AP PSYCH UNIT 9

personality

a relatively enduring set of behavioral, emotional, and mental characteristics
- remains relatively stable over time

Freud

psychoanalysis
- id, ego, superego
- study of the unconscious
- psychosexual stages

unconscious

a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories (according to Freud)...otherwise just the thoughts we aren't aware we're having

main 3 beliefs of Freud

1. childhood experiences determine the adult personality
2. unconscious mental processes influence everyday behavior
3. conflict causes most human behavior

id

BAD unconscious thoughts
governed by "pleasure principle"
houses libido
selfish, irrational, seeks instant gratification
born with this!

superego

develops around 6 years old
seeks to do what's right (conscience)
causes us to feel guilty
governed by "judicial" or "moral principle"

ego

develops around 6 months
governed by "reality principle"
seeks to gratify id urges at appropriate times
anxiety produced by the id-superego conflict

libido

sexual desire

wish fulfillment theory

Theory that conflicts, events and desires of the past are represented in symbolic form in dreams
- dreams allow unconscious urges to come out

Freudian slip

an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings

free association

a Freudian method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, causing unconscious thoughts to come out

iceberg analogy

most aspects of a person's mind are hidden
superego and ego are shown
id is hidden in our unconscious
vast majority of our thoughts are unconscious

psychosexual stages

oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

erogenous zone

area of the body that produces pleasurable feelings

fixation

an inability to move past a stage of psychosexual development; stuck there!

oral stage

(0-1.5) suck and chew things for security
erogenous zone: mouth
libido satisfied by breastfeeding
major conflict: weaning

oral fixation

an excessive need for oral pleasures (such as eating, gum-chewing, or talking) that results from extreme denial or excessive indulgence of them during the first stage

anal stage

(1.5-3)
erogenous zone: anus
libido satisfied by pooping
major conflict: toilet training

anal fixation

problems during toilet training can lead to a stubborn, compulsive, stingy person

anal retentive

tightly controlled, OCD, fear of dirt, obsessed with punctuality

anal expulsive

messy, disorganized, rebellious, overly giving, obsession with bathroom humor

phallic stage: boys

(3-6)
erogenous zone: penis
libido satisfied by genital stimulation
major conflict: oedipus complex

oedipus complex

a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the "rival" father -\> boy then relinquishes desire for mother and befriends father out of fear

castration anxiety

the fear of a young boy that his father will punish his sexual desire for his mother by removing his genitals (during phallic stage)

phallic stage: girls

(3-6)
erogenous zone: clitoris
libido satisfied by genital stimulation
major conflict: electra complex

phallic stage

(3-6)
relinquishing desire for opposite sex parent; failure to resolve this leads to fixation

electra complex

girl develops love for mother, but it disappears quickly due to penis envy, girl then seeks penis through father, then resolves this by playing with dolls

latency stage

(7-11)
erogenous zone: NONE
libido is hidden and sexual feelings are repressed (cooties)
fixation could lead to asexuality
typically play in same-sex groups

genital stage

(puberty onwards)
erogenous zone: penis/vagina
libido satisfied through sex
normal sexual relationships occur at this stage (fixation here is normal)

denial

refusing to accept a painful reality

repression

keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried (motivated forgetting)

projection

projecting your feelings onto someone else

identification

taking on the characteristics of someone else to avoid feeling incompetent (pretending to fit in)

regression

reverting to childlike behavior

rationalization

making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior/events rather than dealing with the pain

intellectualization

thinking about stressful problems in an abstract way to detach oneself from them

reaction formation

expression and exaggeration of ideas and emotions opposite of true feelings

displacement

taking out feelings on something other than the source of these feelings

sublimation

redirecting a forbidden desire into something socially acceptable

undoing

after-the-fact defense mechanism involving "making up" for guilt-producing actions

neo-freudians

followers of Freud who developed their own competing psychodynamic theories

Alfred Adler

inferiority complex, sibling rivalry

inferiority complex

(Adler) feelings of inadequacy in one sphere that causes feelings of general inadequacy -\> being bad at one thing causes you to feel generally unworthy

fictional finalism

(Adler) setting long-term goals that may never be reached, but help you to achieve a sense of satisfaction along the way

birth order (according to Adler)

oldest -\> favorite
middle -\> competitive
youngest -\> funny, struggling to get attention
only -\> spoiled

dethronement

when the next child is born, the older one is forced to share parental attention

compensation

our attempt to win back parental love after dethronement

Karen Horney

(Neo-Freudian) one of the first female psychoanalysts to study with Freud
- developed coping mechanisms to deal with insecurity and neurotic trends

coping mechanisms

patterns of behavior used to neutralize, deny, or counteract anxiety/stress

compliance

moving toward others

aggression

moving against others

withdrawal

moving away from others

neurotic trends

Horney's term for irrational strategies for coping with emotional problems and minimizing anxiety

