1. Psychology 3051 Psychology 305A: Theories of Personality Lecture 15 1

2. Psychology 3052 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? 2 The Learning Perspective

3. By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 3. distinguish between and generate examples of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment. 3 1. discuss the three principles of the behaviourist view. 2. describe the process of classical conditioning. 3

4. 5. describe Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality. 4 4 4. compare the early behaviourist view with contemporary social-cognitive learning theories of personality.

5. Psychology 3055 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. 5

6. Psychology 3056 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.” 6

7. Psychology 3057 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.” 7

8. Psychology 3058 2. Personality is the sum of observable behaviour. Thus, 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. 8

9. Psychology 3059 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.” 9

10. Psychology 30510 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: 10

11. Psychology 30511 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. 11

12. Psychology 30512 USUR Reflexive CSCR Learned Repeatedly paired Highly similar  Basic process: 12

13. Psychology 30513  Example: In experiments with dogs, Pavlov repeatedly paired the presentation of food with the ringing of a bell. After several pairings, the bell was able to induce salivation in the dogs in the absence of any food. US: FoodUR: Salivation CS: Ringing of a bellCR: Salivation What are the US, UR, CS, and CR in Pavlov’s experiments? 13

14. Psychology 30514 FoodSalivation Reflexive Ringing of Bell Salivation Learned Repeatedly paired Highly similar 14

15. Psychology 30515 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. 15

16. Psychology 30516 (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. 16

17. Psychology 30517  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. 17

18. Psychology 30518  Example: 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 they did little else. Food Is this an example of PR or NR? What is the reinforcement in these experiments? PR 18

19. Psychology 30519 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 classical conditioning and operant conditioning. 19

20. Psychology 30520 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. 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. 20

21. Psychology 30521 Collectively, contemporary learning theories are referred to as social-cognitive learning theories. Accordingly, contemporary learning theorists have elaborated upon conditioning processes, placing greater emphasis on mental processes and the social aspects of learning. 21

22. Psychology 30522 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 22

23. Psychology 30523  Dollard and Miller argued that learning occurs when there is a change in the order of responses in a habit hierarchy.  According to their theory, each person has unique habit hierarchies, and these unique habit hierarchies account for individual differences in personality. 23

24. Psychology 30524 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? 24 The Learning Perspective