Transcript Slide 1

Psychology 305: Theories of Personality
Lecture 15
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Office Hour Invitations by Student Number
July 12th, 3:30-4:30, Kenny 2517
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Lecture 15
The Learning Perspective
1. What are (a) behaviourism, (b) classical conditioning,
and (c) operant conditioning?
2. Can personality development be explained by the
processes of classical conditioning and operant
conditioning?
3. What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning
theory of personality?
4. What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory of
personality?
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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:
1. discuss the three principles of the behaviourist view.
2. describe the process of classical conditioning.
3. distinguish between and generate examples of positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and
punishment.
4. compare the early behaviourist view with contemporary
social-cognitive learning theories of personality.
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5. describe Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning
theory of personality.
6. define the terms “observational learning” and “selfefficacy.”
7. distinguish between extrinsic, intrinsic, vicarious, and
self-reinforcement.
8. identify determinants of self-efficacy.
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What are (a) behaviourism, (b) classical conditioning,
and (c) operant conditioning?
• There are 3 interrelated principles associated with the
behaviourist view on personality:
1. Personality is determined by environmental factors.
Consistent with this view, John Watson, the founder
of behaviourism, maintained that a newborn baby is
a tabula rasa (i.e., blank slate) ready to be written on
by experience with the environment.
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Watson (1930) wrote:
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my
own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee
to take any one at random and train him to become any
type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist …
and yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his
talents … tendencies, vocations, and race of his
ancestors.”
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Similarly, Skinner (1983), one of the most famous
behaviourist to date, wrote:
“I do not believe that my life shows a type of personality à
la Freud, an archetypal pattern à la Jung, or a schedule of
development à la Erikson. There have been a few
abiding themes, but they can be traced to environmental
sources … [not to] … traits of character. They became a
part of my life as I lived it; they were not there at the
beginning to determine its course.”
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2. Personality is the sum of observable behaviour.
Thus, according to the behaviourist tradition,
personality does not reflect needs, motives, emotions,
cognitions, instincts, unconscious or conscious
experiences, or anything else that cannot be directly
observed.
Watson believed personality is merely the end
product of our habit systems, which are set by the
age of 30.
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3. Observation of overt behaviour is the only method
by which to assess personality.
Watson (1913) wrote:
“Psychology as the behaviourist views it is a purely
objective experimental branch of natural science. Its
… goal is the prediction and control of behaviour.
Introspection forms no essential part of its methods,
nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon
the readiness with which they lend themselves to
interpretation in terms of consciousness.”
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• Behaviourists have suggested that there are 2 learning
processes that determine behaviour and, thus,
personality:
1. Classical Conditioning
 Learning that occurs by repeatedly pairing a neutral
stimulus with a stimulus that produces a reflexive
response.
 Basic terminology:
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Unconditioned stimulus (US): The stimulus that produces
the reflexive response.
Unconditioned response (UR): The reflex that occurs
automatically in response to the US.
Conditioned stimulus (CS): The neutral stimulus that
gradually acquires the ability to produce the reflexive
response after repeatedly being paired with the US.
Conditioned response (CR): The reflexive response that
gradually occurs in response to the CS.
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 Basic process:
US
UR
Reflexive
Repeatedly
paired
Highly
similar
CS
CR
Learned
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 Example of classical conditioning: In experiments with
dogs, Pavlov repeatedly paired the presentation of food
with the ringing of a bell. He found that, after several
pairings, the bell was able to induce salivation in the
dogs in the absence of any food.
What are the US, UR, CS, and CR in Pavlov’s
experiments?
US: Food
UR: Salivation
CS: Ringing of a bell
CR: Salivation
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Food
Salivation
Reflexive
Repeatedly
paired
Ringing
of Bell
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Highly
similar
Salivation
Learned
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2. Operant Conditioning
 Learning that occurs through reinforcement.
(a) Positive reinforcement (PR): Involves the introduction
of a desired stimulus following a behaviour.
Examples: Praise, social recognition, physical
affection, food, money.
Increases the probability that a behaviour will be
repeated.
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(b) Negative reinforcement (NR): Involves the reduction
or termination of an aversive stimulus following a
behaviour.
Examples: Discontinuation of the criticism of an
overbearing boss after writing a good report,
discontinuation of the negative comments of a loved
one after weight loss.
Increases the probability that a behaviour will be
repeated.
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 NR should not be confused with punishment.
Punishment: Involves the introduction of an aversive
stimulus after a behaviour.
Examples: Spankings, time-outs, groundings.
Decreases the probability that a behaviour will be
repeated.