Carl Jung

(neo-Freudian) like Freud's son; created concept of "collective unconscious" and wrote books on dream interpretation

collective unconscious

Jung's theory that we all share an inherited memory that contains our culture's most basic elements; we can all tap into the same unconscious

archetypes

(Jung) emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning; commonly found as how things are portrayed in the unconscious (ex: portraying yourself as a ruler in a dream means you are a leader)

anima

female unconscious

animus

male unconscious

Erik Erikson

(Neo-Freudian) didn't believe in the psychosexual stages, so he created the psychosocial stages (blank vs. blank)

psychosocial stages

(Erikson) the stages refer to eight major challenges that humans encounter across the lifespan

trust vs mistrust stage

the period during which infants develop a sense of trust or mistrust, largely depending on how well their needs are met by their caregivers

autonomy vs shame and doubt

(1-3) toddler learns to exercise will and to do things independently; failure to do so causes shame and doubt

initiative vs guilt

(3-6) child finds independence in planning, playing and other activities; questions purpose and role in life

industry vs inferiority

(6-12) older child begins making more social interactions and wondering if they belong

identity vs role confusion

teenagers and young adults search for and become their true selves

intimacy vs isolation

young adulthood (20s to early 40s); young adults choose to form intimate relationships and get married or isolate themselves

generativity vs stagnation

middle-aged people begin to devote themselves more to fulfilling one's potential and doing public service

ego integrity vs despair

people in late adulthood either achieve a sense of integrity of the self by accepting the lives they have lived or yield to despair that their lives cannot be relived

projective tests

ambiguous stimuli that people supposedly project their own inner feelings; no "correct answer"
- everything has a deeper meaning
- preferred by psychodynamic theorists to unleash the unconscious

Henry Murray

TAT

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

cards with ambiguous pictures on them, and the subject needs to tell a story based on what they see in the picture

Hermann Rorschach

rorschach test

rorschach test

a projective test that uses inkblots as the ambiguous stimulus

humanistic theories of personality

view people as innately good and able to determine their own destinies through the exercise of free will

self-determinism

individuals have the ability to control their own destinies

Maslow

hierarchy of needs; humanistic

hierarchy of basic needs

physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization

self-actualized people...
- accept themselves and others
- have a good sense of humor
- have frequent peak experiences

Carl Rogers

humanistic; person-centered therapy

person-centered therapy

allows the patient to take the lead in the discussion so, in the process, they will realize what is going on

conditional vs unconditional positive regard

conditional: you are only loved when you conform to others' wishes
unconditional: you are loved no matter what choices you make

real self vs ideal self

-Carl Rogers
-ideal: what you want to be
-real: flaws, what you really are

maladjustment

results from discrepancy between real and ideal self; people stress out when their real self is far from their ideal self

trait and type theories

personality is best explained in terms of descriptive adjectives and categories comprised of related qualities

Hippocrates

trait and type theorist

the four humors

oldest theory of personality; personality can be explained by the amounts of the four body fluids you have at a given time -\> balance of all 4 was "healthy"

four humors of the body

melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic, sanguine

melancholic

black bile: moody, glum

choleric

yellow bile: irritable and hot tempered

phlegmatic

phlegm: slow and droopy

sanguine

red bile: happy, energetic, passionate

Hans Eysenck

personality theorist; asserted that personality is largely determined by genes, used 3 major dimensions
- stable vs unstable
- introverted vs extroverted
- psychoticism

stable vs unstable

stable: predictable
unstable: spontaneous

introverted vs extroverted

introverted: content with being by themselves, may like just being alone
extroverted: likes being around other people, commonly outgoing

psychoticism

to show extreme amounts of one of the traits

Gordon Allport

trait theory of personality; 3 levels of traits: cardinal, central, and secondary

cardinal traits

DEFINING traits; tell you a lot about who someone is
ex: extrovert/introvert

central traits

the major traits considered in forming impressions of others
ex: thoughtful (tells you a decent amount, but isn't always applicable)

secondary traits

situational descriptives
ex: punctual (there would need to be a specific event that had to occur to determine this)

Big 5

OCEAN
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

openness

high: open to new experiences
low: doesn't like trying new things, likes things that are familiar
decreases with age