Psyc exam 3h

Personality

An individual’s unique set of consistent behavioral trait

(Consistency)

Explains the stability in a persons behavior over time and across situations

(distinctiveness)

Explains behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation

Personality trait

is a durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations. Could be honest, dependable, bad, or violent. Etc

factor analysis

In factor analysis, correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables. Approaches see some traits as more basic than others.

The 5 factor model of personality traits

-Extraversion. People who score high in extraversion are characterized as outgoing, sociable, upbeat, friendly, assertive, and gregarious. They also have a more positive outlook on life and are motivated to pursue social contact, intimacy, and interdependence (Wilt & Revelle, 2017). -Neuroticism. People who score high in neuroticism tend to be anxious, hostile, self-conscious, insecure, and vulnerable. They also tend to exhibit more impulsiveness and emotional instability than others (Tackett & Lahey, 2017). -Openness to experience. Openness is associated with curiosity, flexibility, imaginativeness, intellectual pursuits, interests in new ideas, and unconventional attitudes. People who are high in openness also tend to be tolerant of ambiguity (Sutin, 2017). -Agreeableness. Those who score high in agreeableness tend to be warm, sympathetic, trusting, compassionate, cooperative, modest, and straightforward. Agreeableness is also correlated with empathy and helping behavior (Graziano & Tobin, 2017). -Conscientiousness. Conscientious people tend to be diligent, well-organized, punctual, and dependable. Conscientiousness is associated with strong self-discipline and the ability to regulate oneself effectively (Jackson & Roberts, 2017)

Freuds view on personality structure

Psychodymanic theories descended from the work of freud the focused on unconscious mental forces

Psychoanalysis

required lenghty verbal interation with patients, during which freud probed deeply into their lifes

Psychosexual stages

Developmental periods with a charcteristic secual affect adult personality Oral stage: age 0-1, erotic focus on mouth Anal stage: age 2, erotic focus on anus Phallic stage: Age 3-5, erotic focus on genitals Latency and genital stages: age 5-end of puberty,

Psychanaytic theory

focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, unconscious conflicts, and sexual urges

why were contemporaries uncomfortable.

Contemporaries were uncomfortable with Freud’s theroris, including the ideas individuals are not masters of their own minds and destiny

Structure of personality divided into three parts

The id

The id is the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle. The id operates according to the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification of its urges.

ego

The ego is the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle.

The ego is guided by the reality principle, which seeks to delay gratification of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found. I

the superego

the superego is the moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong.

Defense mechanisms

are largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions, such as anxiety and guilt.

rationalization,

which is creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior.

Repression

is keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.

Projection

is attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another.

Displacement

is diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target.

Reaction formation

is behaving in a way that’s exactly the opposite of one’s true feelings.

Regression

Regression is a reversion to immature patterns of behavior.

Identification

Identification is bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group.

Psychodynamic theory proposed by Jung,s

collective unconscious

The collective unconscious is a storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people’s ancestral past. According to Jung, each person shares the collective unconscious with the entire human race

Each person has conscious and unconscious levels of awareness

archetypes

are emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.

Maslow key insight

Maslow proposed

Maslow proposed that human motives are organized into a hierarchy of needs—a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused.

Top of pyramid to bottom

Need for self-actualization-

realization of potential

Aesthic needs

order and beauty

Cognitive needs

knowledge and understanding

Esteem needs

achievement and gaining recognition

Belongingness and love needs

affiliation and acceptance

Safety and security needs

long-term survival and stability

Physiological needs

Hunger, thirst, and so forth

Progression

if lower needs are satisfied

Regression

if lower means need to be satisfied

Evolutionarny explanations for why big 5 traits importnat

Evolutionary theorists assert that personality has a biological basis because natural selection has favored certain traits over the course of human history

For example, David Buss (1991, 1995, 1997) argues that the Big Five personality traits stand out as important dimensions of personality across a variety of cultures because those traits have had significant adaptive implications.

Daniel nettle big 5 traits are products of evolution that were adaptive in ancestral environments

Analyses may help explain the origins og individual variations on the big 5 traits

Narcissism

is a personality trait marked by an inflated sense of importance, a need for attention and admiration, a sense of entitlement, and a tendency to exploit others.

Caused by low self esteem which requires constant reassurance Low ability to receive criticism Believe themselves to be superior to others Insatiable need for recognition

Grandiose narcissism

is characterized by arrogance, extraversion, immodesty and aggressiveness

Vulnerable narcissism

is characterized by hidden feelings of inferiority introversion, neutricism, and a need for recognition

Terror managment theory

Aimed to explain need for self-esteem Self-preservation instints and inevitability of death create anxiety

Mortality salience

is the degree to which subjects mortality is prominent in their minds

Increased mortality salience leads people to work harder at defending cultural worldview/

How researches found cross cultural references and disparities in personality

national character

national character—the idea that various cultures have widely recognized prototype personalities

in Asian cultures, such as Japan and China, socialization practices foster a more interdependent view of the self that emphasizes the fundamental connectedness of people to each other

Basic dimensions of personality trait structure may be nearly universal

American culture fosters an independent view of the self

Unique strengths and achievements become the basis for their sense of self worth

McCrae et al. (2005) found that Brazilians scored relatively high in neuroticism, Australians in extraversion, Germans in openness to experience, Czechs in agreeableness, and Malaysians in conscientiousness, to give but a handful of example

Three unifying themes

Cultural heritage Theorectical Diversity Sociohistorical context

Projective tests

ask participants to respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli in ways that can reveal the subjects’ needs, feelings, and personality traits.

