| Term | Definition |
| psychological triad | The three essential topics of psychology: how people think,
how they feel, and how they behave. |
| personality psychology | addresses how people feel, think, and behave |
| basic approach | A theoretical view of personality that focuses on some
phenomena and ignores others. The basic approaches are
trait, biological, psychoanalytic, phenomenological, learning,
and cognitive (the last two being closely related). |
| trait approach | The theoretical view of personality that focuses on individual
differences in personality and behavior, and the psychological
processes behind them. |
| biological approach | The view of personality that focuses on the way behavior and
personality are influenced by neuroanatomy, biochemistry,
genetics, and evolution. |
| psychoanalytic approach | The theoretical view of personality, based on the writings of
Sigmund Freud, that emphasizes the unconscious processes
of the mind. |
| phenomenological approach | The theoretical view of personality that emphasizes
experience, free will, and the meaning of life. Closely related
to humanistic psychology and existentialism. |
| learning approach | The theoretical view that focuses on how behavior changes
as a function of rewards and punishments; also called
behaviorism. |
| Funder's First Law | Great strengths are usually great weaknesses, and
surprisingly often the opposite is true as well. |
| humanistic psychology | The approach to personality that emphasizes aspects of
psychology that are distinctly human. Closely related to the
phenomenological approach and existentialism. |
