Personality and Freud's Views

Flashcards about Personality and Freud's Views on the Mind

What does the study of personality focus on?

Individual differences in thinking, feeling, and behaving.

What is the central question in the person-situation debate?

Is our personality stable or does it change?

What led Freud to begin researching the mind?

He noticed behaviors in his patients that couldn't be explained neurologically.

What early technique did Freud use in his research?

Hypnosis.

What technique did Freud later use in his research?

Free association.

What principle guides the ID?

Pleasure principle.

When is the ID present?

At birth.

What is the role of the superego?

To act as our moral sense and flood the ego with feelings of guilt and shame when we do something wrong.

What principle guides the superego?

Moral principle.

What is the Moral Principle?

Our moral sense.

What is the role of the Ego?

The mediator between the ID and the Superego.

What principle guides the Ego?

Reality principle

What is the reality principle?

The idea that we can’t always get what we want.

Why does the Ego develop?

Because instant gratification cannot always be met.

What does the ego develop when it does not want to deal with emotions of guilt and shame?

Defense Mechanisms

What is repression?

Pushing uncomfortable ideas into the unconscious. This is dangerous because these feelings will eventually build up.

What is Rationalization?

Use of self-deception to justify unacceptable behavior.

Ex. “I only cheated on a few questions!”

What is Displacement?

Transfer of an idea or impulse from something threatening to less threatening.

Ex. You got yelled at, you yell at your sibling.

What is Regression?

Returning to a behavior that is characteristic of an earlier stage of life. It happens under stress.

Ex. Someone gets divorced and relies on their parents.

What is Progression?

Seeing your faults in other people.

Ex. Someone does not stop talking. You get annoyed, but you talk more than them.

What is Reaction Formation?

Acting contrary to their genuine unconscious feelings in order to keep their true feelings hidden.

Ex. Being nice to a person you hate, or are made at.

Ex. Being mean to a person you like.

What is Denial?

Refusing to accept the reality of anything bad or upsetting.

Ex. Ex breaks up with you. You think you’ll get back together someday even though they already found another S/O.

What is Sublimination?

Channeling basic impulses into socially acceptable behavior.

Can be a good thing because it satisfies the ID and the Superego.

Ex. Channeling aggressive urges into sports.

In the 5 Stages of Development in Freud’s theory, what must be solved?

Conflicts.

What can conflicts cause?

Problems/problematic behavior later in life.

What is libido?

Energy or desire that aids our instinctive effort to survive.

What stage revolves around need?

Oral Stage - 1st Year

When does Oral Fixation occur?

It occurs when development stops at a particular stage.

What stage is when children begin to recognize that they control their bodily functions and has the issue if self-control?

Anal Stage (2)

Anal Retentive or Anal Expulsive?: Non-strict parents = lack of self control, messy

Anal Expulsive

Anal Retentive or Anal Expulsive?: Strict parents = self-control, neat

Anal Retentive

What is the Phallic Stage? (3)

Children begin to recognize the difference between males and females.

Complex emotions come from this stage leading to depression, guilt, and anxiety later in life.

The issue becomes Attention and Love.

What is the issue at the Phallic Stage?

Attention and Love.

What is an Oedipus Complex?

(Males only) to have sexual feelings toward mom. Dad = Rival

What is the term? (Females Only) Have sexual feelings toward Dad. Mom = Rival

Electra Complex.

What is the term?: (Boys only) Boys fear of losing their penis.

Castration Anxiety

What is the Latency Stage?

Ages 5 and 6. Problems from the earlier stages become hidden.

What stage do children experience puberty, develop interests in the opposite sex, see resurfaces of conflicts from earlier development stages, and experience oral fixations, anal retentive/anal expulsive, homosexuality, and trust/anxiety issues?

The Genital Stage.

Who shapes our personality the most?

Our parents.

Who are the psychologists who accepted the basic ideas Of Freud's theory but place much less emphasis on other parts particularly less emphasis on sexual urges.

Neo-Freudians

What psychologist was interested in how religion and mysticism influenced our personality, developed ideas of collective unconscious and archetypes, and believed through the process of individuation that we bring the unconscious and conscious together?

Carl Jung

What is Collective Unconscious?

Unconscious shared by all cultures.

What are archetypes?

Ideas/images in all cultures.

What psychologist believed that an inferiority complex motivates people, coins term sibling rivalry where siblings "compete" for their parents love/ affection? (Ex. Napoleon)

Alfred Adler

What psychologist formed the idea of basic anxiety (When children experience insecurity with their parents possibly because of harsh treatment) and believed that social factors are the most important but also believed people can overcome these struggles more easily than Freud did.

Karen Horney

Who characterized unique psychological conflict or crisis in 8 distinct stages?

Erik Erikson

A personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics.

Projective Test

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)

The most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann Rorschach

It seeks to analyze people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

How is the unconscious viewed?

Parallel processing, schemas, implicit memory, etc.

Death related anxiety; exploring emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of death. (Desire to live knowing death is inevitable)

Terror Management Theory

Freud’s theory…

Only looks back, does that give credit to present or future and the unconscious mind is not as smart/purposeful as Freud would like us to believe.

