Ap psych unit 4

We will review these terms on Monday, and have our quiz on Tuesday. Use the textbook for your information, to describe/summarize these ideas.  Choose 5 terms to either personally connect to, think of a relevant example of, or relate to another term that we have learned.   

Unit 4.4 

Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality (Module 55- 1534  to 1560 in online textbook) 

Psychodynamic perspective -  The view that human behavior is a mix of conscious mind and unconscious mind that effects motives and conflicts. (ex. childhood trauma) 

Unconscious processes - Thoughts that are mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories that we are unaware of. 

Denial - Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities. 

Displacement - When someone takes out their emotions on a less threatening person or object instead of addressing the real sources of their feelings. 

Projection - Hiding one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Rationalization -  Justifying ones actions or feelings with logical-sounding bu false excuses to avoid facing the real reason behind them. 

• A student who fails a test says, “The teacher is terrible at explaining,” instead of admitting they didn’t study enough. 

Reaction formation - Behaving in the opposite way of their true feelings. 

• A person who has a crush on someone but doesn’t want to admit it starts being rude or dismissive towards their crush instead. 

Regression - Returning to a earlier stage of development, displaying behaviors when they were younger, often to deal with stresses. 

Repression - A basic defense mechanism that removes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories from the conscious. 

Sublimation - One takes their negative emotions or impulses and channels them into a positive activity. 

Projective tests - A personality test that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics. 

Humanistic Theory of Personality  (Module 56– 1569-1572)

Humanistic Perspective - The view that personality is affected by personal growth and that one strives to be their best self. 

Self-actualizing tendency - The natural drive in every person to grow, improve, and reach their full potential. (usually after other basic needs are met) 

Topic 4.5 Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories

P.1609- 1620

Social-cognitive theory - views behavior as influenced by the interaction of peoples traits with their situation. (learning from observing) 

Reciprocal determinism - The idea that a person’s behavior, thoughts, emotions, and environment all influence each other and work together to shape how a person acts. 

• A teenager feels confident about joining a sports team (personal factor) because their friends are supportive (environment). As they participate and improve (behavior), their confidence grows more making them want to keep playing the sport. 

Self-efficacy - One’s sense ability to succeed in a specific situation or task. 

Self-esteem - One’s feeling of high or low self-worth.

Self-concept - All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Trait Theory - Our personality is made up of stable characteristics, or traits, that influence how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. 

• A person who is naturally outgoing and talkative (extraversion) will likely seek social events and enjoy meeting new people. 

 P. 1592- 1593

Big 5 Theory of Personality (OCEAN) - Describes personality using five broad traits: 

• Openness: Creativity, curiosity, willingness to try new things 

• Conscientiousness: Organization, responsibility, dependability 

• Agreeableness: Compassion, cooperation, and kindness

• Neuroticism: emotional stability and tendency to experience negative emotions

Topic 4.6 Motivation

P. 1078-1092

Drive-reduction theory - The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need. 

Homeostasis - A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state. 

Arousal theory (optimal arousal) - We are motivated to maintain a level of arousal, not too low (boredom) and not too high (stress). (such as our yearning for stimulation and our hunger for information) 

Yerkes-Dodson Law - The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a cetain point, but than too much arousal and decrease performance. (optimal level of arousal) 

Self-determination theory - A theory that focuses on motivation and what drives people to grow and succeed. 

Intrinsic motivation - One does something because they enjoy it rather than for an external reward.

Incentive theory - A positive or negative stimulus that motives behavior. 

Lewin’s motivational conflicts theory - Describes how people experience conflict when making decisions, especially when choosing between competing desires or goals.  

• Wanting to take a high-paying job but knowing it requires long hours and lots of stress 

Approach-avoidance theory - A conflict people feel when a single decision or goal has both positive and negative aspects, making it difficult to choose. 

• A student gets accepted into their dream college, but it’s far from home and expensive making them feel conflicted about their decision. 

Sensation seeking (experience, thrill adventure, disinhibition, boredom, susceptibility) - The tendency to seek out exciting and intense experiences, even if they involve risks. 

Topic 4.7 Emotion

Two-Factor Theory (1162) - The Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label /interpret the arousal. 

• Heart racing and palms being sweaty can be seen as excitement if you are on a roller coaster, but as fear if you are in a dark alley. 

Cognitive appraisal within Lazarus’s Theory of Emotion (1166) - The process of evaluating a situation to determine how it affects you and what emotional response in appropriate. 

• Two students get the same low grade on a test. One sees it as a small setback and feels motivated to study harder (positive), while the other views it as a failure and feels discouraged (negative). 

Physiological experiences of emotion (1170-1171) - How the body reacts when we feel emotions (increased heart rate, sweating, goosebumps, butterflies in the stomach) 

Facial-feedback Effect (1194)  - The idea that facial expressions can influence emotions, not just reflect them. (smiling can make you feel happier, while frowning can make you feel sadder) 

Universality of emotions (Ekman) (1188- 1191) - Basic emotions are innate and universal, meaning they are recognized and expressed by all humans, regardless of culture. (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust) 

Connect the theory of positive emotions known as Broaden and Build to one of the theories of personality that we have discussed.  

The theory of broaden and build suggest that positive emotions broaden our thinking and behavior, helping us build long-term personal resources like resilience, problem-solving skills, and social connections. This theory can be connected to the big five personality trait OCEAN. 

People high in openness to experience  are more likely to experience positive emotions, which, according to broaden and build, help expand their perspectives. Since people high in openness experience joy and curiosity they are more willing to try new actives, learn new skills, and form new connections, reinforcing the idea that positive emotions  broaden experiences and lead to personal development.