Behavioral Theory of Personality
The Behavioral Theory of Personality suggests that our behavior is learned through interactions with the environment. It emphasizes the role of conditioning and reinforcement in shaping personality traits and patterns of behavior. This theory focuses on observable behaviors rather than internal mental processes, and it has been influential in understanding how individuals develop and display different personality characteristics.
7 Key excerpts on "Behavioral Theory of Personality"
eBook - ePubAn Introduction to Theories of Personality
7th Edition
- Robert B. Ewen(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Psychology Press(Publisher)
...PART IV The Behaviorist Perspective Overview Behaviorism seeks to make psychology more scientific by studying only what can be observed. It therefore redefines psychology as the study of overt behavior. Behaviorism eliminates from consideration virtually all of what personality theorists consider to be important: inner causes of behavior, wishes, needs, thoughts, emotions, memories, beliefs, expectations, preferences, self-perceptions, unconscious processes, intrapsychic conflicts, dreams. Thus behaviorism is not another approach to personality theory, but rather an alternative to personality theory. Ivan Pavlov First demonstrated the simple form of learning called classical conditioning in his famous experiment with dogs, food, a tone, and salivation. In classical conditioning, the organism learns that one stimulus will be followed by another stimulus because the two stimuli repeatedly occur closely together in time. John B. Watson Also an advocate of classical conditioning, he demonstrated that fear to a previously neutral stimulus can easily be conditioned in his famous experiment with “little Albert.” B. F. Skinner Argued that most behavior is learned through operant conditioning, wherein the organism must make the correct response to be reinforced (receive a reward or avoid punishment). A response operates on the environment to produce consequences that either strengthen or weaken that behavior. If the response is reinforced, it is more likely to occur again; if it is not reinforced, it is less likely to recur. All of our behavior is determined by prior causes and by our environment; we have no free will. Therefore, the only way to change (and improve) our behavior is to design the environment appropriately, so that it will reinforce desired responses and not reinforce undesired responses. How reinforcement is administered (schedules of reinforcement) strongly influences learning and behavior...
eBook - ePubPersonality Psychology
The Basics
- Stanley Gaines Jr.(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...S. Hall & Lindzey, 1978). In the present chapter, we will consider behaviourist perspectives on personality, which are inspired to varying degrees by Pavlov’s (1926/1928) reflexology. We will learn that behaviourist theories – especially B. F. Skinner’s (1938) operant reinforcement theory, which reflects Skinner’s principle of environmental determinism (i.e., throughout individuals’ lives, behaviour can be explained completely by influences that exist outside the individuals; Schellenberg, 1978) – have been criticised for their relative neglect of within-person influences on behaviour. However, we will also learn about certain neo-behaviourist responses – particularly Daryl Bem’s (1972) self-perception theory – that acknowledge the usefulness of personality constructs as related to (but not necessarily causing) individuals’ behaviour. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING BEHAVIOURIST PERSPECTIVES A central premise among behaviourist perspectives on personality is the conviction that, in order to understand why individuals speak and act as they do, one must consider the impact of the social and physical environments within which persons engage in particular forms of speech and action (Ewen, 1998). At a minimum, behaviourist theories pose important conceptual challenges to Sigmund Freud’s principle of psychic determinism (i.e., beyond the age of 5 or 6, the speech and action of individuals can be explained completely by influences that exist within those individuals; Schellenberg, 1978). However, behaviourist theories vary in terms of their (de-)emphasis on personality constructs as causes or antecedents of individuals’ speech and action (C. S. Hall & Lindzey, 1978). As noted by J. F. Brennan (2003), behaviourism developed partly as a response to functionalism (concerned with the “how” and “why” of consciousness, or individuals’ mental processes), which was associated with the self-theory of William James (1890/2010) and the instrumental pragmatism of John Dewey (1909)...
eBook - ePubPersonality Theories
Critical Perspectives
- Albert Ellis, Mike Abrams, Lidia Dengelegi Abrams(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...Once conditioned, a personality could be qualitatively evaluated based on its range and flexibility because personality is only a repertoire of prepared responses to social and situational stimuli. That is, a person who has in her behavioral repertoire a greater number of potential responses to a larger range of situations would have an advantage in personality over someone with a less comprehensive repertoire. Watson believed that personality is a useful construct from the behavioral perspective as it represents a history of response patterns to various life stimuli. It therefore makes prediction of a person’s behavior more feasible. Watson pointed out that someone’s perception of another’s personality might be a conflation of prior conditioning to defer to someone of similar status. An example would be that a child raised to respect certain authority figures will in later life describe people of similar status as having powerful or compelling personalities as a result of this early conditioning. People differ solely based on the type and degree of reinforcements they received, Watson held. In his behaviorist manifesto, Watson rejected both the dominant school of structuralism and the popular school of functionalism. Both, he said, predicated their theories and research on precepts that were neither necessary nor provable. Watson saw the concept of consciousness as a means of bringing the unscientific topic of the soul back into psychology through the back door. Introspection had produced as many psychologies as psychologists, he thought. For Watson, only stimuli and responses are available for study. In addition, this barebones outline of a science is what it means to be human...
