AP Psychology Unit 10

Oral Stage (0-18 months)

Infants seek pleasure through their mouths. People fixated at this age might overeat, smoke, and have a childlike dependence on things and people.

Anal Stage (18-36 months)

Develops during toilet training. People fixated in this stage may be overly expulsive or overly retentive.

Phallic Stage (3-6 years)

pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings. Conflict in this stage could cause later problems in relationships.

Oedipus complex

Boys are jealous of their fathers for their mother's love.

Electra complex

Girls are jealous of their mothers for their father's love.

Latency Stage (6-puberty)

A period of calmness, where boys hang out with other boys and girls hang out with other girls.

Genital Stage (puberty-adulthood)

The focus of sexual pleasure, and fixation in this stage is normal. Sexual maturity.

Freud's 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

Id

Pleasure seeker and immediate gratification. What it wants, it wants right away.

Ego

Reality Principle- keeps desires realistic and under control.

Superego

A conscience that represents society's norms and values. Real and ideal. May feel very proud/guilty

defense mechanisms

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

Repression (defense mechanism)

- Involuntary blocking of unpleasant feelings and experiences from ones awareness.

EX: An accident victim can remember nothing about the accident

Rationalization (defense mechanism)

- Attempting to make excuses or formulate logical reasons to justifying unacceptable feelings or behaviors.

EX: John tells the rehab nurse, "I drink because its the only way I can deal with my bad marriage and awful job."

projection (defense mechanism)

- Attributing feelings or impulses unacceptable to ones self to another person.

EX: Sue feels a strong sexual attraction to her track coach and tells her friend, "Hes coming on to me!"

Regression (defense mechanism)

- Responding to stress by retreating to an earlier level of development and the comfort measures associated with that level of functioning.

EX: When 2 year old Jay is hospitalized for tonsillitis he will drink only from a bottle, although his mother states he has been drinking from a cup for over 6 months.

Denial (defense mechanism)

- Refusing to acknowledge the existence of a real situation or the feelings associated with it.

EX: A women drinks alcohol every day and cannot stop, failing to acknowledge that she has a problem.

reaction formation (defense mechanism)

- Preventing unacceptable thoughts or behaviors from being expressed by exaggerating opposite thoughts or types of behaviors.

EX: Jane hates nursing. She attended nursing school to please her parents. During career day, she speaks to prospective students about the excellence of nursing as a career.

displacement (defense mechanism)

- The transfer of feelings from one target to another that is considered less threatening or that is neutral.

EX: A client is angry at his doctor, does not express it, but becomes verbally abusive with the nurse.

Identification with Aggressor (defense mechanism)

mastering anxiety by identifying with a powerful aggressor (such as an abusing parent) to counteract feelings of helplessness and to feel powerful oneself. Usually involves behaving like the aggressor (i.e., abusing others after one has been abused oneself).

Intellectualization (defense mechanism)

- An attempt to avoid expressing actual emotions associated with a stressful situation by using the intellectual process of logic, reasoning and analysis.

sublimation (defense mechanism)

- Rechanneling of drives or impulses that are personally or socially unacceptable into activities that are constructive.

EX: A person that gets in street fights grows up to become a boxer.

MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)

A widely used personality test based on Jungian types. However, has problems with reliability and validity; criticized for not being scientific.

introverted (I)

-Needs time to recharge
-time to self
-motivated internally
-self-reflective
-think first, then act
-one on one relationships

extroverted (E)

-Likes to be around people all the time
-Motivated externally
-Energized by people
-Act first, then think
-Lots of relationships

Intuitive (N)

-gut feeling
-Imaginative, daydreamy

Sensing (S)

-Observe/sense outside

Feeling (F)

-Driven by emotions
-Avoid conflict
-Like harmony

Thinking (T)

-Driven by Logic
-Logical, analytical
-Objective

Perceiving (P)

-Spontaneous and flexible
-Changing

Judging (J)

-Planned orderly

Neo-Freudians

Group of psychologists who agree with Freud's emphasis on the impact of childhood on one's life, but move away from a sole focus on sex and aggression.

