Personality Psychology - Exam 3 Study Tips

Flashcards based on Personality Psychology lecture notes for exam preparation.

What is the focus of the Phenological Approach?

Study of conscious experience, subjective experiences of an individual, and their unique reality.

What are the main themes of the Phenological Approach?

Subjective experience (self), Self-determinism/Free-Will, and the belief that people are intrinsically good.

What is the primary purpose of Existential psychology?

Understanding the conscious experience of being alive and addressing fundamental questions about existence and purpose.

What are the three components of 'Umwelt' in existential psychology?

Biological experience (pain, pleasure, bodily sensations), social experience (emotions, thoughts about others, love, fear, respect), and psychological experience (introspection).

What does 'Thrownness' refer to in Existential psychology?

The idea that everyone is thrown into existence, influenced by their time, place, and circumstances of birth (cohort effects).

According to Existential psychology, why is anxiety unavoidable?

Due to the realization of the time limit to life and the existential questions that arise from it.

What are the three parts of 'Angst' according to Existential psychology?

Anguish (realization that choices are inevitable and imperfect), Forlornness (realization of being alone in choices), and Despair (realization that important outcomes are beyond our control).

What is the Existential dilemma/choice?

Life has no inherent meaning unless you create it; you define your own reality and seek purpose nonetheless.

What is 'Living in Bad Faith' according to Existential psychology?

Ignoring existential concerns and responsibilities, often through conformity and going with the flow.

What is 'Authentic Existence' according to Existential psychology?

Coming to terms with your existence and the world, making your own decisions, and being your true self, even if it causes anxiety.

What is the main difference in focus between Western and Eastern philosophies regarding the individual?

West focuses on individuality, while East focuses on collectivism and connectedness among individuals.

What is the focus of Humanistic psychology?

An optimistic and positive approach that emphasizes conscious experience, individual differences, and perception of reality.

What distinguishes humans from other animals according to Humanistic psychology?

Choice, creativity, and self-actualization, along with a basic human drive toward maturity, growth, adaptability, and self-sufficiency.

What is the significance of 'Meaningfulness in Research' in Humanistic psychology?

Meaningfulness must precede objectivity and determines what is studied; psychologists should try to understand humans, not manipulate/control them.

What is the 'Actual Self' according to Carl Rogers?

An individual's self-concept (self-beliefs) and self-esteem (how they feel about those beliefs), representing how they perceive themselves right now.

What is the 'Ideal Self' according to Carl Rogers?

An image of the self a person strives to be.

What is 'Positive Regard' according to Carl Rogers?

Love, friendship, and affection that are crucial for the development of self.

What is 'Unconditional Positive Regard' according to Carl Rogers?

Affection given without special conditions; unconditional love that leads to unconditional positive regard for oneself.

What is 'Conditional Positive Regard' according to Carl Rogers?

Affection only given when certain conditions are satisfied, leading to conditions of worth.

What are 'Conditions of Worth'?

Affections/Acceptance individuals give themselves only when they satisfy certain conditions, often received from others.

What is 'Incongruence' according to Carl Rogers?

A state where the self-concept is incongruent with perceptions and behaviors, leading to anxiety and low self-esteem.

What is 'Self-Actualization' according to Carl Rogers?

The process of actualizing and enhancing oneself, which is considered the default setting in humans, though the environment can hinder it.

What is 'Self-Handicapping'?

Creating conditions contributing to failure on purpose to protect one's self-concept.

What are the characteristics of a 'Fully Functioning Person'?

Awareness of all experiences, living fully and richly in each moment, trusting in their own organism, having a sense of freedom to make choices, being creative and flexible, and facing difficulties without defense mechanisms.

What is unique about person-centered therapy?

Non-directive therapy where therapists don't give advice but reflect on what the participant said, helping patients come to their own realization by removing obstacles to self-actualization.

What is 'Accurate empathy/empathic understanding'?

Therapists' ability to perceive and understand a client’s point of view, critical for effective therapy.

What is 'Genuineness' in the context of therapy?

The therapist being sincere, honest, and without 'fakeness' or a facade.

What is Self-Transcendence?

The process of rising above personal concerns and connecting to something greater—whether that’s a cause, community, nature, or spiritual reality.

What are the 5 levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

Physiological, Safety, Belonging/Love, Self-Esteem, and Self-Actualization.

What are the cognitive needs in Maslow's Metaneeds?

The need for knowledge, understanding, meaning, curiosity, and exploration.

What is George Kelly's Personal Construct Theory?

A theory that explains how people understand, predict, and control their world through personal constructs—mental representations or categories we use to interpret events and people.

What are personal constructs according to George Kelly?

Bipolar dimensions (e.g., strong vs. weak) in which individuals define concepts and use for predicting and interpreting events.

What is Constructive Alternativism?

