Personality And Memory Theory – Psychology
This chapter covers Personality And Memory Theory Psychology.
Personality
A person’s internally based characteristic ways of acting and thinking.
Unique psychological qualities that influence a variety of characteristic patterns of behaviour and ways of thinking that determines a person’s adjustment to the environment.
Conscious mind
Freud’s term for what you are presently aware of
Preconscious mind
Freud’s term for what is stored in your memory that you are not presently aware of but can access
Unconscious mind
Freud’s term for the part of our mind that we cannot become aware of.
Id
The part of the personality that a person is born with, where the biological instinctual drives reside, and that is located totally in the unconscious mind.
Pleasure principle
The principle of seeking immediate gratification for instinctual drives without concern for the consequences
Ego
The part of the personality that starts developing in the first year or so of life to find realistic outlets for the id’s instinctual drives.
Reality principle
The principle of finding gratification for instinctual drives within the constraints of reality (norms of society).
Superego
The part of the personality that represents one’s conscience and idealized standards of behaviour.
Defense mechanism
A process used by the ego to distort reality and protect a person from anxiety.
Erogenous zone
The area of the body where the id’s pleasure-seeking energies are focused during a particular stage of psychosexual development.
Fixation
Some of the id’s pleasure-seeking energies remaining in a psychosexual stage due to excessive or insufficient gratification of instinctual needs.
Oral stage of psychosexual development
First stage in Freud’s theory
Birth to 18 months
Erogenous zones are mouth, lips, tongue
Child derives pleasure from oral activities such as biting, sucking, chewing
Anal stage of psychosexual devlopment
Second stage in Freud’s theory
18 months to 3 years
Erogenous zone is anus
Child derives pleasure from stimulation of anal area through having and withholding anal movements
Phallic stage of psychosexual development
Third stage in Freud’s theory
3 to 6 years
Erogenous zone is located at genitals
Child derives pleasure from genital stimulation
Oedipus Conflict
Freud
Phallic stage conflict in which boy becomes sexually attracted to mother and fears his father will find out and castrate him.
Identification
Process by which children adopt characteristics of same-sex parent and learn their gender role and sense of morality
Latency stage of psychosexual development
Fourth stage in Freud’s theory
6 years to puberty
No erogenous zone
Sexual feelings are repressed and the focus is on cognitive and social development
Genital stage of psychosexual development
Fifth stage in Freud’s theory
Puberty to adulthood
Erogenous zone is genitals
Child develops sexual relationships, moving towards intimate adult relationships
Hierarchy of Needs
Motivation
Suggests that the innate needs which motivate our behaviour are arranged in a pyramid shape.
From bottom to top:
Physiological (hunger, thirst)
Safety (feel safe, secure, stable)
Belonging and love (to love and be love, belong, be accepted)
Esteem (self-esteem, achievement, competence, independence)
Self-actualization (live up to potential)
Self-actualization
The fullest realization of a person’s potential
Conditions of worth
The behaviours and attitudes for which other people (starting with parents) will give us positive regard
Unconditional positive regard
Unconditional acceptance and approval of a person by others
Self-system
The set of cognitive processes by which a person observes, evaluates, and regulates their behaviour
Self-efficacy
A judgement of one’s effectiveness in dealing with particular situations
External locus of control
The perception that chance or external forces beyond your personal control determine your fate
Internal locus of control
The perception that you control your own fate.
Learned helplessness
A sense of hopelessness in which a person thinks that he is unable to prevent aversive events.
Attribution
The process by which we explain our own behaviour and that of others
Self-serving bias
The tendency to make attributions so that one can perceive oneself favourably
Traits
The relatively stable internally based characteristics that describe a person
Personal inventory
An objective personality test that uses a series of questions or statements for which the test taker must indicate whether they apply to him/her or not.
Projective test
A personality test that uses a series of ambiguous stimuli to which the test taker must respond about her perception of the stimuli
Personality Theories
Type Theories
Trait Theories
Type Theories
Distinct (no overlap) pattern of personality characteristics
– Sheldon Somatotypes
– Eysenck
– Type A vs. Type B
Sheldon Somatotypes
Type theory of personality
Based on body types
Endomorph – short, plump – sociable, relaxed, even tempered
Ectomorph – tall, thin – restrained, self-conscious, fond of solitude
Mesomorph – heavy-set, muscular – noisy, callous, fond of physical activity
Endomorph
Sheldon somatotype
Short, plump
Sociable, relaxed, even-tempered
Ectomorph
Sheldon somatotype
Tall, thin
Restrained, self-conscious, fond of solitude
Mesomorph
Sheldon somatotype
Heavy-set, muscular
Noisy, callous, fond of physical activity
Eysenck
Type theory of personality
Introvert vs. extrovert
Type A vs. Type B
Type theory of personality
Aggressive when frustrated, impatient, controlling.
