Psych Of Personality Exam 3

Why Study Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory?

unusually complete theory of personality, supported by research evidence (some ideas have not), and influences popular conceptions of psychology

Basics of Psychoanalytic Theory: Five Assumptions

1. Parts of the mind

2. Levels of consciousness

3. Mental conflict

4. Mental energy

5. Mental determinism

The 3 parts of the mind

the id, the superego, and the ego

id

motivates a person to seek pleasure and avoid pain (pleasure principle)

Basic impulses: Food, water, physical safety, sex

superego

motivates a person to behave in morally and socially acceptable ways

 Operates as the conscience

ego

negotiates between the id, the superego, and reality (reality principle)

3 levels of consciousness

conscious thoughts, preconscious thoughts, and unconscious thoughts

Conscious thoughts

can be directly observed by turning attention inward

Preconscious thoughts

are not currently conscious, but could be intentionally brought to mind

 Examples: Hungry? Middle-school friends?

Unconscious thoughts

can’t be intentionally brought to mind

mental conflicts

→ Id impulses, superego demands, and reality often conflict with one another

→ can occur at any level of consciousness and produce anxiety

→ anxiety will grow until ego resolves conflict, often through compromise

mental energy

→ All mental processes require mental energy (libido)

→ Unmet impulses and demands tie up more and more energy

→ When lots of energy is tied up, ego functions are impaired

libido

All mental processes require mental energy (

mental determinism

→ All behavior has a specific cause within the mind; no accidental behavior

→ Unconscious thoughts can be uncovered through analysis of “unintentional” behavior

parapraxes

a minor error in speech, writing, memory, or physical action—commonly known as a Freudian slip

sources of anxiety

psychological & realistic

psychological anxiety

Unmet demands, and unresolved mental conflicts

Realistic anxiety

Actual threats in the real world

how can we reduce anxiety

→ Meet demand, resolve conflict, or eliminate threat

→ Defense mechanisms

Defense mechanisms

Ego processes used to keep anxiety- provoking thoughts out of consciousness

types of defense mechanisms

denial, repression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, intellectualization, displacement, sublimation

denial

prevent perception of source of anxiety

Ex: “No! That isnt possible”

repression

prevent recall of anything that might remind one of anxiety source

ex: “I forgot”

reaction formation

protect against forbidden thought or impulse by instigating the opposite

ex: “porn is the biggest menance to humanity there is”

projection

attribute an unwanted impulse or attribute in oneself to other people

ex: “Im surrounded by morons”

rationalization

creating a seemingly logical reason for doing something shameful

ex: “you have to be cruel to be kind”

intellectualization

translate a threatening situation into cold, intellectual terms

ex: “after a prolonged period of discomfort, the patient expired”

displacement

redirect forbidden impulse onto a safer target

ex: “im so angry at my boss. im going to kick a hole in the wall”

sublimation

redirect base impulse in a constructive direction

ex: “i like to argue so I want to be a lawyer”

psychoanalytic model of development

Development happens in a series of stages, defined by...

 Psychological issue & personality characteristic

 Physical focus

 Mental structure

Progress happens by resolving each stage’s key issue

 fixation

 Regression

fixation

Incomplete resolution results in continued preoccupation

regression

a person under stress reverts to an earlier developmental or behavioral stage

post-freudian psychodynamic theories

→ less emphasis on sex, more emphasis on relationships

→ unconcious to conscious, rational thought

Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development (psychosocial stages)

 Focuses on social tasks, rather than physical pleasure and sex

 Proposes that development continues throughout the life-span

the developmental stages

infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, & late adulthood

infancy (0 - 1.5)

freud: oral stage

erikson: trust vs. mistruct (learning to depend on others)

→ ALL id

→ key psychological issue is dependency

→ personality characteristic is dependence

→ physical focus is mouth

dependency

will others satisfy my needs & wants?

dependence

IF needs and wants met

physical focus of mouth

needs, satisfaction, and exploration

early childhood (2 - 3)

frued: anal

erikson: autonomy vs. shame & doubt (learn what I can do)

→ develops ego

→ key psychological issue is control & obedience

→ personality characteristic is self-control

→ physical focus: elimination system

elimination system

toilet training as test of control

middle childhood (4-7)

frued: phallic

erikson: initiative vs. guilt (learn what I should do)

→ develops superego

→ internalize attitudes & values through identification

→ key psychological issue is gender identification

→ personality characteristics is morality

→ physical focus: penis/vagina

penis/vagina (phallic)

physical manifestation of gender difference

late childhood (8-12)

frued: latency

erikson: industry vs inferiority (learn basic skills)

→ no major new psychological issues

→ ego and superego continue to develop

adolescence (13-19)

freud: genital

erikson: identity vs. confusion (learn who I am)

→ key psychological issue is creation & enhancement of life

→ personality characteristic is maturity

→ physical focus is genitals

genitals

sources and symbols of new life

early adulthood (20-34)

freud: genital

erikson: intimacy vs. isolation (develop close relationships)

middle adulthood (35-64)

freud: genital

erikson: generativity vs stagnation (contribute to future)

late adulthood (65+)

freud: genital

erikson: integrity vs. despair (accepting mortality)

