PSYCH 100 personality

personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

what did freud's experience help lead him to develop

unconscious mind, psychosexual stages, defense mechanisms

conscious

the regions of mind containing the mental contents of which you are aware at any given moment

preconscious

regions of mind containing ideas you can easily bring to awareness

unconscious

regions of mind containing ideas you are not aware of and generally cannot become aware of even if you wanted to

Id

(the animal self) motivates ppl to satisfy basic bodily need such as aggressive and sexual

ego

(the societal self) mental system that balances the demands of the id with the opportunities and constraints of the real world

superego

(the moral self) the personality structure that represents society's moral and ethical rules

psychosexual stage

period during which the child focuses on obtaining sensual gratification through a particular part of the body

oral stage

(0-18 months) children seek gratification through the mouth

anal stage

(18 months-3yrs) children experience gratification from the release of tension resulting from the control and elimination of feces

phallic stage

(3-6yrs) source of gratification is genitals

latency stage

sexual desires are repressed into the unconscious until puberty

genital stage

starts at puberty, signaling the reawakening of sexual desire

what are the two types of mental energies

life energies, death energies

life energy

primarily sexual; they motivate ppl to pursue sex and more generally to desire pleasurable, sensual activities

death energy

oppose the life energy. humans possess an instinctive awareness of their mortality and a mental energy that motivates them to attain a final resting place

psychodynamic processes

changes in mental energy that occur as energy flows from one personality structure to another, or is directed to desired objects

anxiety

if the energy drive is blocked somehow, it will result in anxiety, which is the ultimate source of mental disorder

defense mechanism

mental strategy that is devised by the ego to protect against anxiety

repression

blocking anxiety-provoking ideas from reaching consciousness

sublimation

anxiety-provoking ideas so that if they do reach consciousness, they arrive in a socially acceptable form

free association method

psychologists encourage ppl to let their thoughts flow freely and say whatever comes to mind

projective test

personality assessment tool in which items are ambiguous and psychologists are interested om the way test takers interpret the ambiguity