Personality and Psychodynamic Theories

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to personality and psychodynamic theories based on the lecture notes.

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Psychodynamic Theories

Theories that focus on the interaction between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.

Unconscious Mind

A reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.

Iceberg Model

A model representing the mind, with most of it beneath the surface (unconscious) and a small part visible (conscious).

Id

The part of the personality that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the pleasure principle.

Ego

The part of the personality that mediates between the demands of the id, the superego, and reality; operates on the reality principle.

Superego

The part of the personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment.

Free Association

A method of exploring the unconscious by saying whatever comes to mind.

Psychosexual Stages

Stages of development in which the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Oedipus Complex

A boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and jealousy toward his rival father.

Defense Mechanisms

The ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Repression

The basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Inferiority Complex

A concept developed by Adler that refers to a child's feelings of inadequacy.

Collective Unconscious

A shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history.

Terror Management Theory

A theory exploring people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.

Thematic Apperception Test

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through stories about ambiguous images.