AP Psychology: Personality (Modules 45-57)

All the consistent, stable, enduring and unique ways in which the behavior of one person differs from that of others

He founded psychoanalysis.

Free association, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

To allow people to retrace their line of memories to be released

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; techniques used in treating psychological disorders by interpreting the unconscious

A reservoir of mostly acceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories with which we are comfortable to acknowledge

Thoughts may be stored here temporarily and can be retrieved and brought into conscious awareness

Under Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories; in contemporary times, information processing of which we are unaware

The unconscious influences us greatly, expressing itself in our core beliefs, our daily habits an dour troubles. Freud believed that he could glimpse into one’s unconscious through free association.

“Shoulder devil” – conscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

The demand for immediate gratification

Largely conscious “executive” part of personality that mediates among the demands of the id, superego and reality

Satisfying the id’s desires in a way that will realistically bring pleasure, no pain

“Shoulder angel” – the part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and future ideals

The childhood stages of development during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

1. Oral

2. Anal

3. Phallic (Oedipus complex & Electra complex)

4. Latency - dormant sexual feelings

5. Genital - maturation of sexual feelings

Early childhood relations, especially with parents and caregivers

A lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved

Ex. Fixation at the oral stage may manifest itself in smoking or excessive eating

The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Unknowingly placing an unpleasant memory or thought in the unconscious

Ex. Not remembering a traumatic incident in which you witnessed a crime

Reverting back to immature behavior from an earlier stage of development

Ex. Throwing tantrums as an adult when you don’t get your way

Acting in exactly the opposite way to one’s unacceptable impulses

Ex. Being overprotective of an unwanted child

Attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings and thoughts to others and not yourself

Ex. Accusing your significant other of cheating because you want to cheat on your significant other

Creating false excuses for one’s unacceptable feelings, thoughts or behaviors

Ex. Justifying cheating on an exam by saying everyone else cheats

Redirecting unacceptable feelings from the original source to a safer substitute target

Ex. Taking your anger toward your boss out on your children by yelling at them

Replacing socially unacceptable impulses with socially acceptable behavior

Ex. Channeling aggressive drives into playing football

Rejecting a fact or its seriousness

Ex. Spouses may deny evidence of their partner's affairs

1) Neo-Freudians placed more emphasis on the conscious mind's role in interpreting experience and in coping with the environment.
2) Neo-Freudians doubt that sex and aggression are all-consuming motivations.

Childhood social tensions (not sexual ones) are crucial for personality formation. Our behavior, striving for superiority and power, is driven by efforts to combat feelings of childhood inferiority.

Caused by the dependent child's sense of helplessness, childhood anxiety triggers our desire for love and security.

A shared, inherited reservoir of memory travels from our species' history

A personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics (ex. TAT and the Rorschach Inkblot Test)

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interest through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

The most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

No, there is no empirical evidence that repression has happened or that it is even possible. More likely, traumatic experiences enhance memory.

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

A theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Freud's theory fails to predict behaviors and traits; it only serves as an after-the-fact explanation of any characteristic.

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Humanistic theory studies people through their own self-reported experiences and feelings.

Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, Self-actualization, Self-transcendence

One of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

Healthy, creative people (as opposed to troubled clinical cases)

Roger's Person-Centered/Client-Centered Perspective focuses on what three conditions being met?

The quality of being open with one's own feelings; the state of being transparent and self-disclosing

An attitude that values ourselves and others even when putting failure into consideration

An attitude of total acceptance toward another person

The quality of sharing and mirroring our feelings and reflecting on the meanings of those feelings

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

Our self-concept is positive.

1) Concepts are vague and subjective
2) Individualism can lead to selfishness
3) Naive; fails to recognize humanity's capacity for evil

Characteristic patterns of behavior or disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Counseling and coaching

A statistical procedure used to identify clusters of test items that tap basic components of intelligence (such as spatial ability or verbal skill)

Extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability

A questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of behaviors; used to assess personality traits

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders.

Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness, Extraversion (CANOE)

Are our personality traits stable and enduring, or does our behavior depend on where and with whom we find ourselves?

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social contexts

Focusing solely on how our environment controls us

Ex. A hostile environment may make one more aggressive

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition and environment

Ex. TV viewing habits influence viewing preferences which influence how television affects behavior

The extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless

The perception that you control your own fate

The perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate

The passive resignation learned when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

May attribute poor performance to lack of ability or situations beyond their control

May make one ignorant of real risks and/or promote complacency. This can also lead to risky behavior when one refuses to consider consequences.

The scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

The theory focuses so much on the situation that it overlooks the person's inner traits.

Assumed to be the center of personality; the organizer of our thoughts, feelings and actions

Overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us)

One's feelings of high or low self-worth

One's belief in one's ability to succeed in certain situations or accomplish a task

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Ex. When receiving a bad test score, students often blame the test more so than themselves.

Excessive interest in oneself