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Definition
| An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting |
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| In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing. |
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Definition
| Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions. |
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Definition
| According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware. |
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Definition
| Contains an 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. |
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Definition
| The largely conscious, "executive" parts of the 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 being pleasure rather than pain. |
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Definition
| The part of the personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations. |
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| The childhood stages of development(oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones. |
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Definition
| According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father. |
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Definition
| The process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parent's values into their developing superegos. |
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Definition
| According to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved. |
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| In psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. |
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| Psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated. |
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Definition
| In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness. |
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Definition
| Psychoanalytic 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. |
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Definition
| Psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others. |
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Definition
| Defense mechanisms that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions. |
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Definition
| Psychoanalytic 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. |
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Definition
| Carl Jung's concept of shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history. |
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Definition
| A personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics. |
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| Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT) |
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Definition
| A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes. |
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Definition
| The most widely used prjective test, a set of ten inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots. |
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Definition
| Proposes that faith in one's world view and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death. |
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Definition
| According 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. |
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| Unconditional positive regard |
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Definition
| According to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person. |
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Definition
| All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "who am I?" |
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Definition
| A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports |
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Definition
| A 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. |
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Term
| Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) |
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Definition
| 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. |
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Definition
| A test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups. |
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| Social-cognitive perspective |
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Definition
| Views behaviors as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context. |
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Definition
| The interacting influences between personality and environmental factors |
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Definition
| Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless. |
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| External Locus of control |
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Definition
| The perception that chance or outside forces beyond one;s personal control determine one's fate. |
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| Internal locus of control |
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Definition
| The perception that one controls one's own fate. |
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Definition
| The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events. |
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Definition
| The scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. |
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Definition
| Overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as we presume a spotlight shines on us). |
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Definition
| One's feelings of high or low self-worth. |
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Definition
| A readiness to perceive oneself favorably. |
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Definition
| Deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional behavior patterns. |
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Term
| Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) |
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Definition
| A psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. |
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Definition
| The concept that diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured. When appled to psychological disorders, the medical model assumes that these mental illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy, which may include treatment in psychiatric hospital. |
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Definition
| The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition), a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders. Presently distributed in an updated "text revision" (DSM-IV-TR) |
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Definition
| Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety |
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Term
| Generalized anxiety disorder |
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Definition
| An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal. |
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Definition
| An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations. |
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Definition
| An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation. |
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| Obsessive-compulsive Disorder |
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Definition
| An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions). |
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Term
| Post-traumatic stress disorder |
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Definition
| An anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience. |
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Definition
| Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated)from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings. |
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Term
| Dissociative identity disorder (DID) |
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Definition
| A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Also called multiple personality disorder. |
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Definition
| Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning. |
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Term
| Antisocial personality disorder |
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Definition
| A personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist. |
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Definition
| Physiological disorders caused by emotional extremes. |
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Term
| Major depressive disorder |
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Definition
| A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the abscene of drugs or a medical condition, two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure inmost activities. |
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Definition
| A mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state. |
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Definition
| A mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. |
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Definition
| A group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions. |
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Definition
| False beliefs, often of persecutions or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders. |
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Definition
| An emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers from psychological difficulties. |
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Definition
| An approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy. |
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Definition
| Sigmund Freud's therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transference's-and the therapist's interpretations of them-released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight. |
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Definition
| In psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material. |
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Definition
| In psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight. |
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Definition
| In psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent) |
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Definition
| A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathetic environment to facilitate clients' growth. (Also called person-centered therapy) |
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Definition
| Empathetic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client centered therapy. |
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Definition
| Therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors. |
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Definition
| A behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on classical conditioning. Includes exposure therapy and aversive conditioning. |
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Definition
| Behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imagination or actuality) to the things they fear and avoid. |
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Term
| Systematic desensitization |
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Definition
| A type of counter-conditioning that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias. |
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| Virtual reality exposure therapy |
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Definition
| An anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking. |
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Definition
| A type of counter-conditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol) |
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Definition
| An operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats. |
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Definition
| Therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions. |
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Term
| Cognitive-behavior therapy |
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Definition
| A popular integrated therapy that combines cognitive therapy ( changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior). |
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Definition
| Therapy that treats the family as a system. Views as an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at other family members; attempts to guide family members toward positive relationships and improved communication. |
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Definition
| An emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers from psychological difficulties. |
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Term
| Regression toward the mean |
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Definition
| The tendency for extremes of unusual scores to fall back toward their average. |
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Definition
| A procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies. |
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Definition
| Prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system. |
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Definition
| The study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior. |
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Definition
| Involuntary movements of the facial muscles, tongue, and limbs; a possible neurotic side effect of long-term use of antipsychotic drugs that target D2 dopamine receptors. |
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| Electroconvulsive therapy |
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Definition
| A biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient |
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Term
| repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) |
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Definition
| The application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity. |
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Definition
| Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior. |
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Definition
| A now-rare psychsurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain. |
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Definition
| The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. |
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Definition
| Suggests how we explain someone's behavior-by crediting wither the situation or the person's disposition. |
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| Fundamental attribution error |
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Definition
| The tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of the personal disposition. |
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Definition
| Feelings, often based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects people, and events. |
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| Foot-in-the-door phenomenon |
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Definition
| The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request. |
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Term
| Cognitive dissonance theory |
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Definition
| The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two or more thoughts (cognition) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we cab reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes. |
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Definition
| Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard |
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| Normative social influence |
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Definition
| Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval. |
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| Informational social influence |
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Definition
| Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept other's opinions about reality |
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Definition
| Stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others |
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Definition
| The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable |
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Definition
| THe loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity. |
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Definition
| The enhancement of a prevailing group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group. |
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Definition
| The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. |
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Definition
| An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action. |
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Definition
| A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) beliefs about a group of people. |
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Definition
| Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members. |
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Definition
| "Us" - people with whom one shares a common identity. |
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Definition
| "Them" - those perceived as different or apart from one's ingroup. |
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Definition
| The tendency to favor one's own group. |
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Definition
| The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame. |
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Definition
| The tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get. |
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Definition
| Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy. |
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| Frustration-aggression principle |
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Definition
| The principle that frustration - the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal - creates anger, which can generate aggression. |
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Definition
| A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas. |
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Definition
| A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior. |
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Definition
| The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them |
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Definition
| An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship. |
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Definition
| The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined. |
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Definition
| a condition in which people recieve from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it. |
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Definition
| Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others. |
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Definition
| Unselfish regard for the welfare of others. |
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Definition
| The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present. |
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Definition
| The theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs. |
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Definition
| An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them. |
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| Social responsibility norm |
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Definition
| An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them. |
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Definition
| Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation. |
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Definition
| Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction - s strategy designed to decrease international tensions. |
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