AP Psychology -- 4.4 - 4.7: Personality + Emotion + Motivation, Quizlet

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

ego

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

humanistic psychology

an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings

personality

an individual's characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling

preconscious

in Freud's theory, the level of consciousness in which thoughts and feelings are not conscious but are readily retrieveable to consciousness

projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

projective tests

tests designed to reveal inner aspects of individuals' personalities by analysis of their responses to a standard series of ambiguous stimuli

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

psychodynamic theory

Freudian theory that unconscious forces determine behavior

rationalisation

when we add details into our recall to give a reason for something that may not have originally fitted with a schema

reaction formation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

repression

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

self-actualisation

a sense of self-fulfilment reached by feeling enriched and developed by what one has learned and achieved

sublimination

putting bad urges into acceptable social ways (boxing/football)

unconditional regard

an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

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.

unconscious processes

thoughts and feelings outside of our awareness

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

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

factor analysis

correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables

big five theory

a trait theory that identifies five main characteristics that account for most individual differences in personality, namely: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

conscientiousness

the care a person gives to organization, and thoughtfulness of others; dependability

extraversion

dimension of personality referring to one's need to be with other people

emotional stability

the extent to which people feel secure and unworried and how likely they are to experience negative emotions under pressure

agreeableness

how trusting, good-natured, cooperative, and soft-hearted one is; the tendency to get along well with others

openness to experience

how intellectual, imaginative, curious, and broad-minded one is

neuroticism

degree of emotional instability or stability

personality inventories

a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

self-concept

our understanding and evaluation of who we are

self-efficacy

an individual's belief that they are capable of performing a task.

self-esteem

how much you value, respect, and feel confident about yourself

social-cognitive theory

referring to the use of cognitive processes in relation to understanding the social world

trait theory

A theory of personality that focuses on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions

affiliation

a concern over establishing, maintaining, or restoring a positive affective relationship with another person or group of persons

approach-approach conflicts

an intrapersonal conflict when a decision is to be made from two appealing choices

approach-avoidance conflicts

occur when there is one goal or event that has both positive and negative effects or characteristics that make the goal appealing and unappealing simultaneously

arousal theory

A theory of motivation suggesting that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of alertness and physical and mental activation.

avoidance-avoidance conflicts

an intrapersonal conflict when a decision is to be made from two negative/not appealing choices

belonging

being connected to others, part of a group or family or community

boredom susceptibility

An aversion to repetitive experiences, routine work, and predictable people, and a reaction of restless discontent when exposed to such situations

disinhibition

the inability to withhold a prepotent response or suppress an inappropriate or unwanted behavior

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

extrinsic motivation

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

ghrelin

A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach

leptin

hormone that signals the hypothalamus and brain stem to reduce appetite and increase the amount of energy used

homeostasis

process by which organisms maintain a relatively stable internal environment

hypothalamus

A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.

incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

incentive theory

A theory of motivation stating that behavior is directed toward attaining desirable stimuli and avoiding unwanted stimuli.

instincts

the biologically determined and innate patterns of behavior that exist in both people and animals

intrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

lateral hypothalamus (LH)

The part of the hypothalamus that produces hunger signals

lewin's motivational conflicts theory

individuals are motivated to resolve conflicts; three patterns of conflict: approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, and approach-avoidance

motivation

the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way; a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

optimal level of arousal

the apparent human need for a comfortable level of stimulation, achieved by acting in ways that increase or decrease it

pituitary gland

The endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands.

self-determination theory

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

sensation-seeking

a predisposition to seek novel experiences, look for thrills and adventure, and be highly susceptible to boredom

thrill and adventure seeking

Arousal seeking through physical sensations produced by speed, height, falling, danger, like through extreme sports. One of the four subscales of the Sensation Seeking scale

ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

located in the frontal lobe at the bottom of the cerebral hemispheres and is implicated in the processing of risk and fear, as it is critical in the regulation of amygdala activity in humans

yerkes-dodson law

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

affect

Appearance of observable emotions

broaden-and-build theory

theory proposing that positive emotions predisposes us to think more openly

cognitive appraisal theory

theory of emotion which theorizes that individuals decide on an appropriate emotion following the event

display rule

a cultural norm that specifies when, where, and how a person should express an emotion

elicitor

a facial emotional expression (e.g., a disgusted face) activates a response that is similar to responses to other emotional stimuli of the same valence (positive or negative)

emotion

the feeling that is produced in response to life experiences; a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

emotional cognition

the process by which peoples' emotions are caused by the emotions of others

facial-feedback hypothesis

emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they signify