The idea that events can be interpreted in many different ways by the same person (in retrospect) and differently by different people.

What is the Sociality Corollary?

The ability to interact and communicate with others hinges on understanding their individual constructs.

What is the Role Construct Repertory Test (Rep Test)?

A method used to identify a person's unique construct system by asking them to compare people in their lives and explain how two are similar and different from a third.

What causes anxiety according to Kelly?

Using incorrect constructs that are not predictive, signaling the need to expand one's construct system.

What is the goal of Fixed Role Therapy?

To help clients reconstruct themselves by role-playing someone exemplifying different constructs than the ones normally used.

What is the primary goal of the Positive Psychology Movement?

To correct the longstanding overemphasis within psychology on psychopathology and malfunction and improve the quality of life.

What is 'Flow' according to Csikszentmihalyi?

A psychological state of optimal experience where a person is fully absorbed, focused, and engaged in an activity that is enjoyable for its own sake.

What are the components of Subjective Well-being (SWB)?

Emotional Wellbeing (High positive Affect and Low negative Affect) and Life Evaluation/Cognitive (Global Life Satisfaction and Domain satisfaction).

What is the general trend relating wealth and happiness?

An increase in being financially well leads to a decrease in a meaningful life philosophy; money only increases happiness when a decrease in money decreases happiness.

What are the qualities of happy people?

Self-Esteem, Sense of Personal Control, Optimism, Relationships (intimate friendships and marriage), Education, Flow Experiences, Religiosity, and Taking care of physical self.

What are the strengths of the Phenomenological Approach?

Intuitive, Optimistic, Practical, and Ties to cognitive Approach.

What are the weaknesses of the Phenomenological Approach?

Lack of precision, Optimistic emphasis is arbitrary, and Too much emphasis on here and now.

What are the two ways Positive Regard can be expressed, according to Rogers?

Unconditional Positive Regard and Conditional Positive Regard

What are the three ways threats to self-esteem managed according to Rogers?

Distortion, denial, and defense mechanisms.

What are the characteristics of a self-actualized person?

Open to experience, lives in the present moment, trusts their own judgment, is creative and free to make choices, and experiences existential freedom and meaningful relationships.

What are the main components of Kelly's Construct Theory?

Personal constructs, constructive alternativism, fundament postulate, corollaries and construct system

How is behavior guided according to Kelly's Fundamental Postulate?

Behavior is guided by how we expect things to happen, based on past constructs.

What are the core characteristics of Flow?

Clear goals, immediate feedback, challenge-skill balance, intense concentration, loss of self-awareness, time distortion, and intrinsic motivation.

How does mindfulness differ from Flow?

Mindfulness is about observing, while flow is about immersing.

What does awe result in?

A sense of smallness, humility, or connection to something larger than the self

What are the basic assumptions of the learning approach?

Personality is behavior, it's learned over time, and influenced by external forces like watching others.

What is habituation?

The diminishing of a behavioral or physiological response to a repeated or continuous stimulus that is neither harmful nor rewarding.

Describe the process of Classical Conditioning.

An unconditioned stimuli gets paired with a neutral stimuli, and after repetition, the stimuli becomes conditioned and triggers a conditioned response.

In Classical Conditioning, what is the difference between the UCR and the CR?

They are typically the same behavior, but elicited by different stimuli. The UCR is elicited by the UCS, while the CR is elicited by the CS.

How do you change emotional reactions regarding classical conditioning (Extinction)?

Presenting the Conditioned Stimulus without the Unconditioned Stimulus will produce extinction.

What is counterconditioning?

Pairing a feared object with something pleasant and relaxing, leading to an extinction of the phobia; Systematic desensitization employs steps of counterconditioning.

What is Aversion Therapy?

Substituting a negative response with a positive one by pairing a pleasant behavior with a negative one.

What is operant conditioning?

Learned association between behavior and its consequences. Behavior is controlled, not automatic. Consequences trigger reinforcement.

What is the Law of Effect?

Animals are likely to repeat the behavior that leads to favorable outcomes.

Describe reinforcement and punishment in Operant Conditioning.

Reinforcement increases the probability that a preceding action will be repeated, while punishment decreases that probability.

What is Behavior Modification Therapy?

Reinforcing desired behaviors while punishing the undesired behaviors.

What is Radical Behaviorism?

That all behavior (including thoughts and emotions) can be explained by environmental stimuli and reinforcement histories.

Describe the similarities between the classical and the operant conditioning.

Both talk about observable behaviors.

Describe the differences between the classical and the operant conditioning.

Classical: Two stimuli, automatic. Organism's role: Automatic/Reflexive.
Operant: Behavior and consequence, Active choosing behavior.

What is Rotter's Expectancy Value Theory of Decision Making?

