AP Psych Unit 7 Personality, Motivation, and Emotion

Personality

A person's unique patterns of thinking, feeling, and behavior.

The Barnum Effect

The tendency to believe vague, general statements as personally meaningful.

Psychodynamic Theories

Views personality as influenced by unconscious motives and conflicts.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's method for exploring the unconscious through free association and dream analysis.

Unconscious

A reservoir of thoughts, feelings, and desires below conscious awareness.

Free Association

A technique where a person says whatever comes to mind to uncover the unconscious.

Id

The part of personality driven by instinctual desires and seeks immediate gratification.

Ego

The rational part of personality balancing desires and reality.

Superego

The moral conscience of personality, striving for perfection.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious strategies to protect from anxiety by distorting reality.

Denial

Refusing to acknowledge reality.

Displacement

Redirecting emotions to a safer target.

Projection

Attributing your feelings to others.

Rationalization

Justifying actions with logical excuses.

Reaction Formation

Acting opposite to true feelings.

Regression

Returning to an earlier, comforting behavior.

Repression

Pushing painful thoughts into the unconscious.

Sublimation

Redirecting unacceptable impulses into positive activities.

Projective Tests

Personality assessments using ambiguous stimuli to reveal the unconscious.

TAT

A test where people create stories about ambiguous pictures.

Rorschach Inkblot

A test interpreting inkblots to uncover thoughts and feelings.

Humanistic Theories

Focus on personal growth and self-fulfillment.

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's pyramid of needs, from basic survival to personal growth.

Self-Actualization

Fulfilling one's potential.

Self-Transcendence

Finding meaning beyond oneself.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Total acceptance of a person regardless of their actions.

Self-Concept

How you perceive and feel about yourself.

Trait

A consistent characteristic of behavior or emotion.

Trait Theories

Focus on identifying and measuring personality traits.

Factor Analysis

A statistical method to find patterns in data, like grouping related traits.

Personality Inventories

Questionnaires measuring personality traits.

MMPI

A widely used test to assess psychological traits and disorders.

Empirically Derived

Developed by testing a pool of items and selecting those that differentiate groups.

Big Five Factors

Five key personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.

Person-Situation Controversy

Debate over whether personality or situation influences behavior more.

Social-Cognitive Perspective

Views personality as influenced by interactions between thoughts and environment.

Reciprocal Determinism

The interplay of behavior, personal factors, and environment.

Spotlight Effect

Overestimating how much others notice you.

Self-Esteem

How much you value yourself.

Self-Efficacy

Belief in your ability to succeed in specific situations.

Self-Serving Bias

Tendency to see oneself in a favorable light.

Motivation

The drive to act towards a goal.

Instinct

An innate, fixed pattern of behavior.

Drive-Reduction Theory

Behavior motivated by the need to reduce physiological drives.

Homeostasis

Maintaining internal stability.

Incentive

An external stimulus that motivates behavior.

Arousal Theory

People seek an optimal level of excitement or arousal.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Performance improves with arousal up to a point, then declines.

Sensation-Seeking Theory

The drive to seek thrilling or novel experiences.

Experience

Seeking new sensory experiences.

Thrill/Adventure

Seeking exciting physical activities.

Disinhibition

Seeking unrestrained or impulsive activities.

Boredom Susceptibility

Avoiding routine or dull experiences.

Self-Determination Theory

Motivation stems from autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Intrinsic Motivation

Doing something because it’s enjoyable.

Extrinsic Motivation

Doing something for external rewards.

Achievement Motivation

The drive to excel and succeed.

Lewin’s Motivational Conflicts

Different types of decision-making conflicts.

Approach-approach

Choosing between two desirable outcomes.

Approach-avoidance

A choice with both positive and negative aspects.

Avoidance-avoidance

Choosing between two undesirable outcomes.

Glucose

Sugar providing energy to the body and brain.

Ghrelin

Hormone that signals hunger.

Leptin

Hormone that signals fullness.

Emotion

A response involving physiological arousal, behaviors, and feelings.

James-Lange Theory

Emotions arise from physical reactions.

Cannon-Bard Theory

Physical reactions and emotions occur simultaneously.

Schachter-Singer Theory

Emotions depend on physical arousal and cognitive labeling.

Zajonc-LeDoux

Emotions can occur instantly, without conscious thought.

Lazarus

Emotions arise after appraising a situation as harmless or threatening.

Universal Emotion

Basic emotions like happiness and anger are shared across cultures.

Display Rules

Cultural norms for expressing emotions.

Facial Feedback Effect

Facial expressions influence emotional experiences.

Behavior Feedback Effect

Body movements or behaviors can influence emotions.

Broaden-and-Build Theory

Positive emotions expand thinking and help build resources.