individual differences

Universal level of analysis

overall claims: characterise people in terms of always true or generally true

Nomothetic level of analysis

lawful claims: variations between people along shared dimensions.

Idiographic level of analysis

individual claims: variations between people using unique dimensions.

Continuous Dimensions

you can be higher or lower along an entire dimension. (trait-based classification: traitology)

Dream work

dreams work to keep and individual asleep and attempt to disguise the fundamentally unacceptable nature of the mind.

Jung’s Principle of opposites

the human psyche is a self-regulating system driven by the tension between opposing forceseams, as these are our attempts to deal with problems in our ideal way

What was Jung's principle of equivalence

Activity in one part of the psyche came at the expense of activity in another part

If you expend energy being extroverted, you will have less energy to spend being introverted

What was Jung's principle of entropy

There is a drive towards equivalent energy expenditure in different domains, to avoid the imbalance.

These ideas are modelled on principles of energy transformation in the physical world

What did Jung believe our personal unconscious was made up from?

The uncivilised sexual and aggressive instincts, also a repository of positive inclinations

Explain the Jungian archetype of PERSONA

the mask or role that we adopt to help us deal with other people, helps us to disguise our inner feelings and respond in socially appropriate ways

Explain the Jungian archetype of SHADOW

the dark side of our nature, repressed material in our personal unconscious and universal images of evil from our collective unconscious, expressed in unexplainable moods, uncontrollable anger and psychosomatic pain

Explain the Jungian archetype of ANIMA

the female element in the male psyche, consisting of inherited ideas about what constitutes woman, derived from man's experience of women through evolution and interactions with their mother, consists of emotionality, sensitivity, irrationality, vanity and moodinests

Explain the Jungian archetype of ANIMUS

the male element in the female psyche, derived from women's experiences with men and interactions with their father, has masculine qualities of reason, logic and social insensitivity

Explain the Jungian archetype of SELF

the potential that we all have to achieve the unique individuality that is within us, reached through a process of individuation which creates balance within the psyche and accepting who one really is

What is the Jung sensing type responsible for?

where we experience stimuli without any evaluation, telling us that something exists

What is the Jung thinking type responsible for?

Interpreting stimuli using reason and logic, telling us what something is

What is the Jung feeling type responsible for?

Evaluating the desirability, worth, or agreeability of what has been presented to us

What is the Jung intuitive type responsible for?

relating to the world with interpretation and reasoning

What does Jungian therapy focus upon?

Aim to restore balance, art therapy involving mandalas as circular sumbols of wholeness

Four stages of therapy - confession, elucidation, education and transformation

What did Horney say was the process of using a defence mechanism

Externalisation

Describe Horney's COMPLIANT personality type

desperately need other people, self-effacing, submissive and devalue their own abilities, cannot tolerate any criticism, need to fit in, live within restricted boundaries to feel safe

Describe Horney's AGGRESSIVE personality type

need power, social recognition, prestige, admiration and to achieve. Believe that others are essentially hostile untrustworthy, survival of the fittest, seem tough and unemotional, poor at relationship maintenance

Describe Horney's DETACHED personality type

need self-sufficiency, perfection and unassailability, very secretive, solitary, feel that others do not understand them and keep themselves aloof

Describe Horney's HEALTHY personality type

the other three personality trends are present, but they compliment each other as healthy individuals are flexible, have confidence in their abilities and are secure in their selfhood

describe the social dynamics of the personality types

Compliant move towards people (people pleaser)

Aggressive move against people (idiot)

Detached move away from people (loner).

Healthy adopt all three styles when appropriate

Delayed conditioning

CS occurs shortly before UCS, and both stimuli last together

trace conditioning

CS occurs and ends, and then the UCS starts and ends. UCS may be associated only with a memory trace of CS

Backward conditioning

CS occurs after UCS, this does not work

Simultaneous conditioning

CS and UCS occur at the same time

Thorndike's Law of Effect

When particular action has good consequences, the action will tend to be repeated. When it has bad consequences (or no consequences at all), it will not tend to be repeated. The favourable outcomes strengthen the response that produced them.

