Course Description
Overviews the major theoretical approaches to personality development and research in the field.
Course Objectives
After completing this course, students will be able to
- Define personality
- Discuss the study of personality in terms of psychotherapy and research
- Discuss the personality differences and similarities between and among people
- Explain the biological influences on personality
- Discuss the experiential influences on personality and its development
- Discuss personality and personality development through the many perspectives, including classical psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic-social, psychosocial, interpersonal, trait, earning, cognitive social, biological, and humanistic
- Differentiate among the theorists behind the development and modification of these perspectives
- Discuss the major strengths, weaknesses, contributions to, and criticisms of the various perspectives, models, and theories of personality
Week 1
Lecture: Course Introduction and Welcome
Lecture: Introduction to Personality Theory
Outcomes
- Explain the study of personality in terms of psychotherapy and research
- Define personality
- Understand the personality differences and similarities between and among people
- Explain the biological influences on personality
- Discuss the experiential influences on personality and its development
- Discuss personality and personality development through the many perspectives, including classical psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic-social, psychosocial, interpersonal, trait, learning, cognitive social, biological, and humanistic
- Differentiate among the theorists behind the development and modification of these perspectives
Week 2
Lecture: Freud's Theory
Lecture: Carl Jung’s Theory
- Differentiate between Freud’s concepts of conscious and unconscious
- Explain the key elements of Freud’s theory
- Describe the effects of unconscious motivation
- Discuss his ideas on the structures of the personality, intrapsychic conflict, personality development and psychoanalytic treatment
- Discuss the underlying theory of psychoanalysis
- Describe Jung’s theory of personality and explain his concept of the structure of personality
- Discuss key elements of his theory including the Psyche, the Self, the Ego, the Persona, the Shadow, the Animal, and the Animus
- Explain the concept of personal unconscious
- Describe the collective unconscious
- Discuss symbolism
- Explain Freud's ideas on effective therapy
- Describe psychological types, their measurement, and their application
Week 3
Lecture: Individual Psychology: Alfred Adler
Lecture: Psychosocial Development: Erik Erikson
Lecture: Cultural and Interpersonal Factors: Karen Danielson Horney
Outcomes
- Examine the styles of life as proposed by individual psychology
- Discuss the influence of family constellation
- Describe how social interest influences personality development
- Discuss the three tasks of life as proposed by Individual Psychology
- Explain the applicability of individual psychology
- Discuss the eight psychosocial stages of the life as proposed by Erikson
- Describe the crises associated with the psychosocial stages
- Compare Horney’s psychoanalytic theory to that of Freud’s
- Describe Horney’s interpersonal orientations
- Discuss neurotic orientations and the parental role
- Compare neurotic to healthy orientations
- Discuss the strategies used to adjust to anxiety
- Describe Horney’s therapeutic approach
Week 4
Lecture: Personological Trait Theory: Gordon Allport
Lecture: Factor Analytic Trait Theory: Raymond Cattell
Lecture: Evolution and Temperament: Biological Theories
Outcomes
- Explain Allport’s Trait Theory
- Contrast his ideas with those of psychoanalysis
- Define personality in light of his theory
- Discuss personality and traits in terms of consistency and variability
- Discuss the application of Trait Theory
- Describe Cattell’s Factor Analytic Theory
- Discuss the model Cattell proposed to measure personality
- Provide examples of the applicability of Cattell’s model
- Explain personality from an evolutionary perspective
- Describe how genes contribute to personality
- Discuss the interaction between our genes and our environment
- Identify specific areas of the brain relevant to personality
Week 5
Lecture: Behaviorism: B. F. Skinner
Lecture: Psychoanalytic Learning Theory
Outcomes
- Discuss the goal of behaviorism
- Identify the major theorists in the development of behaviorism
- Outline Skinnerian principles
- Discuss the application of Skinnerian Psychology
- Identify the contributions of behaviorism to personality theory
- Discuss Psychoanalytic Learning Theory as set forth by Dollard and Miller
- Explain how learning theory can be applied to psychoanalytic theory
- Outline key components of psychoanalytic learning theory
- Evaluate psychoanalytic learning theory’s contributions to the study of personality theory
Week 6
Lecture: Cognitive Social Learning Theory: Mischel and Bandura
Lecture: Personal Construct Theory: Kelly
Outcomes
- Discuss the Cognitive Social Learning Theory
- Explain Mischel’s ideas
- Describe Social Learning Theory from the perspective of Bandura
- Describe key elements of Bandurian Theory including reciprocal determinism, perceived self-efficacy, and observational learning
- Explain how these key elements contribute to the development of personality
- Explain Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory
- Discuss the key elements of Kelly’s theory
- Evaluate Kelly’s theory in terms of limitations and contributions
Week 7
Lecture: Person- Centered Theory: Rogers
Lecture: Self-Actualization Theory: Abraham Maslow
Outcomes
- Discuss Carl Rogers and his Person-Centered Theory
- Discuss some key figures in the development of the Humanistic Perspective
- Describe key elements of Rogerian Theory
- Discuss the ideas Rogers proposed with regard to the basic nature of humans
- Explain his vision of the structure of personality
- Describe his model for effective therapeutic intervention
- Evaluate Rogers’s theory in terms of limitations and contributions
- Discuss Maslow’s Self-Actualization Theory
- Describe the key elements of Maslow’s theory
- Discuss key elements of Maslow’s theory
- Explain the ideas Maslow proposed to explain the basic nature of humans
- Explain Maslow’s vision of the structure of personality
- Describe his model for effective therapeutic intervention
- Evaluate Maslow’s theory in terms of limitations and contributions
Week 8
Lecture: Conclusion
Outcomes
- Generally discuss the dominant theories of personality
- Address the different personality issues of the past and present, from different theoretical perspectives
- Discuss the status of personality theory today
- Discuss the merits of eclecticism
- Differentiate eclecticism vs. pluralism
The course description, objectives and learning outcomes are subject to change without notice based on enhancements made to the course. November 2013