PSYC1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Thumb Sucking, Object Relations Theory, Dream Interpretation
26 Jun 2018
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Personality:
The unique pattern of enduring thoughts, feelings and actions that characterise a person
Psychological theory describes the structure of personality (the organisation of enduring patterns of
thought, feeling, motivation and behaviour) and the individual differences in personality (the way
people differ from one another)
Uniqueness (individual differences)
Consistency – time, situation allows prediction
Measuring personality:
- Tests/measures must meet certain scientific standards
oReliability consistent and stable
oValidity does it measure personality appropriately, does it measure the
characteristics that it says it does
- Test-retest reliability consistency over time
- Internal consistency questions reflect the overall theme
- Inter-rater reliability other people taking raters and come to same conclusion about the
behaviour being tested
- Validity does it measure the construct it claims to measure
oFace validity clear intention of what it’s measuring
oContent validity whether it measures all aspects of the topic
oCriterion validity can we use the measure to predict behaviours
oConstruct validity do the results correlate in the way we expect it to with other
measures
Convergent same results
Discriminant wouldn’t expect correlation
- Measures can be reliable but NOT valid eg. Phrenology (measuring bumps on head)
- If it’s not reliable, it cannot be valid
Psychoanalytic: Freud
Sigmund Freud developed first comprehensive theory of personality
- Unconscious and intrapsychic processes in shaping/driving behaviour. Personality has
unconscious forces and we rarely understand why we do things
- Unconscious drivings have a profound impact on our thoughts, feelings, emotions
- Early childhood experiences very important part of personality (developed by 12)
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Levels of consciousness: Topographic model
Conscious level of awareness: what you are aware of and thinking about right now. Rational, goal-
directed thoughts at the centre of awareness.
Preconscious level of awareness: not currently aware of but can bring to mind if asked (colour of
robins)
Unconscious level of awareness: bulk of psyche, instincts stored, unconscious memories that are
stored so we can’t consciously access, sometimes come out in dreams. Irrational, organised along
associative lines rather than by logic. Inaccessible because they have been repressed, kept from
consciousness to avoid emotional distress.
Conflict and ambivalence:
Ambivalence – conflicting feelings or motives. The people who teach us how to love also teach us
frustration and rage. The more motivational conflict and ambivalence, the more anxiety and
depression
Compromise formations:
The solutions people develop to maximise fulfilment of conflicting motives are called compromise
formations. People create a compromise that allows a balance of satisfaction of both motives.
Drive Model:
Two basic drives: sex (libido) and aggression. Libido is pleasure seeking, sensuality and love.
Structural model of personality
Dynamic interplay between:
Id: present at birth, basic drives and instincts, Eros (sexual/life urge) and Thanatos (aggressive/death
urge), pleasure principle, immediate gratification, dreams reflect desires of Id
Ego: lies mainly in conscious and preconscious, mediates the demands of the Id, superego and
reality, reality principle
Superego: rules of parents and society, learned, morality principle, should and should nots, guilt,
conflicts with Id, resides largely in unconscious, prevents you being aware of the conflict to prevent
uncomfortable feelings
Interactions of the psychic agencies:
- Ego “executive” attempts to negotiate the intrapsychic conflicts between id and superego,
and keeping conflict unconscious
- When it fails we feel anxious
- Ego reduces anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality – defence mechanisms. Ie. Disguising
id/superego desires
- Repression is the most important
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Defence mechanisms
- Sublimation: channelling unacceptable impulses into constructive/socially acceptable
activities and perhaps expressing them symbolically ie. Art
- Projection: transferring unacceptable thoughts or impulses onto others ie. The world is full
of cheats but really you are the cheat but your ego isn’t letting you see it
- Repression: preventing painful or dangerous thoughts or memories from entering the
conscious. Unconsciously pushing threatening memories, urges, or ideas from conscious
awareness
- Rationalisation: attempting to make actions or mistakes seem reasonable
- Reaction formation: defending against unacceptable impulses by acting opposite to them
- Displacement: deflecting an impulse from its original target to a less threatening one
- Denial: discounting the existence of threatening impulses
- Compensation: striving to make up for unconscious impulses or fears
Psychosexual development
- Personality develops as we navigate through a series of psychosexual stages, each
characterised by a conflict cantered on an erogenous zone
- Oral, anal, phallic, [latency], genital
- If conflict is not resolved during each stage, fixation can occur. Ie. Weaned too early/late
could lead to suck thumb or being sarcastic bite, overeating in adulthood
- Anal retentive/expulsive neat v messy
- Phallic Oedipus complex
Oral: 0-18 months. Dependency
- Children explore world through their mouth
- Nourishment (sucking) but also social nourishment (warmth, closeness)
- Fixations in oral stage will be clingy and dependent, exaggerated need for love and approval
- Thumb sucking, sarcasm, nail biting.
Anal: 2-3 years. Orderliness, cleanliness, control, compliance
- Conflicts with parents about compliance and defiance (toilet training)
- Fixations in anal stage maybe overly neat, orderly and punctual or the opposite and
extremely messy, stubborn and constantly late
- Conflicts with giving and receiving or about compliance
Phallic: 4-6 years. Identification with same sex parent, establishment of conscious
- Identification means making another person part of oneself, imitating their behaviour and
trying to become more like that person by adopting their values and attitudes
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The unique pattern of enduring thoughts, feelings and actions that characterise a person. Psychological theory describes the structure of personality (the organisation of enduring patterns of thought, feeling, motivation and behaviour) and the individual differences in personality (the way people differ from one another) Tests/measures must meet certain scientific standards: reliability consistent and stable, validity does it measure personality appropriately, does it measure the characteristics that it says it does. Internal consistency questions reflect the overall theme. Inter-rater reliability other people taking raters and come to same conclusion about the behaviour being tested. Measures can be reliable but not valid eg. phrenology (measuring bumps on head) If it"s not reliable, it cannot be valid. Sigmund freud developed first comprehensive theory of personality. Personality has unconscious forces and we rarely understand why we do things. Unconscious drivings have a profound impact on our thoughts, feelings, emotions. Early childhood experiences very important part of personality (developed by 12)
