ROTTER'S EXPECTANCY- REINFORCEMENT VALUE MODEL CHAPTER 16 ROTTER'S EXPECTANCY- REINFORCEMENT VALUE MODEL

Social-learning Approach to Personality Four Major Concepts behavior potential - probability that a particular behavior will occur, as a function of the persons expectancies and the perceived value of the reinforcer secured by the behavior in a given situation. expectancy - cognition or belief about the property of some object or event. reinforcement value - importance of a given reinforcer to an individual in relation to other reinforcers, if the probabilities of attaining all of them are equal. psychological situation - meaning of the situation as it is defined by the person.

Social-learning Approach to Personality (cont.) Two Derivative Concepts freedom of movement - individuals expectancy that his or her behaviors will generally lead to success (high freedom of movement) or failure (low freedom of movement) in a given life area. minimal goal - dividing point between those outcomes that produce feelings of satisfaction and those that produce dissatisfaction.

Personality Development Not a stage theory; developmental process involves the acquisition and modification of expectancies and reinforcement values through contact with various socialization agents (e.g., parents, siblings, friends, teachers).

Therapeutic Assessment Techniques Major procedures Laboratory studies Clinical interview Projective tests Controlled behavioral tests Behavioral observation methods Personality questionnaires internal vs. external control of reinforcement - individuals belief that his or her behavior is self-determined (internal control) or determined by outside factors (external control). research with I/E Scale

Theory's Implications for Therapy Maladjusted People - those who behave in ways that society considers destructive; therapists need to help them change expectancies and reinforcement values that do not work. must learn a set of realistic expectancies must learn a set of realistic reinforcers must learn to discriminate between those situations that are likely to lead to behaviors that are appropriate and those likely to lead to behaviors that are inappropriate. must learn to eliminate behaviors that are undesirable and to learn those that are desirable.

Evaluative Comments Comprehensiveness - broad in scope. Precision and Testability - precise and testable. Parsimony - quite parsimonious. Empirical Validity - strong empirical support for the locus of control construct; rest of the theory remains untested. Heuristic Value - theory is stimulating to scholars in many areas, including learning theory, psychopathology, psychotherapy, personality development, and social psychology. Applied Value - strong applied value.