Cognitive + Social-Cognitive Approaches

Question 1

What are the 3 types of memory?

Answer 1

Sensory, working (short-term), long-term

Question 2

What are the 3 other components of the central executive model for memory and their functions?

Answer 2

Visuospatial sketchpad: consolidates visual information
Phonological loop: consolidates auditory information
Episodic buffer: connects central executive with LTM, acts as information storage

Question 3

What are the two types of long-term memory and to what information do they relate to?

Answer 3

Declarative (explicit): facts, events
Non-declarative (implicit): priming, skills and habits, classical conditioning

Question 4

How does cognition relate to personality?

Answer 4

Attention, memory, and perception are central to the person and differ between individuals, and our own cognitive interpretation of the world influences our personality

Question 5

What is Kurt Lewin’s contribution to personality psychology?

Answer 5

Applied Gestalt principles of cognition to personality psychology, created the concept of “life space”

Question 6

What cognitive style is measured using the rod and frame task?

Answer 6

Field-dependence/independence

Question 7

What is the basic idea behind Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory?

Answer 7

People are like scientists and make observations, behavior is guided by constructs (interpretations and expectations), each person has a different system of constructs creating a unique personality

Question 8

What is a construct and how do they relate to reality for an individual?

Answer 8

Constructs are learned through experience, they are your framework for reality and influence your personal experience of reality

Question 9

According to Kelly, what is sociality corollary and what does it allow us to do?

Answer 9

We can only truly understand a person by understanding their system of constructs, having this understanding allows for more meaningful communication and interaction

Question 10

What is learned helplessness?

Answer 10

Expectation that outcomes are unchangeable and will remain under external control

Question 11

What is learned optimism?

Answer 11

The notion that attitudes and behaviours can be changed by recognizing and challenging negative self talk

Question 12

What is Julian Rotter’s theory that contributes to personality psychology?

Answer 12

Theory of Locus of Control

Question 13

According to Rotter, what two things does behaviour depend on?

Answer 13

1) Outcome expectancy
2) Expected reinforcement value (relative to other reinforcers)

Question 14

What is behaviour potential and how is it affected?

Answer 14

Behaviour potential is the likelihood of one performing a behaviourin a given situation

Question 15

What is the difference between generalized and specific expectancies?

Answer 15

Generalized expectancies drive our behaviour towards the norm and are commonly used in new situations
Specific expectancies drive our exceptions to the behavioural norm and are commonly used in familiar situations

Question 16

What is the key difference between Rotter’s Locus of Control and the basic learning/behaviourist approach?

Answer 16

Behaviour is not driven by the objective situation, it is driven by the psychological situation

Question 17

What does BP = f(E & RV) mean?

Answer 17

Behaviour potential is a function of expectancy and reinforcement value; high E + high RV = high BP and vice versa

Question 18

What is the difference between an internal and external locus of control?

Answer 18

Internal: general expectation that your own actions lead to desired outcomes
External: general expectation that things outside of your control determine whether your desired outcomes occur

Question 19

What cause would someone with an external locus of control attribute to an outcome?

Answer 19

Chance and/or powerful people

Question 20

What are Rotter’s 6 psychological needs?

Answer 20

1) Recognition, status
2) Dominance (need for power and control)
3) Independence (autonomy)
4) Protection, dependency
5) Love and affection
6) Physical comfort (avoidance of pain, seeking of pleasure)

Question 21

What is the main idea in the social-cognitive learning approach that contrasts it with the behaviourist approach?

Answer 21

Human agency; the idea that we can not only control our behaviour but also our thoughts and motivations that lead to behaviour

Question 22

In observational learning, what are the reasons that an observer would be more likely to reproduce a behaviour?

Answer 22

1) We observe the model being rewarded
2) The model is attractive (i.e trustworthy, capable, admired, powerful, high in status, etc.)

Question 23

What is the key difference between observational learning and other types of learning?

Answer 23

It allows learning to take place in the absence of reinforcement

Question 24

What is latent learning and through what type of learning is this achieved?

Answer 24

Learning how to perform a behaviour without actually performing it; achieved via observational learning

Question 25

What role does self-efficacy play in observational learning?

Answer 25

It influences whether we attempt the behaviour, how long we persist when faced with failure or difficulty, and how the outcome of our attempts affects our future behaviour

Question 26

What are the 3 key advantages of Bandura’s social-cognitive approach over behaviourism when explaining learning?

Answer 26

1) Explains why we can learn without obvious reinforcement
2) Explains why we can inhibit inappropriate behaviour without first trying it
3) Explains why we can learn to produce unacceptable behaviour

Question 27

What is contemporaneous causation and who coined this term?

Answer 27

The idea that behaviour is caused by the culmination of all possible influences that exist in a moment in time for the individual agent (coined by Kurt Lewin)

Question 28

What is “life space”?

Answer 28

Visualized as a space containing all of the internal and external forces that act on an individual

Question 29

What are the four cognitive styles?

Answer 29

Visualizer – Verbalizer

Reflective – Impulsive

Field Dependent – Field Independent

Holistic – Serialistic/Analytic

Question 30

Explain the role-construct repertory test

Answer 30

Assesses an individual’s personal construct system

Bipolar dimensions along which we can arrange people

No list of possible traits/characteristics presented by theorist - Instead individual makes comparisons and patterns of constructs emerge from analysis of those