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PSY 380: EXAM 1
(Personality) Theory |
1. A set of propositions
2. Explains behavior
3. Suggests direction for future research
(Comprehensive system of explanation that gives rise to more specific hypothesis) |
Framework by which personality is understood |
Structure, Process, Growth and Development, Psychopathology, Change |
Structure |
What components make up personality?
Stable, enduring aspects of personality |
Process |
What are the key human motives? |
Growth and Development |
How does the personality develop?
Elements and stages in growth of personality |
Psychopathology |
How and why does the person develop psychological problems? |
Change |
What therapy will help to correct the psychological problems? |
Classical issues in Personality Theory |
Philosophical view of persons, power of the unconscious, power of environmental conditioning (external factors), power of genetics (internal factors), consistency of personality across situations and over time, role of the self concept, power of conscious thought processes/cognitions, and influence of past, present, and future on behavior. |
Hierarchy |
A system in which some units are higher in order and therefore in control of the functions of other units |
Personality |
Those characteristics of the person that account for consistent patterns of experience and action |
System |
A collection of highly interconnected parts that function together |
Temperament |
Biologically based emotional and behavioral tendencies that are evident in early childhood |
Trait |
An enduring psychological characteristic of an individual |
Type |
A cluster of personality traits that may constitute a qualitatively distinct category of persons |
Units of analysis |
A concept that refers to the basic variables of a theory; differing theories lead to different types of variables |
Personality |
Those characteristics of a person that account for consistent patterns of behavior |
Anal stage |
Freud's concept for that period of life during which the major center of bodily excitation or tension is the anus |
Anxiety |
In psychoanalytic theory, a painful emotional experience that signals or alerts the ego to danger |
Castration anxiety |
Freud's concept of the boy's fear, experienced during the phallic stage, that the father will cut off the son's penis because of their sexual rivalry for the mother |
Catharsis |
The release and freeing of emotion through talking about one's problems |
Conscious |
Those thoughts, experiences, and feelings of which we are aware |
Death instinct |
Freud's concept for drives or sources of energy directed toward death or a return to an inorganic state |
Defense mechanisms |
Freud's concept for those mental strategies used by the person to reduce anxiety. They function to exclude from awareness some thought, wish, or feeling |
Denial |
The defense mechanism in which a painful internal or external reality is denied. Ex: refusing to accept that you are an alcoholic, or "I do not feel angry" |
Ego |
Freud's structural concept for the part of personality that attempts to satisfy drives (instincts) in accordance with reality and the person's moral values |
Energy system |
Freud's view of personality as involving the interplay among various forces (drives, instincts) or sources of energy |
Erogenous zones |
Those parts of the body that are the sources of tension or excitation |
Free association |
In psychoanalysis, the patient's reporting to the analyst of every thought that comes to mind |
Genital stage |
The stage of development associated with the onset of puberty |
Id |
Freud's structural concept for the source of the instincts or all of the drive energy in people |
Identification |
The acquisition, as characteristic of the self, of personality characteristics perceived to be part of others (parents) |
Isolation |
The defense mechanism in which emotion is isolated from the content of a painful impulse or memory. Ex: Experience the thought of strangling one's child without any associated feelings of anger |
Latency stage |
The stage following the phallic stage in which there is a decrease in sexual urges and interest |
Libido |
The energy associated first with sexual instincts and later with life instincts |
Life instinct |
Drives or sources of energy (libido) directed toward the preservation of life and sexual gratification |
Mechanism |
An intellectual movement of the 19th century that argued that basic principles of natural science could explain not only behavior of physical objects but also human thought and action |
Oedipus complex |
Freud's concept expressing the boy's sexual attraction to the mother and fear of castration by father, who is seen as rival |
Oral stage |
That period of life during which the major center of bodily excitation or tension is the mouth |
Penis envy |
The female's envy of the male's possession of a penis |
Perception without awareness |
Unconscious perception or perception of a stimulus without conscious awareness of such perception |
Perceptual defense |
The process by which an individual defends (unconsciously) against awareness of a threatening stimulus |
Phallic stage |
That period of life during which excitation or tensions begins to be centered in the genitals and during which there is an attraction to the parent of the opposite sex |
Pleasure principle |
Psychological functioning based on the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain |
Preconscious |
Those thoughts, experiences, and feelings of which we are momentarily unaware but can readily bring into awareness |
Primary process |
A form of thinking that is not governed by logic or reality testing and that is seen in dreams and other expressions of the unconscious
|
Projection |
The defense mechanism in which one attributes to (projects onto) others one's own unacceptable instincts or wishes. Ex: See others as being hostile instead of recognizing the hostility in the self |
Rationalization |
The defense mechanism in which an acceptable reason is given for an unacceptable motive or act. Ex: Atrocities of humankind committed in the name of love |
Reaction formation |
The defense mechanism in which the opposite of an unacceptable impulse is expressed. Ex: man "who wouldn't hurt a fly" goes on a killing rampage |
Reality principle |
Psychological functioning based on reality in which pleasure is delayed until an optimum time |
Repression |
The primary defense mechanism in which a thought, idea, or wish is dismissed from consciousness. Ex: recall instances of sexual abuse and experience catharsis |
Secondary process |
A form of thinking that is governed by reality and associated with the development of the ego |
Sublimation |
The defense mechanism in which the original expression of the instinct is replaced by a higher cultural goal. Ex: Becoming a boxer |
Subliminal psychodynamic activations |
The research procedure associated with psychoanalytic theory in which stimuli are presented below the perceptual threshold (subliminally) to stimulate unconscious wishes and fears |
Superego |
Freud's structural concept for the part of personality that expresses our ideals and moral values |
Unconscious |
Those thoughts, experiences, and feelings of which we are unaware. According to Freud, this unawareness is the result of repressions |
Undoing |
The defense mechanism in which one magically undoes an act or wish associated with anxiety. Ex: religious rituals |
Confucianism (human nature) |
Taught that human nature is naturally evil; driven by overwhelming desires that society must control or reign in |
Kao-tzu (human nature) |
Taught that human nature was neutral, like whirling water that will go whichever way the outlet flows |
Menaces (human nature) |
Taught that human nature is bent in a positive direction |
Hinduism- Shankara (human nature) |
Leaned toward a negative view of human nature; under bondage to desires, but can have hope if renounce the world and get in touch with God |
Hinduism- Ramanuja (human nature) |
Did not emphasize distortions of distraction of appearances but how we can get in touch with God by appreciating and surrendering to the multiplicity of life |