Intro to Psychology - Final Exam

Personality

A person's internally based characteristic ways of acting and thinking.

Unique psychological qualities that influence a variety of characteristic patterns of behaviour and ways of thinking that determines a person's adjustment to the environment.

Conscious mind

Freud's term for what you are presently aware of

Preconscious mind

Freud's term for what is stored in your memory that you are not presently aware of but can access

Unconscious mind

Freud's term for the part of our mind that we cannot become aware of.

Id

The part of the personality that a person is born with, where the biological instinctual drives reside, and that is located totally in the unconscious mind.

Pleasure principle

The principle of seeking immediate gratification for instinctual drives without concern for the consequences

Ego

The part of the personality that starts developing in the first year or so of life to find realistic outlets for the id's instinctual drives.

Reality principle

The principle of finding gratification for instinctual drives within the constraints of reality (norms of society).

Superego

The part of the personality that represents one's conscience and idealized standards of behaviour.

Defense mechanism

A process used by the ego to distort reality and protect a person from anxiety.

Erogenous zone

The area of the body where the id's pleasure-seeking energies are focused during a particular stage of psychosexual development.

Fixation

Some of the id's pleasure-seeking energies remaining in a psychosexual stage due to excessive or insufficient gratification of instinctual needs.

Oral stage of psychosexual development

First stage in Freud's theory

Birth to 18 months

Erogenous zones are mouth, lips, tongue

Child derives pleasure from oral activities such as biting, sucking, chewing

Anal stage of psychosexual devlopment

Second stage in Freud's theory

18 months to 3 years

Erogenous zone is anus

Child derives pleasure from stimulation of anal area through having and withholding anal movements

Phallic stage of psychosexual development

Third stage in Freud's theory

3 to 6 years

Erogenous zone is located at genitals

Child derives pleasure from genital stimulation

Oedipus Conflict

Freud

Phallic stage conflict in which boy becomes sexually attracted to mother and fears his father will find out and castrate him.

Identification

Process by which children adopt characteristics of same-sex parent and learn their gender role and sense of morality

Latency stage of psychosexual development

Fourth stage in Freud's theory

6 years to puberty

No erogenous zone

Sexual feelings are repressed and the focus is on cognitive and social development

Genital stage of psychosexual development

Fifth stage in Freud's theory

Puberty to adulthood

Erogenous zone is genitals

Child develops sexual relationships, moving towards intimate adult relationships

Hierarchy of Needs

Motivation

Suggests that the innate needs which motivate our behaviour are arranged in a pyramid shape.

From bottom to top:

Physiological (hunger, thirst)

Safety (feel safe, secure, stable)

Belonging and love (to love and be love, belong, be accepted)

Esteem (self-esteem, achievement, competence, independence)

Self-actualization (live up to potential)

Self-actualization

The fullest realization of a person's potential

Conditions of worth

The behaviours and attitudes for which other people (starting with parents) will give us positive regard

Unconditional positive regard

Unconditional acceptance and approval of a person by others

Self-system

The set of cognitive processes by which a person observes, evaluates, and regulates their behaviour

Self-efficacy

A judgement of one's effectiveness in dealing with particular situations

External locus of control

The perception that chance or external forces beyond your personal control determine your fate

Internal locus of control

The perception that you control your own fate.

Learned helplessness

A sense of hopelessness in which a person thinks that he is unable to prevent aversive events.

Attribution

The process by which we explain our own behaviour and that of others

Self-serving bias

The tendency to make attributions so that one can perceive oneself favourably

Traits

The relatively stable internally based characteristics that describe a person

Personal inventory

An objective personality test that uses a series of questions or statements for which the test taker must indicate whether they apply to him/her or not.

