Introduction To Psychology: Chapter 14 Vocabulary PDF

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Chapter 14 vocab...

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Vocab Chapter 14 Personality: people’s typical ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving Trait: Relatively enduring predisposition that influences our behavior across many situations Nomothetic Approach: Approach to personality that focuses on identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all individuals Idiographic Approach: Approach to personality that focuses on identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences within a person Molecular Genetic Study: Investigation that allows researchers to pinpoint genes associated with specific personality traits Psychic Determinism: The assumption that all psychological events have a cause Id: Reservoir of our most primitive impulses, including sex and aggression Pleasure Principle: Tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification Ego: Psyche’s executive and principal decision maker Reality Principle: Tendency of the ego to postpone gratification until it can find an appropriate outlet Superego: Our sense of morality Defense Mechanisms: Unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety Repression: Motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses Denial: Refusal to acknowledge current events in our lives Regression: The act of returning psychologically to a younger, and typically simpler and safer, age Reaction-formation: Transformation of an anxiety-provoking emotion into its opposite Projection: Unconscious attribution of our negative characteristics to others Displacement: Directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target onto a safer and more socially acceptable target Rationalization: Providing a reasonable-sounding explanation for unreasonable behaviors or for failures Sublimation: Transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into an admired goal Oral Stage: Psychosexual stage that focuses on the month Anal Stage: Psychosexual stage that focuses on toilet training Phallic Stage: Psychosexual stage that focuses on the genitals Oedipus Complex: Conflict during phallic stage in which boys supposedly love their mothers romantically and want to eliminate their fathers as rivals Latency Stage: Psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious Genital Stage: Psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses awaken and typically begin to mature into romantic attraction toward others

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Neo-Freudian Theories: Theories derived from Freud’s model, but with less emphasis on sexuality as a driving force in personality and more optimism regarding the prospects for long-term personality growth Style of Life: According to Adler, each person’s distinctive way of achieving superiority Inferiority Complex: Feelings of low self-esteem that can lead to overcompensation for such feelings Collective Unconscious: According to Jung, our shared storehouse of memories that ancestors have passed down to us across generations Archetype: Cross-culturally universal symbols Social Learning Theorists: Theorists who emphasize thinking as a cause of personality Reciprocal Determinism: Tendency for people to mutually influence each other’s behavior Locus of Control: Extent to which people believe that reinforces and punishers lie inside or outside their control Self Actualization: Drive to develop our innate potential to the fullest possible extent Conditions of Worth: According to Rogers, expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behavior Incongruence: Inconsistency between our personalities and innate dispositions Peak Experience: Transcendent moment of intense excitement and tranquility marked by a profound sense of connection to the world Factor Analysis: Statistical technique that analyzes the correlations among responses on personality inventories and other measures Big Five: Five traits that have surfaced repeatedly in factor analyses of personality measures Lexical Approach: Approach proposing that the most crucial features of personality are embedded in our language Structured Personality Test: Paper –and-pencil test consisting of questions respondents answer in one of a few fixed ways Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: Widely used structure test designed to assess symptoms of mental disorders Empirical Method of Test Construction: Approach to building tests in which researchers begin with two or ore criterion groups and examine which items best distinguish them Face Validity: Extent to which respondents can tell what the items are measuring Rational/Theoretical Method of Test Construction: Approach to building tests that requires test developers to begin with a clear-cut conceptualization of a trait and then write items to asses that conceptualization Projective Test: Test consisting of ambiguous stimuli that examinees must interpret or make sense of

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Projective Hypothesis: Hypothesis that in the process of interpreting ambiguous stimuli, examinees project aspects of their personality onto the stimulus Rorschach Inkblot Test: Projective test consisting of ten symmetrical inkblots Incremental Validity: Extent to which a test contributes information beyond other more easily collected measures Thematic Apperception Test: Projective test requiring examinees to tell a story in response to ambiguous pictures Graphology: Psychological interpretation of handwriting PT Barnum Effect: Tendency of people to accept descriptions that apply to almost everyone as applying specifically to them...