Limitations of Freud’s Theory

→ Motives based entirely on physiological/instinctual drives is outdated

→ Other needs besides sex and aggression

Other needs besides sex and aggression

Social, Competence, & Identity/Spiritual

Social

closeness, intimacy, attachment, generativity

Competence

exploration; understanding; skills

Identity/Spiritual

understanding self within the universe; personal meaning; religion

Major Methodological Problems of Freud

→ difficult to quantify

imprecise definition, too removed from observable or measurable behavior to test empirically

→ difficult to falsify

cannot set clear conditions where prediction not coming true would disconfirm theory

→ still influential today

Humanistic psychology

focuses on the unique aspects of the human mind

 Differences from objects and nonhuman animals

Positive psychology

focuses on optimal human functioning

 Human strengths vs. weaknesses

 Health is more than the absence of disease

Consciousness

individual’s subjective experience of the world

Key themes of Conciousness

→ mystery of human experience

→ non-judgmental understanding

personal constructs

the way the individual experience of the world is organized

→ basis of modern cognitive approaches (CAPs)

flow experience

complete absorption in an activity for its own sake

1. Balance between challenge and capability

2. Focused attention

3. Time passes quickly

Existentialism

lifes questions: “why are you here” “what should you be doing”

can find meaning through: religion, science, art, philosophy

living in “bad faith”

→ avoiding problems; head in the sand

→ following societies’ conventions

→ leading the “unexamined life”

Self-actualization

the process of improving toward one’s maximum potential

potential roadblocks to self-actualization

 Conditions of worth (Rogers)

 Needing to focus on other, more basic concerns (Maslow

Roger’s Client-Centered Therapy

→ not about solcing illness, but promoting health/actualization

→ therapists help remove obstacles → encourage personal growth

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological → safety → belongingness → esteem → self-actualization

Learning

Any process by which an organism’s behavior changes as a result of experience

Behaviorism

Theoretical approach that explains patterns of observable behavior in terms of basic learning processes

Key assumptions of behaviorism

1. every important behavior can be observed directly

2. every important cause of behavior can be observed directly

overt

observable behavior

covert

internal behavior

basic learning processes

1. habituation

2. classical conditioning

3. operant conditioning

Habituation

Learning process by which a response to a stimulus decreases with repeated exposure

Increasing or changing stimulus can prevent decline in response

 e.g., car alarms

Classical conditioning

Learning process by which an initially neutral stimulus comes to elicit a particular response.

Discrimination

Learning to differentiate between similar conditioned stimuli

Generalization

Hears automatic can opener → gets excited for food

 Initially, also mistakes coffee grinder as leading to food

(generalization from CS to neutral stimulus)

Learned helplessness

psychological state that occurs when a person or animal repeatedly experiences stressful, uncontrollable events and comes to believe they are powerless to change them

Operant Conditioning

Learning process by which the frequency of an intentional behavior changes over time, depending on its consequences

→ key distinction is that it focuses on intentional behavior

Reinforcement

positive consequence

→ increases likelihood of a behavior to be repeated

Punishment

negative consequence → decreases likelihood of a behavior to be repeated

Positive reinforcement

Give positive stimulus

Negative reinforcement

take away negative stiimulus

Continuous reinforcement

providing a reward every time desired behavior occurs

Partial reinforcement

reinforcement some of the time

 Variable-ratio

 Fixed-ratio

Variable-ratio

unpredictable → you don’t know how many times you have to do a certain thing to get a reward

Fixed-ratio

predictable → for example you get a reward if you do something 10 times

positive punishment

give negative stimulus

negative punishment

take away positive stimulus

Shaping Behavior

Process of teaching specific or complex behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations

→ initially: reward behaviors close to target behavior

→ gradually: only reward behaviors closer and closer to desired response

Superstitious Rituals

Develops when a connection is presumed to exist between a ritual and a reinforcing consequence (even though in reality, it does not)

 “knocking on wood”

Subjective reality

People’s behavior is more strongly influenced by theirmsubjective reality than by their objective environment

Self-Efficacy

Internal beliefs about yourself and what you are capable of doing

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory: Key Insights

1. observational learning

2. subjective reality

3. reciprocal determinism

Reciprocal determinism

People and their environments influence each other, and both influence behavior

CAPS Theory

Personality as “a stable system that mediates how the individual selects, construes, and processes social information and generates social behaviors”

If-Then Behavioral Signatures

An individual’s characteristic pattern of showing certain behaviors in certain types of situations.

→ As the “if” (situation) changes, so does the “then” (behavior)

Cognitive-Affective Units (CAUs)

A specific cognition (thought) or affect (feeling) that’s part of someone’s personality

Presence and chronic accessibility of particular CAUs:

Whether, and to what extent, a particular cognition or affect is part of someone’s personality.

Stable organization of CAUs

How CAUs relate to one another, within someone’s personality