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EXAM 4
Personality
Sigmund Freud 1856- Went to medical school Specialized in nervous disorders o Conversion disorder – converting psychological to physical disorders Most well known Developed comprehensive theory of personality o Unconscious mind, psychosexual, defense mechanisms A reservoir (unconscious mind) of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever same to their mind (FREE ASSOCIATION) to tap the unconscious Dream analysis Method to analyze unconscious mind through interpreting the manifest and latent contents of dreams Psychoanalysis Process of free association led to painful, embarrassing unconscious memories. Patients feel better after release (catharsis) Model of the Mind Iceberg – mostly hidden below the surface is the unconscious mind; the preconscious stores temporary memories Personality Structure Personality develops as a result of our efforts to resolve conflicts between our biological impulses (ID) and social restraints ( SUPER EGO) o Id – most primitive part; drives and impulses seeking immediate gratification Operates on the pleasure principle without regard to what society says o Ego – trying to find balance between biological drives and demands of society o Super Ego – has moral standards internalized by parents and culture; provides standards for judgments and for future aspirations Libido – basic sex drive Believed the libidinal drive developed through changing “objects” throughout the lifespan Personality is formed during life’s first few years divided into psychosexual stages. During stages the id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on pleasure sensitive body areas called erogenous zones
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages Oral (0-18 mo) o Pleasure centers on mouth – sucking/biting/chewing Anal (18-36 mo) o Bowel and bladder elimination, coping with demands for control Phallic (3-6yrs) o Genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings Latency (6-puberty) o Dormant sexual feelings Genital (puberty on) o Maturation of sexual interest Oedipus Complex Boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father Electra Complex Girl’s desire for father Terms Castration anxiety – little boy fearing his father will castrate him in retaliation for desire for his mother Penis envy – girls want a penis Identification Children cope with threatening feelings by repressing them and by identifying with the rival parent. Through this process of identification their super ego gains strength incorporating parents’ value Defense Mechanisms Strategies for transforming unacceptable desires thoughts and feelings into something more acceptable o Regression o Denial o Displacement o Rationalization o Intellect o Projection – protruding one’s desires to someone else o Reaction formation – adopting behaviors opposite of your true feelings o Identification
o Intuition vs. Sensing N= value imagination S= practical/realist o Thinking vs. Feeling T= logic F= emotional/ like to please people o Judging vs. Perceiving J= work first play later P= open options Exploring Traits Factor Analysis is a statistical approach used to describe and relate personality traits ( Raymond & Cattell) o Used to develop the 16 personality factor 16PF inventory Factor Analysis Cattell found that large groups of traits could be reduced down to 16 core personality traits based on statistical correlations Personality Dimensions Hans & Sybel Eysenck suggested that personality could be reduced down to 2 polar dimensions, extraversion – introversion and emotional stability – instability Assessing Traits Personality inventories are questionnaires designed to gauge a wide ride of feelings and behaviors assessing several traits at once (true/false and agree/disagree) MMPI Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests originally developed to identify emotional disorders o Developed by empirically testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminated between diagnostic groups The Big 5 Factors Eysenck’s are too narrow and Cattell’s 16PF too large so a middle range (5 factors) is better o Conscientiousness – organized, Careful, Disciplined o Agreeableness – Soft-hearted, trusting, helpful o Neuroticism – calm, secure, self-satisfying (LOW) o Openness – imaginative, preference for variety, independent
o Extraversion – sociable, fun loving, affectionate Quite stable in adulthood Heritable 50% for each trait Common across cultures Able to predict other personal attributes Day 3 Stress – “The process by which we appraise and cope with environmental threats and challenges” What’s good about stress? o Motivates us to get things done o Mobilize the immune system for fending off infection and healing wounds o Positive benefit finding o Adversity can encourage growth Yerkes-Dodson Law o Too much/too little stress affects performance What’s bad about stress? o Prolonged stress can harm us o Severe child abuse may lead to chronic disease o Impact on circulatory, digestive, respiratory systems and infectious disease Why are psychosocial issues important? o Stress o Depression o Healing o Social support General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye) o Body doesn’t differentiate between the type of stress 1 st^ – alarm reaction (mobilize resources) 2 nd^ – resistance (cope) 3 rd^ – exhaustion (reserves depleted) Fight or Flight Response o Release of epinephrine and norepinephrine o Increased heart rate o Increased respiration o Diverts blood from digestion to skeletal muscles o Dulls pain o Releases sugar and fat stores What makes a situation most stressful? o Uncontrollable o Unpredictable o Change
