Psychology Midterm 3

relatively enduring predispositions that influence our behavior across many situations

approach to personality that focuses on identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all individuals

approach to personality that focuses on identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences within a person

experiences that make individuals within the same family more alike

experiences that make individuals within the same family less alike (e.g. parent treating one child more affectionately than the other child)

permit investigators to separate the effects of genes and environment by examining children who were separated at an early age from their biological families

investigations that allow researchers to pinpoint which genes are associated with specific personality traits

The Foundation of Freud’s Thinking

physiologically caused

feeling of relief following a dramatic out pouring of emotion

psychologically caused

false pregnancy

loss of sensation in the hand alone, with no loss of sensation in the arm

the assumption that all psychological events have a cause

Psychoanalytic assumption that all actions are symbolic of something else

According to Freud, the unconscious is more important in the causes of our personality than the conscious

reservoir of our most primitive impulses, including sex and aggression

tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification

psyche’s executive principal decision-maker

tendency of the ego to postpone gratification until it can findan appropriate outlet

our sense of morality

According to Freud, the expressions of the id’s impulses represented in our dreams

unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety

motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses

motivated forgetting of distressing external experiences

the act of returning psychologically to a younger, and typically simpler and safer age

transformation of an anxiety-provoking emotion into its opposite

unconscious attribution of our negative characteristics to others

directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target onto a safer and more socially acceptable target

providing a reasonable sounding explanation for unreasonable behaviors

Freud believed personality develops as it progresses through stages that focus on a specific erogenous zone

sexually arousing zone of the body

psychosexual stage that focuses on the mouth

psychosexual stage that focuses on toilet training

psychosexual stage that focuses on the genitals

conflict during phallic stage in which boys supposedly love their mothers romantically and want to eliminate fathers as rivals

conflict during phallic stage in which girls supposedly love their fathers romantically and want to eliminate mothers as rivals

supposed desire of girls to possess a penis

psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious

psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses awaken and typically begin to mature into romantic attraction toward others

• 1. Unfalsifiability
• 2. Failed predictions
• 3. Lack of evidence for defense mechanisms
• 4. Questionable conception of the unconscious
• 5. Reliance on unrepresentative samples
• 6. Flawed assumption of shared environmental influence

(the cause for something is also its result). e.g. concluding that a child is aggressive because he engages in aggressive behavior

statistical technique that analyzes the correlations among responses on personality inventories and other measures

five traits that have surfaced repeatedly in factor analyses of personality measures

extraverted people tend to be social and lively

neurotic people tend to be tense and moody

conscientious people tend to be careful and responsible

agreeable people tend to be friendly and easy to get a long with

open people tend to be intellectually curious and unconventional

approach proposing that the most crucial features of personality are embedded in our language

unintentionally imposing implicit personality theories on animals

people from individualistic cultures (e.g. U.S.) tend to focus on themselves and their personal goals, while people from largely collectivist cultures (e.g. in Asia) tend to focus on their relations with others

underlying personality traits

the behavioral manifestations of personality traits

the tendency to seek out new and exciting stimuli

the use of medications to produce long-term alterations to personality

paper-and-pencil tests consisting of questions that respondents answer in one of a few fixed ways

widely used structured test designed to assess symptoms of mental disorders

approach to building tests in which researchers begin with two or more criterion groups, and examine which items best distinguish them

the extent to which respondents can tell what the items are measuring

tendencies to distort responses to items

making ourselves look better than we really are

making ourselves appear psychological disturbed when we really aren’t