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personality
an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.
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free association
in psychoanalysis a method of exploring the unconscious in which a person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.
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psychoanalysis
Freud's theory of personality that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.
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unconscious
according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information proceeding of which we are unaware..
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id
contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The ID operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.
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ego
the largely conscious, "executive"part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the IDs desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.
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superego
the part of personality that according to Freud, represents internalize ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.
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psychosexual stages
the childhood stages of development ( oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the IDs pleasure seeking energies focused on distinct erogenous zones.
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oedipus complex
complex according to Freud, a boys sexual desires for his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.
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identification
the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents'values into their developing superegos.
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fixation
according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure taking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved.
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defense mechanisms
in psychoanalytic theory, the eqo's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.
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repression
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that vanishes anxiety arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.
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regression
defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, were some psychic energy remains fixated.
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reaction formation
psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites . Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety arousing unconscious feelings.
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projection
psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attribute in them to others.
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rationalization
defense mechanism that offers self justifying explanations in place of real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions.
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displacement
psychoanalytic defense mechanism that she is sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable for less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet.
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projective test
a personality test, such as the Rorschach or inkblot test, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics.
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Rorschach inkblot test
the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.
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collective unconscious
Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species history.
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self-actualization
according to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential.
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unconditional positive regard
according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.
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self-concept
all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "what am I?".
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trait
a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventors and peer reports.
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personality inventory
a questionnaire ( often with true false or agree to disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.
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Minnesota Multiphasic personality inventory MMPI
the most widely research and clinically used COBOL personality test. Originally developed to attempt to buy emotional disorders ( still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.
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empirically derived test
a test ( such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.
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social cognitive perspective
views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons and their thinking and their social context.
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reciprocal determinism
the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors.
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personal control
our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.
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external locus of control
the perception that chance our outside forces beyond one's personal control determine one's fate.
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internal locus of control
the perception that one controls one's own fate.
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learned helplessness
the hopelessness and passive resignation and animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
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positive psychology
the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.
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spotlight effect
overestimating others noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders ( as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).
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self-esteem
one's feelings of high or low self worth.
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individualism
giving priority to one's own goals over group goals, and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications.
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collectivism
giving priority to the goals of one's group ( often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly.
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Two historically significant perspectives
1. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory
2. The humanistic approach
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