PSY259 Revision Notes PDF

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PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 1CHAPTER 1: What is Personality?The Person and the Situation: Personality can be defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual Individual Differences  Personality is consistent – can be identified across time an...

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PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1: What is Personality?

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The Person and the Situation: Personality can be defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual Intrapersonal Processes Individual Differences Personality is consistent – can be identified across time and  Includes all the emotional, motivational, and cognitive processes that go on inside of us that affect how we act and across situations feel If personality exists and behavior is not just a reflection of whatever situation we find ourselves in, then we must expect some consistency in the way people act Six Approaches to Personality Psychoanalytic Approach Trait Approach Biological Approach  Identify where a person might lie  Inherited predispositions and People’s unconscious minds are largely responsible for important along a continuum of various physiological processes to explain differences in their behavior styles personality characteristics individual differences in personality Focuses on the study of motivation  Phlegmatic (calm), sanguine and needs that people are not (optimistic), melancholic normally aware of (depressed), and choleric (irritable). Behavioural / Social Learning Cognitive Approach Humanistic Approach Positive and optimistic view of  Looks at differences in the way Approach people process social information humans  Personality is a product of direct / indirect conditioning and how they subsequently reflect Emphasizes on individuals’ unique this understanding of the world in experiences, r/s, and world views  Behaviour is shaped by expectations their behaviour Identifies personal responsibility and feelings of self-acceptance as the key causes of differences in personality Personality and Culture Collectivist Culture: Individualistic Culture:  Concerned about belonging to a larger group, such as a Places great emphasis on individual needs and family, tribe, or nation accomplishments over the goals of the group  Obtain satisfaction when the group does well rather than Esteem autonomy and independence above conformity to from individual accomplishments (more interested in the group cooperation than competition) Like to think themselves as unique  Prioritize the needs of the group above individual ones and choose amicable means of resolving conflicts, even at the expense of justice

PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 3 & 4

Triebe

Structural Model

Topographic Model

CHAPTER 3 & 4: The Psychoanalytic Approach (Freudian Theory)

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Defense Mechanisms

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Conscious Thoughts we are currently aware of Can only deal with small percentage of information

The Freudian Theory of Personality Preconscious Large body of retrievable information

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Unconscious Material to which we have no immediate access Responsible for most of our everyday behaviour

Id Ego Superego  Represents society’s (parents’)  Reality principle – takes into Pleasure principle – concerned values and standards consideration the realities of the only with satisfying our personal world desires, regardless of  Places more restriction on what we can and cannot do physical/social limitations  Primary job is to satisfy id impulses while keeping them in  Primary weapon is guilt Wish fulfilment – imagining a (conscience), keeping us in line the unconscious desired object in the absence of it with societal standards  Moves freely among the Impulses are usually centered on topographic model sex and aggression (socially unacceptable) Libido Thanatos  Death or aggressive instinct Life or sexual instinct  Death instinct is turned outward and expressed as Sexually motivated behaviours include erotic content aggression against others and any actions aimed at receiving pleasure  Desire to die and return to the earth (unconscious) Displacement: Repression: Sublimation:  Involves channeling our impulses An active effort by the ego to  The ego channels threatening to nonthreatening objects push threatening material out of unconscious impulses into consciousness or to keep that socially acceptable actions (e.g.,  Does not lead to social rewards material from ever reaching express aggressive id impulses by  Many of our seemingly irrational fears are symbolic displacements consciousness playing rugby) Requires ego to constantly expend  The more we use sublimation, the energy, which reduces psychic more productive we become energy, leading to loss of stable (leads to social rewards) personality Drains our ability to function Projection: Intellectualization: Denial: Reaction Formation:  The attribution of an  The ego removes the The refusal to accept  Hiding from unconscious impulse to emotional content from that certain facts exists threatening other people instead of the thought before despite all evidence to unconscious ideas or to ourselves allowing it into the contrary urges by acting in a awareness manner opposite to our  Free ourselves from the Extreme form of perception that we are defense – the more we unconscious desires  Considering something the one holding the in a strictly intellectual, use it, the less in touch unemotional manner thought with reality we are and the more difficulty we have functioning

PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 3 & 4

Psychosexual Stages of Development

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Phallic Stage: Ages 3 to 6 Erogenous zones (source of pleasure) – penis or clitoris  Oedipus complex –developing a sexual attraction for their opposite-sex parent  Castration anxiety – A fear that their father will discover their thoughts and cut off their penis  Penis envy – A desire to have a penis, coupled with feelings of inferiority and jealousy because of its absence  Reaction formation – identifying with same-sex parents help to develop masculine/feminine characteristics Genital Stage: Normal sexual functioning is possible if child has progressed to this stage without leaving large amounts of libido fixated at earlier stages

Anal Stage: During 18th month Erogenous zones (source of pleasure) – anal region Traumatic toilet training can result in fixation and an anal personality (orderly/rigid vs. stubborn/generous)

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Latency Stage:  Sexual desires abate during these years, and boys and girls are largely uninterested in each other  Puberty – Erogenous urges return and are focused in the adult genital regions Free Association: Projective Tests: Dreams:  Temporarily bypass the censoring  Present test takers with  Provide id impulses with a stage mechanism the ego employs ambiguous stimuli and asks them for expression to respond by identifying objects  Unconscious revelations may be  A type of wish fulfillment,  Responses are projections of possible representing the things we desire material in the perceiver’s  Content – Manifest (what the unconscious mind dreamer sees and remembers) vs. Latent (what is really being expressed) Symbolic Behaviour: Accidents: Hypnosis: Freudian Slips:  Symbolic actions pose  Many apparent  Represents unconscious  A pipeline to the no threat to the ego accidents are in fact unconscious – ego put associations that because they are not intentional actions into a suspended state momentarily slips out perceived for what they stemming from during a deep hypnotic  are unconscious impulses trance  Resistance Strengths Criticisms  Freud’s ideas may not have been so original or First comprehensive theory of human behaviour and groundbreaking after all – many Freudian ideas appear in personality – sets the direction for subsequent personality literature that predates Freud’s work theory and research o Freud often cited earlier works on topics similar to Developed the first system of psychotherapy – techniques such as free association, hypnosis, and dream interpretation the ones he was introducing have become standard tools for many therapists o Freud was the first person to organize many loosely Popularized and promoted many important psychological related ideas into one theory of human behaviour concepts  Many of the hypotheses generated from the theory are not testable  Freud’s heavy reliance on case studies to support his theory fall short of the standards required by many scientists o Freud’s clients do not represent typical adults o Information about these clients were filtered through Freud Dream Interpretation: The content of our dreams is not random, and dreaming appears to serve some positive psychological functions Function: Meaning:  Unconscious impulses cannot be suppressed forever – one What we dream about provides clues about what’s in our of the major functions of dreams is to allow the symbolic unconscious – the unresolved conflicts we struggle with expression of these impulses beneath our awareness surface during sleeping hours  REM sleep is usually accompanied by rapidly moving eyes Dream content is often influenced by the fears, problems, underneath closed lids and is sometimes called paradoxical and issues that capture our thoughts before we go to bed sleep because, although our muscles are especially relaxed Recurrent dream: From a psychoanalytic perspective, the during this time, our brain activity is similar to that of the dream reappears night after night because the conflict 

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Oral Stage: First 18 months Erogenous zones (source of pleasure) – mouth, lips, tongue Traumatic weaning or feeding problems can result in fixation and development of an oral personality (dependent vs. aggression) Infantile need for oral satisfaction – smoke, drink, putting hands to mouth

PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 3 & 4 waking state expressed in the dream is important yet remains unresolved o Emotional disorders are often associated with sleep o Recurrent dreamers are more likely to suffer from difficulties and reduced REM sleep anxiety during waking hours than people not experiencing recurrent dreams Defense Mechanisms Defensive Style: Developmental Differences: Identification and Measurement:  Identifying a person’s defensive  Investigators must rely on less direct  Denial consists of disavowing style may tell us something about his certain facts, from failure to methods to determine when and how or her general well-being acknowledge reality to distorting often research participants use the one’s memory (“No, that’s not what various mechanisms identified by  Using immature defenses in adulthood is often associated with happened”), thereby reducing the psychoanalysts (projective tests) interpersonal and psychological anxiety associated with a traumatic  Information that threatens selfproblems event concept is potentially quite anxiety o As children mature, they find provoking  Adult defenses are related to early childhood experiences that outright denial of facts and o People who use identification o Men who had experienced the feelings is increasingly unconsciously associate highest level of stress in ineffective themselves with powerful and childhood frequently relied on successful individuals to fend  Older children often rely on denial as adults projection to alleviate their anxieties off feelings of inadequacy and and inward fears (projection protects helplessness us from threatening anxiety by attributing unacceptable thoughts and feelings to someone else)  A drop in the use of denial and projection indicates emotional maturity Humor Research: Freud’s Theory:  Hostile humor allows us to satisfy aggressive impulses  Tendentious jokes—the ones that provide insight into the unconscious of the joke teller as well as the person who  Effect of hostile humor – a hostile joke provides a safe outlet for the angry person’s aggressive feelings laugh o 2 kinds: Hostility and Sex  Hostile humor sometimes reduces anger and aggression, yet other times increases it – has the potential to trigger  Aggressive jokes allow the expression of impulses more than one reaction ordinarily held in check – our egos and superegos won’t permit outward acts of violence  an insulting joke allows  Hostile humor can tap into existing thoughts about anger and aggression, which then increase the likelihood that the us to express aggressive desires in a socially appropriate individual will act aggressively manner  Catharsis (tension reduction) – we get pleasure from many  Long buildups create tension, and the more tension released at the punch line, the more enjoyable the joke jokes not because they are clever or witty but because they  Often the result of incongruity – we find a situation funny reduce tension and anxiety when what happens is inconsistent with what we expect Hypnosis: Includes an induction procedure in which people are told they are going to be hypnotized, followed by suggestions to perform certain tasks Psychoanalytical Influenced Theories: Sociocognitive Theories:  Neodissociation theory: Deeply hypnotized people  The same concepts that explain everyday behavior (e.g., experience a division of their conscious expectancy, motivation, and concentration) also account o One part of their conscious (the hypnotized part) for hypnotic phenomena enters a type of altered state – unaware of the  Hypnosis participants behave the way they believe people are supposed to when under hypnosis (responding to observer part normal social–psychological influences) o Another part remains aware of what is going on during the hypnotic session – acts as a “hidden  Sociocognitive theorists argue that hypnosis participants expect not to recall what happens to them and therefore observer” monitoring the situation make no effort to remember (under the right  Psychoanalytically oriented theorists explain that the circumstances, people can be persuaded to make that experience either has been repressed out of consciousness effort) or has been recorded in a part of the mind not accessible to consciousness Hypnotic Responsiveness:  Largely a participant variable o Highly responsive people respond to anyone they perceive to be a legitimate hypnotist o People are more responsive to hypnotic suggestions when the situation is defined as hypnosis and when their cooperation is secured and trust established before beginning o People who are highly responsive to one hypnotist’s suggestions will probably be responsive to another hypnotist  3 important variables affect hypnotic responsiveness: Attitude, Motivation, and Expectancy

PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 3 & 4

PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 5 & 6 CHAPTER 5 & 6: The Psychoanalytic Approach (Non-Freudian)

