Personality Psychology

Behavioral/Learning Theories

Behavioral/ Learning Theories

Our responses and behaviors which constitute personality are learned

We learn to maximize rewards, avoid punishment
Learn through association (classical conditioning) or consequences
(operant/instrumental conditioning)
Observable behavior
Testable hypotheses, experimentation
Relevance of animal models
Situational variables
The function of behaviors
Ways of altering behavior patterns

Behavioral/Learning Theories

Views individual differences in personality as the

result of learning and different environmental
experiences.

Learning the process whereby behavior changes

in response to external and situational contingencies

Ivan Pavlov

The Russian physicist Pavlov was born in 1849.

He studied pharmacology and physiology in Saint Petersburg.
Later he became a teacher on this academy. Besides teaching, he
was involved in medical research.
Pavlov was interested in the behavior of both humans and
animals, and he was especially interested in reflexes.
His biggest contribution to the field of psychology is classical
conditioning, a theory about how behavior is learned. He received
a Nobel price for his important contribution to science. Pavlov died
in 1936 in Russia.

Ivan Pavlov:
Classical Conditioning
A

type of learning in which a neutral stimulus

acquires the ability to elicit a response.

If

a neutral stimulus is paired with a non-neutral

stimulus, the organism will learn to respond to the
neutral stimulus as it does to the non-neutral
stimulus.

Classical Conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Elicits a reflexive, innate response in the absence of learning
Unconditioned response (UCR)
The reflexive, innate response to a stimulus in the absence of
learning
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Elicits a learned response after pairing a unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned response (CR)
The learned response to a conditioned stimulus

Classical Conditioning
Pair
UCS

UCR

NS
CS

CR

Classical Conditioning
Brain

circuits can be conditioned.

Pavlov

believed all subcortical activity could be

described in terms of conditioned reflexes.

For

example, emotions are conditioned reflexes

and can lead to changes in personality,
phobias, behavioral responses, etc.

John B. Watson

John B. Watson formulated radical behaviorism with a sole focus

on observable behaviors that can be measured, predicted, and
controlled.

For Watson, the environment is more important than genetics in

determining behavior.

Albert, an 11-month old boy, was conditioned to fear a white lab

rat by pairing its arrival with a loud noise, showing even emotions
can be conditioned

John B. Watsons Views on

Watson believed that personality is the result of habit systems:
Personality
repeated behaviors formed in early childhood and set by age
30.

Watson emphasized the power of the situation in releasing

habit systems

Watson believed that unconditioning bad habit systems could

result in personality change

Radical Behaviorism

Scientific explanations should depend on as few

assumptions as possible

Human behavior is subject to the same laws as

the movement of physical objects and that the
mind is an irrelevant explanation for behavior.

Human behavior is completely determined and

predictable, therefore controllable and lawful.

B. F. Skinner

Born: March 20, 1904, Susquehanna Pennsylvania.

Died: August 18, 1990, died of leukemia

Skinner received his BA in English from Hamilton College

in upstate New York. After writing for a newspaper and
some traveling, he decided to go back to school, this time
at Harvard. He got his masters in psychology in 1930 and
his doctorate in 1931, and stayed there to do research until
1936. Also in that year, he moved to Minneapolis to teach
at the University of Minnesota. There he met and soon
married Yvonne Blue. They had two daughters. In 1948, he
was invited to come to Harvard to teach.

Operant Conditioning
Consequences

of a behavior determine if the

behavior will continue.

Shaping

Reinforcing closer approximations of a desired

behavior.
Select Reinforcer
Set up continuum of the desired behaviors.

Figure

6.10 Skinner box and cumulative recorder

Reinforcement and Punishment

Increasing

Positive reinforcement =

a response:

Presentation of something pleasant

Negative reinforcement =

Removal of something unpleasant

Escape learning
Avoidance learning

Decreasing

a response:

Punishment
Problems with punishment

Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous

reinforcement
Intermittent (partial) reinforcement

Ratio schedules

Fixed
Variable

Interval schedules

Fixed
Variable

Physiologically Based
Dimensions of Personality
Extraversion-Introversion
Sensitivity

to Reward and Punishment

Sensation Seeking
Neurotransmitters and Personality

Extraversion-Introversion
Measured

by Eysenck Personality
Questionnaire (EPQ)
High extraversion: Talkative, outgoing, likes
meeting new people and going to new places,
active, bored easily, hates routine
Low extraversion: Quiet, withdrawn, prefers
being alone or with a few friends to large
crowds, prefers routines, prefers familiar to
unexpected

Extraversion-Introversion
Eysencks theory
Introverts

have a higher level than extraverts

of activity in the brains ascending reticular
activating system (ARAS)
People strive to keep ARAS activity at
optimal levelintroverts work to decrease
and avoid stimulation; extraverts work to
increase and seek out stimulation

Extraversion-Introversion
Eysencks theory
Research indicates that introverts and
extraverts are NOT at different resting levels,
but introverts ARE more reactive to moderate
levels of stimulation than extraverts
This work led Eysenck to revise his theory
the difference between introverts and
extraverts lies in arousability, not in baseline
arousal

Extraversion-Introversion
Eysencks theory
When

given a choice, extraverts prefer higher

levels of stimulation than introverts
Geen (1984): Introverts and extraverts
choose different levels of stimulation, but
equivalent in arousal under chosen
stimulation

Extraversion-Introversion
Eysencks theory
Introverts

and extraverts perform task best

under their chosen stimulation level, poor
when performing under a stimulation level
chosen by other group

Sensitivity to Reward and

Punishment
Personality

based on two hypothesized brain

systems
Behavioral Activation System (BAS):
Responsive to incentives (cues to reward)
and regulates approach behavior

Sensitivity to Reward and

Punishment
Behavioral

Inhibition System (BIS):

Responsive to cues to punishment,
frustration, uncertainty, and motivates
ceasing, inhibiting, or avoidance behavior
Active BIS produces anxiety, active BAS
produces impulsivity

Sensitivity to Reward and

Punishment
Integration

with Eysencks model: Impulsive =

high extraversion, moderate neuroticism;
Anxious = moderate introversion, high
neuroticism
According to Gray, impulsive people do not
learn well from punishment because of weak
BIS; learn better from rewardsupported by
research

Sensation Seeking
Tendency

to seek out thrilling, exciting

activities, take risks, avoid boredom
Early sensory deprivation research
Hebbs theory of optimal level of arousal

Sensation Seeking
Zuckerman:

High sensation seekers are less

tolerant of sensory deprivation; require much
stimulation to get to optimal level of arousal
Zuckermans Sensation Seeking Scale
Moderate positive correlation between
extraversion and sensation seeking

Sensation Seeking
Physiological

basis for sensation seeking

Neurotransmitterschemicals in nerve
cells are responsible for the transmission of
nerve impulse from one cell to another
Monoamine Oxidase (MAO)enzyme that
maintains a proper level of
neurotransmitters

Sensation Seeking
Physiological

basis for sensation seeking

Too little MAO = too much neurotransmitter;
too much MAO = too little neurotransmitter
High sensation seekers have low levels of
MAO, producing a need for stimulation to
reach the optimal level of arousal

Neurotransmitters and
Personality
Dopamineassociated

with pleasure
Serotoninassociated with depression and
other mood disorders
Norepinepherineassociated with fight or
flight response

Neurotransmitters and
Personality
Cloningers Tridimensional Personality
Model
Novelty

seekinglow levels of dopamine

Harm avoidancelow levels of serotonin
Reward dependencelow levels of
norephinepherine