Test 4 Psych 1000 Rollins Exam
Questions and Answers
What is personality? - -Characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and
behaving
- What are the four main approaches to the study of personality? - -
Psychodynamic/psychoanalytic (Freud), Humanistic (Rogers), Trait, Social
Cognitive Approach (Rotter),
- Who was Sigmund Freud? What major contribution did he make to
personality psychology? What were the main focuses of Freud's theory?
What was his theory called? - -1856-1939 Austrian, Victorian neurologist.
First major personality theory. Mostly wrong, but influential. Emphasized
childhood, social and aggressive urges and unconscious. Created
psychoanalytic theory. Discovered how important unconscious was.
- What is the unconscious? How does it relate to psychological disorder in
Freud's theory? How did Freud try to cure his patients? - -Thoughts, feelings
and desires below conscious awareness. Freud thought unconscious desires
were the source of physical problems. Cure was becoming aware of
psychological problems through free association (dreams).
- How did Freud attempt to access the unconscious mind? - -Through
dreams (royal road to unconscious mind, highly symbolic) and projected
personality test (Rorschach test)
- What are the components of personality according to the psychoanalytic
view? How do these relate to the iceberg analogy used by Freud? - -Id,
Superego and Ego. Most of mind is unconscious, or below the surface, and
most of an iceberg is below the surface.
- Id - -Born with it. Instincts, unconscious. Operates with pleasure principle,
immediate gratification.
- Ego - -Satisfies id in more socially acceptable ways. Reality principle, delay
gratification. Mediation between superego and Id
- What are defense mechanisms (in general)? - -Unconscious behavioral
tactics that protect people from negative feelings.
- What is repression? - -Most common defense mechanism. Repel one's own
desires and impulses toward pleasurable instincts by excluding the desire
from one's consciousness and holding or subduing it in the unconscious.
, - What are Freud's psychosexual stages of development and what happens
during each? - -Psychosexual stage: each stage focuses on particular
erogenous zone. Conflict between urges and society.
Oral: 0-18 months. Mouth, conflict is weaning.
Anal: 18-36 months. Anus, conflict is toilet training.
Phallic: 3-6 years. Genitals. Oedipal and Electra complexes occur here.
Conflict is wanting parent.
Latency Period: 6-adolescence. Just developing social skills.
Genital Stage: adolescence through adulthood. Penis and vagina. Clitoris is
immature. Someone replaces parents.
- What are erogenous zones? - -Pleasure center
- What is fixation? - -enduring focus on erogenous zone.
- What are the supposed characteristics of oral and anal fixation? - -Oral:
talkative, chewing on stuff, sucking on stuff, eating. Passive, manipulative.
Anal: orderliness, controlling, etc.
- What are the Oedipus and Electra complexes? - -Oedipus means boys
want mom, fear father will cut off their penis, so they try to identify with
father to avoid having their penis cut off and be attractive to mom
Electra complex: Desire father. Thinks mom cut off her penis, so she tries to
identify with mother and replace penis with a baby.
- According to Alfred Adler, why do we struggle for superiority and power? P.
576 - -To conquer childhood feelings of inferiority
- Who is associated with the idea of a collective unconscious? P. 577 - -Carl
Jung. Shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species'
inherited memory.
- What is the psychodynamic approach? - -Psychodynamic approach
replaced psychoanalytic approach. More emphasis on conscious mind and
social influences. From Neofreudians (Jung, Adler, Horney, Erikson)
- What are projective personality tests? What are the problems with them? -
-Interpreting ambiguous stimuli. Inspired by F and NeoFreudians. Rorschach
Inklot test, thematic apperception test. Interpretation is too subjective, so
not reliable or valid.
- What are the major problems with Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory? - -
Unscientific b/c few testable predictions. The more testable predictions are
not supported by research.
, - What is the false consensus effect? p. 581 - -Freud's projection- tendency
to overestimate how much others share our beliefs and behaviors.
- What is the main premise of the humanistic approach? - -All people are
driven by innate drive to fulfill potential/self actualize.
- What does Rogers' Person-Centered Perspective indicate? - -To self
actualize (as all people strive to) people need relationships with
genuineness, empathy and acceptance aka unconditional positive regard.
- What factors promote or inhibit growth according to Humanistic
perspective? - -Conditional positive regard, unsupportiveness prevents
growth.
- What is the trait approach? - -Personality is based on specific, stable
internal characteristics.
- What is the purpose of factor analysis in the trait approach? - -To find
fundamental traits. From questionnaires, we find statistically correlated
clusters of items.
- What are the dimensions of personality in Eysenck's trait theory? - -2
fundamental dimensions of personality: Introverted/exraverted and
emotionally stable/instable
- According to the Eysencks, upon what biological factors were these trait
dimensions based? - -Introvertedness reflects baseline of activity of nervous
system. Introverted are more baseline active and thus more susceptible to
overstimulation.
- How do introverts and extraverts tend to differ? - -Introverts salivate
more. Wear different clothes.
- What is Gray's Biopsychological Theory? - -Personality is defined by
behavioral approach system (BAS) and Behavioral inhibition system (BIS).
- What is the behavioral approach system and behavioral inhibition system?
- -BAS is sensitivity to reward. More vulnerable to positive emotions,
impulsive.
BIS- more sensitive to punishment. Motivated to avoid punishment.
Vulnerable to negative emotions, anxiety.
These are independent traits, not a sliding scale.
- What traits make up the Big Five Model of personality? - -CANOE:
Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness, and Extraversion.
