APP Personality Vocab 1

Modules 55-56

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

psychodynamic approach

approach that states that behavior reflects unconscious internal conflict between inherited instincts and society's behavioral rules

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

anal stage

18-36 months, pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

phallic stage

3-6 years, pleasure zone is genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings

Electra complex

according to some psychologists of Freud's day, a female parallel to the Oedipus complex

regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

reaction formation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites; thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings

Neo-Freudian

pyschoanalysts who broke away from Freud to emphasize socials forces in the unconscious

Alfred Adler

psychologist; neo-Freudian, inferiority complex, birth order

collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

persona

personality (mask) that we present to public (different depending on situation)

terror management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

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

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

Sigmund Freud

psychologist; founder of psychoanalysis

id

contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates as the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality; operates as the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (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

oral stage

0-18 months, pleasure centers on the mouth--sucking, biting, chewing

latency stage

6 years-puberty, dormant sexual feelings

genital stage

beginning at puberty, maturation of sexual intersets

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealous and hatred for the rival father

Freudian slip

slip of the tongue by which it is thought a person unintentionally reveals his or her true feelings

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

compensation

a defense mechanism that conceals your undesirable shortcomings by exaggerating desirable behaviors

projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

rationalization

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable of less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

sublimation

the healthiest defense mechanism, taking unacceptable energy/feelings and channeling them in a more productive/acceptable way

Erik Erikson

psychologist; neo-Freudian, best known for eight stages of psychosocial development

inferiority complex

a sense of personal inferiority arising from conflict between the desire to be noticed and the fear of being humiliated

Karen Horney

psychologist; neo-Freudian, introduced feminine psychology, argued against Freud's penis-envy

Carl Jung

psychologist; neo-Freudian, two types of unconsciousness--personal and collective

archetype

the components of the collective unconscious (wicked witch, wise old man, hero--often in fairy tales)

projective test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

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

denial

is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or feeling did not exist