Behavior is not just the goals/reinforcer. But also factoring in expectations that reinforcement will actually happen.

What does BP = f (E-RV) stand for?

Behavioral Potentials is a function of Expectations minus Reinforcement Value.

What is Locus of Control?

Dimension of believing that outcomes are caused by yourself (internal) or environment (external).

What are the four stages of the Observational Learning Process?

Attention Processes, Retention, Motor Reproduction Processes, and Motivational Processes.

What is Reciprocal Determinism?

The idea that behavior, personal factors (like thoughts and feelings), and the environment all interact and influence each other in a bi-directional (two-way) manner.

What is Vicarious Classical Conditioning?

Watching models respond specifically can elicit specific responses in the observer.

What is Vicarious Emotional Arousal?

Watching models respond emotionally elicits an emotional response from you.

What is Self-Efficacy?

Beliefs about one’s own ability to perform behaviors. A decrease in SE leads to a decrease in behavior likeliness.

What is learned helplessness?

Someone being repeatedly exposed to uncontrollable, aversive events and eventually stopping trying to change their situation, even when opportunities to escape or succeed are present.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the learning approach?

Strengths: Research Emphasis and implications for change.
Weaknesses: Not species specific, artificality, not unified, and too simplistic

Describe the cognitive approach using computer analogy

Encoding, storing, retrieving information.

What are schemas?

Mental structure of knowledge. Organized information, a set of characteristics we picture when thinking of an object.

What are the effects of schemas?

Understanding and remembering, attention, interpretation, and bias from past experiences.

How do we measure self-schemas?

Self-ratings and reaction time

Describe the key differences between the Entity and Incremental Schemas.

Entity: Believe personal qualities are fixed (Fixed Mindset)
Incremental: Believe personal qualities can change (Open Mindset)

Give an example of the effect of Entity and Incremental Schemas on performance evaluations.

Entity's performance evaluation are reflective of ability (what I can and cannot do).
Incremental's performance evaluation are reflective of effort (did I put in enough effort?).

What are scripts?

Subtype of schemas, simple well-structured scheme of events

What is priming?

Activation of a schema. It becomes ready to be used. Chronically activated through evolutionary reasons, innate temperament, and experience.

What does RAM represents?

Regency Accuracy Model (Funder). Judgements of others personality.
Steps: Relevance, Availability, Detection, Utilization.

What is Cognitive Experiential Self-Theory (CEST)?

This theory states that we experience the world in two information processing systems: Rational and Experiential.

List and describe the two information processing systems in CEST.

1)Rational: more conscious, follows more conventional rules, analytical and logical.
2) Experiential: Automatically interpret/code our experiences. rapid and emotional.

What is Cognitive-Affective Personality System (CAPS)?

CAPS proposes that personality is a stable system of cognitive and emotional units (like beliefs, goals, and emotions) that interact with situational features to produce behavior.

What does the cognitive person variables include for CAPs

Competencies, Encoding Strategies and Personal Constructs (Kellys Personal Construct theory), Expectancies and beliefs, subjective values, self-regulatory system and plans and Affects (emotional processes)

What does BEATS stands for?

Believes, emotions, action and tendencies

What is Colin Deyoung’s Cybernetic Big Five theory?

The theory describing how genes and environment combine to produce tendencies to respond in certain ways that become personality traits, which affect specific patterns of behavior and life outcomes.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Cognitive Approach

Strengths: Ties to cognitive psychology, Ties to other Personality approaches, Considers important process issues, research-grounded and practical uses.
Weakness: integration (cognitive approach is not unified), neglect of content issues

Describe the difference between chronic accessibility and chronically primed constructs.

Chronic Accessibility: The extent to which certain mental constructs are easily and consistently activated across various situations and over time.
Chronically Primed Constructs: These constructs are so deeply ingrained—due to repeated use or emotional significance—that they become automatically activated in a wide range of situations.

What are the gender differences in self-esteem?

On overage, men tend to report higher self-esteem than women.

How do Cognitive Psychologists view emotion?

As a result of mental processes such as appraisal, interpretation, memory, and attention—not as automatic reactions but as responses shaped by how we think about events.

According to the Appraisal Theory:

Emotions are triggered from individuals appraisals (judges or evaluates) a situation

Define emotional intelligence.

People differ in how accurately they can perceive emotions in themselves and other, and in their ability to control and regulate their own emotions.

What is Higgins’ self-discrepancy theory?

This theory explains how different self-concepts create emotional outcomes based on discrepancies between them

How is narcissism related to implicit and explicit attitudes?

Narcissists consciously report high self-esteem (explicit). Inconcious, (implicit) attitudes are lower, resulting in being fragile or defensive

Which theoretical approach(es) to personality best address(es) the component of structure?

Trait theory: Hierarchical models of continuous traits are stable, measurable and predict behavior.