Projective test

A personality test that uses a series of ambiguous stimuli to which the test taker must respond about her perception of the stimuli

Personality Theories

Type Theories

Trait Theories

Type Theories

Distinct (no overlap) pattern of personality characteristics

- Sheldon Somatotypes

- Eysenck

- Type A vs. Type B

Sheldon Somatotypes

Type theory of personality

Based on body types

Endomorph - short, plump - sociable, relaxed, even tempered

Ectomorph - tall, thin - restrained, self-conscious, fond of solitude

Mesomorph - heavy-set, muscular - noisy, callous, fond of physical activity

Endomorph

Sheldon somatotype

Short, plump

Sociable, relaxed, even-tempered

Ectomorph

Sheldon somatotype

Tall, thin

Restrained, self-conscious, fond of solitude

Mesomorph

Sheldon somatotype

Heavy-set, muscular

Noisy, callous, fond of physical activity

Eysenck

Type theory of personality

Introvert vs. extrovert

Type A vs. Type B

Type theory of personality

Aggressive when frustrated, impatient, controlling.

Trait Theories of Personality

Characteristic patterns of behaviour or conscious motives.

Assumed that most traits exist in all people to a certain degree and that we can measure the degree to which a trait exists in a person

Thousands of words to describe traits.

Beauty and the Beast

In-class example of trait

Belle - innocent, intellectual, happy, nice

Gaston - arrogant, jerk, narcissistic

Factors

Research has shown that various traits tend to cluster (or appear together) in various dimensions (or factors)

5-Factor Model of Personality

Openness

Conscientiousness

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism - tendency to experience negative effects

Neuroticism

5-Factor model of personality

Tendency to experience negative effects

Abnormal psychology

The scientific study of mental disorders and their treatment.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)

The current version of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic and classification guidelines for mental disorders.

Personality Disorder

A disorder characterized by inflexible, long-standing personality traits that lead to behaviour that impairs social functioning and deviates from cultural norms.

Biopsychosocial Approach

Explaining abnormality as the result of the interaction among biological, psychological (behavioural and cognitive), and sociocultural factors.

Anxiety Disorders

Disorders in which excessive anxiety leads to personal distress and atypical, maladaptive, and irrational behaviour.

Specific Phobia

An anxiety disorder indicated by a marked and persistent fear of specific objects or situations that is excessive and unreasonable.

Social Phobia

An anxiety disorder indicated by a marked and persistent fear of one or more social performance situations in which there is exposure to unfamiliar people or scrutiny by others.

Agoraphobia

An anxiety disorder indicated by a marked and persistent fear of being in places or situations from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing.

Panic Disorder

An anxiety disorder in which a person experiences recurrent panic attacks.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

An anxiety disorder in which a person has excessive, global anxiety that he or she cannot control, for a period of at least 6 months.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

An anxiety disorder in which the person experiences recurrent obsessions or compulsions that are perceived by the person as excessive or unreasonable, but cause significant distress and disruption in the person's daily life.

Obsession

A persistent, intrusive thought, idea, impulse, or image that causes anxiety.

Compulsion

A repetitive and rigid behaviour that a person feels compelled to perform in order to reduce anxiety.

Mood Disorders

Disorders that involve dramatic changes in a person's emotional mood that are excessive and unwarranted.

Major Depressive Disorder

A mood disorder in which the person has experienced one or more depressive episodes.

Major Depressive Episode

An episode characterized by symptoms such as feelings of intense hopelessness, low self-esteem and worthlessness, extreme fatigue, dramatic changes in eating and sleeping behaviour, inability to concentrate, and greatly diminished interest in family, friend, and activities for a period of 2 weeks or more.

Manic Episode

An episode characterized by abnormally elevated mood in which the person experiences symptoms such as inflated self-esteem with grandiose delusions, a decreased need for sleep, constant talking, distractability, restlessness, and poor judgment for a period of at least a week.

Bipolar Disorder

A mood disorder in which recurrent cycles of depressive and manic episodes occur.

Psychotic Disorder

A disorder characterized by a loss of contact with reality.

Hallucination

A false sensory perception.

Delusion

A false belief.

Schizophrenia

A psychotic disorder in which at least two of the following symptoms are present most of the time during a 1-month period: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behaviour, or negative symptoms such as loss of emotion.

