PSİKOLOJİ

The psychoanalytic approach to personality emphasizes the role of early childhood experiences while behavioral approach highlights the importance of learning and conditioning.

Subjective tests refer to the interview method. The interview questions vary depending on the context; whether it is a clinical or a job interview. For instance, a clinical interview generally include, questions about present and past experiences, as well as questions aiming to assess any psychological characteristics that might contribute to the client’s present complaints. In addition, behavioral observation during the interview (i.e., general attitude, nonverbal behaviors, motivation, or insight) provides information about the personality. Subjective assessment ensures fruitful information. Still, the information is more reliable when it is supported by objective tests.

Projective Tests are different from subjective and objective measures of personality in the sense that they are specifically designed in order to assess unconscious thoughts and motives that contribute to certain behavioral patterns. Relying on the psychoanalytic theory, the tests utilize the free association technique that requires the person to look at an ambiguous source (i.e., an inkblot figure, a picture, etc.) and tell whatever comes to her/his mind. In this way, the person projects her/ his unconscious motives to the test material. Two well-known projective tests are the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the TAT.

Hans Eysenck is one of the most important theoreticians claiming that biology is the principal factor that shapes our personalities. According to Eysenck, there is a certain biological tendency in how we respond and this tendency is not acquired through experiences but rather inherited.

Aging is another important factor on personality. Studies suggested that personality remains relatively stable between similar developmental periods (i.e., from adolescence to young adulthood or from middle adulthood to late adulthood). However, the longest longitudinal study that examined the stability of certain personality characteristics over time depicted that, contrary to the popular belief, personality does change with age11. The change is slow, which might explain why it cannot be observed in shorter periods. However, when the period is longer, the cumulative impact becomes significant. Still, the influence of aging on personality cannot be understood apart from biology.

The id operates according to the pleasure principle.

Karen Horney was a German-born American psychoanalyst. She basically opposed the assumption that personality is shaped through the roles of aggressive and sexual impulses. Rather, she highlighted the effect of interpersonal relations and social factors on the development of personality. Horney basically claimed that the basic anxiety in childhood, characterized by feeling insecure and helpless, is more fundamental in personality development. The child learns to deal with this anxiety in three ways: approaching other people, moving against other people (aggression), or avoiding them.

Harry Stack Sullivan was an American psychologist. His views diverged from that of Freud’s especially in the sense that Sullivan gave a special emphasis on the role of interpersonal relations (especially the relations with significant others) in shaping one’s personality. Moreover, he suggested the term personafication: one’s mental representations of herself/himself and other people. You might think that personafication sounds more cognitive than psychoanalytic, and this is another important difference between Sullivan’s view of personality and classical psychoanalytic theory. He placed more emphasis on the conscious processes but did not completely ignore the unconscious. Sullivan proposed that there are three ways that we see ourselves: the good-me, the bad-me, and the not-me. The good-me is what we like about ourselves and what we want to show to others. Conversely, the bad-me includes what we do not like about ourselves and try to hide from others. Most of the time we are consciously aware of the good-me and the bad-me, and the anxiety that is provoked because of the bad-me. What we are not consciously aware of ourselves is the not-me; the things that we do not accept as part of ourselves. The not-me provokes so much anxiety that it is kept in the unconscious.

The best example of a variable-ratio schedule might be gambling and chance games.

The most prominent characteristic of self-actualized people is self-awareness.

Conscientiousness points out individual differences in terms of responsibility, reliability, organization, control, and meticulousness as well as goal-directed behavior and reduced impulsivity which is evident in induced risk-taking behavior. Conscientiousness further relates to the acquirement of strategies to cope with frustration coming from objects and tasks.

Subjective tests refer to the interview method. The interview questions vary depending on the context; whether it is a clinical or a job interview. For instance, a clinical interview generally include, questions about present and past experiences, as well as questions aiming to assess any psychological characteristics that might contribute to the client’s present complaints. The correct answer is A.

The free association technique that requires the person to look at an ambiguous source (i.e., an inkblot figure, a picture, etc.) and tell whatever comes to her/his mind. In this way, the person projects her/ his unconscious motives to the test material. The correct answer is B.

At the very bottom of the iceberg there is the unconscious layer, which has the largest area, meaning that the amount of information it holds is inconceivable. The unconscious holds the information that we cannot and do not want to access, such as the aggressive and sexual impulses, unacceptable thoughts, memories, and wishes as well as emotional conflicts. The unconscious is the deepest layer, as the information therein is difficult to achieve through our conscious efforts. The correct answer is D.

Superego represents moral rules, social norms and values. The correct answer is E.

When the ego uses regression as a defense mechanism, the person regresses to the childish patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. For instance, during times of physical illness, people might feel helpless and dependent, relying on others. Similarly, regression leads to receiving other people’s attention. So, the ego protects itself by pushing others to solve its own problems. However, you should keep in mind that the process is unconscious. Hence, the person does not consciously make plans or even realize that s/he is relying on others. The correct answer is A.

Suppression is the conscious attempt to hide or prevent unacceptable thoughts, feelings and motives. For instance, you are at your instructor’s office and he is scolding you for some reason. Suddenly you feel a strong urge to slam the door and leave the office. But you suppress this urge by trying to calm down. In this case you are consciously aware of your motive and your effort to deal with your motive. Remember that the defense mechanisms generally operate at the unconscious level. Suppression is an exception for this. The correct answer is C.

When the baby becomes a toddler (1-3 years of age) s/he proceeds into the Anal Stage as the libido moves from the mouth to the anus. The correct answer is B.

In the Adolescence (12 to 18 years) the mahor conflict that occurs is  "Identity vs. Role Conflict". The correct answer is E.

Self-actualization is on the top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.Maslow suggests that one cannot achieve self-actualization before meeting certain needs, which are organized in a hierarchical pyramid system: the hierarchy of needs. The correct answer is C.