AP Psychology Unit 4 Study Guide 3

An individual unconsciously pushes distressing memories or thoughts out of their conscious awareness.

An individual refuses to accept their reality, blocking external events or emotions from awareness.

An individual redirects the reaction or emotional response from one situation or person to another, less threatening target.

An individual unconsciously attributes their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses to others, essentially seeing their own flaws in someone else.

An individual justifies an uncomfortable thought or behavior to make it seem more acceptable or logical.

An individual acts in the opposite way as they feel to hide their true, unacceptable feelings.

An individual reverts back to behaviors of an early developmental stage, typically when experiencing heightened stress.

Unacceptable urges (e.g., sexual, aggressive) are re-channeled into socially acceptable, productive, and admirable activities.

A projective test where individuals interpret a series of ambiguous inkblots, revealing unconscious aspects of their personality.

A projective test where individuals create stories about ambiguous pictures, which are then analyzed for underlying motives, concerns, and ways of seeing the social world.

When an individual is motivated to strive for their full potential.

When an individual goes beyond their own self-interest to pursue something larger than oneself, such as spiritual beliefs or the greater good of society.

Explains an individual's personality and behaviors by emphasizing the role of cognition—how a person thinks about and interprets situations—and how this directly influences their personality.

Focuses on Enduring Characteristics, also known as Traits, that form a person's personality. Traits are stable, constant characteristics that can be measured and generally lead to predictable behaviors and emotional reactions.

A specialized questionnaire used to identify a person's personality traits, often measuring where they fall on specific trait dimensions (e.g., the Big Five traits).

A numerical scale used in personality inventories, allowing participants to rate their level of agreement with statements (e.g., 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).

A statistical method used to interpret results from questionnaires. It identifies clusters of related questions to determine which items measure the same underlying trait, ensuring the test is well-organized and accurately reflects a person's traits.

What pushes us to take action; consists of biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that influence an individual to act, often to fulfill primary or secondary needs.

States that behavior is often driven by the need to maintain homeostasis.

The body's way of keeping everything inside balanced, such as temperature or energy levels.

The hunger hormone. Produced by the stomach when empty, its levels increase, signaling to the brain that the body needs energy. It stimulates the hypothalamus through the pituitary gland to increase appetite.

The satiety hormone. Produced by fat cells. As leptin levels increase, the hypothalamus registers that you are full, reducing the motivation to eat.

A brain region that processes signals from hormones to help balance bodily functions. It works with the pituitary gland, which releases hormones influencing various bodily functions, including hunger and satiety.

Individuals are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal or alertness. Too little stimulation leads to boredom, while too much can lead to stress.

States that performance increases with arousal up to a certain point, after which performance decreases. The optimal level of arousal depends on the difficulty of the tasks.

Developed by Marvin Zuckerman, this describes a personality trait characterized by a need for varied, novel, complex, and intense experiences, often involving risk-taking (physical, social, legal, financial) to reach an optimal arousal level.

Focuses on innate needs that drive intrinsic motivation, including autonomy (sense of control), competence (feeling capable), and relatedness (feeling connected to others). These needs promote intrinsic growth, well-being, and effective functioning through enjoyment and personal satisfaction from within.

Believes that behavior is largely driven by external rewards or punishments. This theory states that extrinsic motivation (rewards or punishments from outside) has a larger impact on motivation.

Proposed by Kurt Lewin, this theory examines how people are motivated to resolve conflicts that create discomfort. It identifies four types of conflicts.

A complex psychological state involving a variety of physiological responses. Emotions are influenced by internal factors (bodily changes, thoughts, memories) and external factors (environmental situations, social interactions, sensory stimuli).

Posits that facial expressions can directly influence an individual's emotional experience. Muscle movements from facial expressions send information to the brain, which is then interpreted as an emotion.

States that positive emotions expand an individual's awareness, opening their mind to new ideas, while negative emotions narrow a person's focus.

Positive emotions (e.g., happiness) increase cognitive flexibility and encourage people to think creatively, broadening their perspective to include novel thoughts, activities, and relationships.

Positive emotions help construct enduring personal resources, such as social support networks, knowledge, and cognitive strategies, which individuals can use later in life to enhance health, survival, and fulfillment.

Tend to narrow a person's focus to direct attention to an immediate threat or problem, which can help find a solution quicker.

Social guidelines set by a culture that dictate when, where, and how an individual should show certain emotions.

Factors that affect how display rules are applied and expressed.

Events, situations, or stimuli that trigger an emotional response.