Lecture 9 - Behaviorist and Cognitive Theories on Personality

Linear Model of Behavioral Outcomes

A linear model is presented as: Y = B0 + B1X1 + B2X_2 + … +error

Implications on Freedom:

  • Behaviour is only factors times the extent of influence, human freedom & thoughts are not accounted

Key Features of Behaviorism

  • Mechanistic View of Individuals:

    • People are seen as collections of machine-like mechanisms.

  • Environmental Determinism:

    • Behavior is determined by the environment, rather than through autonomous actions.

  • Critique of Internal Traits:

    • Latent traits and inner states are seen as non-constructive.

  • Universal Mechanisms:

    • These mechanisms are also evident in animals, suggesting a continuity between human and animal behavior.

  • Psychotherapeutic Approach:

    • Psychotherapy is viewed as reestablishing healthy environment-behavior contingencies.

John B. Watson and Conditioning Emotions

  • Research Focus:

    • Investigated whether innate emotions like fear can be conditioned through novel stimuli.

    • Example provided: The case of "Little Albert," highlighting fear conditioned by various stimuli.

    • Quotes from Watson:

      • “At approximately nine months of age we ran him (Albert) through the emotional tests that have become a part of our regular routine in determining whether fear reactions can be called out by other stimuli than sharp noises and the sudden removal of support.”

      • Watson contends that fear is as primal and influential as love in shaping personality.

  • Learning Generalization:

    • Learning can generalize to other targets, as demonstrated in the study with "Little Albert."

Ivan Pavlov’s Experiments on Conditioned Responses

  • Conditioning and Discrimination:

    • Example: Pavlov's drooling dogs where stress response and behavior were observed akin to human neurosis.

    • - Conditioned stimulus leads to drooling that is reinforced, while distractor stimuli does not reinforce drooling.

  • Pavlov’s Observations (1927):

    • Observed that dogs displayed distress when conditioned discrimination failed; the behavior manifested signs of neurosis, indicating a severe psychological response.

B.F. Skinner’s Behavioral Modification

  • Radical Behaviorism:

    • Skinner conducted laboratory studies focusing on modifying animal behavior through external environment control (e.g., Skinner Box).

    • Emphasizes reinforcement (rather than punishment) as a universal mechanism of personality development.

    • Believes that maladaptive behaviour is only due to ineffective learning

  • Experimental Observations:

    • Discussed findings on pigeons fed on random schedules and their resulting ritualistic behaviors; e.g., the bird behaves as if there were a causal relation between its behaviour and food

  • Behavioral Analogies:

    • Skinner relates the behavior of pigeons to human rituals that maintain regardless of negative reinforcement.

    • Example: Bowlers maintaining body movements to control the ball despite lack of correlation.

Skinner on Inner States and Personality Psychology

  • Critique of Prescientific Views:

    • thinks that problem of circularity exists if we say human behaviour is due to inner states

  • Arguments Against Inner States:

    • Skinner argues that referencing human behavior to inner states leads to circular reasoning and is not scientifically constructive.

  • Are we autonomous and free? We think so only because we haven’t looked at the environmental factors causing the behaviour

Little Hans and Oedipal Complex

  • Freud’s Analysis of Little Hans:

    • Analysis included the concepts of an Oedipal conflict and the role of castration anxiety.

    • Skinner proposed that Hans’s fear of horses could stem from negative stimuli or punishments rather than being a product of complex emotional states.

Temperature and Social Behavior

  • Social Thermoregulation Theory:

    • Higher temperatures can lead to perceived social warmth increases and a higher tendency to help others.

  • General Aggression Model:

    • Higher temperatures can invoke hostile thoughts, leading to less helping behavior.

  • Social Activity Theory:

    • Elevated temperature can increase activity levels, causing more opportunities for both helping behavior and crime.