Provides more complete picture of personality.
Questions and Answers
What is personality? - -Characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and
behaving
- What are the four main approaches to the study of personality? - -
Psychodynamic/psychoanalytic (Freud), Humanistic (Rogers), Trait, Social
Cognitive Approach (Rotter),
- Who was Sigmund Freud? What major contribution did he make to
personality psychology? What were the main focuses of Freud's theory?
What was his theory called? - -1856-1939 Austrian, Victorian neurologist.
First major personality theory. Mostly wrong, but influential. Emphasized
childhood, social and aggressive urges and unconscious. Created
psychoanalytic theory. Discovered how important unconscious was.
- What is the unconscious? How does it relate to psychological disorder in
Freud's theory? How did Freud try to cure his patients? - -Thoughts, feelings
and desires below conscious awareness. Freud thought unconscious desires
were the source of physical problems. Cure was becoming aware of
psychological problems through free association (dreams).
- How did Freud attempt to access the unconscious mind? - -Through
dreams (royal road to unconscious mind, highly symbolic) and projected
personality test (Rorschach test)
- What are the components of personality according to the psychoanalytic
view? How do these relate to the iceberg analogy used by Freud? - -Id,
Superego and Ego. Most of mind is unconscious, or below the surface, and
most of an iceberg is below the surface.
- Id - -Born with it. Instincts, unconscious. Operates with pleasure principle,
immediate gratification.
- Ego - -Satisfies id in more socially acceptable ways. Reality principle, delay
gratification. Mediation between superego and Id
- What are defense mechanisms (in general)? - -Unconscious behavioral
tactics that protect people from negative feelings.
- What is repression? - -Most common defense mechanism. Repel one's own
desires and impulses toward pleasurable instincts by excluding the desire
from one's consciousness and holding or subduing it in the unconscious.
, - What are Freud's psychosexual stages of development and what happens
during each? - -Psychosexual stage: each stage focuses on particular
erogenous zone. Conflict between urges and society.
Oral: 0-18 months. Mouth, conflict is weaning.
Anal: 18-36 months. Anus, conflict is toilet training.
Phallic: 3-6 years. Genitals. Oedipal and Electra complexes occur here.
Conflict is wanting parent.
Latency Period: 6-adolescence. Just developing social skills.
Genital Stage: adolescence through adulthood. Penis and vagina. Clitoris is
immature. Someone replaces parents.
- What are erogenous zones? - -Pleasure center
- What is fixation? - -enduring focus on erogenous zone.
- What are the supposed characteristics of oral and anal fixation? - -Oral:
talkative, chewing on stuff, sucking on stuff, eating. Passive, manipulative.
Anal: orderliness, controlling, etc.
- What are the Oedipus and Electra complexes? - -Oedipus means boys
want mom, fear father will cut off their penis, so they try to identify with
father to avoid having their penis cut off and be attractive to mom
Electra complex: Desire father. Thinks mom cut off her penis, so she tries to
identify with mother and replace penis with a baby.
- According to Alfred Adler, why do we struggle for superiority and power? P.
576 - -To conquer childhood feelings of inferiority
- Who is associated with the idea of a collective unconscious? P. 577 - -Carl
Jung. Shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species'
inherited memory.
- What is the psychodynamic approach? - -Psychodynamic approach
replaced psychoanalytic approach. More emphasis on conscious mind and
social influences. From Neofreudians (Jung, Adler, Horney, Erikson)
- What are projective personality tests? What are the problems with them? -
-Interpreting ambiguous stimuli. Inspired by F and NeoFreudians. Rorschach
Inklot test, thematic apperception test. Interpretation is too subjective, so
not reliable or valid.
- What are the major problems with Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory? - -
Unscientific b/c few testable predictions. The more testable predictions are
not supported by research.
, - What is the false consensus effect? p. 581 - -Freud's projection- tendency
to overestimate how much others share our beliefs and behaviors.
- What is the main premise of the humanistic approach? - -All people are
driven by innate drive to fulfill potential/self actualize.
- What does Rogers' Person-Centered Perspective indicate? - -To self
actualize (as all people strive to) people need relationships with
genuineness, empathy and acceptance aka unconditional positive regard.
- What factors promote or inhibit growth according to Humanistic
perspective? - -Conditional positive regard, unsupportiveness prevents
growth.
- What is the trait approach? - -Personality is based on specific, stable
internal characteristics.
- What is the purpose of factor analysis in the trait approach? - -To find
fundamental traits. From questionnaires, we find statistically correlated
clusters of items.
- What are the dimensions of personality in Eysenck's trait theory? - -2
fundamental dimensions of personality: Introverted/exraverted and
emotionally stable/instable
- According to the Eysencks, upon what biological factors were these trait
dimensions based? - -Introvertedness reflects baseline of activity of nervous
system. Introverted are more baseline active and thus more susceptible to
overstimulation.
- How do introverts and extraverts tend to differ? - -Introverts salivate
more. Wear different clothes.
- What is Gray's Biopsychological Theory? - -Personality is defined by
behavioral approach system (BAS) and Behavioral inhibition system (BIS).
- What is the behavioral approach system and behavioral inhibition system?
- -BAS is sensitivity to reward. More vulnerable to positive emotions,
impulsive.
BIS- more sensitive to punishment. Motivated to avoid punishment.
Vulnerable to negative emotions, anxiety.
These are independent traits, not a sliding scale.
- What traits make up the Big Five Model of personality? - -CANOE:
Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness, and Extraversion.
Provides more complete picture of personality.
