AP Psych Chapter 10 Vocab

free association

in psycho-analysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

psychoanalysis

freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. according to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. the id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

ego

the largely conscious “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, supergo, and reality. the ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in the ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stages, in which conflicts were unresolved

defense mechanisms

in psycho-analytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

psychodynamic theories

modern-day approaches that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

collective unconscious

carl jung’s concept of of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

ex. fear of snakes, hero archetype

projective test

a personality test, such as the rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

Thematic Apperception Test

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Rorschach inkblot test

a projective test that seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

false consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

terror-management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

humanistic theories

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

self-actualization

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

unconditional positive regard

according to Rogers, and attitude of total acceptance toward another person

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the questions “Who am I?”

trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

personality inventory

a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feeling and behaviors

MMPI

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many other screening purposes

empirically derived test

a test (such as MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

social-cognitive perspective

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits and their social context

behavioral approach

in personality theory; this perspective focuses on the effects of learning on our personality devlopment

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

ex. a kid who acts out because they don't like school. The teacher responds by scolding them, making them dislike school more.

self

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

spotlight effect

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluation our appearance, performance, and blunders

self-esteem

one’s feelings of high or low self-worth

self-efficacy

one’s sense of competence and effectiveness

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption

individualism

giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

ex. attitude of the US

collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one’s group and defining one’s identity accordingly

ex. attitude of many Asian and African countries

intelligence test

a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

ex. iq test

general intelligence (g)

a general intelligence factor that underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

ex. reasoning and problem-solving

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score

ex. Researchers might use factor analysis to determine if a set of personality questions can be grouped into factors like "extraversion," "neuroticism," "conscientiousness," etc.

savant syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as computation or drawing

ex. math, music, art, memory

emotional intelligence

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

ex. self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation

mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance

ex. a child who does as well as an average 8 year old has a mental age of 8

Stanford-Binet

the widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test

intelligence quotient (IQ)

defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100. on modern IQ tests, th average performance for a given age s assigned a score of 100, with scores assigned to relative performance above or below average

achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

ex. Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

ex. numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, abstract reasoning, and situational judgment tests

standardization

defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

ex. SATs

normal curve

the symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes.

reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

ex. a personality test consistently producing similar results each time a person takes it, or two observers recording similar behaviors during a study.

validity

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

ex. a test designed to measure anxiety having high validity if it accurately reflects anxiety levels, or a study demonstrating a clear cause-and-effect relationship between a treatment and a behavior

content validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

ex. a test designed to assess a student's understanding of a specific psychology concept, where each question directly addresses a different aspect of that concept, ensuring the test covers all relevant areas.

predictive validity

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict

ex. a pre-employment test that accurately predicts future job performance