MCAT psych personality and disorders

psychoanalytic/psychodynamic personality theory

based on Freud, idea that the unconscious mind is not easily accessible but plays a major role in determining personality

Free association

therapy style where the patient just freely shares stuff and the therapist goes through to analyze it

Id

source of mental energy and all drives, seeks to max pleasure and min pain

Superego

internal representation of societal rules and ideas (opp of id)

Ego

logical part of the mind that lets people function, operates on the reality principle set of desires that can reasonably be fulfilled if the means to exists

Displacement

trauma defense mechanism where anger is diverted from the source to a less threatening thing

Reaction formation

defence mechanism where the ego reverses a disturbing desire (like gay politician voting homophobic)

Sublimation

defence mechanism redirecting sexual/aggressive feelings to an acceptable outlet

Karen Horney

psychodynamic psychologist that noted gender bias in Freud’s ideas and theorized that basic anxiety of feeling alone in childhood greatly shapes personality

Carl Jung

psychodynamic psychologist that found that the mind is composed of pairs of opposing forces, all balanced by a force called the Self

Persona vs. shadow

outside self vs. inner self according to Jung

Anima vs. animus

female vs. male self according to Jung

Collective unconscious

Jung theory that states that all humans have a set of common behaviors and memories, such as respecting your mom

Alfred Adler

psychodynamic psychologist that thought that people try to overcome an inferiority complex from childhood, shaping their personalities

Humanistic personality theories

focus on unique facets of being human and self actualization

Carl Rogers

humanist psychologist that thought that other people’s ideas shape personality, so children should be treated with unconditional positive regard

Collectivist culture

stresses importance of community

Individualistic culture

stresses importance of individual and autonomy

Social-cognitive personality theories

based on the assumption that cognitive constructs are the basis of personality

Albert Bandura

self-efficacy is central to personality and explanation styles for being or not being able to do something contribute

Julian Rotter

locus of control shapes personality

Trait personality theories

provide quantitative measures of personality traits, like the Big Five

Nomothetic traits

universal ranges of traits, like Big Five

Ideographic traits

unique to the person

Me

self-understanding component comprised of physical, active, social, and psychological self

I

self-understanding component that evaluates the parts of the me

Halo effect

generalizing a high self-evaluation from one area to another (athlete is also smart)

Mary Rothbart

temperament is based on surgency, negative affect, effortful control

Surgency

amount of positive affect and activity level

Negative affect

amount of sadness and frustration

Effortful control

self-regulation of moods and behavior

Disordered behavior

unusual, maladaptive, labeled as abnormal socially, has perceptual or cognitive dysfunction

Delusions

beliefs not based in reality

Hallucinations

perceptions not based on reality

Derealization

“this is not actually happening”

Depersonalization

“this is not actually happening to me”

Cluster A personality disorders

“weird,” paranoid, schizoid (flat feeling), or schizotypal (odd beliefs) disorders

Cluster B personality disorders

“wild,” antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic disorders

Histrionic personality disorder

pattern of excessive emotion and attention seeking

Cluster C personality disorders

“worried,” avoidant, dependent, and OCPD

Obsessive compulsive personality disorder

rigid concern with perfection in all aspects of life, alongside OCD symptoms