Rorschach tests

Rorschach tests respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli such as inkblots Thematic Apperception Test (tat) a series of pictures of simple scenes is present to individual

Thematic Apperception Test (tat)

a series of pictures of simple scenes is present to individuals Who tell stories about said scenes

The “projective hypothesis”

is that ambiguous materials can serve as a blank screen onto which people project their characteristic concerns, conflicts, and desires

Strenghts

no transparent respondents, indirect approach may make them especially sensitive to the unconscious

Unfortunately, the scientific evidence on projective measures is unimpressive

hindsight bias—

the tendency to mold one’s interpretation of the past to fit how events actually turned out.

Tends to promote single-cause thinking and overconfidence in decision analysis

With hindsight, events that are difficult to predict are considered inevitable and foreseeable Can influence everyday analysis of personality

problems for scioentific theories of personality

once researchers know an outcome, they can fashion some plausible explanation for it

Medical Model of Psychological Illness

The medical model proposes that it is useful to think of abnormal behavior as a disease.

Etiology

refers to the apparent causation and developmental history of an illness.

prognosis

is a forecast about the probable course of an illness.

Criteria for abnormal Behavior:

Deviance: Violation of Societal Norms Maladaptive Behavior: Drug abuse, self harm, etc Personal Distress: Emotional/Psychological suffering

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Chronic High level anxiety not caused by a specific threat. Constant worry over problems and minor things, sometimes physical symptoms like Dizziness, Fatigue, Trembling, Muscle tension

Panic Disorder

A panic disorder is characterized by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly

Major Depressive Disorder:

In major depressive disorder, people show persistent feelings of sadness and despair and a loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure.

Punctuated by periods of normal activity. Marked by Anhedonia: Diminished ability to have pleasure

Bipolar Disorder

Periods of manicism and depression Manic: marked by Euphoria, high self esteem, Lack of need for sleep, hyperactivity. Can lead to impulsive behavior

Autism Spectrum Disorder

is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication and restricted, repetitive interests and activities

Inability to perceive or send social cues, hyperfocused interest, impaired verbal communication, Sensory sensitivity

Could be caused by abnormal early brain growth around 2 years of age

Personality disorders

class of disorders marked by extreme, inflexible personality traits that cause subjective distress or impaired social and occupational functioning.

Lowered life expectancy by 18-19 years Extreme manifestations of personality traits Caused by mix of environment and genetic predispositions

Insight Therapies

a talk therapy, goal is to pursue insight regarding nature of clients difficulties and to find possible soulutions

Behavior Therapies

based on principle of learning. Make effort to alter problematic responses (phobias) & maladaptive habits(drug use)

Biomedical Therapies:

Therapy to involve interventions into a personal biological functioning. (drug therapy, shock therapy).

Identify the various types of mental health professionals involved in the provision of Therapy:

Clinical Psychologist, Counseling psychologist, Psychiatrist, Clinical social Worker, Psychiatric nurse, Counseler, Marriage and family therapist

Understand the role of the therapeutic climate and therapeutic process in client-centered Therapy:

the process of therapy is not as important as the theraputic climate as you need a Warm supportive climate that creates a safe environment. To create this you need 3 things.

1. Genuineness, 2. Unconditional positive regard, 3. Accurate empathy. The therapeutic process is also important and needs the client and therapist to work together. The therapist will mainly clarify while the client gets to the solution mostly by themselves. Overall therapeutic climate and process are important to provide the client everything they need to find Their own answers.

Group therapy

the simultaneous treatment of several clients in a group.

Family therapy

treats the family unit as a while and focuses on family dynamics and Communication

Insight therapies

are better than no therapy and are effective early on, however, start to fall off

electroconvulsive therapy

is a biomedical treatment where electrical shocks are used to produce a cortical seizure accompanied by convulsions. When optimal techniques are used it is very effective at curing major depression but replases are expected. There are a few risks When taking ECT, but most side effects dissapear after a few months.

Analyze the barriers that lead to underutilization of mental health services by ethnic minorities and possible solutions

Reasons such as ethic races preferring to have a therapist of their own ethnicity and not speaking the languages of several races. One possible solution would be therapists enhancing their cultural competence(develop to reflect an understanding of how cultural factors shape individuals views and health behaviors).

Assess the effects of the deinstitutionalization movement:

Mixed reviews. Positive part is that people avoided disruptive and unnecessary hospitalization negatively, patients with chronic psychological disorders had nowhere to go when they were released.

two unifying themes highlighted in this chapter.

Cultural Heritage, Theoretical Diversity

Understand how placebo effects can complicate the evaluation of therapy.

if they use a placebo effect during therapy, it can complicate the evaluation because if the client beings to think one thing will happen, they will more than likely think it is happening even if it is not the desired result.

Eating Disorders

severe disturbances in eating behavior characterized by preoccupation with weight concerns and unhealthy efforts to control weight. Most prevalent in westernized countries

Anorexia nervosa

severe disturbances in eating behavior characterized by preoccupation with weight concerns and unhealthy efforts to control weight.

Caused by disturbed body image which causes happiness with weight loss and fear with weight gain

Restrictive type/ binge purge

Restrictive type limits amount of food intake, Binge/purge type vomits/uses laxatives/excessively exercises after meals

Bulimia nervosa

excessive/extreme binge eating followed by purging such as vomiting/laxatives/excessive exercise

Binge eating disorder:

periods of binge eating not followed by purgative action

Chapter Themes:

Multifactorial Causation: All disorders are caused by multiple factors Heredity and Environment: Both of these factors are in complex interplay in causing disorders Sociocultural Context and cultural heritage: The definitions of deviance and abnormality are culturally influenced

Insanity:

legal status indicating that a person cannot be held responsible for his or her actions because of mental illness.

M’naghten rule: insanity exists when a mental disorder makes a person unable to distinguish right from wrong.

Severe disturbance causing inability to understand right from wrong

Competence:

Able to distinguish right from wrong and are able to be held responsible for actions and stand trial