Columbus State- Intro to psych- Exam 3

Personality

a pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world

Psychodynamic Approach

(Perspectives) Theoretical views emphasizing that personality is primarily unconscious (beyond awareness)

Sigmund Freud

believed the sexual drive was the most important motivator of all human activity; to him sex was anything that provided organ pleasure; anything pleasurable was sex to him

id

"pleasure principle"; the part of the person that Freud call the "it", consisting of unconscious drives; the individual's reservoir of sexual energy

ego

"reality principle"; the Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of reality

superego

the Freudian structure of personality that serves as the harsh internal judge of the individual's behavior; what is often referred to as conscience

Defense Mechanism

tactics the ego uses to reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Repression

most powerful and pervasive defense mechanism; pushes unacceptable id impulses back into the unconscious mind; foundation for all psychological defense mechanisms, whose goal is to repress threatening impulses

Denial

ego simply refuses to acknowledge anxiety-producing realities

Displacement

directing unacceptable impulses at a less threatening target

Sublimination

special form of displacement in which a person expresses an unconscious wish in a socially valued way

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud's belief that human beings go through universal stages of personality development and at each stage we experience sexual pleasure in one part of the body more than others; Oral stage (birth to 18 months), Anal stage (18 to 36 months), Phallic stage (3 to 6 years)(Latin word phallus=penis), Latency Period (6 years to puberty)(no interest in sexuality), Genital stage (adolescence and adulthood)(sexual reawakening)

Fixation

occurs when a particular psychosexual stage has enormous impact on adult personality

Oedipus Complex

according to Freud, a boy's intense desire to replace his father and enjoy the affections of his mother

Penis Envy

intense desire of a woman to obtain a penis by eventually marrying and bearing a son

Humanistic Approach

theoretical views stressing a person's capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities

Abraham Maslow

believed that we can learn the most about human personality by focusing on the very best examples of human beings- self actualizers (motivated to develop one's full potential as a human being)

Carl Rogers

believed we are all born with raw ingredients of a fulfilling life, simply need the right conditions to thrive; all humans will flourish in the appropriate environment

Trait Theories

theoretical views stressing that personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions (traits) that tend to lead to characteristic responses

Five-factor Model (big five factors of personality)

five broad traits that are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality; 1. openness to experience, 2. conscientiousness, 3. extraversion, 4. agreeableness, 5. Neuroticism (emotional instability)

Life Story Perspective

(and personological) theoretical views stressing that the way to understand the person is to focus on his or her life history and life story

Social Cognitive Approach

theoretical views emphasizing conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals

Internal locus of control

behavioral control as coming from inside the person

External locus of control

other influences (outside of oneself) are controlling choices and behaviors

Self-efficacy

the belief that one can master a situation and produce positive change

Personality tests

self-report test and empirically keyed test

Self-report test

(also called objective test or and inventory) method of measuring personality characteristics that directly asks people whether specific items describe their personality traits

Empirically keyed test

type of self-reported test presents many questionnaire items to two groups that are known to be different in some central way

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

most widely used and researched empirically keyed self-reported personality test

Projective test

Personality assessment test that presents individuals with an ambiguous stimulus and asks them to describe it or tell a story about it- to project their own meaning onto the stimulus

Rorschach inkblot test

famous projective test that uses an individual's perception of inkblots to determine his or her personality

TAT (Thematic Apperception Test)

projective test designed to elicit stories that reveal something about an individual's personality

Social Psychology

the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people

Bystander Effect

the tendency for an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone

Stereotype

a generalization about a group's characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another

Self-fulfilling prophecy

social expectations that cause an individual to act in such a way that the expectations are realized

Stereotype Threat

An individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group

Attribution Theory

the view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior

Internal Attributions

causes inside and specific to the person, such as his or her traits and abilities

External Attributions

causes outside the person, such as situational factors

Fundamental Attribution Error

observer's overestimation of the importance of internal traits and underestimation of the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of another person's behavior

Self-serving bias

the tendency to take credit for one's successes and to deny responsibility for one's failures

Attitudes

an individual's opinion and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas- how the person feels about the world

Cognitive Dissonance

an individual's psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts

Altruism

Giving aid to another person with the ultimate goal of benefiting that person, even if it incurs a cost to oneself

Aggression

social behavior whose objective is to harm someone, either physically or verbally

Attraction

physical attractiveness, proximity or physical closeness, men more attracted to younger women (youth & beauty)

Conformity

a change in a person's behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard

Milgram's Experiment

demonstrated profound effect of obedience- "learner" strapped to chair, experimenter made it look like a shock generator was connected to learner's body, "teachers" asked learner questions and to their knowledge would shock the learner if the answered wrong or didn't answer, most "teachers" continue shocking past the learners limits as instructed by experimenter- teacher is being obedient

Stanford Prison Experiment

illustrates potentially horrific effects of obedience- 24 men locked in "prison" and mentally or even physically were abused by guards; prisoners started to "go crazy" and experiment was cut short due to concern of safety by a student-

Zimbardo reasoned that when an authority figure removes personal responsibility, when other people are dehumanized, and when norms support otherwise horrifying behavior, true evil can emerge

Deindividuation

the reduction in personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group

Social Contagion

imitative behavior involving the spread of behavior, emotions and ideas

Social Facilitation

Improvement in an individual's performance because of the presence of others

Social Loafing

Each person's tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort

Groupthink

the impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony

Prejudice

An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual's membership in a group