What are the primary drives/reinforcers

Physiological survival needs and their direct supports (e.g food solves hunger)

what are the secondary drives/reinforcers

Learned to help us cope with primary drives. The initially neutral stimuli paired with a primary reinforcer, e.g feeling happy after eating

Banduras triadic reciprocal determination idea

Personality is an interaction of outside influences (environment), behaviour, and an individual's psychological processes.

Personal agency

the belief that you can change things to make them better for yourself and others.

Proxy agency

we influence others who have the means to act on our behalf to achieve their goals.

Collective agency

people act together, as a team or group, to realize their shared goals.

How are EEG's used to observe the brain?

Small electrode sensors attached to the scalp record the electrical activities of neurons

How are ERP's used to observe the brain?

EEG is conducted, but this time when a stimulus is presented to participant (e.g. a picture) and researcher averages activity related to that stimulus

How are MEG's used to observe the brain?

Similar to EEG, but measures the magnetic fields created by the electrical activity, rather than the actual activity itself

how are CAT's used to observe the brain?

Computerised combination of several x-ray images taken from a series of different angles

How are PET's used to observe the brain?

Measures the emission of positrons from the brain after a small amount of radioactive isotope tracers have been injected into the blood stream. The result is a three-dimensional map with the brain activity represented by colours

How are MRI's used to observe the brain?

Passing a strong magnetic field (30,000x earths) through the head, scanner detects radiation from certain molecule concentrations in the brain

How are fMRI's used to observe the brain?

Measures brain activity whilst performing a task. Produces 3D images which shows which parts are involved in particular mental process, helps understand localisation of function.

How are NRI's used to observe the brain?

Uses infrared light to shine through physical structures, displaying the molecular composition and structure

What did Sperry find in individuals with a split brain?

couldn’t name what they saw when image was on the left

What are the four temperamental domains of personality

Novelty seeking

Harm avoidance

Reward dependence

Persistence

Explain novelty seeking as an aspect of personality

Connected with impulsive behaviour and high activation level, seeking for new stimuli and readiness to explore, linked to dopamine levels

Explain harm avoidance as an aspect of personality

Reflects the tendency to be cautious, careful, fearful and tense. Connected with behaviour inhibition to avoid punishment, linked to serotonin levels

Explain reward dependence as an aspect of personality

Reflects friendliness and tendency to seek social approval, connected with behaviour maintenance and norepinephrine levels

Explain persistence as an aspect of personality

reflects tendency to persevere in behaviour despite obstacles, tiredness and frustration

State and explain the three character traits of an individual?

Self directedness - the individuals beliefs about how independent they are, their self-esteem and self-reliance, and ability to adapt their behaviour to align with individually chosen goals

Cooperativeness - connected with empathy, compassion, helpfulness and morality

Self-transcendence - connected with mystical experiences, faith and spirituality

HEREDITY

the passing on of phenotypic characteristics to offspring

INHERITANCE

the biological mechanism of heredity, how specific genes are passed from parent to child

HERITABILITY

the extent to which a trait varies due to genetics within a group

What is a shared characteristic?

The characteristics that are common to the environment of multiple individuals, usually the overlapping family environment of children (social status, parental income, experiences as a whole family)

What is a non-shared characteristic?

The characteristics that are unique to the environment of one individual (special parental treatment, trauma, peer group)

What equation explains phenotypic variance?

Var(Phenotype) = Var(Genotype) + Var(Environment)

Variation in phenotype is combination in impact from nature and impact from nurture

How do we work out heritability?

Variation(Genotype) divided by Variation (phenotype)

What do heritability % indicate?

Low heritability = caused by environment

High heritability = caused by genes

Define polygenic inheritance

When several genes influence one trait

Most characteristics are polygenic so it is hard to be 100% or 0% heritable - most things are somewhere in the middle

How does aggregation work?

