of results) and validity (predicting what it is supposed too Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)- a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous sceneso Rorschach Inkblot Test- the most widely used projectivetest, 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 Research1. Personality develops throughout life and is not fixed in childhood2. Freud underemphasized peer influence on the individual, which may be as powerful as parental influenceo Freud’s psychoanalytic theory rests on the repression of painful experiences into the unconscious mindo The Modern Unconscious Mind: shows the existence of non-conscious information processing1. Schemas that automatically control perceptions and interpretations2. Parallel processing during vision and thinking3. 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 evidenceo 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 potentialo 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
View Full Document
Unlocking...