Unit 4 AP Psych *all modules

psychodyamic theories

Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious mind and the importance of childhood experiences

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

free association

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

preconscious mind

thoughts that are unconscious and outside our awareness but still accessible

defense mechanism

in psychoanalytic 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

regression

retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated - curls up with an old stuffed animal and watches cartoons for comfort

reaction formation

switching unacceptable impulses into opposites - feeling the urge to cry with disappointment, instead declares loudly that “getting cut from the soccer team was best thing that ever happened to me”

projection

disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others - tells everyone how mad his parents are at the coach

rationalization

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions - explains that he wasn’t working very hard in tryouts and could have made the team if he’d really wanted to

displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person - yells at his little brother for no reason

sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives - feels an urge to go to a practice and yell at the coach; instead, offers to teach his little brother to play soccer that day

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities - insists there was an error on the team list and he’s going to set things right with the coach

projective tests

a personality test, such as the TAT or Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics and explore the precocious and unconscious mind

humanistic theories

theories that 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 (or unconditional regard)

a caring, accepting, non-judgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

self-concept

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

trait

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

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters (factors) of test items that tap basic components of a trait

personality inventories

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

big five factors (five-factor model)

five traits — openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism — that describe personality

conscientiousness (big five trait)

disorganized, careless, impulsive / organized, careful, disciplined

agreeableness (big five trait)

ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative / , trusting, helpful

neuroticism (emotional stability/instability) (big five trait)

calm, secure, self-satisfied / anxious, insecure, self-pitying

openness (big five traits)

practical, prefers routine, conforming / imaginative, prefers variety, independent

extraversion

retiring, sober, reserved / sociable, fun-loving, affectionate

social cognitive perspective

a view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context

behavioral approach

focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior (learning to rock climb), internal cognition (thoughts and feelings about risky activities), and environment (rock-climbing friends)

self-esteem

our feelings of high or low self-worth

self-efficacy

our sense of competence and effectiveness

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive ourselves favorably

narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption

individualism

a cultural pattern that emphasizes people’s own goals over group goals and defines identity mainly in terms of unique personal attributes

collectivism

a cultural pattern that prioritizes the goals of important groups (often one’s extended family or work group)

motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need (need [food, water] → drive [hunger, thirst] → drive-reducing behaviors [eating, drinking])

homeostasis

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

incentive theory

a theory of motivation stating that behaviors are motivated by the desire to attain rewards and avoid punishments

arousal theory

some motivated behavior increase rather than decrease arousal

sensation seeking theory

“sensation seekers”

experience seeking

a desire for novel sensory or mental experiences

thrill seeking

an attraction to risky or fear-inspiring activities, like skydiving

disinhibition

a loss of self-control

boredom susceptibility

the inability to tolerate monotony or repetition

Yerkes-Dodson law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

self-determination theory

the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness

intrinsic motivation

the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

extrinsic motivation

the desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

James; Lange

Emotions arise from our awareness of our specific bodily responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

Cannon; Bard

Emotion-arousing stimuli trigger our bodily responses and simultaneous subjective experience

Schachter; Singer

A two-factor theory: our experience of emotion depends on a) general arousal and b) a conscious cognitive label

Zajonc; LeDoux

Some embodied responses happen instantly, without conscious appraisal

Lazarus

Cognitive appraisal (“Is it dangerous or not?”) – sometimes without our awareness – defines emotion

elicitors

triggers to our emotions

display rules

“rules” on how much emotion to express

facial feedback effect

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

personality psychology

the scientific study of personality and its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, and disordered forms (personality disorders)

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

person perception

how we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of behavior

social comparison

comparing ourselves to others to determine if we are succeeding or failing

explanatory style

interpreting good and bad events in ways that are pessimistic (“it’s all my fault”) or optimistic (“I did the best I could, and I’ll do better next time”)

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation (a situational attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution)

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

actor-observer bias

the tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute others’ behavior to internal causes. This contributes to the fundamental attribution error (which focuses on our explanations for others’ behavior)

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior towards a group or its members

just-world phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

ethnocentrism

the tendency to view our own ethnic or racial group as superior

out-group homogeneity bias

uniformity of attitudes, personality, and appearance

other-race effect

the tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races. also called the cross-race effect and the own-race bias

attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

door-in-the-face phenomenon

asking for something big first, and then asking for something slightly smaller after being rejected the first time

role

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognition) are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

persuasion

changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions

elaboration likelihood model

when we actively process a message — when we mentally elaborate on it — we more often retain it

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness

halo effect

when someone who is seen to be beautiful or smart endorses things we are more likely to support it

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments

norms

a society’s understood rules for accepted and expected behavior. norms prescribe “proper” behavior in individual and social situations

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

social influence theory

we will follow the influences of those around us

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person’'s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

informational social influence

influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

obedience

complying with an order or a command

social facilitation

in the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

group polarization

the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

collectivism

situations where we focus on “we”, prioritized by Asian, African, and Latin American countries

individualism

situations where we focus on “me”, prioritized by Western European and English-speaking countries

multiculturalism

places value on cultural and ethnic groups’ maintenance of their unique identities, beliefs and practices