Test 2

Id: Most primitive part, Present at birth, Basic drives and instincts, Pleasure principle.

Superego: Socially developed aspect, Morals, values, Says NO to Id.

Ego: Reality principle, Mediates conflict between id and superego, Tries to satisfy our needs without offending our morals.

Defense Mechanisms: Repression, Denial, Rationalization, Projection, Reaction formation, Sublimation.

Stages of Psychosexual Development: 1. Oral stage 1yr, 2. Anal stage 2 yrs, 3. Phallic stage 3 yrs, 4. Latency stage 7-12 yrs, 5. Genital stage (starts at puberty).

Sensation Seeking: High sensation seekers are in search of new, varied and exciting experiences, sensation seekers often lead exciting and fulfilling lives, but on the other hand, they may be more prone to risky behaviors or addiction issues if not managed appropriately.

Life Instincts: Life instincts perpetuate/ (a) the life of the individual, by motivating him or her to seek food and water, and (b) the life of the species, by motivating him or her to have sex.

Death Instinct: The goal of life is death/to be at peace, every person has an unconscious wish to die. Aggressive drive = wish to die turned away from the self = the compulsion to destroy, conquer, to kill.

Repression: An unconscious act of forcing something out of consciousness, Conscious repression = Suppression, Important in restraining Id impulses, Also applies to painful or upsetting information, memories, or behaviors, Not always an all-or-nothing act. Can have partial repression.

Denial: A refusal to believe an event took place or a condition exists.

Projection: Ascription of unacceptable impulses, desires, or qualities to someone else

Rationalization: Finding a reason/excuse for a behavior done for unacceptable reasons, Rationalization after a failure maintains self-esteem.

Intellectualization: Thinking in a cold, analytical or detached way about things that normally evoke distress; Allows disassociation of thought from feelings; Suggests that the intellectual part of an idea can exist in the conscious mind while the emotional quality of the idea remains unconscious.

Reaction Formation: Guards against expression of unacceptable impulse by replacing it with its opposite; Clues to behavior motivated by an opposite impulse; Going overboard.

Regression: Giving up mature coping styles in favor of ones from earlier stages of psychosexual development in which they are fixated; Often represents thoughts and actions permeated by concerns of earlier stage.

Frustration/problems at a stage = fixation.

Personality: Shaped by unconscious; Mind: compared to iceberg; Conscious, preconscious, unconscious; Structure: id, ego, superego.

Freud’s Theory of Psychoanalysis: Theory = motives are largely unconscious; What Drives Us? Instincts: The Propelling Forces of the Personality; 2 categories: life instincts (eros) and death instincts (thanatos).

Cycles of Testosterone Action: Testosterone rises after: Success in competitive event, Your team wins, Sexual intercourse, Challenged by insult; Testosterone falls after: Failure or humiliation, your team loses.

Oxytocin—hormone resulting in relaxation, calming, mother-infant bonding, general social bonding, and adult pair-bonding

Behavioral Approach System (BAS) (engine of behavior): Set of brain structures causing animals to approach incentives; Responsible for many positive emotions; People with highly sensitivity approach systems are more responsive to incentives, behaviorally and emotionally; Alcohol drinking, extraversion, impulsivity, novelty seeking; May be related to dopamine activity.

The Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) is a psychological construct associated with anxiety, avoidance behaviors, and sensitivity to potential threats or punishments; Brain Structures: The BIS is associated with specific brain structures, including the amygdala and parts of the prefrontal cortex. The amygdala, in particular, plays a central role in processing and responding to potential threats or punishment.

Function of Sensation Seeking: Regulates exposure to stimulus intensity; HSS do well in high stimulation conditions but may be antisocial or manic in low stimulation conditions; Adaptation to demands of social living; Impulsive unsocialized sensation seeking (IUSS) —inability to inhibit behavior appropriate to social constraints; Aggressive, impulsive, anti-social? Serotonin: Higher levels associated with ability to manage affect and impulses; Lower levels = loosening restraint of one’s basic tendencies; Lower levels = higher neuroticism; Higher serotonin function = higher conscientiousness.

Testosterone and Adult Personality: Focus on associations with dominance and antisocial behavior; Positive associations with: Violation of prison rules among inmates and likelihood of having committed violent crime; Veterans’ trouble with parents, teachers and classmates when growing up (increased effects among low SES); Being a trial lawyer, actor, NFL football player; More dominant and confident social interactions; Not being married, getting divorced, having an affair and domestic abuse among men; Factor analysis with personality items—testosterone data loaded with impulsiveness, sensation seeking and dominance Assessment: Assessment tied to biological processes; EEG—measures of electrical brain activity; PET—mapping of brain activity from metabolic function; MRI—images of brain function from magnetic fields created from neural activity; Functional MRI—assesses levels of activation at rest and during mental activity.

Anxiety: Aversive inner motivation state; Freud saw it as warning signal to the ego Types of Anxiety: Reality anxiety—fear of something real in the world; Neurotic anxiety—fear of punishment resulting from Id impulses getting out of control; Moral anxiety—fear of violating moral/ethical codes arising Superego.