G and E interact and compete with each other to form the phenotype

Vary in inverse proportion, where G is stronger E is less influential etc

How does interaction work?

The impact of G is dependent on E and vice versa

Our biological characteristics are determined by our environment etc

Some genetic factors operate only if/to the extent to which an environmental factor is present

Diathesis stress model

How does influence work?

G operates via E and vice versa

Genetics might make us intelligent, we can enter a university and get a well paying job - was securing this job caused by our intelligent genes or our university environment?

What are deficiency motives?

Attempts to overcome a deficit or lack, such as hunger and thirst or defensive aggression

Individuals with a D-cognition, get bogged down with regular stuff and do things only to see an immediate reward/punishment

What are goal directed motives?

Motivations to self-improve, develop our selves and achieve fulfilment. Implying a state of being or becoming to which humans aspire (meta motivation)

Individuals with a B-cognition follow their own interests and mastered them to feel good about it and become self-actualised

Where does Maslow believe psychological fulfilment comes from?

Satisfying basic and distinctive human needs

Where does Rogers believe psychological fulfilment comes from?

Creating conditions that nurture people's drive towards wellness

What is organismic valuing?

the humanistic belief that we instinctively know what is good for us, just as we know we need to eat, drink and sleep, we know what we want in life and what is good for us

How did Rogers examine congruence?

Used a methodology called Q-sort people sorted cards with descriptions into piles - unlike me, like me = describe their actual self and their ideal self

Explain the key concepts of Kelly's Personal Construct Theory

We each see the world in a completely unique way

Our personalities are expressed through our personal constructs (hypotheses about how the world works - like schemas)

Explain the range of convenience corollary?

Constructions are useful only in limited range of situations, some are broad whilst others are narrow

Explain the commonality corollary?

Many of our experiences are shared with one another, leading to a similarity of constructs with others. E.g. two extroverted friends will have a similar understanding of a situation

Explain the organisation corollary?

We don't have just one construct that explains everything, we each have a unique organisation of understanding, these constructs are connected to each other in hierarchies and networks (one piece of knowledge leads to lots of assumption).

Some constructs are tightly linked, but others are loosely linked

Explain the individuality corollary?

We are all unique, each individual differs from others in their construction of events

Explain the dichotomy corollary?

some constructs are core (essential to our understanding) and some are peripheral (ignored)

Explain the construction corollary?

A person anticipates events by basing it on past experience (we know the sun will rise tomorrow because it has every day so far)

Explain the modulation corollary?

Some construct ranges can be amended and allow new elements to them (permeable) and some cannot (impermeable)

Explain the choice corollary?

We can choose to gain new experiences to expand our constructs or choose to stay in the safe but limiting zone of current constructs

Explain the fragmentation corollary?

Many of our constructs conflict with one another, and these may be determined by contexts/roles (e.g. a bodyguard who is also a loving father)

Explain the experience corollary?

When things do not happen as expected, we reconstruct our constructs, and this changes our future expectations

Explain the sociality corollary?

We interact with others through understanding of their constructs, we get on better with those who have similar constructs to ourselves

What are the implications of Kelly's theory for our understanding of feeling and behaviour

As our constructs are developing and we are learning more, we are in a state of transition. If our constructs are 'down' we suffer anxiety and cannot guess what is going to happen next

Repertory Grid

based of Kelly’s theory. Helps us to understand our own constructs, individual selects three elements and have to select the odd one out, can then identify constructs that we think are important in our lives/that we share with important people in our lives

What causes neurosis for cognitive psychologists?

the result of irrational beliefs

What are irrational beliefs based upon?

Based on others not meeting our 'musts' demands

Ego disturbance

Damning the whole self for a particular failure, and getting unnecessarily upset

 

Comfort disturbance

Being unrealistic about how difficult it can be to achieve a long term goal, and getting unnecessarily frustrated