Vulnerability-Stress Model

A biopsychosocial explanation of schizophrenia which proposes that genetic, prenatal, and postnatal biological factors render a person vulnerable to schizophrenia, but environmental stress determines whether it develops or not.

Biomedical Therapy

The use of biological interventions, such as drugs, to treat mental disorders.

Psychotherapy

The use of psychological interventions to treat mental disorders.

Lithium

A naturally occurring element (a mineral salt) that is used to treat bipolar disorder.

Antidepressant Drugs

Drugs used to treat depressive disorders.

Neurogenesis Theory of Depression

An explanation of depression that proposes that neurogenesis, the growth of new neurons, in the hippocampus stops during depression, and when it resumes the depression lifts.

Antianxiety Drugs

Drugs used to treat anxiety problems and disorders.

Antipsychotic Drugs

Drugs used to treat psychotic disorders.

Tardive Dyskinesia

A side effect of long-term use of traditional anti-psychotic drugs causing the person to have uncontrollable facial tics, grimaces, and other involuntary movements of the lips, jaw, and tongue.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

A biomedical treatment for severe depression that involves electrically inducing a brief brain seizure.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

A neurostimulation therapy in which the left frontal lobe is stimulated with magnetic pulses via an electromagnetic coil placed on the patient's scalp. It is only cleared for use in cases of severe depression for which traditional treatment has not helped.

Psychosurgery

A biomedical treatment in which specific areas of the brain are destroyed.

Lobotomy

A type of psychosurgery in which the neuronal connections of the frontal lobe to lower brain areas are severed.

Psychoanalysis

A style of psychotherapy originally developed by Sigmund Freud in which the therapist helps the person gain insight into the unconscious sources of his or her problems.

Free Association

A person spontaneously describes, without editing, all thoughts, feelings, or images that come to mind.

Resistance

A person's unwillingness to discuss a particular topic during therapy.

Manifest Content

Freud's term for the literal surface meaning of a dream.

Latent Content

Freud's term for the underlying true meaning of a dream.

Transference

A person undergoing therapy acts towards the therapist as he or she did toward important figures in his or her life, such as his or her parents.

Client-Centered Therapy

A style of psychotherapy developed by Carl Rogers in which the therapist uses unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy to help the person gain insight into his or her true self-concept.

Behavioural Therapy

A style of psychotherapy in which the therapist uses the principles of classical and operant conditioning to change the person's behaviour from maladaptive to adaptive.

Counterconditioning

A type of behavioural therapy in which a maladaptive response is replaced by an incompatible adaptive response.

Systematic Desensitization

A counterconditioning exposure therapy in which a fear response to an object or situation is replaced with a relaxation response in a series of progressively increasing fear-arousing steps.

Virtual Reality Therapy

A counterconditioning exposure therapy in which the patient is exposed in graduated steps to computer simulations of a feared object or situation.

Flooding

A counterconditioning exposure therapy in which the patient is immediately exposed to a feared object or situation.

Cognitive Therapy

A style of psychotherapy in which the therapist attempts to change the person's thinking from maladaptive to adaptive.

Rational-Emotive Therapy

A type of cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis in which the therapist directly challenges the person's unrealistic thoughts and beliefs to show that they are irrational.

Beck's Cognitive Therapy

A type of cognitive therapy developed by Aaron Beck in whcih the therapist works to develop a warm relationship with the person and has the person carefully consider the evidence for his or her beliefs in order to see the errors in his or her thinking.

Spontaneous Remission

Getting better with the passage of time without receiving any therapy.

Criticisms of both Type and Trait theories

Identify but don't explain how behaviour is caused

People are not always consistent in different situations

Traits may emerge in more familiar situations

No conception of development

Identify but don't explain how behaviour is caused

Criticism of type/trait theory

Descriptive not explanatory

People not always consistent in different situations

Criticism of type/trait theory

Punctuality on exam days vs. regular lecture days