Karen Horney

1885-1952; Field: neo-Freudian, psychodynamic; Contributions: criticized Freud, stated that personality is molded by current fears and impulses, rather than being determined solely by childhood experiences and instincts, neurotic trends

Carl Jung

1875-1961; Field: neo-Freudian, analytic psychology; Contributions: people had conscious and unconscious awareness; archetypes; collective unconscious; libido is all types of energy, not just sexual; Studies: dream studies/interpretation

womb envy

a man's want to be able to reproduce

penis envy

According to Freud, the female desire to have a penis - a condition that usually results in their attraction to males.

personal unconscious

Jung's term for that portion of the unconscious corresponding roughly to the Freudian id

collective unconscious

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

Neuroticism

anxiety, insecurity, emotional instability

Theory of the Ten Neurotic Needs

Needs (Normal desires carried to the extreme level)

Alfred Adler

Focused on birth order's role in personality and the conscious role of the Ego

inferiority complex

Unconscious feeling of being inferior to others

Karen Horney

Identified three patterns of attitudes that people use to deal with anxiety (toward others, against others, or away from others).

Erik Erikson

Emphasized lifelong struggles for personal development (psycho-social stages).
Less focus on the unconscious mind and more focus on the conscious ego.

Humanistic Theory

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth. People are basically good.

Genuine (Rogers)

Open and forthcoming with your own feelings

Accepting (Rogers)

Unconditional positive regard- love and acceptance without conditions/standards.

Empathetic (Rogers)

Nonjudgmental when you deal with other people's feelings

Abraham Maslow

Believed that the ultimate psychological need/goal is self-actualization.

Carl Rogers

Believed a person needed three conditions to meet his/her ultimate potential if the environment didn't get in the way. (Genuine, accepting, empathetic)

social cognitive theory

Emphasize the importance of a person's environment. Focuses on what people think and their interpretation of what's going on around them.

reciprocal determinism

The way personality interacts with the environment.

external locus of control

Things outside of personal control determine one's own fate.

internal locus of control

People think they can control their own fate.

Males regarding Locus of Control

Blame external factors for failure and internal factors for success.

Females regarding Locus of Control

Attribute external factors for success and internal factors for failure.

real self

How one person actually thinks and behaves.

ideal self

Who they would like to be.

Congruence

When a person's "ideal self" matches with their "real self."

fully functioning person

One who is in touch with their deepest and innermost feelings and desires.

high self-efficacy

Optimistic about one's ability to get things done.

low self-efficacy

Pessimistic, powerless, feeling unsure about one's abilities.

projective personality tests

The belief is the subject's responses expresses a person's unconscious thoughts and gives insight into his/her personality. Ex: Psychoanalysis/psychodynamic

Rorschach inkblot test

Originally designed to check for mental illness but later used as a projective personality test. Criticized for its validity (Is it testing what it should?) and reliability (Does it yield consistent results?)

Herman Rorschach

Created the Rorschach inkblot test, a projective test of personality

The TAT

Thematic Apperception Test- People describe what is happening in ambiguous pictures.

trait theories

Describe people's personalities by main characteristics or traits.

Traits

Stable characteristics that apply to most situations and stay the same over time.

Eysenck's Theory of Personality

Focused on temperaments largely controlled by genetic factors. Ex: Extroversion vs. Introversion and Emotional Stability vs. Neuroticism.

Gordon Allport

Felt traits were genetic and many were fixed, but some traits could change due to circumstances.

cardinal traits

Dominate entire personality/life (found in everything the person does).

central traits

Main traits (you use to describe yourself).

secondary traits

Lesser traits that only present themselves in certain situations.

Raymond Cattell

Identified 16 primary source traits

The Big 5 Trait Theory of Personality

Developed by Costa and McCrae. States that each trait has a range from high to low (percentage). 5 traits: OCEAN

Openness

Open to new experiences, curious, exploratory, imaginative, creative.

Conscientiousness

Dependable, determined, detailed, responsible, self-motivated, self-disciplined, organized.

Extraversion

Social adaptability, sociability, energized by others, seek attention from others.

Agreeableness

How well you get a long with others, likeability, friendliness, emotional warmth, cooperative, empathetic.

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.