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AP Personality Flashcards

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6441250643personalityan individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.0
6441250644free associationin psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.1
6441250645psychoanalysisFreud's theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences—and the therapist's interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight.2
6441250646unconsciousaccording to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.3
6441250647ida 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.4
6441250648egothe 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 id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.5
6441250649superegothe part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.6
6441250650psychosexual stagesthe childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.7
6441250651Oedipus complexaccording to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.8
6441250652identificationthe process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos.9
6441250653fixationaccording to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved.10
6441250654defense mechanismsin psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.11
6441250655repressionin psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.12
6441250656regressionpsychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.13
6441250657reaction formationpsychoanalytic 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.14
6441250658projectionpsychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others15
6441250659rationalizationdefense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions.16
6441250660displacementpsychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet.17
6441250661sublimationpsychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people re-channel their unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities.18
6441250662denialpsychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.19
6441250663collective unconsciousCarl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history.20
6441250664projective testa personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics.21
6441250665Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.22
6441250666Rorschach inkblot testthe 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.23
6441250667terror-management theoryproposes that faith in one's worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death.24
6441250668self-actualizationaccording 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.25
6441250669unconditional positive regardaccording to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.26
6441250670self-conceptall our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"27
6441250671traita characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.28
6441250672personality inventorya questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.29
6441250673Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.30
6441250674empirically derived testa test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.31
6441250675social-cognitive perspectiveviews behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context.32
6441250676reciprocal determinismthe interacting influences between personality and environmental factors.33
6441250677personal controlour sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.34
6441250678external locus of controlthe perception that chance or outside forces beyond one's personal control determine one's fate.35
6441250679internal locus of controlthe perception that one controls one's own fate.36
6441250680positive psychologythe scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.37
6441250681selfin contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.38
6441250682spotlight effectoverestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).39
6441250683self-esteemone's feelings of high or low self-worth40
6441250684self-serving biasa readiness to perceive oneself favorably41
6441250685individualismgiving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications.42
6441250686collectivismgiving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly.43

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