AP Psych-Unit 1: Psychology/Personality

Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis

Childhood sexuality and unconscious motives that influence personality

Freud’s Three Levels of Minds

Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious

Conscious

What we think/thoughts, our current state

Preconscious

Our past, memories things we bring up in our conscious when remembered 

Unconscious

Our deepest part, what make us us

we don’t know this, can’t bring up to consciousness

only access in dreams

Concepts of Personality

Id, superego, ego

id

evil

impulsive, responds directly and immediately to desires, urges

devil on your shoulder

Pleasure Principal (id)

receive instant gratification 

Super ego

Moral component of psyche, representing internalized societal values

angel on your shoulder 

Morality Principle (super ego)

internalized need to comply with authority

Ego

meditates between id and super ego, operating mostly on conscious level

Reality Principle (ego) 

delay demands of the id to a more appropriate time

Free Association

Freud asked patients to say whatever came to mind to tap into the unconscious

Projective Tests

Evaluation of personality through Free Association

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Seek to identify people’s feelings by analyzing their interpretation inkblots

The Neo-Freudians

Agreed with Freud about:

id, ego, super ego

unconscious

Disagreed with Freud about:

Tensions not sexual but social in nature

Carl Jung

Collective Unconscious

A shared/inherited reservoir of images derived from our species past

Archetypes

the universal symbolic images that appear across cultures in myths, stories, and dreams 

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Expresses inner thoughts and feelings when providing a description of an ambiguous scene 

Julian Rotter Expectancy Theory

one’s behavior will lead to an outcome

Locus of Control

Internal: Own destiny→ “I control my own destiny”

External: Luck, fate → “They control my destiny”

Self Serving Bias

readiness to perceive ourselves favorably

Spotlight Effect

You think you are noticed more than you are

Self-Esteem

extent to which you value yourself

Self-Efficacy

sense of competence on a task

Self Concept

All thoughts and feelings on identity

Real Self

Perception of self

Ideal Self

Who you would like to be

Incongruence

your ideal and real self do not overlap

Congruence

Ideal and real self overlaps

Unconditional Positive Regard

Full acceptance of others no matter what

Conditions of Worth

Explicit standards of worth and love

Abraham Maslow and Hierarchy of Needs

To reach self-actualization (motivation to reach full potential) their basic needs must be met first

Trait Theory

Measurement of consistent patterns of individual’s behavior, thoughts, and emotions

Gordon Allport

“Father of Trait Theory”

Researched 4,000+ personality traits that people are born with 

You have them or you don’t

Many are similar (clever and intelligent)  

Factor Analysis

Identifies clusters of test items to identify one trait 

shown in personality traits

Personality Inventories

Long questionnaires covering a range of questions at once

MMPI, MBTI

MMPI

56 T/F questions 

Originally to diagnose people suspected of having mental disorders 

Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI)

Describe personality traits based off Carl Jung’s 8 personality traits

Extaversion, Intraversion, Sensation, Intuitive, Thinking, Feeling, Judging, and Perceiving 

Barnum Effect

belief that certain data applies specifically to us, but in reality it is very general and can apply to everyone 

Hans Eysenck

Broke down personality into different dimensions

Extraversion, Introversion, Emotional Stability, Emotional Instability (Neuroticism) 

McCrae and Costa-Big 5 Factor Theory 

Test determines where you fall on the five essential personality traits (OCEAN) 

Openness

High → creative/flexible

Low → Hates change

Conscientiousness

High → Prepared, Attentive

Low → Procrastination, Carelessness

Extraversion

High → outgoing, sociable

Low → reserved

Agreeableness

High → Go with the flow, Trusting/Helpful

Low → Selfish, Cruel

Neuroticism 

High → Moody/Stressed

Low → Calm/Relaxed 

Nature

Genetics, they are born with traits that give them advantage

Nurture

Environment, their upbringing/childhood, what’s around them makes them successful

Psychodynamic Perspective

Behavior/Thinking directly related to repressed unconscious forces from childhood

Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung

Cognitive Perspective 

Behaviors are performed due to thoughts and ideas

Perspective, memory, thinking, language

Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Albert Ellis

Behavioral Perspective

Behavior due to environment

We behave based on reward/punishment 

Conditioning: Classical and Operant 

BF Skinner, Pavlov, Watson

Biological Perspective

Genes, hormones, & neurotransmitters contribute to our thoughts, feelings, actions

Nature over nature

Evolutionary Perspective

natural selection

adaptive behavior/tastes

↑ survival and reproduction

Charles Darwin, Steven Pinker

Humanistic Perspective

Free will, self-awareness, and self growth

“Rational beings”

self-actualization

Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers

Sociocultural Perspective

Development occurs through interactions with others and within a certain cultural context

social norms, values, beliefs

Repression

Ego pushes unwanted/undesired feelings into unconscious

Any defense mechanism starts with repression

Denial

Refusing to accept or believe uncomfortable reality

Reaction Formation

Turn unwanted thought into opposite emotion

Projection

Transfer of YOUR unwanted feelings onto another person

Displacement

Redirecting one’s feelings onto a less threatening person or object

Rationalization

making excuses or justifies for why something happened

Sublimation

Transfer of unwanted feelings into a more socially acceptable one

Considered healthiest defense mechanism

Regression

Revert to an earlier stage of emotional or mental development