Trait Theories of Personality
Characteristic patterns of behaviour or conscious motives.
Assumed that most traits exist in all people to a certain degree and that we can measure the degree to which a trait exists in a person
Thousands of words to describe traits.
Beauty and the Beast
In-class example of trait
Belle – innocent, intellectual, happy, nice
Gaston – arrogant, jerk, narcissistic
Factors
Research has shown that various traits tend to cluster (or appear together) in various dimensions (or factors)
5-Factor Model of Personality
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism – tendency to experience negative effects
Neuroticism
5-Factor model of personality
Tendency to experience negative effects
Abnormal psychology
The scientific study of mental disorders and their treatment.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)
The current version of the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic and classification guidelines for mental disorders.
Personality Disorder
A disorder characterized by inflexible, long-standing personality traits that lead to behaviour that impairs social functioning and deviates from cultural norms.
Biopsychosocial Approach
Explaining abnormality as the result of the interaction among biological, psychological (behavioural and cognitive), and sociocultural factors.
Anxiety Disorders
Disorders in which excessive anxiety leads to personal distress and atypical, maladaptive, and irrational behaviour.
Specific Phobia
An anxiety disorder indicated by a marked and persistent fear of specific objects or situations that is excessive and unreasonable.
Social Phobia
An anxiety disorder indicated by a marked and persistent fear of one or more social performance situations in which there is exposure to unfamiliar people or scrutiny by others.
Agoraphobia
An anxiety disorder indicated by a marked and persistent fear of being in places or situations from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing.
Panic Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which a person experiences recurrent panic attacks.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which a person has excessive, global anxiety that he or she cannot control, for a period of at least 6 months.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which the person experiences recurrent obsessions or compulsions that are perceived by the person as excessive or unreasonable, but cause significant distress and disruption in the person’s daily life.
Obsession
A persistent, intrusive thought, idea, impulse, or image that causes anxiety.
Compulsion
A repetitive and rigid behaviour that a person feels compelled to perform in order to reduce anxiety.
Mood Disorders
Disorders that involve dramatic changes in a person’s emotional mood that are excessive and unwarranted.
Major Depressive Disorder
A mood disorder in which the person has experienced one or more depressive episodes.
Major Depressive Episode
An episode characterized by symptoms such as feelings of intense hopelessness, low self-esteem and worthlessness, extreme fatigue, dramatic changes in eating and sleeping behaviour, inability to concentrate, and greatly diminished interest in family, friend, and activities for a period of 2 weeks or more.
Manic Episode
An episode characterized by abnormally elevated mood in which the person experiences symptoms such as inflated self-esteem with grandiose delusions, a decreased need for sleep, constant talking, distractability, restlessness, and poor judgment for a period of at least a week.
Bipolar Disorder
A mood disorder in which recurrent cycles of depressive and manic episodes occur.
Psychotic Disorder
A disorder characterized by a loss of contact with reality.
Hallucination
A false sensory perception.
Delusion
A false belief.
Schizophrenia
A psychotic disorder in which at least two of the following symptoms are present most of the time during a 1-month period: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behaviour, or negative symptoms such as loss of emotion.
Vulnerability-Stress Model
A biopsychosocial explanation of schizophrenia which proposes that genetic, prenatal, and postnatal biological factors render a person vulnerable to schizophrenia, but environmental stress determines whether it develops or not.
Biomedical Therapy
The use of biological interventions, such as drugs, to treat mental disorders.
Psychotherapy
The use of psychological interventions to treat mental disorders.
Lithium
A naturally occurring element (a mineral salt) that is used to treat bipolar disorder.
Antidepressant Drugs
Drugs used to treat depressive disorders.
Neurogenesis Theory of Depression
An explanation of depression that proposes that neurogenesis, the growth of new neurons, in the hippocampus stops during depression, and when it resumes the depression lifts.
Antianxiety Drugs
Drugs used to treat anxiety problems and disorders.
Antipsychotic Drugs
Drugs used to treat psychotic disorders.
Tardive Dyskinesia
A side effect of long-term use of traditional anti-psychotic drugs causing the person to have uncontrollable facial tics, grimaces, and other involuntary movements of the lips, jaw, and tongue.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
A biomedical treatment for severe depression that involves electrically inducing a brief brain seizure.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
A neurostimulation therapy in which the left frontal lobe is stimulated with magnetic pulses via an electromagnetic coil placed on the patient’s scalp. It is only cleared for use in cases of severe depression for which traditional treatment has not helped.
Psychosurgery
A biomedical treatment in which specific areas of the brain are destroyed.
