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

2. Psychology 3052 Announcements 1.Would you like to receive regular e-mails listing psychology studies at UBC for which participants receive reimbursement? If so, you may add your name to a mailing list at the following website: http://gsc.psych.ubc.ca/studies/paid_studies.html 2. The due date for the paper has been extended from Thursday, July 22 nd to Tuesday, July 27 th.

3. Psychology 3053 Lecture 15 Questions That Will Be Answered In Today’s Lecture Learning Perspective on Personality 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?

4. Psychology 3054 Learning Perspective on Personality, continued 3. What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? 4. What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality?

5. Psychology 3055 Learning Perspective: 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.

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.”

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.”

8. Psychology 3058 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.

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.”

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:

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.

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

13. Psychology 30513  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. US: FoodUR: Salivation CS: Ringing of a bellCR: Salivation What are the US, UR, CS, and CR in Pavlov’s experiments?

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

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.

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.

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.

18. Psychology 30518  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. Food Is this an example of PR or NR? What is the reinforcement in these experiments? PR

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 the processes of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Accordingly, this view maintained that personality is determined by environmental factors.

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. 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.

21. Psychology 30521 Collectively, the theories that contemporary learning theorists have proposed are referred to as social- cognitive learning theories. 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.

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

23. Psychology 30523  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.

24. Psychology 30524 What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory 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: of personality?

25. Psychology 30525 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.

26. Psychology 30526  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:

27. Psychology 30527 “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)

28. Psychology 30528  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.

29. Psychology 30529 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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32. Psychology 30532  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.

33. Psychology 30533 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.

34. Psychology 30534  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.

35. Psychology 30535  Bandura maintained that self-efficacy is influence 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.

36. Psychology 30536 3. Reciprocal Determinism  Suggests that human functioning is a product of the interaction of behaviour (B), person variables (P), and environmental variables (E).  Person variables include cognitions (e.g., memories, judgments, expectations) as well as physical characteristics (e.g., attractiveness, size), and social characteristics (e.g., social status).

37. Psychology 30537 B PE  Diagrammatically represented as:

38. Psychology 30538  Example of reciprocal determinism: A child is begging his father for a second cookie. The father thinks to himself “If I give him a second cookie, he will stop crying temporarily, but in the future, he will be more likely to persist until I give in to him. Therefore, I will not allow him to have another cookie.” As a result, the father tells his son that he will not give him another cookie. After a few minutes, the child stops begging for another cookie. The father evaluates his behaviour and thinks to himself “I’m a good father because I did the right thing.” With his son no longer begging for a cookie, the father takes his son to the park.

39. Psychology 30539 B P E E = Child’s behaviour P = Father’s cognitions and status B = Father’s behaviour

40. Psychology 30540 Questions That Were Answered In Today’s Lecture Learning Perspective on Personality 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?

41. Psychology 30541 Learning Perspective on Personality, continued 3. What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? 4. What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality?