Unit 3 Study Guide: Personality and Developmental Psychology

Unit 3 Study Guide/Reading Guide Ch. 8 & 11

Chapter 11

Learning Objectives (LO)

  • LO 1 - Personality:   - Definition: A unique, core set of characteristics that influence an individual's thoughts, actions, and feelings, remaining consistent and enduring throughout the lifespan.

  • LO 2 - Psychoanalysis:   - Definition: Freud’s theories concerning personality and the associated system of psychotherapy aimed at exploring the unconscious.   - Sigmund Freud's belief:     - Childhood events and conflicts, especially those involving parents, shape adult personality.     - Characterized by a darker view of human nature.

  • LO 3 - Levels of Consciousness:   - Conscious: Current mental activities that one is aware of (thoughts, perceptions).   - Preconscious: Mental activities outside immediate awareness, easily accessible (memories, stored knowledge).   - Unconscious: The realm of mental activities outside of awareness, hard to access (instincts, fears, selfish motives).

Structure of Personality:

  • Id:   - Definition: The most primitive part of the personality, operating at the unconscious level guided by the pleasure principle.

  • Ego:   - Definition: The part of the personality that is aware of reality, mediating between the id and the superego, guided by the reality principle.

  • Superego:   - Definition: The aspect of personality that provides moral standards and strives to have one’s behavior align with societal rules, parents, and authority figures.

Key Principles:

  • Pleasure Principle:   - Definition: A guiding tenet for the id directing individuals towards instant gratification and avoidance of consequences.

  • Reality Principle:   - Definition: A guiding tenet for the ego that influences behavior based on the negotiable balance between the id's desires and the external environment's rules.

Ego Defense Mechanisms:

  • Sublimation:   - Definition: Transforming negative emotions into constructive activities; redirecting impulses to acceptable outlets.

  • Displacement:   - Definition: Redirecting feelings from the original target to a more acceptable one.

  • Repression:   - Definition: Unconsciously pushing uncomfortable thoughts or memories into the unconscious mind.

  • Rationalization:   - Definition: Justifying or creating excuses for uncomfortable situations or behaviors.

  • Projection:   - Definition: Attributing one’s own undesired feelings or urges to someone else.

  • Denial:   - Definition: Refusing to acknowledge the existence of conflict or problem.

Psychosexual Stages:

  • Definition: Freud's outline of stages of sexual and personality development from birth to adulthood, each characterized by specific erogenous zones and resulting conflicts.   - Stages:     - Oral (0-1.5 years)     - Anal (1.5-3 years)     - Phallic (3-6 years)     - Latency (6 years to puberty)     - Genital (from puberty onward)

  • Fixation:   - Definition: A state where an individual becomes stuck in a particular psychosexual stage due to unsuccessful resolution of its conflict.

Descriptions of Stages:

  • Oral Stage:   - Age: Birth to 1.5 years.   - Erogenous Zone: Mouth.   - Focus: Activities involving the mouth (sucking, chewing).   - Conflict: Weaning.   - Fixation Results: Smoking, overeating, nail-biting.

  • Anal Stage:   - Age: 1.5 to 3 years.   - Erogenous Zone: Anus.   - Focus: Bodily waste control and toilet training.   - Conflict: Balancing control and independence.   - Fixation Types:     - Anal-retentive: Orderly, stingy.     - Anal-expulsive: Messy, destructive.

  • Phallic Stage:   - Age: 3 to 6 years.   - Erogenous Zone: Genitals.   - Focus: Sexual feelings and self-awareness.   - Conflict: Oedipus complex (boys) and Electra complex (girls).   - Fixation Results: Promiscuity, vanity, dependency.

  • Latency Period:   - Age: 6 years to puberty.   - Erogenous Zone: None.   - Focus: Sexual retraction; focus on social and cognitive skills.

  • Genital Stage:   - Age: Puberty onward.   - Erogenous Zone: Genitals.   - Focus: Mature sexual relationships and integration of earlier stages.

Influencers of Personality Development:

  • Alfred Adler:   - Breaks from Freud; established “individual psychology.”   - Key concepts:     - Drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority; striving for superiority.     - Inferiority complex: A person's overarching struggle with feeling inferior, leading to inability to achieve full potential.     - Birth order influences personality:       - First Borns: Overachievers.       - Youngest: Spoiled.       - Middle: Most adaptable.

  • Carl Jung:   - Emphasized psychological growth and self-awareness.   - Introduced:     - Collective Unconscious: Shared, universal human experiences from generations.     - Archetypes: Innate images and stories shared across cultures.     - Distinction between introversion and extraversion.

  • Karen Horney:   - Argued against the emphasis on sex in personality psychology; proposed that basic anxiety influences personality.   - Introduced:     - Basic Anxiety: Feeling of helplessness in a hostile world.     - Coping Strategies:       - Moving toward people (affiliation).       - Moving away from people (aggression).       - Moving against people (detachment).     - Womb Envy: Men's envy of women's capacity to give birth, suggesting men may feel threatened by women's power.

Trait Theories:

  • Traits:   - Defined as relatively stable characteristics describing personality.   - The Big Five (OCEAN) Traits:     - Openness: Low = Conforming; High = Creative.     - Conscientiousness: Low = Unreliable; High = Reliable.     - Extraversion: Low = Reserved; High = Sociable.     - Agreeableness: Low = Critical; High = Trusting.     - Neuroticism: Low = Calm; High = Emotional.   - Genetic basis indicated by cross-cultural research and twin studies.

Chapter 8

Learning Objectives:

  • LO 1 - Developmental Psychology:   - Field examining age-related changes—physical, cognitive, and socioemotional—throughout life.

Prenatal Stages:

  • Zygote: A single cell from the union of sperm and egg.

  • Germinal Stage: Conception to the end of the second week; Includes implantation and rapid growth.

  • Monozygotic Twins: Identical twins formed from one fertilized egg.

  • Dizygotic Twins: Fraternal twins from two separate fertilized eggs.

Embryonic Stage:**

  • Period: 3rd through 8th week.

  • Features: Cell differentiation and organ system formation begin; heart beats.

  • Embryo: Unborn human from the 3rd to the 8th week.

  • Teratogens: Environmental factors that can harm a developing fetus, with effects reliant on the agent's timing and type of exposure.

  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): Developmental delays from alcohol consumed during pregnancy.

Fetal Stage:**

  • Period: 2nd month to birth; significant organ development, with brain growth initially at 8 of adult size.

Newborn Senses & Reflexes:**

  • Reflexes: Instinctual patterns, some necessary for survival (e.g. rooting, sucking).

  • Other Reflexes: Grasping, stepping, Moro reflexes (startle response).

  • Infant-Directed Speech (IDS): "Parentese" engenders attention in infants; infants respond better to this form.

Language Development Stages:**

  • Cooing Stage: 2-3 months; vocal patterns form.

  • Babbling Stage: 4-6 months; combinations of vowel-consonant sounds.

  • One-Word Stage: Around 12 months; single-word utterances.

  • Telegraphic Speech: 18 months; two-word phrases.

  • Language Acquisition Components: Physical development in language-processing areas of the brain and exposure to language.

Piaget’s Stages of Development:**

  • Assimilation: Incorporating new information into existing cognitive schemas.

  • Accommodation: Altering existing schemas in light of new data.

  • Sensorimotor Stage: 0-2 years; involves here-and-now thinking and development of object permanence.

  • Preoperational Stage: 2-7 years; represents egocentrism, lack of conservation.

  • Concrete Operational Stage: 7-11 years; understanding of conservation and logical thought.

  • Formal Operational Stage: 12 years and older; abstract thinking and hypothesis testing.

Criticisms of Piaget's Theory:**

  • Underestimation of children's cognitive abilities and the overestimation of reaching formal operational thought by early adolescence.

Temperament:**

  • Temperament Types:   - High-reactive: Sensitive to unfamiliar stimuli.   - Low-reactive: Less responsive to new stimuli.   - Easy: Generally adaptive.   - Difficult: Erratic and irritable.   - Slow to warm up: Gradual adaptation to change.

Harlow’s Study:**

  • Emphasized "contact comfort" vital for bonding; observed attachment behavior in rhesus monkeys.

  • Strange Situation: Explored attachment styles based on child responses when their caregiver leaves and returns.

Attachment Styles:**

  • Secure Attachment: 65% of children; mild distress when caregiver leaves, joyful upon return.

  • Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment: 28%; distress but not comforted upon return.

  • Avoidant Attachment: 18%; indifferent to caregiver's comings and goings.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages:**

  • Trust vs. Mistrust: 0-1 years; develops trust or distrust.

  • Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt: 2-3 years; sense of independence versus doubt.

  • Initiative vs. Guilt: 4-6 years; responsible behavior versus guilty feelings when not managing responsibilities.

  • Industry vs. Inferiority: 7-12 years; sense of accomplishment versus feelings of inferiority.

  • Identity vs. Role Confusion: 13-19 years; exploration of self versus confusion.

  • Intimacy vs. Isolation: 19-35 years; bond formation versus loneliness.

  • Generativity vs. Stagnation: 35-55 years; context to make a difference versus boredom.

  • Integrity vs. Despair: 55+; evaluation of life satisfaction versus regret.

Parenting Styles and Outcomes:**

  • Authoritative: High expectations with warmth; results in self-sufficient children.

  • Authoritarian: Strict, less warmth; leads to low self-esteem and autonomy issues.

  • Permissive: Very few rules; impairs self-control.

  • Uninvolved: Indifferent; behavioral issues and poor academic performance.

Kubler-Ross Stages of Grief:**

  • Stages:   - Denial: Shock at diagnosis.   - Anger: Frustration and resentment towards healthy individuals.   - Bargaining: Seeking to negotiate for more time or a chance.   - Depression: Acceptance of loss leads to profound sadness.   - Acceptance: Acknowledgment of impending death, which affects close family and friends.

Criticism of Kubler-Ross’ Theory:**

  • Lacks empirical support for its linear approach, neglects cultural and individual variations, and may propagate feelings of “grieving incorrectly.”