o “No student healed as rapidly during this stressful period as during vacation” o Kiecolt-Glaser et al ( 1998) Telomeres o Examined the DNA of women who suffered enduring stress as caregivers for children with serious disorders o Telomeres became too short and the cells no longer divided o Most stressed women had cells that looked 10yrs older than their chronological age Pessimism and Heart Disease o Pessimistic adult men are twice as likely to develop heart disease over a 10yr period Pennebaker, Kiecolt – Glaser and Glaser (1988) o 50 healthy under graduates o Assigned to write about superficial topics or traumatic experiences for 4 days o Six weeks later: Trauma group reported more positive moods and fewer illnesses Improved measures of cellular immune system function Fewer visits to health center o Follow up studies: 60 holocaust survivors Low, mid, or high level disclosers High and mid level were healthy after a year 63 laid-off professionals Write out feelings or plans for the day 5 days of 30 minute writing sessions Participants writing about losing jobs were more likely to find new ones Asthma and rheumatoid Arthritis Self-blame o Individuals with chronic illnesses with high lifestyle involvement (heart attack, stroke) are rated as coping better than chance blaming o Low lifestyle involvement (arthritis, cancer) self blamers were rated as more depressed/ needing counseling o Importance of accurate attributions o Self blamers pattern for disease unrelated events = worse reported physical disability Day 4 Abnormal Behavior: Patterns of emotion, thought, and action considered pathological (diseased or disorder) Statistical infrequency Disability or dysfunction Personal distress Violation of norms o Violation of cultural expectations or gender roles
o Unusualness of the behavior o Discomfort of the person exhibiting the behavior o Presence of mental illness o Maladaptiveness of the behavior DMS –IV o Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders o Current version = DMS – IV – TR o Specifies criteria for diagnosis o Determines who treated for what o Determines insurance benefits o Has tremendous power Multiaxial System of Diagnosis o 5 axis system in the DSM o Do not need a diagnosis in every category o Multiple diagnosis are possible on each axis o Attempt to get well rounded picture of each person o Can defer diagnosis on an axis, e.g. controversial axis 2 = personality disorders Axis 1 = clinical disorders Anxiety; mood; substance related Axis 2 = personality/developmental disorders Paranoid personality; antisocial; narcissistic Axis 3 = relevant physical disorders Infectious and parasitic; endocrine; nutritional Axis 4 = psychosocial and environmental problems Educational/occupational/support group Axis 5 = Global assessment of functioning 100 = superior functioning 10 = danger of hurting self/others Critiques o Inferred from limited information (observation and self report) o Labels can be inaccurate and persistent o Self-fulfilling prophecy o Some symptoms described in DSM are vague/subjective o Stigma o Describes only part of someone o Not always good date for existence of a diagnostic category o Lines are arbitrary o Doesn’t consider strengths o Gender and cultural bias o Differences in data gathering among therapists Benefits
o Growth rather curing o Client rather than patient o Ex: reflection, restatement, open questions using active listening Therapy: Behavioral o Help clients extinguish unwanted behaviors or teach clients new, desired behaviors, w/techniques such as systematic desensitization and response shaping Ex: Smoking; exercise more Therapy: Cognitive o Help clients change maladaptive thinking patterns by challenging irrational thoughts and learning new skills Counter Conditioning o A behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on classical conditioning and includes exposure therapy and aversive conditioning Group therapy Couples therapy Family therapy Self-help groups (AA meetings) Common Factors o Positive relationship w/therapist o Explanation for symptoms o Confrontation of negative emotions o Dodo bird hypothesis: “Everybody has won and all must have prizes” Drug Treatments o Antipsychotics Reduce symptoms of psychosis (loss of reality testing, hallucinations, delusions) Thorazine & Haldol – not much energy; shuffling around Clozaril (Atypical antipsychotic) Other common atypical antipsychotics used today: Risperdone; Seroquel o Antidepressants Reduce symptoms of depression (sadness, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances) Monomine oxidase inhibitors Fatal interactions Trycyclic Strong side effects Not as common, but still used Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor 1986 prozac introduced Fast growth rates Norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors (Wellbutrin) Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI’S) (Cymbalta)
Problems Side effects Time to start the effects Risk of suicidality Mood Stabilizers o Reduce symptoms of mania (agitation, excitement, grandiosity) o Lithuim, Depakote, Lanicatal Anti-Anxiety Drugs o Benzodiazipines (Xanax, Ativan, Valium, Klonopin) o Barbiturates (Nembutal) o Nonbenzodiazipines (Buspar) o Herbal treatments Most therapists would claim to be “ecleptic” o Drawing on several areas