Lobotomy
A type of psychosurgery in which the neuronal connections of the frontal lobe to lower brain areas are severed.
Psychoanalysis
A style of psychotherapy originally developed by Sigmund Freud in which the therapist helps the person gain insight into the unconscious sources of his or her problems.
Free Association
A person spontaneously describes, without editing, all thoughts, feelings, or images that come to mind.
Resistance
A person’s unwillingness to discuss a particular topic during therapy.
Manifest Content
Freud’s term for the literal surface meaning of a dream.
Latent Content
Freud’s term for the underlying true meaning of a dream.
Transference
A person undergoing therapy acts towards the therapist as he or she did toward important figures in his or her life, such as his or her parents.
Client-Centered Therapy
A style of psychotherapy developed by Carl Rogers in which the therapist uses unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy to help the person gain insight into his or her true self-concept.
Behavioural Therapy
A style of psychotherapy in which the therapist uses the principles of classical and operant conditioning to change the person’s behaviour from maladaptive to adaptive.
Counterconditioning
A type of behavioural therapy in which a maladaptive response is replaced by an incompatible adaptive response.
Systematic Desensitization
A counterconditioning exposure therapy in which a fear response to an object or situation is replaced with a relaxation response in a series of progressively increasing fear-arousing steps.
Virtual Reality Therapy
A counterconditioning exposure therapy in which the patient is exposed in graduated steps to computer simulations of a feared object or situation.
Flooding
A counterconditioning exposure therapy in which the patient is immediately exposed to a feared object or situation.
Cognitive Therapy
A style of psychotherapy in which the therapist attempts to change the person’s thinking from maladaptive to adaptive.
Rational-Emotive Therapy
A type of cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis in which the therapist directly challenges the person’s unrealistic thoughts and beliefs to show that they are irrational.
Beck’s Cognitive Therapy
A type of cognitive therapy developed by Aaron Beck in whcih the therapist works to develop a warm relationship with the person and has the person carefully consider the evidence for his or her beliefs in order to see the errors in his or her thinking.
Spontaneous Remission
Getting better with the passage of time without receiving any therapy.
Criticisms of both Type and Trait theories
Identify but don’t explain how behaviour is caused
People are not always consistent in different situations
Traits may emerge in more familiar situations
No conception of development
Identify but don’t explain how behaviour is caused
Criticism of type/trait theory
Descriptive not explanatory
People not always consistent in different situations
Criticism of type/trait theory
Punctuality on exam days vs. regular lecture days
Traits may emerge in familiar situations
Criticism of type/trait theory
When eating dinner at home you may be talkative but at a new girlfriend’s house you may be quiet
Type and Traits
Give us a way to describe individual differences in behaviour
Can be regarded as predispositions to respond in similar situations
Psychodynamic Theory
Sigmund Freud
Id. superego, ego
Stages of psychosexual development
Sigmund Freud
Physician from Vienna, Austria
Interested in treatment of nervous disorders (hysterical blindness)
Adopted “talking cure” though which patients were able to get rid of their symptoms by talking about their problems
Hysterical Blindness
Freud
Nervous disorder
Talking Cure
Freud
Patients able to get rid of their symptoms by talking about their problems
Id, Superego, Ego
Freud
Three parts of personality
Id
Unconscious part of personality in which 2 types of instinct reside
Life instincts
Death instincts
Operates on pleasure principle
Seeks immediate satisfaction regardless of external considerations
Life instincts
Freud
Found in Id
Unconscious instincts,
(eros), reflect a source of energy (libido)
Death instincts
Freud
Found in id
Unconscious instincts
Responsible for aggression and destruction
Pleasure principle
Id
Seeks immediate satisfaction of both instincts (life and death) regardless of external considerations (society’s rules or rights of others)
Iceberg Model
Relate to Freud’s three aspects of personality
Id – all below surface
Superego – half below, half above
Ego – half below, half above
Superego
Freud
Represents values and morals
Just as relentless as Id in trying to get own way
Seeks to keep Id in check
Ego (self)
Freud
Operates on reality principle
Balances Id and Superego
Reality Principle
Mediating impulsive demands of id and restraining demands of superego with real-life demands of external world
3 personality parts working together
Mr X sexually attracted to Ms Y (id)
Mr X does not feel that he should have sex (superego)
Mr X joins a club that Ms Y is in so he can be close to her (ego)
Why is it important to prevent unconscious conflicts between the id, superego, and ego becoming conscious?
