A comprehensive study guide for Exam 5: Clinical Module of the course General Psychology (PSYC 111), taught by Dr. Brittany Race, offered at SUNY Binghamton. This study guide covers the exam's important notes, vocabulary, etc.. Also includes review questions and answers.
states & traits:
- states = temporary components to your personality (e.g. frustration, sleepiness);
- traits = consistent characteristics/aspects of your personality that are shown
across time and interactions with people (most personalities are focused on
traits)
free association: common technique in Freud’s era to access personality, encourage to
just talk to have a stream of consciousness (as soon as thoughts come to your head
you say it), therapist would look at those thoughts and try to find consistency
self-concept: thoughts and feelings that are tied to “who am I?”; the most influential
aspect in modern psychology
individualism: trusting yourself, true to yourself, acting on info you gain about your
self-concept
person-situation controversy: goes back to “nature vs. nurture”, “who/what is having
more influence, person or situation?” (it’s a controversy b/c there’s no good answer
depending on what the question is)
narcissism: trait marked by sense of importance/entitlement; narcissists tend to be
well-liked during first meetings b/c we really just see confidence, that liking tends to
decrease as you deepen the relationship
PSEUDO PSYCHOLOGY - seems scientific but is based on no actual science
physiognomy: you can tell one’s personality based on physical appearance/features
(e.g. tall = introverted, short = goal-oriented)
phrenology: based on divets and bumps of your skull you have different traits
four humors: four fluids in your body, based on proportion of fluids you have different
personalities (blood, yellow bio, black bio, phlegm)
, - excess blood = happy, excess yellow = aggressive, excess black = depress,
excess phlegm = specific
FREUD’S IDEAS - think of a giant iceberg
unconscious: stuff outside of our conscious and inaccessible (ice deep below water
level)
preconscious: stuff outside of our conscious but is easily accessible (ice just below
water level)
conscious: stuff that we can easily access/on our minds (ice above water level)
*Freud thought how we react is largely linked to our unconscious mind
ID: part of yourself that just cares about what you want, “devil on your shoulder” (chaotic
evil)
- fully in the unconscious, suppressed
ego: middle and neutral, part that is interacting with the daily world (neutral)
- split across all three parts of the “iceberg”
superego: “conservative angel on your shoulder”, only care about morality and social
norms (lawful evil)
- upper levels, conscious & preconscious
FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL - not resolving something in your childhood can result in
change in personality in adulthood
oral
- 0-18 months
- eating and sucking to soothe
- depending on how the child dealt with that, the personality is changed
anal
- 18-36 months
- fixation on the bowel, toilet training
- depending on toilet training, there’s a difference in personality
, phallic
- 3-6 years
- when a child understands the difference between genitals and sexes
- boy = kill father, sleep with mother (oedipal complex) ; girl = kill mother, sleep
with father (electra complex)
latency
- 6-puberty
- suppress sexual thoughts, where the superego starts to develop
genital
- puberty onward
- start to act on sexual desires, creating romantic relationships
FREUD’S DEFENSE MECHANISM - ways ego protects itself from the harsh reality
regression: retreated to an earlier psychosexual stage (being an adult was too hard,
people would regress to the previous psychosexual stage where they thought things
would be a little easier)
- e.g. an overwhelmed child may revert to bedwetting or thumb-sucking
denial: flat-out refusing reality
- e.g. after the unexpected death of a loved one, a person might refuse to accept
the reality of the death and deny that anything has happened
projection: project the thoughts that you find unacceptable to others
- e.g. a person who's having an affair may accuse their partner of infidelity
displacement: take out negative emotions you feel towards yourself onto someone
else (usually to someone that feels safe with you, lashing out)
- e.g. a person who is angry at their boss may “take out” their anger on a family
member by shouting at them
reaction formation: you feel like thoughts and feelings you have are inappropriate,
therefore swinging to the exact opposite, sometimes to an exaggerated extent
- e.g. after a breakup, a person may publicly act as if they are happy or
unconcerned with it
rationalization: acknowledging bad thoughts, but coming up with excuses for them
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller khloros. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $11.48. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
