Psychology Key Concepts: Cognition, Personality, Development, and Theories

Cognition

All mental processes associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering (183, 251)

Behavior Genetics

The school of thought that focuses on how our genes and our environment influence our individual differences.

Psychology

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Psychodynamic Perspective

A view of personality that retains some aspects of Freudian Theory (such as the importance of unconscious thought processes) but is less likely to see unresolved childhood conflicts as a source of personality development.

Evolutionary Psychology

School of thought that focuses on the principles of natural selection to study the roots of behavior and mental processes.

Eysenck, Hans

German psychologist who researched the genetically influenced dimensions of personality, including extraversion and introversion.

Biological Perspective

School of thought that focuses on the physical structures and substances underlying particular behavior, thought, or emotion.

Horney, Karen

Neo-Freudian who found psychoanalysis negatively biased towards women and believed cultural variables are the foundation of personality development.

Id

The part of personality that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; consists of unconscious psychic energy and operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Ego

The largely conscious 'executive' part of personality that, according to Freud, negotiates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality; operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Superego

The part of personality, according to Freud, that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscious) and for future aspirations.

Piaget, Jean

Pioneer in the study of developmental psychology who introduced a stage theory of cognitive development that led to a better understanding of children's thought processes.

Jung, Carl

Neo-Freudian who believed that humans share a collective unconscious.

Freud, Sigmund

Founder of psychoanalysis, a controversial theory about the workings of the unconscious mind.

Pavlov, Ivan

Russian physiologist and learning theorist famous for the discovery of classical conditioning, in which learning occurs through association.

Self-Actualization

According to Maslow, an ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to realize our full and unique potential (pp. 416, 451).

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning in which a stimulus gains the power to cause a response.

Free Association

A method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

Personality Inventory

Questionnaires (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Inferiority Complex

According to Adler, a condition that comes from being unable to compensate for feelings of inferiority.

Maslow, Abraham

Humanistic psychologist who proposed the hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization as one of the ultimate psychological needs.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

The most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots designed to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Skinner, B.F.

American behavioral psychologist who developed the fundamental principles of operant conditioning and devised ways to apply them in the real world. He argued that children learn language through associations, imitation, and reinforcement.

Unconditional Positive Regard

According to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.