Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology of 97 Humanistic Approaches- Humanistic theories emphasize the subjective experiences of the individual and thus deal with the perceptual and cognitive processes. George Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory- Addresses the manner in which people differ in their constructions of reality by their personal constructs, cognitive categories into which they sort the people and events in their lives and which they use to categorize their experiences. Carl Roger’s Theory of Self- Attaches central importance to the role of the self and an innate drive toward self-actualization. Experiences that are incongruous with the established self-concept produce threat and may result in denial or distortion of reality. Conditional positive regard may result in unrealistic conditions of worth that conflict with self-actualization, the highest realization of human potential. Roger’s theory helped stimulate a great deal of research on the self-concept, including studies on the origins of self-esteem, how positively or negatively we feel about ourselves; self-enhancement, a strong and pervasive tendency to gain and preserve a positive self-image; and self- verification, the need to confirm the self-concept, and self-concept change. Genetic Approaches- Genetic factors account for as much as half of the group variance in personality test scores, with individual experiences accounting for most of the remainder. Evolutionary theories of personality attribute some personality dispositions to genetically controlled mechanisms based on natural selection. Eysenck’s Extraversion-Stability Model- Psychologist Hans Eysenck maintained that normal personality can be understood in terms of only two basic dimensions. These dimensions of Introversion-Extraversion and Stability-Instability (sometimes as in the Big Five, called Neuroticism) blend together to form all of the more specific traits. In Eysenck’s theory, Introversion-Extraversion reflects a person’s customary level of arousal, whereas Stability-Instability represents the suddenness with which shifts in arousal occur. Temperament- Refers to the individual differences in emotional and behavioral studies that appear so early in life that they are assumed to have a biological basis. Temperament is stable during childhood and into adulthood. Inhibited children and adults appear to have highly reactive amygdales that trigger fear responses to unfamiliar people and situations. Environmental Influences- Personality is a product of interacting biological and environmental influences. Children inherit different biologies which influence how their environment, including culture, affects them. Social Learning- Gender role socialization provides us with gender schemas, organized mental structures that contain our understanding of the attributes and behaviors that are appropriate and expected for males and females. Within a given culture, gender schemas tell us what the typical man or woman should be like. Social learning theory posits that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context, and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor © 2015 Achieve Page 69