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 Example of operant conditioning: Skinner placed
pigeons in a “Skinner box” containing a lever and a
chute for the delivery of food. As the birds learned
that pressing the lever resulted in the delivery of food,
the rate at which they pressed the lever gradually
increased until, eventually, they did little else.
What is the reinforcement in these experiments? Food
Is this an example of PR or NR? PR
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Can personality development be explained by the processes
of classical conditioning and operant conditioning?
• Early behaviourists argued that personality is merely
the constellation of learned behaviours that are
acquired early in development through the processes of
classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
• Accordingly, this view maintained that personality is
determined by environmental factors.
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• Indeed, some early learning theorists (e.g., Skinner)
suggested that the term “personality” is superfluous
because overt behaviour can be completely understood
in terms of responses to environmental factors.
• Contemporary learning theorists, however, have argued
that this view is flawed because it discounts drives,
needs, emotions, cognitions, instincts, and other
phenomena that reflect the internal state of the
individual.
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• Accordingly, contemporary learning theorists have
elaborated upon the conditioning processes
emphasized by early behaviourists, placing greater
emphasis on the mental processes of the individual and
the social aspects of learning.
• Collectively, the theories that contemporary learning
theorists have proposed are referred to as socialcognitive learning theories.
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What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning
theory of personality?
• Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory
emphasizes 5 concepts:
1. Drive
2. Cue
3. Response
4. Reinforcement
5. Habit Hierarchy
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 Dollard and Miller maintained that learning occurs
only when there is a change in the order of
responses in a habit hierarchy.
 According to Dollard and Miller’s theory, each person
has unique habit hierarchies, and these unique habit
hierarchies account for individual differences in
personality.
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What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory
of personality?
• One of the most influential social-cognitive learning
theories today was proposed by Albert Bandura.
• Bandura’s theory of personality emphasizes 3 broad
concepts not recognized by early learning theorists:
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1. Observational Learning
 Refers to learning through the observation of models.
 Bandura maintained that, through observational
learning, people simply learn what they attend to. Thus,
he described observational learning as a perceptual
process.
 Observational learning accounts for our ability to
learn both simple and complicated behaviours.
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 Moreover, Bandura maintained that observational
learning (a) is more efficient than learning through
direct experience, (b) is the method by which most of
our learning is accomplished, and (c) has evolved
among humans because it enhances the probability of
survival:
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“If human behaviour depended solely on personally
experienced consequences, most people would not survive
the hazards of early development. Of those who managed
to outlive their mistakes, each would have to rediscover,
through tiresome trial and error, what works and what fails
in everyday transactions with their environment.
Fortunately, people are spared many hazards and much
tedium by their capacity to benefit from the experiences of
others.” (Bandura, 1986)
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 Substantial evidence has accumulated to support the
notion of observational learning.
• E.g., Bandura, Ross, & Ross (1961)
 Participants: Preschool-aged children.
 Experimental condition: One group of children observed
an adult playing aggressively with an inflatable Bobo
doll. The adult model exhibited four aggressive
behaviours, each accompanied by a distinct
verbalization.
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 Control condition: Another group of children did not
observe an adult playing aggressively with the Bobo
doll.
 Results: Children in the experimental condition were
much more aggressive towards the Bobo doll than
children in the control condition. The children in the
experimental condition tended to mimic the behaviour
of the adult model to which they had been exposed.
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 Observational learning does not require any type of
reinforcement to occur in order for the behaviour to be
learned. However, when reinforcement does occur, it
facilitates learning.
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2. Self-Efficacy
 Refers to an individual’s subjective belief about his
or her ability to successfully perform a behaviour in
a given situation. High self-efficacy entails expectations
of success, whereas low self-efficacy entails
expectations of failure.
 Self-efficacy is not a global, trait-like characteristic.
It varies from one situation to another.
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 Research has demonstrated that individuals with
high self efficacy in a given domain:
 set more challenging goals for themselves.
 persist longer in the pursuit of those goals.
 recover more quickly from setbacks.
 experience less fear, anxiety, stress and depression.
 Example: Study of leg strength in men and women as a
function of self-efficacy.
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 Bandura maintained that self-efficacy is influenced by:
 Mastery experiences (i.e., performance
accomplishments).
 Social modeling (i.e., vicarious experiences).
 Social persuasion (i.e., verbal persuasion).
 Emotional arousal (e.g., levels of fear and anxiety).
 Mastery experiences are the most important
determinant of self-efficacy.
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Lecture 15
The Learning Perspective
1. What are (a) behaviourism, (b) classical conditioning,
and (c) operant conditioning?
2. Can personality development be explained by the
processes of classical conditioning and operant
conditioning?
3. What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning
theory of personality?
4. What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory of
personality?
Psychology 305
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