Chapter 11 - Rotter's Social Learning Theory Flashcards
What was Rotter’s central unit of investigation of personality?
Interaction of individual with meaningful environment
Social > physical
Personality constructs are __________ upon constructs in any other field, as they are ideas of their own.
Not dependent
Explanations of _________ events in different terms do not alter _________ of individual’s experience of that event.
Psychological; validity
When are personality constructs useful?
Describing feelings, actions, and thoughts of people whose socialization has begun
What does it mean that personality has wholeness and unity?
Individuals influence and are influenced by environment
Behaviour is ________, and direction of behaviour inferred from effects of ________.
Goal-directed; reinforcement
How does expectancy influence behaviour?
Occurrence of behaviour determined by person’s anticipation/expectancy
What are 3 important points of Rotter’s expectancy-evaluation theory?
No structural concepts
Importance of reinforcements and complex behaviours
Sense of mastery
What happens when a sense of mastery is not developed in early childhood?
Problems in skills and functioning
What is need potential?
Probability to act certain way to reach specific need
What is behaviour potential?
Probability of certain behaviour occurring in specific situation
What is expectancy driven by?
Reinforcements and goals
What is specific expectancy?
Probability of attaining certain reinforcements in specific situations
Ex. good mark on certain exam
What is generalized expectancy?
Belief of attaining reinforcements cross-situationally
Locus of control
What is reinforcement value?
One’s particular interest in one reinforcement over another
What is psychological situation?
Existing circumstances, as subjectively perceived by individual
What is the difference between goals and needs?
Goals: external
Needs: internal
According to Rotter, what are the 6 needs of human beings?
Recognition and status
Dominance
Independence
Protection
Love and affection
Physical comfort
What is freedom of movement?
Extent to which individual believes they possess abilities to attain certain reinforcements
What is minimum goal?
Level of reinforcement that is barely rewarding
What happens when a goal is set too high or low?
Too low = no longer rewarding
Too high = unrealistic standards
The relationship between generalized expectancies and maladjustment (personality adjustment) involves…
Correctly assessing one’s expectancies and matching skill set
Why is behaviour potential a factor of expectancy and reinforcement value?
The more we expect to be reinforced, the higher the reinforcement value and the more likely to behave accordingly
What does it mean that need potential is a function of freedom of movement and need value?
People will engage in related behaviours to fulfill important needs