Optimistic about the core of human nature.

Humanistic Theory

Personality is driven by…

needs to adapt and learn, rather than unconscious conflicts or defense mechanisms and anxiety

Mental disorders occur when…

a person is in an unhealthy situation that causes low self-esteem and unmet needs.

What did Maslow believe?

That our personality is shaped by our search for self-actualization. Worked to explain behavior of people with “higher ideals”.

Healthy individuals who have met their basic needs and are free to be creative and fulfill their potential.

Self-actualizing personalities.

What psychologist identified healthy personalities as the fully functioning person. An individual who has a self-concept who am I?) that is positive and congruent with reality. Our personal growth is promoted by interactions with others who are genuine, and empathic.

Carl Rogers

What is Growth nurtured by?

Unconditional positive regard

Who helps patients match their ideal self with their actual self?

Rogerians. Rogers also believed that self-concept is positive if both are close.

Stable personality characteristics that are presumed to exist within the individual and guide his or her thoughts and actions under various conditions.

Traits

Who developed the trait approach?

Cattell.

What are surface traits?

Obvious personality traits such as integrity and friendliness.

What are source traits?

Groups of surface traits that are hard to see. (16) Relaxed vs. Tense, Submissive vs. Dominant.

Who was factor analysis (stable vs.unstable, introverted vs. extraverted) developed by? (Two primary personality factors for describing personality variation.)

Hans and Sybil Eysenck.

A questionnaire often with true-false or agree-disagree items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors. Used to assess selected personality traits and assess several traits at once. May not always be valid.

Personality Inventory (Objective Test)

What does the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) do?

Describes personality traits in flattering terms.

• Feeling type vs. Thinking type

The tendency to accept certain information as true such as character assessments or horoscopes, even when the information is so vague as to be worthless.

Barnum Effect

What test assesses abnormal personality traits and choose a pool if items and selecting those that discriminate between groups.

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

Big 5 traits assessed?

Openness, Conscientiousness (dependability), Extroversion, Agreeableness (easy to get along with), and Neuroticism (emotional instability).

Behavior may vary widely from situation to situation.

Person-situation debate.

Proposed by Albert Bandura, this emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations.

Social Cognitive Perspective

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Reciprocal Determinism.

What is Locus of Control?

Our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless.

What is External Locus of Control?

The perception that chance or outside forces beyond one’s personal control determine one’s fate.

One’s ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task. (Developed by Bandura). It is also believed to play a major role in how one approaches goals, task, and challenges)

Self-efficacy

What is an Internal Locus of Control?

The perception that one controls one’s own fate.

What is learned helplessness?

The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

What has positive effects on both health and relationships, but too much can blind us to risks such as incompetency.

Optimism

Pessimists might see a low test score as a…

Lack of ability

What is assumed to be the organizer of our thought, feelings, and actions. Thus, it is considered to be the center of our personality.

The Self.

Presuming others notice and elevate us. (Constantly feeling that someone is judging you)

The Spotlight Effect.

Our readiness to perceive ourselves favorably, people accept responsibility for more good deeds than bad, and most people see themselves as “better than average”.

Self serving bias.

One’s feeling of high or low self-worth.

Self-esteem

People with high self esteem can develop…

Narcissism

Those with low self esteem are more likely to be…

Judge-mental, racist, and disparage others. They are also more-likely to give up easily and conform to the group.

Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining identity in terms of personal attributes.

Individualism

Giving priority to goals of one’s group and defining one’s identity in terms of the group.

Collectivism

A need or desire that energizes behavior and directs it toward a goal.

Motivation

What are Biological motives?

Hunger, thirst, sex, temp, excretory, sleep andrest, activity, and aggression.

Social motives are…

Ex. Achievements, But Affiliation, Autonony (need for independence)

Play, order, dominances. and exhibition making an impressionan others.

What type of psychology has fixed patterns throughout different species and helps explain animal behavior better than human behavior.

Instinct/Evolutionary Psychology

In other words, as humans we are driven to maintain homeostasis. Maintenance of a balanced internal state. Helpful in explaining biological drives

Drive Reduction Theory

A physiological need creates a/an

Aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy a need:

Where our needs push, incentives (positive or negative stimuli) pull us in reducing our drives.

Ex, A food-deprived person who smells baking bread. Incentive is hunger.

Incentive Theory

Human motivation aims to seek optimum levels of arousal, not to eliminate it.

Ex. Young monkeys and children explore their environment due to their need-based drive. This can be increased or decreased.

Arousal Theory

Performance is enhanced due to optimum levels of arousal and optimum performance. Before all this, one must have expressed increase attention and interest.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Stomach contractions that send signals to the brain making us aware of our hunger.

Pangs

Who removed rat stomachs and connected the esophagus to the small intestine?

Rats still hungry (and ate food)

Levers of glucose in the blood are monitored by receptors (neurons) in the stomach, liver, and the intestines. It then sends signals to what area of the brain?

Hypothalamus.