Chapter 1-9

• Sigmund Freud


  Began to combine philosophical speculations with a primitive scientific method. He is the first to develop a truly modern theory of personality, based mostly on his clinical observations.
• Personality


  The mask that people present to the outside world
• Personality


  • Includes relatively permanent traits or unique characteristics that render some consistency to a person's behavior
  • Traits contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations
  • Pattern is different for each individual
• Characteristics


  Unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as temperamental and physique
• Scientific theory


  A set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses
• Theory and its Relatives

  • Philosophy - love and wisdom, theory relates most closely to this branch of philosophy because it is a tool used by scientists in their pursuit of knowledge
  • Speculation - theories rely on speculation, but they are closely ties to empirically gathered data and to science
  • Hypothesis - a good theory is capable of generating thousands of hypothesis
  • Taxonomy - a system of classification of data according to their natural relationships
• Major theoretical perspectives on personality

  • Psychodynamic Perspective
  • Humanistic-Existential Theories
  • Dispositional Theories
  • Biological-Evolutionary Theories
  • Learning-(Social) Cognitive Theories
• Epistemology


  The study of knowledge
• Psychodynamic Perspective


  Focused on the importance of early childhood experience and on relationships with parents as guiding forces that shape personality development
• Humanistic-Existential Theories


  The primary assumption of the humanistic (currently known as "positive psychology") approach is that people strive toward meaning, growth, well-being, happiness, and psychological health. Understanding these evolved positive aspects of human behavior provides just as much insight into human nature as does understanding the pathological aspects.
• Dispositional Theories


  The unique and long-term tendencies to behave in particular ways are the essence of our personality. The big 5 personality traits (Openness, Consienctiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism)
• Biological-Evolutionary Theories


  Behavior, thought, feelings, and personality are influenced by differences in basic genetic, epigenetic, and neurological systems between individuals
• Learning-(Social) Cognitive Theories


  It emphasizes the role of observational learning, reinforcement, and cognitive processes in shaping personality. Social-cognitive theories, such as Bandura's social learning theory, highlight the importance of cognitive factors in understanding behavior and personality development.
• Criteria for evaluating the usefulness of a scientific theory

  • Generates Research
  • Falsifiability
  • Organizes Data
  • Guides Action
  • Internal Consistency
  • Parsimonious or Simplicity
• Concepts of Humanity


  • Determinism vs Free Choice
  • Pessimism vs Optimism
  • Casuality vs Teleology
  • Conscious vs Unconscious Determinants
  • Biological vs Social Factors
  • Uniqueness vs Similarities in People
• Psychoanalysis


  Theory of personality, approach to psychotherapy, and method of investigation founded by Freud
• Hysteria


  A mental disorder marked by the conversion of repressed psychical elements into somatic symptoms such as impotency, paralysis, or blindness, when no physiological bases for these symptoms exists
• Catharsis


  The process of removing or lessening psychological disorders by talking about one's problems
• Levels of Mental Life

  • Unconscious
  • Preconscious
  • Conscious
• Repression


  The forcing of unwanted, anxiety-provoking experiences into the unconscious as a defense mechanism against the pain of that anxiety
• Suppression


  The blocking or inhibiting of an activity either by a conscious act of the will or by an outside agent such as parents or other authority figures
• Provinces of the Mind


  • Id
  • Ego
  • Superego
• Subsystem of Superego


  • Conscience
  • Ego Ideal
• Drives according to Freud


  • Sex or Eros
  • Aggression, distraction, or Thanatos
• Primary Narcissism


  Where the child's libido is invested in the self rather than external objects
• Secondary Narcissism


  A fixation on the self that occurs later in life, often as a result of frustrations or disappointments in relationships
• Sadism


  A psychosexual disorder characterized by deriving pleasure from inflicting pain or humiliation on others
• Masochism


  A psychosexual disorder characterized by deriving pleasure from experiencing pain or humiliation oneself
• Basic Drives


  • Impetus
  • Source
  • Aim
  • Object
• Aggression Or destructive drive


  Represents the innate impulse towards hostility, violence, or destruction
• Types of Anxiety


  • Neurotic Anxiety
  • Moral Anxiety
  • Realistic Anxiety
• Defense Mechanisms


  • Repression
  • Reaction Formation
  • Displacement
  • Fixation
  • Regression
  • Projection
  • Introjection
  • Sublimation
• Stages of Development


  • Oral Stage
  • Anal Stage
  • Phallic Stage
• Oedipus Complex


  A fundamental concept in psychoanalytic theory introduced by Sigmund Freud, involving a child's unconscious longing for the opposite-sex parent alongside feelings of rivalry and hostility towards the same-parent
• Oedipus Complex


  • Male Oedipus Complex
  • Castration Complex
  • Castration Anxiety
  • Female Oedipus Complex
  • Penis Envy
• Stages of Psychosexual Development

  • Infancy
  • Latency
  • Genital
• Free association


  Patients are required to verbalize every thought that comes to their mind, no matter how irrelevant or repugnant it may appear
• Transference

  The strong sexual or aggressive feelings, positive or negative, that patients develop toward their analyst during the course of treatment
• Dream Analysis


  The process of interpreting and deciphering the content of dreams to uncover underlying meanings, symbols, and emotions that may be representative of unconscious thoughts and desires
• Manifest Content


  The surface meaning or the conscious description given by the dreamer