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Behavioral/Learning Theories

Personality Psychology. Behavioral/Learning Theories. Behavioral/ Learning Theories. Our responses and behaviors which constitute personality are learned We learn to maximize rewards, avoid punishment

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Behavioral/Learning Theories

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  1. Personality Psychology Behavioral/Learning Theories

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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

  7. Classical Conditioning • Pair • NS • UCS • CS • CR • UCR

  8. 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.

  9. 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

  10. John B. Watson’s Views on Personality • Watson believed that personality is the result of habit systems: 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

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. Figure 6.10 Skinner box and cumulative recorder

  15. Reinforcement and Punishment • Increasing a response: • Positive reinforcement = • Presentation of something pleasant • Negative reinforcement = • Removal of something unpleasant • Escape learning • Avoidance learning • Decreasing a response: • Punishment • Problems with punishment

  16. Schedules of Reinforcement • Continuous reinforcement • Intermittent (partial) reinforcement • Ratio schedules • Fixed • Variable • Interval schedules • Fixed • Variable

  17. Physiologically Based Dimensions of Personality • Extraversion-Introversion • Sensitivity to Reward and Punishment • Sensation Seeking • Neurotransmitters and Personality

  18. 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

  19. Extraversion-Introversion Eysenck’s theory • Introverts have a higher level than extraverts of activity in the brain’s ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) • People strive to keep ARAS activity at optimal level—introverts work to decrease and avoid stimulation; extraverts work to increase and seek out stimulation

  20. Extraversion-Introversion Eysenck’s 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

  21. Extraversion-Introversion Eysenck’s 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

  22. Extraversion-Introversion Eysenck’s theory • Introverts and extraverts perform task best under their chosen stimulation level, poor when performing under a stimulation level chosen by other group

  23. 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

  24. 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

  25. Sensitivity to Reward and Punishment • Integration with Eysenck’s 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 reward—supported by research

  26. Sensation Seeking • Tendency to seek out thrilling, exciting activities, take risks, avoid boredom • Early sensory deprivation research • Hebb’s theory of optimal level of arousal

  27. Sensation Seeking • Zuckerman: High sensation seekers are less tolerant of sensory deprivation; require much stimulation to get to optimal level of arousal • Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale • Moderate positive correlation between extraversion and sensation seeking

  28. Sensation Seeking • Physiological basis for sensation seeking • Neurotransmitters—chemicals 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

  29. 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

  30. Neurotransmitters and Personality • Dopamine—associated with pleasure • Serotonin—associated with depression and other mood disorders • Norepinepherine—associated with fight or flight response

  31. Neurotransmitters and Personality Cloninger’s Tridimensional Personality Model • Novelty seeking—low levels of dopamine • Harm avoidance—low levels of serotonin • Reward dependence—low levels of norephinepherine

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