Approaches- all key terms

Conditions of worth

Conditions imposed on an individual that are considered necessary to earn positive regard from others

Free will

Being free to chose what you do and the kind of person you can be

Hierarchy of needs

A motivational theory displayed as a pyramid. The most basic needs are at the bottom and higher needs at the top

Incongruent

Inconsistent, contradictory

Ideal self

An idealised version of yourself

Idiographic

Focussing on studying individual people rather than large groups

Self actualisation

Reaching your full potential

Unconditional positive regard

Acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does

Castration anxiety

an unconscious fear of castration that results from a boy's struggle to deal with his love for his mother

Defence mechanism

Methods used by the ego to reduce stress and anxiety

Denial

Failure to admit or recognise a source of conflict

Displacement

Transferring undesirable impulses from one person or object to another

Ego

Tries to find a balance between the id and superego

Electra complex

A girls unconscious desire for the father

Fixation

Having a portion of the libido being permanently stuck at a particular psychosexual stage

Oepedius complex

A boys unconscious desire for the mother

Penis envy

Desire to possess male genitals

Preconcious

Stored memories that can be easily recalled

Psychosexual stages

Psychodynamic stages of personality development

Repression

Pushing bad experiences/memories into the unconscious

Superego

Contains the values and morals of society as well as a persons concious

Unconscious

Thoughts and feelings which are inaccessible

Perception

How we experience the world through our five senses

Attention

A state of awareness in which the senses are focussed on a particular aspect of the environment

Information processing

Applying computer models to human mental processing

Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information

Schema

A unit of information that allow us to make sense of the world

Computer analogy

Comparison of the human mind with a computer

Input

The taking in of information

Process

Thinking, remembering, making decisions etc

Output

The response or action taken

Cognitive neuroscience

A combination of both cognitive psychology and neuroscience

Natural selection

The process by which inherited characteristics increase an individual chance of reproduction and survival

Genotype

A persons genetic makeup

Phenotype

The way the genotype of an individual is expressed through physical and psychological characteristics

MZ twins

Identical twins- from one egg

DZ twins

Fraternal or non identical twins- from two eggs

Concordance rates

Measure of similarity in traits between twins.

Imitation

Observing a model and then copying their behaviour

Identification (SLT)

When an individual is influenced by another because they are in some way simmilar or wish to be like them

Modelling

Someone who influences another person and/or is imitating a persons behaviour

Vicarious reinforcement

Learning by observing the consequences of another persons behaviour

Attention

Noticing and observing the models behaviour

Retention

Remembering and retaining the observed behaviour

Reproduction

Being physically capable of acting out the behaviour

Motivation

When the possible rewards for imitating behaviour are greater than the costs