Psychology of Personality - Behavioural Approaches

Comprehensive vocabulary terms and concepts covering the behavioural approach to personality, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, reinforcement schedules, and shaping.

John B. Watson

Researcher who initially formulated behaviourism and argued that psychology should align with natural sciences by studying only observable behaviour.

Behaviourism

A psychological approach focusing on observable behaviour and rejecting the study of internal states like thoughts, feelings, or consciousness.

Reinforcement

Based on Pavlov's research, it is defined as anything that increases the likelihood of a behaviour recurring.

Ivan Pavlov

Key researcher whose work on digestion demonstrated that reinforcements are key to learning, forming the foundation for classical conditioning.

Classical Conditioning

A model of learning where associations are formed between stimuli to trigger responses.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally and reflexively triggers a response, such as food in Pavlov's experiment.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

A natural, reflexive response to a stimulus, such as the salivation of a dog in response to food.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

Something that initially triggers no response, such as a bell before being paired with food.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus, such as salivation triggered by a bell.

B.F. Skinner

A significant contributor to behaviourism who focused on how consequences through reinforcement and punishment shape learning.

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning where behaviour is controlled by its consequences through interaction with the environment.

Empty Organism (tabula rasa)

The concept that individuals are born as a 'blank slate' and personality is shaped entirely through environmental processes and socialization.

Respondent behaviour

Reactive behaviour triggered by specific stimuli that does NOT change the environment, such as a knee-jerk reflex.

Operant behaviour

Proactive, spontaneous behaviour geared towards manipulating or operating on the environment to produce consequences.

Three-Term Contingency

A key mechanism of operant conditioning consisting of an Antecedent (before), Behaviour (the action), and Consequence (after).

Fixed Interval (FI)

A reinforcement schedule where reinforcement is delivered after a fixed amount of time, resulting in predictable timing and a slower response rate.

Fixed Ratio (FR)

A reinforcement schedule where reinforcement is delivered after a fixed number of responses, leading to predictable effort and a high response rate.

Variable Interval (VI)

A reinforcement schedule where reinforcement occurs after varying amounts of time, producing an unpredictable timing and moderate steady response rate.

Variable Ratio (VR)

A reinforcement schedule where reinforcement occurs after varying numbers of responses, resulting in unpredictable effort and the highest, most steady response rate.

Successive Approximation (Shaping)

The process of learning complex behaviour by breaking it down into smaller, manageable steps and reinforcing behaviours progressively closer to the desired outcome.

Negative Reinforcement

Strengthening or increasing the likelihood of a behaviour by removing an aversive or unpleasant stimulus.

Punishment

The process of weakening or decreasing a behaviour by either adding an aversive stimulus or removing a pleasant stimulus.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing a behaviour by adding a pleasant stimulus after the action is performed.

Positive Punishment

Decreasing a behaviour by adding an aversive stimulus, such as spraying water on a cat to stop it from climbing furniture.

Negative Punishment

Decreasing a behaviour by removing a pleasant stimulus, such as taking away a teenager's phone for breaking curfew.

Socialization

The process through which society, parents, and teachers shape personality by reinforcing desired behaviours and punishing undesired ones.