Psychology - Chapter 14 - Important Concepts
The **fundamental attribution error** is the tendency to overestimate the influence of personal traits or dispositions and underestimate the impact of situational factors when explaining others’ behavior. This bias often leads us to judge people harshly without considering the context of their actions.
The tendency to attribute too much of other’s behaviour to their dispositions, including their persoanlities, and not enough to the situations they confront
Fundamental attribution error
Key Terms
The tendency to attribute too much of other’s behaviour to their dispositions, including their persoanlities, and not enough to the situations they confront
Fundamental attribution error
______ acount, in part, for consistencies in our behaviour across both time and situations.
traits
Most modern personality research is of this type.
nomothetic approach
This approach allows for generalization across individuals, but has limited insight into the unique patterning of attributes within one person
nomothetic approach
Most case studies of personality are of this type.
Idiographic approach
Hypotheses generated from this approach are often _____ _____.
post hoc
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
The tendency to attribute too much of other’s behaviour to their dispositions, including their persoanlities, and not enough to the situations they confront | Fundamental attribution error |
______ acount, in part, for consistencies in our behaviour across both time and situations. | traits |
Most modern personality research is of this type. | nomothetic approach |
This approach allows for generalization across individuals, but has limited insight into the unique patterning of attributes within one person | nomothetic approach |
Most case studies of personality are of this type. | Idiographic approach |
Hypotheses generated from this approach are often _____ _____. | post hoc |
What are the three broad influences on personality? | Genetic factors, shared environmental factors, non-shared environmental factors |
Experiences that make individuals within the same family more alike | Shared environmental factors |
Experienes that make individuals within the same family less alike | non-shared environmental influences |
Favouritism in the household or uneven parenting results in what? | non-shared environmental influences |
What most likely, of the three broad factors, plays the greatest role in personality? The smallest? | genetics shared environmental factors |
When do shared environmental factors play a role in personality? | Play some role in childhood personality, but this role generally dissipates as we grow older. |
When do shared environmental factors play a role in personality? | Play some role in childhood personality, but this role generally dissipates as we grow older. |
What evidence suggests a genetic influence on persoanlity? | Identical twins reared apart are more similar than fraternals reared apart. Adopted children resembler their biological parents more than their adoptive parents. |
Does birth order matter for personality? | Probably not |
Molecular genetic studies rest on what two premises? | 1 - Genes code for proteins that in turn influence NT functioning 2 - the function of many NTs is associated with certain personality traits |
From Freud, we know believe that: 1 - _______ have meaning 2 - Experiences in ________ can influence ________ behaviour 3 - There is meaning behind a _____ of the ______ 4 - Talking about your problems can _______ them | dreams childhood, adult slip, tongue relieve |
How did Freud change his stance from believing that mental disorders were physiologically caused? | Worked under Charcot who was treating patients with grande hysteria - physiology could not explain the symptoms |
What are the three core assumptions of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory? | 1 - Psychic determinism 2 - Symbolism 3 - Unconscious motivation |
The assumption that all psychological events have a cause. | Psychic determinism |
No action is meaningless | Symbolism (although even strict Freudians agree that not all behaviours are symbolic) |
We rarely understand why we do what we do, although we quite readily cook up explanations for our actions after the fact | unconscious motivation |
Dreams, neurotic symptoms and Freudians slips are all related to what? | Psychic determinism |
Freud hypothesized that the human psyche consists of three agencies or components. What are they? | Id, ego, superego |
The desires that provide much of the driving force for our behaviours. | Id |
Entirely unconscious - contains libido and aggressive drive | Id |
Contains the sense of right and wrong we've internalized from our interactions with society, particularly our parents | superego |
People with overdeveloped supergos are -prone while those who have lower superegos feel relatively -free and are at risk of developing a ___ personality. | guilt guilt psychopathic |
Interacts with the real world and finds ways to resolve the competing demands of the other two psychic agencies | ego |
Psychological distress comes from what, according to Freud? | Conflicts between the three psychological agencies |
How do dreams fit into Freud's psychoanalytic theory? | Dreams are the manifestation of the Id's desires hidden in symbolism by the ego and superego. |
According to psychoanalysts, not all dreams are ___. | universal |
The principal function of the ego is to contend with from the world. | threats | outside |
In some cases, we cannot do much to correct threats from the outside world, so we must change our perception of it. In these cases, our ego engages in what? | defence mechanisms |
Unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety | defence mechanisms |
What is the cause of infantile amnesia, according to Freud. | Early childhood is too anxiety-provoking for us to remember it fully because we use repression to forget it. |
Denial is found mostly in what type of people? | Those with psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia |
Sucking your thumb or biting your nails is an example of what? | Regression |
A mid-life crisis would be an example of what? | regression |
According to Freud, homophobes that are actually more aroused by other men are undergoing what? | reaction-formation |
Using a punching bag instead of your coworker is an example of what? | Displacement |
Wanting to hurt other people and thus becoming a pro fighter or joining the army is an example of what? | sublimation |
According to Freud, _ can occur because children were either deprived of sexual gratification or excessively gratified during that stage. | fixation |
The oral stage is from ___ to __/ months. | birth to 12-18 months |
In the oral stage, infants obtain sexual gratification by and . | sucking and drinking |
Orally fixated adults tend to react to stress how? | Become intensely dependent on others impatient and demanding prone to unhealthy oral activities - smoking, overeating, drinking excessively |
The anal stage goes from ____ months to ___ years. | 18 months - 3 years |
Anally fixated adults tend towards what? | Excessive neatness, rules, stinginess or towards loafing and messiness and aggression |
What is the most important psychosexual stage in Freud's theory? | Phallic stage |
How is the Oedipus complex resolved? | Befriend Daddy |
What is penis envy? | Girl desires to possess a penis like daddy |
When does the phallic stage take place? | 3-6 years of age |
when does the genital stage start? | around age 12 |
When does the latency stage take place? | 6-12 years of age |
in the latency stage, most boys and girls fiind members of the _ sex appaling | opposite |
If serious problems were not resolved, difficulties in forming what will occur? | establishing intimate love attachments |
What were the 5 major criticisms to psychoanalytic theory? | Unfalsifiability Failed predictions questionable conception of the unconscious Reliance on unrepresentative samples Flawed assumption of shared environmental influence |
What was an issue with his reliance on unrepresentative samples? | Low external validity | Methods of inquiry were idiographic but his theory was nomothetic |
What is the best insight of Freud that has stood the test of time? | We are often unaware of why we do what we do. |