To prevent anxiety
Defense Mechanisms
Used by the ego
Stop unconscious conflicts (between id, superego, ego) becoming conscious
Denial
Projection
Rationalization
Denial
Defense mechanism
Refusal to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality
Projection
Defense mechanism
Projecting your anger onto something that can’t hurt you
Rationalization
Defense mechanism
Personality Development
Freud
Believed that personality id affected by how a child deals with changes in the focus of the id on different parts of the body as the child grows older
Psychosexual Development (Psychodynamic Theory)
Various stages
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Oral Stage
Mouth region
0-18 months old
Anal stage
Elimination then retention
(18 months – 3 years old)
Phallic stage
Sexual love towards opposite sex parent (3-6 years old)
Oedipus Complex
Family triangle of love, jealousy, and fear which is at the root of internalized morality and out of which grows the child’s identification with the parent of the same sex.
Stages of Oedipus Complex
Child seeks external object for his erotic urges
External object is mum
Dad is in the way
Fear of dad castrating him (castration anxiety)
Throws in the towel, renounces mum and identifies with dad
Why would a child seek an external object for his erotic urged during the Phallic stage of development?
He is told that masturbation is bad
What is the object of a male child’s erotic urges during the Phallic stage of development?
Mum
Who gets in the way of a male child’s erotic urges during the Phallic stage of development?
Dad
What is castration anxiety?
Male child (with erotic urges directed towards mum) fears that dad will castrate him
How is the Oedipus Complex resolved?
Boy throws in the towel (due to castration anxiety)–renounces mum and identifies with dad
Electra Complex
Phallic stage for girls
Named after Greek woman who got her brother to kill her mother.
Stages of the Electra Complex
Female decides mum castrated her (penis envy)
Hates mum, loves dad
Throws in towel, renounces dad, identifies with mum
Latency Stage
Freud
4th stage of psychosexual development
Ages 6 years to puberty
Exploring environment and developing skills
No interest in the opposite sex
What age characterizes the Latency Stage of Psychodynamic Theory?
6 years to puberty
What actions characterize the Latency Stage of psychosexual development?
Exploring the environment and developing skills
No interest in the opposite sex
First stage of Psychodynamic Theory
Oral
Second stage of Psychosexual development
Anal
Third stage of Psychodynamic Theory
Phallic
Fourth stage of Psychodynamic Theory
Latency
Fifth stage of Psychodynamic Theory
Genital
Genital Stage
Freud
Sexual – puberty
Why is there a problem if someone becomes fixated at a particular stage of Psychodynamic Theory?
May cause problems later in life
Anal fixation – problems during toilet training can lead to a compulsive, stubborn, stingy person
Criticisms of Psychodynamic Theory
Based on what he observed with emotionally disturbed ADULT patients (even though it was concerned with development)
Criticisms of Psychodynamic Theory
Constructs are ambiguous, difficult to define or test
Criticisms of Psychodynamic Theory
Offer after-the-facts explanations, not predictive
Criticisms of Psychodynamic Theory
Sexual conflicts from childhood are not the only cause of personality
Flashbulb memory
clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Encoding
processing of information into the memory system- for example, extracting meaning
Storage
retention of encoded information over time
Retrieval
process of getting information out of memory storage
Sensory memory
the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
Short-term memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing
Long-term memory
relatively permanant and limitedless storehouse of the memory system
Working memory
newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information (another name for short-term)
Recency effect
our tendency to recall best the last items in a list
Acoustic encoding
encoding of sound, especially the sound of words
Semantic encoding
encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words
Mnemonics
memory aids; like vivid imagery
Chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
Iconic memory
momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli
Echoic memory
momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; sounds can be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
Amnesia
severe loss of memory
Implicit memory
retention independent of conscious recollection
Explicit memory
memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”
Recall
measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
Recognition
measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned
Relearning
memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time
State dependent memory
tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s mood at the time of the memory
Context dependent memory
tendency to recall experiences if you are in the environment in which the memory was formed
Repression
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
Maintenance Rehearsal
The process of repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about a piece of information.
Elaborative Rehearsal
A memory technique that involves thinking about the meaning of the term to be remembered, as opposed to simply repeating the word to yourself over and over.
Primacy Effect
This is the tendency for the first items presented in a series to be remembered better or more easily, or for them to be more influential than those presented later in the series.
Episodic Memory
A category of long-term memory that involves the recollection of specific events, situations and experiences.
Decay Theory
The act of forgetting something as the memory fades with time
Memory
the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences.
Anterograde amnesia
a condition in which people lose the ability to form new memories
Retrograde amnesia
loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the past
Infantile amnesia
the inability to retrieve memories from much before age 3
10-12 seconds
How long short term memory lasts unless you do something to move to long-term
7-10
Pieces of information a typical person can hold in their short-term or working memory
Positive aspects to Freud’s thinking
Emphasis on internal conflict (no doubt that happens to ALL of us)