eBook - ePubCompanion Encyclopedia of Psychology
Volume One
- Andrew M. Colman, Andrew M. Colman(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Like sociology, and in contrast to the physical sciences, much of psychology is concerned with the study of abstract concepts that have no direct counterparts in the physical world (Gergen, 1985). For example, stages in the life cycle such as "old age" have acquired a social reality because our culture enriches them with specific meanings. Thus, at an arbitrary retirement age, a person joins the ranks of "the elderly" and is subjected to a pervasive separatism that reflects our negative constructions of ageing (Estes, 1979). A person's identity or personality may also be viewed as having a social reality constructed by cultural beliefs and practices (Gergen & Davis, 1985). In sum, the construction of personality, as a metatheory for personality psychology, draws on the dramaturgical approach and the social constructionist theory of social reality. The constructivist approach to personality was developed to achieve two related purposes: (1) to integrate the study of personality and the study of person perception, and (2) to provide a broad theoretical framework within which the various perspectives on personality can be placed (Hampson, 1988). The framework will now be presented in more detail. The Actor in Personality Construction The emphasis on the actor in past personality psychology is the result of the view that personality in some sense "resides" within the individual. This view has been pursued through biological, psychodynamic, and trait theories. This position is most easily appreciated in a biological approach to personality, such as Eysenck's (see Eysenck, 1967, 1991). The idea that personality has a biological substrate is as old as the ancient Greek theory of the four humours...
eBook - ePub- Frank Adams(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Albert Bandura (1925-Present) Social Learning Theory—Behaviorism DOI: 10.4324/9781315054261-57 Selected Features Patterns of behavior are learned through observation. Using verbal/imagined symbols, experiences can be preserved for guiding anticipated further behavior. Should be able to control behavior through arranging environmental consequences and/or cognitive supports. Effects of Observation Can acquire new responses that did not previously exist. Can strengthen/weaken responses—positive/negative. Can serve as a platform for demonstration of learned responses—short/long term. Model Reinforced One demonstrating high status/prestige from the observer’s perspective. One controlling rewards or is rewarded for single event/behavior. One perceived as a peer—similar age, sex, intelligence, social status, sphere of influence. Imitation of Behavior Behavior has not been reinforced; individual lacks self-efficacy or self-esteem. Individual lacks the competence to model behavior. Behavior has been reinforced for matching idealized response. Individual is independent of environmental influences. Behavior is observed as being a model to perceived self-concept or self-image. Demonstration of Consequence of Behavior Clearly identify appropriate behavior/response. Clearly identify appropriate time/place/event for behavior/response. Motivation is necessary to. imitate/not imitate a behavior. Modeling Observe effect of model being imitated. Identify code(s) and symbols reflected. Individual can reproduce behavior. Positively/negatively reinforce behavior. Adapted from Bandura, A. (1969). Social learning and personality development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston....
eBook - ePubExpectations and Actions
Expectancy-Value Models in Psychology
- Norman T. Feather, Norman T. Feather(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...IV THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY 8 Social Learning Theory Julian B. Rotter University of Connecticut ABSTRACT In 1954 the author published a social learning theory of personality (SLT) that represented an attempt to integrate reinforcement theories and cognitive or field theories of behavior. As a personality theory, it included both a theory of how individual differences in stable behavior are acquired, generalized and changed (i.e., a process theory) and a descriptive system of individual differences, focusing on some of the dimensions on which individuals may differ. The range of convenience of such a theory clearly goes beyond problems traditionally considered personality problems and applies to some of the problems presented in fields such as human learning and performance, development, social psychology and the social sciences, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. A description of such applications has been presented by Rotter, Chance, and Phares (1972). In this chapter I shall attempt to describe briefly some of the basic principles of this theory and then to elaborate by applying them to four problem areas of special significance to this book. The four areas to be discussed are: (1) motivation, incentive and emotion; (2) beliefs, expressed social attitudes and social action; (3) attribution theory and defensive behavior; (4) the psychological situation and interactionism. SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY In SLT, four basic concepts are used in the prediction of behavior. These concepts are: behavior potential, expectancy, reinforcement value, and the psychological situation. In addition, somewhat broader concepts are utilized for problems involving more general behavioral predictions; i.e., those dealing with behavior over a period of time and those including a number of specific situations. These variables and their relationships may be conveniently stated in the formulas that follow...
eBook - ePubFoundations of Counseling and Psychotherapy
Evidence-Based Practices for a Diverse Society
- David Sue, Diane M. Sue(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
...Many of the principles and constructs underlying CBT are derived from experimental research. There is emphasis on the importance of observation, the use of objective measures, and the careful evaluation of the process and outcome of therapy. As with the humanistic therapies, CBT focuses primarily on present influences on behavior rather those from past issues. In general, most behavior theorists believe that humans are shaped by environmental variables. In contrast with the humanistic and psychoanalytic approaches, cognitive-behavioral therapies often have clients actively involved in their treatment by practicing skills learned during therapy. In this chapter, we will present some of the principles associated with the major schools of cognitive-behavioral therapy (classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning, and cognitive-behavioral). Although we discuss these branches of CBT separately, it is important to note that there is, in fact, a movement toward combining elements of each within the different perspectives. For example, you will see that the manualized treatments we present in the following two chapters (Beck’s cognitive-behavioral therapy for treating depression and Linehan’s dialectic behavior therapy for treating individuals with borderline personality) include both cognitive and behavioral strategies. Throughout our discussions, the term cognitive-behavioral will be used to encompass all of the different forms of cognitive and behavioral therapies. Classical Conditioning Theory At a staff meeting, the case of a 17-year-old young woman seeking therapy for a severe phobia involving birds was brought up for discussion. As the case presentation started, and before further information was given, two psychiatrists expressed the belief that the client’s fear symbolized anxiety over sex. From their theoretical perspective, overt behaviors are often manifestations of any underlying conflict. The therapist then reported the client’s history...
