Essay on Psychology Definitions

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Psychology 121 – Test Two

Personality – An individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking and feeling
(Characteristics) – honesty, anxiousness, moodiness, etc
Measuring Personality: Can be classified into 1) Personality Inventories
Self-Report – A series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately describe their own behavior or mental state
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) – A well-researched clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems
2) Projective Techniques
Rorschach Ink Blot Test – Test takers are shown a card with ink on it, and asked “what might this be?” What they see, where they see it and why it looks that way are assumed to reflect unconscious aspects of their personality interpretations of the meanings of inkblots are analyzed to identify a respondents inner feelings and interpret their personality structure
TAT – Respondents reveal underlying motives, concerns and the way they view the world through stories they make up about pictures of people Trait – A relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way
Explanations - The trait may be a pre-existing disposition, or it may be a motivation.
Cattell - Proposed a 16 factor theory of personality
Eysenck - Had a model of personality with 2 major traits, this model later had 3 traits
Murray – Personality Traits: originator of the TAT, suggests traits reflect motives

Hierarchical Structure of Traits (The Big Five) – the traits of the five factor model: consciousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience and extraversion

The Big Five Factor Model
Conscientiousness
Organized ……………………………… Disorganized
Careful ……………………………………………. Careless
Self-Disciplined ………………………. Weak-Willed
Agreeableness
Soft-hearted …………………………………… Ruthless
Trusting ………………………………………. Suspicious
Helpful …………………………………. Uncooperative
Neuroticism
Worried ……………………………………………….. Calm
Insecure ……………………………………………. Secure
Self-Pitying ……………………………… Self-Satisfied
Openness to Experience
Imaginative ………………………… Down-To-Earth
Variety …………………………………………….. Routine
Independent ……………………………. Conforming
Extraversion
Social ……………………………………………….. Retiring
Fun Loving …………………………………………. Sober
Affectionate ………………………………….. Reserved

Genetics/Environment – Connection between traits and the workings of the brain (Eysenck)
Identical twins are more similar to each other in personality than fraternal twins (the more genes you share with someone, the more similar personalities will be)
A shared environment has little to do with it
Gosling – Used personality scales to rate the different hyenas in a group, 3 resembled the Big 5 traits:
Neuroticism (fearfulness, emotional reactivity), Openness to Experience (curiosity) and Agreeableness (absence of aggression)
-studied guppies and octopi (studies whether it ate in the safety of its den, or ventured out to eat) – displayed: Extraversion and Neuroticism
-differences in personality reflect alternative adaptations that species have evolved to deal with the challenges of survival and reproduction.
Extraverts – Crave social interaction to achieve full mental stimulation (reticular formation not easily stimulated)
Introverts – Avoid these situations because they are so sensitive that such stimulation is unpleasant
Freud – Looked for personality in the details (thought & behavior)
Psychoanalysis, referred to his theory of personality and method of treating patients
Psychodynamic approach – Personality is formed by needs, strivings, and desires, largely operating outside of awareness, motives that can produce emotional disorders.
Mind is composed of 3 systems: ID (contains drives (sexual & aggression) present at birth, bodily needs, wants, desires and impulses) EGO (the component of personality, developed
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