Discrimination

an unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because the person belongs to that group

Abnormal Behavior

Behavior that is deviant, maladaptive, or personally distressful over a relatively long period of time

Medical Model

the view that psychological disorders are medical diseases with a biological origin

Psychological Approach

emphasizes the contributions of experiences, thoughts, emotions, and personality characteristics in explaining psychological disorders (ex. influence of childhood experiences, personality traits, learning experiences, or cognitions in the development and course of psychological disorders)

Vulnerability-stress hypothesis

(a.k.a. diathesis-stress model) a theory holding that preexisting conditions (genetic characteristics, personality dispositions, experiences, and so on) put an individual at risk of developing a psychological disorder

DSM-5

the diagnostic and statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition; the major classification of psychological disorders in the United States

Anxiety disorders

Disabling (uncontrollable and disruptive) psychological disorders that feature motor tension, hyperactivity, and apprehensive expectations and thoughts

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Psychological disorder marked by persistent anxiety for at least six months, and in which the individual is unable to specify the reasons for the anxiety

Panic Disorder

Anxiety disorder in which the individual experiences recurrent, sudden onsets of intense apprehension or terror, often without warning and with no specific cause

Phobia

psychological disorder in which an individual has an irrational, overwhelming, persistent fear of a particular object or situation

Social Anxiety Disorder (social phobia)

an intense fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in social situations

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

disorder in which the individual has anxiety-provoking thoughts that will not go away and/or urges to perform repetitive, ritualistic behaviors to prevent or produce some future situations

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Disorder that develops through exposure to a traumatic event, a severely oppressive situation, cruel abuse, or a natural or unnatural disaster

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

psychological disorder involving a major depressive episode and depressed characteristics, such as lethargy and hopelessness, for at least two weeks

Bipolar Disorder

mood disorder characterized by extreme mood swings that include one or more episodes of mania, an overexcited, unrealistic optimistic state

Eating Disorders

concerns about weight and body image become a serious, debilitating disorder

Anorexia Nervosa

eating disorder that involves the relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation

Bulimia Nervosa

eating disorder in which an individual (typically female) consistently follows a binge-and-purge eating pattern

Binge-Eating Disorder (BED)

eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of consuming large amounts of food during which the person feels a lack of control over eating

Dissociative Disorders

psychological disorders that involve a sudden loss of memory or change in identity due to the dissociation (separation) of the individual's conscious awareness from previous memories and thoughts

Dissociative Amnesia

dissociative disorder characterized by extreme memory loss that is caused by extensive psychological stress

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

formerly called multiple personality disorder, a dissociative disorder in which the individual has two or more distinct personalities or selves, each with its own memories, behaviors, and relationships

Schizophrenia

severe psychological disorder characterized by highly disordered thought process; individuals suffering from schizophrenia may be referred to as psychotic because they are so far removed from reality

Hallucinations

sensory experiences that occur in the absence of real stimuli

Delusions

false, unusual, and sometimes magical beliefs that are not part of the individual's culture

Flat Affect

the display of little or no emotion- a common negative symptom of schizophrenia

Personality Disorders

Chronic, maladaptive cognitive-behavioral patterns that are thoroughly integrated into an individuals personality

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

Psychological disorder characterized by guiltlessness, law-breaking, exploitation of others, irresponsibility, and deceit

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

psychological disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotions, and of marked impulsitivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts

Suicide

severe depression and other psychological disorders cause individuals to want to end their lives; 90% of these people are estimated to have a diagnosable mental disorder

Stigma

this attached to a psychological disorder can provoke prejudice and discrimination toward individuals who are struggling with these problems, thus complicating an already difficult situation; can create a significant barrier for people coping with psychological disorder

psychotherapy

a nonmedical process that helps individuals with psychological disorders recognize and overcome their problems

Therapeutic Alliance

the relationship between the therapist and client- an important element of successful psychotherapy

Free Association

a psychoanalytic technique that involves encouraging individuals to say aloud whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrasing

Dream Interpretation (Dream Analysis)

a psychoanalytic technique for interpreting a person's dreams

Transference

A client's relating to the psychoanalyst in ways that reproduce or relive important relationships in the client's life

Resistance

A client's unconscious defense strategies that prevent the person from gaining insight into his or her psychological problems

Humanistic Therapy

treatments that uniquely emphasize people's self-healing capacities and that encourage client's to understand themselves and to grow personally

Client-centered therapy

also called Rogerian therapy, a form of humanistic therapy, developed by Rogers, in which the therapist provides a warm, supportive atmosphere to improve the client's self-concept and to encourage the client to gain insight into problems

Behavior Therapies

treatments, based on behavioral and social cognitive theories, which use principles of learning to reduce or eliminate maladaptive behavior

Systematic Desensitization

a behavior therapy that treats anxiety by teaching the client to associate deep relaxation with increasingly intense anxiety-producing situations

Cognitive Therapies

treatments emphasizing that cognition's (thoughts) are the main source of psychological problems; therapies that attempt to change the individual's feelings and behaviors by changing cognition's

Cognitive-behavior therapy

a therapy that combines cognitive therapy and behavior therapy with the goal of developing the client's self-efficacy

Biological therapies

treatments that reduce or eliminate the symptoms of psychological disorders by altering aspects of body functioning