Psych Unit 8 Exam

personality

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

psychodynamic theories

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

psychoanalysis

childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality

unconscious

a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

free association

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

id

reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

ego

he largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality

superego

the part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment and for future aspirations

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

oedipus complex

a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

identification

the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superego

fixation

a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

defense mechanisms

the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

repression

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

collective unconscious

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

projective test

personality test that provides ambiguous images 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 set of 10 inkblots, designed by hermann rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

terror-management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety

humanistic theorists

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

self actualization

the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

self transcendence

the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

traits

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

personality inventories

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

minnesota multiphasic personality inventory

originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many other screening purposes

empirically derived

a test created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups

big five personality factors

conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion

social-cognitive perspective

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

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

self

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

spotlight effect

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating 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