Personality and Intelligence (Psychology)

Psychoanalysis

A method of studying how the mind works and treating mental disorders (unconscious mind + childhood = influences present)

psychoanalytic theory

focus on the role of the unconscious, preconcious, and conscious in affecting conscious behavior

freud

scientist who came up with the psychoanalytic theory

Id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives (impulsive, violent, etc.) bad things, pleasure principle, or "the devil"

Superego

the part of the personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience and unconscious) and for future aspirations (good things or "the angel")

Ego

the largely conscious mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain (being good and bad)

Anxiety

The ego cannot form a compromise between id and superego

Defense mechanisms

mental processes that protect individuals from strong/bad or stressful emotions and situations

rationalization

Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior (attempting to explain behavior)

repression

keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious (burying bad memory to forget it)

denial

Defense mechanism by which people refuse to accept reality or that something happened

projection

disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others (blaming someone)

reaction formation

Defense mechanism by which people behave in a way opposite to what their true but anxiety-provoking feelings would dictate (expressing opposite emotion to keep bad emotion down)

regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile stage (acting younger than our age)

displacement

taking anxiety towards a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

sublimation

Converting negative anxiety to being productive

identification

adapting to behaviors of people who cause anxiety (becoming a bully)

psychodynamic psychology

a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior in childhood than on the sexual/aggressive side

projective testing

personality assessment in which a person reveals hidden feelings, impulses, and desires in their unconscious

Rorschach inkblot test

A projective personality test in which individual interpretations of the meaning of a set of unstructured ink splashes to identify inner feelings and interpret his or her personality structure

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

projective test requiring examinees to tell a story in response to ambiguous pictures

Humanistic Theory

individual's behavior for inner feelings/image (potential)

humanistic theories

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth (self actualization)

self actualization

the process by which people achieve their full potential

self transcendance

meaning, purpose, and communion beyond the self

Carl Rogers

1902-1987; Field: humanistic; Contributions: founded person-centered therapy, theory that emphasizes the unique quality of humans especially their freedom and potential for personal growth, unconditional positive regard, fully functioning person

Genuineness

being honest, direct, not using a facade

Acceptance

Being open to constructive criticism and people w/o judgement

Empathy

the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Self Concept

our understanding and evaluation of who we are

Self Image Checklist Assessment

Personality test to examine who we are vs. ideal self

fully functioning person

Carl Roger's term for a healthy, self-actualizing individual, who has a self-concept that is both positive and congruent with reality (aligns w/ ideal self)

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas (trying new things and taking risks)

open-mindedness

the state of being receptive or open to other ways of looking at things (emotionally)

Personality Inventories (MMPI)

objectively scored groups of questions designed to identify personality dispositions/traits of who we are

Factor Analysis

Being asked questions on the subject and the answers give a rating

MMPI

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests for mental traits a medical view

Big 5 Personality Traits (OCEAN/CANOE)

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

Extraversion

Level of sociability

Neuroticism

emotional stability

Openness

willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences

Agreeableness

A personality dimension that describes someone who is good natured, cooperative, and trusting

conscietiousness

Responsible, discipline, impulse, and organization

Social-Cognitive Theories

theories that emphasize how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs (impacts of our thought process and interactions of other people)

Reciprocal Determinism

the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors/people

Behavior

observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals

Environment

the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates

Person/Cognitive Factors

Thoughts/preferences/emotional reactions

Assessment Centers

Places/organizations that simulate a person's behavior in the environment they are in

Self

Behaviors/feelings/emotions that define us

Possible Selves

Thinking of different versions of ourselves

Spotlight Effect

Feeling conscious/everyone's watching our every move/self-conscious about things we consider bad

Self-Efficacy

one's sense of competence and effectiveness/how good we think we are at doing things

Self-Esteem

Self worth

high self esteem

Positive self image, having confidence/blind to improving flaws

low self-esteem

tend to focus more on one's weaknesses, may be more dependent on others/judgmental/critical/negative

Intelligence

the mental potential to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Thurstone (Book Smarts)

7 primary mental abilities

Memory

the ability to store and retrieve information over time

logical reasoning

the idea that there are principles governing correct or reliable inferences

numerical ability

ability to make mental and other numerical computations

perceptual speed

ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and accurately

spatial ability

capabilities associated with visual and mental representation and manipulation of objects in space

word fluency

how easily we produce verbal descriptions of things

verbal comprehension

refers to a person's capacity to understand and use written and spoken language

Spearman

proposed that general intelligence is linked to many clusters that can be analyzed by factor analysis (he made up factor analysis)

general intelligence (g factor)

a general intelligence factor that underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test (everyone has this)

Specific intelligence

a measure of specific skills in narrow domains

Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

our abilities are best classified into eight independent intelligence, which include a broad range of skills beyond traditional school smarts

musical intelligence

potential to appreciate, compose, and perform music

spatial intelligence

Involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas

linguistic intelligence

skills involved in the production and use of language

logical intelligence

Students who are conceptual thinkers, computer arithmetic in their heads, and reason problems easily

Body-Kinesthetic Intelligence

The wisdom of the body and the ability to control physical motion

interpersonal intelligence

the ability to read, empathize, and understand others

naturalist intelligence

potential to live in harmony with one's environment

intrapersonal intelligence

the ability to understand oneself

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

our intelligence is best classified into three areas that predict real-world success: analytical, creative, and practical

Analytical skills

the ability to identify a concept or problem, to isolate its component parts, to organize information for decision making, to establish criteria for evaluation, and to draw appropriate conclusions

Creative skills

The ability to think "outside the box," come up with new strategies, or put ideas together in novel and productive ways

Practical skills

one of adoptive behavior deficits; means that one can carry out everyday life tasks

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Perceive Emotions

ability to recognize emotions faces, music and stories

understanding emotions

being able to see blended emotions, and to predict emotional states and changes in self, others, and behaviors

managing emotions

knowing how to express them in varied situations

using emotions

using emotions as fuel and motivation for creative, adaptive thinking

crystallized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

fluid intelligence

the ability to see abstract relationships and draw logical inferences w/o context

Correlation/life span

Loss of intelligence = death occurs in 5 yrs/less

Nature

Intelligence is genetically inherited

Nurture

Intelligence comes from parental support, educational opportunities, environment etc.

Theories of Intelligence

-General intelligence (Spearman)
-Primary mental abilities (Thurnstone)
-Multiple intelligences (Gardner)
-Triarchic (Sternberg)

Standford-Binet

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet's original intelligence test

IQ testing

A standardized test designed to assess intelligence.

Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

most common intelligence test-adults
-three deviation IQs: verbal, performance, & full-scale (no mental age)

Aptitude tests

tests designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

Achievement Tests

tests that measure a person's existing knowledge and skills

Tracking

a way of dividing students into different classes by ability or future plans

Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Content

test covers what it's supposed to cover (easy to define)