Psychology 305A: Theories of Personality

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Psychology 305A Theories of Personality Lecture
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Scoring Your Questionnaire NC
1. Reverse score items 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 16,
and 17. 5 ? 1 4 ? 2 3 3 2 ? 4 1 ? 5
2. Sum your responses to the 18 items.
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The Learning and Cognitive Perspectives

1. What is Dollard and Millers social-cognitive
   learning theory of personality? (continued)
2. What is Banduras social-cognitive learning
   theory of personality?

3. What are the goals of the cognitive
perspective on personality?
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By the end of todays class, you should be able
to
1. describe Dollard and Millers
social-cognitive learning theory of personality.
2. define the terms observational learning and
self- efficacy.
3. distinguish between extrinsic, intrinsic,
vicarious, and self-reinforcement.
4. identify determinants of self-efficacy.
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5. describe the therapeutic methods of
systematic desensitization and exposure
treatment.
6. distinguish between mastery modeling, coping
modeling, and participant modeling.
7. review the primary goals of the cognitive
perspective on personality.
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What is Dollard and Millers social-cognitive
learning theory of personality? (continued)

• Dollard and Millers social-cognitive learning
  theory emphasizes 5 concepts

1. Drive
2. Cue
3. Response
4. Reinforcement
5. Habit Hierarchy
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• 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.

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What is Banduras social-cognitive learning
theory of personality?

• One of the most influential social-cognitive
  learning theories today was proposed by Albert
  Bandura.

• Banduras theory of personality emphasizes 2
  broad concepts not recognized by early learning
  theorists

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1. Observational Learning

• Refers to learning through the observation of
  models.

• Bandura described observational learning as a
  perceptual process people learn what they
  attend to.

• Observational learning accounts for our ability
  to learn both simple and complicated behaviours.

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• Bandura argued 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

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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)
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• Observational learning does not require
  reinforcement. However, when reinforcement does
  occur, it facilitates learning.

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2. Self-Efficacy

• Refers to an individuals subjective belief
  about her/his ability to successfully perform a
  behaviour. High self- efficacy entails
  expectations of success low self- efficacy
  entails expectations of failure.

• Self-efficacy is not a global, trait-like
  characteristic. It varies from situation to
  situation.

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• 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, and stress.

• Example Study of leg strength in men and women
  as a function of self-efficacy.

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• Bandura maintained that self-efficacy is
  influenced by

• Social modeling (i.e., vicarious experiences).

• Social persuasion (i.e., verbal persuasion).

• Emotional arousal (e.g., levels of fear and
  anxiety).

• Mastery experiences (i.e., performance
  accomplishments).

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• Therapeutic methods derived from the learning
  perspective are designed to increase
  self-efficacy

• Systematic desensitization.

• Exposure treatment.

• Modeling (mastery, coping, and participant
  modeling).

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Reminder
Cognitive Perspective, Chapter 12 As noted in
our course syllabus, you are only responsible for
pages 287-298 and 304-314.
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What are the goals of the cognitive perspective
on personality?

• The cognitive perspective on personality has
  two primary goals

1. to describe how the mind processes
information (i.e., cognitive processing).
2. to relate individual differences in cognitive
processing to personality.
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• In contrast to some other perspectives, the
  cognitive perspective highlights peoples
  capacity to overcome impulses and environmental
  influences through reason

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The image is one of the human being as an
active, aware problem-solver, capable of
profiting from an enormous range of experiences
and cognitive capacities, possessing great
potential for good or ill, actively constructing
his or her psychological world, and influencing
the environment but also being influenced by it
in lawful ways . It is an image that has moved a
long way from the instinctual drive-reduction
models, the static global traits, and the
automatic stimulus-response bonds of traditional
personality theories. It is an image that
highlights the shortcomings of all simplistic
theories that view behavior as the exclusive
result of any narrow set of determinants, whether
these are habits, traits, drives, reinforcers,
instincts, or genes and whether they are
exclusively inside or outside the person
(Mischel, 1976).
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The Learning and Cognitive Perspectives

1. What is Dollard and Millers social-cognitive
   learning theory of personality? (continued)
2. What is Banduras social-cognitive learning
   theory of personality?

3. What are the goals of the cognitive
perspective on personality?
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