PSY 251: Review Sheet for Exam 4
Remember: Think conceptually. Don’t merely know the definitions. Don’t just study the description of a term or a theory and not spend time thinking about what it means, how it can be applied to everyday life, how it might compare or contrast with other terms or theories. Within a theory, compare and contrast each stage to the stages before and/or after it. Then compare theories—both in terms of their overall purpose and pattern and stage by stage: How might one stage in one theory be compatible with a similar-age stage in another theory? Be able to apply theories to situations: Know the main ideas well enough to identify them if you’re given an example of them. Use both the class notes and the readings, but use the class notes as your primary source.
Life Stories and Identity
What is a personal identity? What does it do/instill?
Why are narratives so important in the formation of personal identity?
What is meant by the idea that people construct, reconstruct, and co-construct life stories?
Narrative tone: What is it? What are kinds of narrative tones?
Imagery: What is it?
Theme: What is it? What are two dominant themes (know some of the particular kinds of each theme as well)? How do themes relate to characters? How do themes relate to meaning-making?
Ideology: What is it? What do they do for a character in a life story? How are they used differently in adolescents’ versus adults’ life stories?
Character: What is it? The role of multiple selves
Imago: What is it? How relate to cultural roles and ideals? How relate to themes (know a couple of examples)? How do imagoes help people create meaning in their life stories?
Life stories across adulthood: How are life stories different at different periods?
Higher Stages of Cognitive Development
Labouvie-Vief’s theory of cognitive development in adolescence and adulthood
Perry’s theory of cognitive development in adolescence and adulthood
Simple v. complex relativistic thinking
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
What is moral reasoning?
The levels and stages of moral reasoning; be able to recognize examples of each level
What makes the later/higher stages more advanced? (i.e., why are they higher?)
How do the levels relate to higher stages of cognitive development and to stages of ego development?
Criticism: What is the justice v. care debate? What does the research say about it? (notes & text)
Ego Development
What is ego development?
What do higher stages indicate?
How is ego development measured, generally speaking?
What does ego development correlate with?
Does ego development relate to well-being and psychological health?
The stages: Start by knowing self-protective, conformist, conscientious, and autonomous; think of the self-aware and individuated stages as involving elements of the stages above and below them, as indicated in the notes
How the integrated stage relates to self-actualization
Self-Actualization
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Why do these needs fit a hierarchical model?
The qualities of self-actualization
Self-actualization and the subjective interpretation of growth
What are peak experiences, and how are they related to self-actualization?
Flow
What is flow? What are the experiences of flow?
What conditions produce flow?
In what kinds of activities does flow emerge?
Why doesn’t flow happen more often?
What is the autotelic personality? How does such a person think about or focus on everyday activities? Compare to Loevinger’s autonomous and integrated stages and to Maslow’s self-actualization