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Limits and Liabilities of Freudian Theory 3. 2. Neo-Freudian theories address what seems to be a lack of consideration for the impact of cultural and social influences in Freudian theory. Essentially, there is less of an emphasis on the influence of instinctual forces on personality. Alfred Adler Parental Influence: Striving for Superiority: 1. Pampering – giving too much 1. A single motivating force whose attention to their children objective is to attain superiority (a need to achieve competence and  Robs the child of independence and adds to feelings of effectiveness in one’s endeavours) inferiority Primarily triggered by our feelings  Can be avoided by allowing of inferiority – developed during children the freedom to make early childhood experiences, where their own choices 2. we were largely dependent on others for survival 2. Neglect – receiving too little Inferiority complex: A belief that attention they are vastly inferior to everyone  Children grow up cold and else  results in feelings of suspicious 3. helplessness rather than an upward drive to establish superiority  Incapable of warm personal r/s Healthy personalities are those who (uncomfortable with intimacy) in adulthood balance their striving for superiority with social interest (recognizing that we are part of the society and developing a willingness to work with others in order to better the human society) Neo-Freudians disagree with the idea that personality is fully formed within the first six years of life. They argue that experiences in adolescence, adulthood, and even old age, help shape one’s personality.

Neo-Freudians seek to highlight the positive and constructive aspects of personality, which is a departure from the generally negative and passive tone of Freudian theory.

Birth Order: Firstborn children are subject to excessive attention from their parents and thus to pampering  Arrival of the second child  the firstborn is “dethroned”  Perception of inferiority is likely to be strong Middle children develop an intense superiority striving  Spends a lifetime trying to catch up  Highest achievers Last-born children are pampered throughout their childhood by all members of the family  A spoiled child is a very dependent child (without personal initiative)  Vulnerable to strong inferiority feelings because everyone in their immediate environment is older and stronger

Carl Jung Archetypes: Collective Unconscious: 1. Anima: The feminine side of the male  Consists of thoughts and images that are difficult to bring 2. Animus: The masculine side of the female into awareness – never repressed out of consciousness  A principal function of these archetypes is to guide the  We inherit these unconscious material (psychic selection of a romantic partner and the direction of the characteristics) subsequent relationship  Made up of primordial images – a potential to respond to 3. Shadow: Contains the unconscious part of ourselves that is the world in a certain way essentially negative (the dark side of our personalities)  We react to the dark or to God because of unconscious images (archetypes) inherited from our ancestors  Located partly in the personal unconscious in the form of repressed feelings and partly in the collective unconscious Erik Erikson Age Stage Success Crisis  Infants whose needs are met  Infants whose needs are not met Infancy Trust vs. Mistrust (towards caregivers)  Believes that people are approachable (neglected, unreliable care) (birth to 18 months) and loving  Withdrawal from other people Autonomy vs. Shame  Allowed to manipulate and influence  Mot allowed to explore and exercise Toddler influence over the objects and events much of what they encounter (2 years) and Doubt in their world (overly protective (testing own position  Independent, confident parents) in the world)  Dependent, not confident Initiative vs. Guilt  Children who seek out playmates and  Children who fail to develop a sense Early Childhood of initiative come through this stage who learn how to organize games and (learn appropriate with feelings of guilt and resignation other social activities ways of approaching (3 years) others)  Lack a sense of purpose and initiative  Learn how to set and overcome goals Industry vs.  Experiences with success  Experiences with failures Elementary Inferiority  A belief in our strengths and abilities  A lack of appreciation for our talents School (master new tasks) and skills Adolescence Identity vs. Role  Answering the “Who am I?” question  Failure to develop a strong sense of Confusion identity impedes subsequent  Understands who they are, and accept and appreciate themselves personality development

PSY259e Revision Notes: Chapter 5 & 6 Young Adulthood

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Adulthood

Generativity vs. Stagnation (contribution to society) Ego Integrity vs. Despair (outcomes of lives)

Old Age

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Moving Toward People: Demonstrates helplessness and a strong need for attention and approval from others Sacrifice themselves just to please others and gain self-validation

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Young men and women search...