week 3

Question 1

what is the behavioural approach

Answer 1

Personality is the result of learning

• Observational learning
• Operant Conditioning

Question 2

What is observational learning

Answer 2

• personality develops as a result of mimicry of others
• particularly effective among children
  (studies find viewing aggression increases the likelihood of acting aggressively)

Question 3

effect of video games on personality

Answer 3

video games likely not sole cause aggression

• physical abuse, verbal abuse and exposure to domestic violence do cause aggression however

Question 4

what is the law of effect

Answer 4

Behaviours are:

• more likely yo be repeated if they lead to satisfying consequences
• Less likely to be repeated if they lead to unsatisfying consequences

Question 5

what is operant conditioning

Answer 5

Personality develops from conditioning

• rewards = behaviours likely to be repeated
• punishments = behaviours unlikely to be repeated

Question 6

BF Skinner and his box (operant conditioning)

Answer 6

Due to punishment (electrical shock)
- red light = do not press lever
Due to reward (food)
- Green light = press lever

Question 7

effect of operant conditioning in humans

Answer 7

Due to punishment (embarrassment)
- changes personality
Due to rewards (social gains)
- Solidify personality

Question 8

what is generalization in terms of operant conditioning

Answer 8

generalizing a response of a specific stimulus to another stimulus

Question 9

What is discriminate in terms of operant conditioning

Answer 9

Differentiation between rewarding and nonrewarding stimuli

Question 10

strengths and limitations of the behavioural approach

Answer 10

Strengths
- based within empirical research
- Explains external influence on personality
Limitations
- Tends to view human behaviour as simple
- Assumes individuals are “blank slate”

Question 11

social and cognitive approaches

Answer 11

Social approach
- How social processes and interactions, along with the environment, shape and personality
Cognitive approach
- how mental representations and cognitive processing shape personality

Question 12

Social learning theory

Answer 12

Individuals provide their own reinforcers
- create expectancies of what will happen if we act a certain way
Behaviour potential
- different behaviours have a different likelihood of occurring

Question 13

social-cognitive theory

Answer 13

personality is influenced by:

• external factors (rewards, punishments)
• internal factors (beliefs, thoughts, expectations)

Question 14

Stanford prison study

Answer 14

Philip Zimbardo

• Participants were randomly assigned to be a prisoner or a guard
• the guards became aggressive, prisoners became submissive
• Personality changed on their expectations of that social role

Question 15

cognitive approach

Answer 15

• differences in personality are differences in the way people process and store information
• personality due to mental representations and how these are accessed and stored
  (people react to the same situation differently based on how they process the situation)