Unit 1 - Background, Psychoanalysis, and Personality

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Unit 1 notes.

Psychology

The scientific study of mind, brain, and behavior.

Wilhelm Wundt

Founded the first psychology laboratory and helped establish psychology as a science.

Edward B. Titchener

Structuralist who promoted introspection to identify the basic components of conscious experience.

William James

Functionalist who emphasized the purpose of mental processes in helping individuals adapt to their environment.

Sigmund Freud

Founder of psychoanalysis; emphasized unconscious processes and the structure of personality.

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism; argued psychology should study observable behavior only.

Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychologist who stressed self-actualization and client-centered therapy.

Structuralism

Early school of psychology focused on the structure of the mind by breaking experiences into components; used introspection.

Introspection

Self-observation of thoughts, feelings, and sensations as a method to study conscious experience.

Functionalism

View focusing on the function of mental processes—how they enable adaptation, learning, and survival.

Biological Perspective

Approach that explains behavior in terms of brain function, neurotransmitters, hormones, and genetics.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Modern expansion of Freud's ideas emphasizing unconscious forces and early experiences.

Behavioral Perspective

Approach that studies observable behavior and how it is learned through conditioning.

Humanistic Perspective

Approach emphasizing personal growth, self-actualization, and subjective experience.

Cognitive Perspective

Approach focusing on mental processes like perception, memory, problem-solving, and beliefs.

Personality

Distinctive and relatively stable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Personality Theory

A framework for describing and explaining how people are similar or different in personality.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Emphasizes unconscious conflicts and inner motives shaping behavior.

Social Cognitive Perspective

Emphasizes learning through observation and cognitive processes like beliefs and self-regulation.

Trait Perspective

Emphasizes identifying stable traits that differentiate people.

Id

Primitive, pleasure-seeking part of personality; operates on the Pleasure Principle.

Ego

Reality-oriented part that mediates between id and external world; operates on the Reality Principle.

Superego

Moralistic, perfectionistic aspect of personality; internalized societal rules.

Pleasure Principle

Id's drive to seek immediate gratification.

Reality Principle

Ego's regulation of desires in accordance with reality and social norms.

Oral Stage

First psychosexual stage (0–18 months): pleasure centers on the mouth (sucking, biting, chewing).

Anal Stage

Second psychosexual stage (18–36 months): focus on bowel/bladder control; gratification from control.

Phallic Stage

Third psychosexual stage (3–6 years): focus on genitals; development of the Oedipus/Electra complexes; identification with a parent.

Latency Stage

Fourth psychosexual stage (6 years to puberty): dormant sexual feelings; focus on school and friendships.

Genital Stage

Final psychosexual stage (puberty onward): maturation of sexual interests and relationships.

Neo-Freudians

Freud followers who revised or expanded his ideas, emphasizing social and cultural factors.

Carl Jung

Neo-Freudian who proposed the collective unconscious and archetypes; emphasized psychological growth.

Karen Horney

Neo-Freudian who highlighted social and cultural factors, challenged Freud’s sexism, and introduced basic anxiety.

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian who stressed striving for superiority and overcoming feelings of inferiority; emphasized social motives.

Collective Unconscious

Jung's idea of a shared, inherited reservoir of archetypes and symbols.

Synchronicity

Jung's concept of meaningful coincidences that are not causally linked.

Basic Anxiety

Horney's notion of a pervasive sense of helplessness and isolation driving coping strategies.

Inferiority Complex

Adler's idea of deep-seated feelings of inferiority that motivate compensatory behaviors.

Strive for Superiority

Adler's motive to overcome inferiority and achieve personal growth.

Freud Criticisms

Lack of testiblilty, sexism, and inadequacy of evidence