Personality Disorders Exam #1
Questions and Answers
Definition of psychodynamic theories - ANSWER-Assume that personality is
motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness and
over which they have no control (unconscious).
What is used today to understand personality disorders? - ANSWER-Ego
psychology
Object relations theory
Self psychology
ego psychology - ANSWER-Personality disorders arise from DEFICITS IN
FUNCTIONING:
- poor impulse control
- difficulty regulating affect
- lack capacity for self-reflection
object relations theory - ANSWER-Personality disorders arise from cognitive,
affective and motivational processes underlying close relationships.
Internalize attitudes of hostile, critical, or neglectful parents -> vulnerable to fears of
abandonment, self-hatred, and treating themselves how their parents treated them.
Fail to develop mature, constant, and multifaceted representations of self and others
-> emotional swings and lack of empathy for others
Difficulty forming realistic balanced views of self -> cannot weather momentary
failures
Cognitive-social theories of personality: behaviorist roots - ANSWER-Learning is the
basis of personality and personality dispositions are shaped by the consequences of
behaviors
Cognitive-social theories of personality: cognitive roots - ANSWER-The ways in
which people come to know their environment and themselves; how they perceive,
learn, think, solve problems and make decisions is central to personality
Cognitive-social accounts of personality disorders address what? - ANSWER-
Dysfunctional scheme (how we organize information) = personality disorder
Problematic expectations
Goals (setting, meeting, and adjusting goals)
Skills and competencies (I.e. social intelligence in interpersonal relationships)
Self-regulation (emotional & behavioral)
Personality traits definition - ANSWER-Emotional, cognitive, and behavioral
tendencies on which individuals vary that are relatively consistent across time and
, across situations which includes: (1) Observed tendency to behave in a particular
way; and (2) Underlying disposition that generates behavioral tendency.
●Personality disorders must be distinguished from personality traits that do not reach
the threshold for a personality disorder.
●Impairments in personality trait expression may reflect the presence of a
personality disorder.
●Only when personality traits are inflexible, maladaptive and cause functional
impairment or subjective distress do they constitute personality disorders.
Who was Gordon Allport? - ANSWER-The pioneer of trait psychology
5 Factor Model (The Big 5) - ANSWER-Openness
Conscientiousness
Extra version or positive affect (happy)
Agreeableness
Neuroticism or Negative Affect (distress)
_____ Theories of personality assume that personality is motivated by inner forces
and conflicts about which people have little awareness and over which they have no
control. - ANSWER-Psychodynamic theories
_____ Approaches to personality focus on ways in which people come to know their
environment and themselves, how they perceive, evaluate, learn, think, make
decisions, and solve problems. - ANSWER-Cognitive
Purpose of the DSM-5 - ANSWER-●Handbook used by health care professionals in
the United States and much of the world as the authoritative guide to the diagnosis
of mental disorders.
●Provides a descriptive system to diagnose and classify abnormal behavior including
personality disorders.
●Allows communication between mental health professionals and across theoretical
approaches.
●Combines the first three axes outlined in past editions of the DSM into one axis with
all mental and other medical diagnoses.
●The criteria for the 10 personality disorders in Section II of the DSM-5 have not
changed from those in DSM-IV.
What does DSM-5 stand for? - ANSWER-Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, 5th Ed.
Categorical Model - ANSWER-Classifies personality disorders using a dichotomous
approach in which an individual does or does not possess a characteristic. (DSM-5:
Section II)
Questions and Answers
Definition of psychodynamic theories - ANSWER-Assume that personality is
motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness and
over which they have no control (unconscious).
What is used today to understand personality disorders? - ANSWER-Ego
psychology
Object relations theory
Self psychology
ego psychology - ANSWER-Personality disorders arise from DEFICITS IN
FUNCTIONING:
- poor impulse control
- difficulty regulating affect
- lack capacity for self-reflection
object relations theory - ANSWER-Personality disorders arise from cognitive,
affective and motivational processes underlying close relationships.
Internalize attitudes of hostile, critical, or neglectful parents -> vulnerable to fears of
abandonment, self-hatred, and treating themselves how their parents treated them.
Fail to develop mature, constant, and multifaceted representations of self and others
-> emotional swings and lack of empathy for others
Difficulty forming realistic balanced views of self -> cannot weather momentary
failures
Cognitive-social theories of personality: behaviorist roots - ANSWER-Learning is the
basis of personality and personality dispositions are shaped by the consequences of
behaviors
Cognitive-social theories of personality: cognitive roots - ANSWER-The ways in
which people come to know their environment and themselves; how they perceive,
learn, think, solve problems and make decisions is central to personality
Cognitive-social accounts of personality disorders address what? - ANSWER-
Dysfunctional scheme (how we organize information) = personality disorder
Problematic expectations
Goals (setting, meeting, and adjusting goals)
Skills and competencies (I.e. social intelligence in interpersonal relationships)
Self-regulation (emotional & behavioral)
Personality traits definition - ANSWER-Emotional, cognitive, and behavioral
tendencies on which individuals vary that are relatively consistent across time and
, across situations which includes: (1) Observed tendency to behave in a particular
way; and (2) Underlying disposition that generates behavioral tendency.
●Personality disorders must be distinguished from personality traits that do not reach
the threshold for a personality disorder.
●Impairments in personality trait expression may reflect the presence of a
personality disorder.
●Only when personality traits are inflexible, maladaptive and cause functional
impairment or subjective distress do they constitute personality disorders.
Who was Gordon Allport? - ANSWER-The pioneer of trait psychology
5 Factor Model (The Big 5) - ANSWER-Openness
Conscientiousness
Extra version or positive affect (happy)
Agreeableness
Neuroticism or Negative Affect (distress)
_____ Theories of personality assume that personality is motivated by inner forces
and conflicts about which people have little awareness and over which they have no
control. - ANSWER-Psychodynamic theories
_____ Approaches to personality focus on ways in which people come to know their
environment and themselves, how they perceive, evaluate, learn, think, make
decisions, and solve problems. - ANSWER-Cognitive
Purpose of the DSM-5 - ANSWER-●Handbook used by health care professionals in
the United States and much of the world as the authoritative guide to the diagnosis
of mental disorders.
●Provides a descriptive system to diagnose and classify abnormal behavior including
personality disorders.
●Allows communication between mental health professionals and across theoretical
approaches.
●Combines the first three axes outlined in past editions of the DSM into one axis with
all mental and other medical diagnoses.
●The criteria for the 10 personality disorders in Section II of the DSM-5 have not
changed from those in DSM-IV.
What does DSM-5 stand for? - ANSWER-Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, 5th Ed.
Categorical Model - ANSWER-Classifies personality disorders using a dichotomous
approach in which an individual does or does not possess a characteristic. (DSM-5:
Section II)
