The science of psychology (Kap 14)

personality the distinctive and relatively enduring ways of thinking, feeling and acting that characterize a person´s responses to life situation

libido freud´s term for the motivational force or psychic energy that he posited to drive our behaviour and mental lives

id the innermost core of the personaloty, the only structure persent at birth and the source of all psychic energy

pleasure principle seeks immediate gratification or release, regardless of rational considerations and environmental realities

ego has direct contact with reality and functions primarily at a conscious level

reality principle testing reality to decide when and under what conditions the id can safely discharge its impulses and satisfy its needs

superego the moral arm of the personality

defence mechanism unconscious mental operations that deny or disort reality

repression the ego uses some of its energy to prevent anxiety-arousing memories, feelings and impluses from entering consciousness

sublimation taboo impulses may even be channelled into socially desirable and admirable behaviours, completely masking the sinister underlying impulses

psychosexual stages during which the id´s pleasure-seeking tendencies are focused on specific pleasure-sensitive areas of the body - the erogenous zones

fixation state of arrested psychosexual development in which instincts are focused on a particular psychic theme

regression psychological retreat to an earlier psychosexual stage

oedipus complex conflictual situation involving love for the mother and hostility towards the father

electra complex the female counterpart of the oedipus complex, in which woman harbour 'penis envy'

neoanalytic theorists were psychoanalysts who disagreed with certain aspects of Freud´s thinking and developed their own theories

personal unconscious based on their life experiences

collective unconsciousness consists of memories accumulated throughout the entire history of the human race

archetypes inherited tendencies to interpret experiences in certain ways

object relations theories focus on the images or mental representations that people form of themselves and other people as a result of early experiences with caregivers

social cognition concerns the social side of our mental processes and how people make sense of themselves and others around them

phenomenology study of immediate experience

personal conctructs cognitive categories into which people sort the persons and events in thier lives

role construct repertory test (or rep test) assesses individual´s personal construct systems by investigating what dimensions people use to categorize important others

self-actualization the highest realization of human potential

self an organized, consistent set of perceptions of and beliefs about oneself

self-consistency an absence of conflict among self-perceptions

congruence consistency between self-perception and experience

unconditional positive regard the person is inherently worthy of love, regardless of accomplishments or behaviour

fully functioning persons individuals who are close to achieveing self-actualization

self-esteem how positively or negatively we feel about ourselves

self-verification the need to confirm the self-concept

self-enhancement a strong and pervasive tendency to gain and perserve a positive self-image

personality traits are relatively stable cognitive, emotional and behavioural characteristics of people that help establish their individual identities and distinguish them from others

factor analysis used to identify clusters of behaviours that are highly correlated (positively or negatively) with one another, but not with behaviours in others clusters

self-monitoring attending to situational cues and adapting behaviour to what would be most appropriate

reinforcement sensitivity theory proposes that individual differences in personality originate from variations in the sensitivity of biological systems of reward and punishment

temperament individual differences in emotional and behavioural styles that appear so early in life that they are assumed to have biological basis

social-cognitive theories combine the behavioural and cognitive perspectives into an approach to personality that stresses the interaction of a thinking human with a social environment that provides learning experiences

reciprocal determination the person, the person´s behaviour and the environment all influence one another in a pattern of two-way casual links

expectancy our perception of how likely it is that certain consequenses will occur if we engage in a particular behaviour within a specific situation

reinforcement value how much we desire or dread the outcome what we expect the behaviour to produce

internal-external locus of control an expectancy concerning the degree of personal control we have in our lives

self-efficacy belief´s concerning an ability to perform the behaviours needed to achieve desired outcomes

cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS) an organized system of five variables that interact continuosly with one another and the environment, generating the distinctive patterns of behaviour that characterize the person

behaviour outcome expectancies the ´if-then´ links between alternative behaviours and possible outcomes

self-reinforcement processes refer to internal, self-administered rewards and punishments

behavioural signatures consistent ways of responding in particular classes of situations

effect size tells researchers in clinical trials what percentage of clients who recieved therapy had a more favourable outcome than that of the average control client who did not receive the treatment

gender schemas organized mental structures that contain our understanding of the attributes and behaviours that are appropriate and expected for males and females

structured interviews a set of specific questions that are administred to every participant

behavioural assessment an explicit coding system that describes behavioural categories of interest

experience sampling researchers and clinicians collect self-reported samples of behaviour from respondents as they live their daily lives

projective tests present subjects with ambigious stimuli and ask for some interpretation of them

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