Skinner on Freedom and Control

  • believes that human beings do not have freedom, actions all caused by environmental input

  • Literature on Freedom:

    • we always forget the environmental input (eg. people success in aversive environments- maybe sth in the environment has helped? bad behaviour- caused by environment???)

Skinner’s Utopia concept

  • Discusses the idea that individuals cannot escape control, aversive control (negative reinforcement) create slaves, benevolent control (positive reinforcement) make us feel free

  • Proposes a fictional society in "Walden Two" where societal roles are predicated on non-competitive collaboration without admiration or punishment.

  • 4 hour work per day→ happy slaves

  • Social Organization: unpleasant work more credit, pleasant work less credit

  • Emotional Education: Desensitization from unprductive emotions like jealousy and pride

Debate on Behavioral Control

  • Skinner (1956) Stance:

    • All individuals control and are controlled, presenting a necessity to negotiate the type and purpose of control exercised.

  • Rogers's Critique:

    • Posits that true behavioral control should enable self-actualization rather than creating happy slaves

    • individuals should decidehow they should live their lives: as they know best

    • Client-centered therapy helps clients to gain back internal control, so it contradicts with Skinner’s thinking

Skinnerian and Rogerian Utopias

Views on Self-Actualization and Productivity

  • Skinner's Response:

  • The overarching goal of behavioral control according to Skinner:

    • To ensure cultural survival, rather than simply achieving happiness or productivity.

  • Renouncing “useful control” (as seen by Skinner in Rogers's proposal) leaves the population vulnerable to unhealthy forms of control.

    • Implicit statement: Control is an inescapable aspect of human life.

George A. Kelly’s Theory of Personal Constructs

  • Emphasis on people as thinking beings, countering Skinner's views.

  • People have alternate ways to construe the environment.

  • People Evaluate Constructs based on predictive accuracy and they refine their constructs for higher precision.

Constructive Alternativism

  • all construct systems are our predictions/contain our subjective views

  • Flexibility in Constructs:

    • no construction is inherently superior to another.

    • Each construct has its specific range and foci of conveneience (context within which it is useful)

  • Theory Preference:

    • Having any construct theory is preferred over having none.

Foci of convenience of different theories

  • Learning Theory: Focus on animal learning and environmental contingencies.

  • Humanistic Theory: Emphasis on self-experience.

  • Psychoanalysis: Focus on psychodynamics in neurosis.

  • Five-Factor Model: Common taxonomy for personality traits.

  • Limitations of theories:

    • Theoretical frameworks become less useful when applied beyond their respective ranges of convenience.

Fundamental Problems in Psychological Theories

  • Explanation of Human Processes:

    • Concept: Human processes viewed as results of energy interactions; similar to external forces acting on physical items.

    • Inference: Humans are described as inert beings influenced by external stimuli or internal motivations.

The Problem of Animism

  • Critique of Energy Theories:

    • criticizes theories that reduce human actions solely to external energy → minimizing individual agency, effectively portraying humans as passive recipients of stimuli rather than active agents.

  • Intrinsic motivations:

    • Self-actualization suggested as an innate drive for social connectivity.

Kelly's Perspective on Phenomenal Field

  • Classical theories' failure to engage the full complexity of human nature:

    • Abandonment of the “phenomenal field” neglects the richness of human experience.

    • Call to focus on analyzing individuals as active agents rather than as inert objects

  • Kelly's assertion:

    • “It’s time to give life back to the person who lives it.”

Fundamental Problems in Theoretical Design

  • Individuality in Theory Design:

    • Contrasts between nomothetic (group-focused) and idiographic (individual-focused) approaches; not contradictory but rather complementary.

  • Freedom vs. Determinism:

    • Kelly's assertion: Individuals possess both freedom and determinism based on the perspective taken.

Kelly’s Fundamental Postulate

  • Definition of processes:

    • “A person’s processes are psychologically channelized by the ways in which he anticipates events.”

  • Human Agency:

    • Clarification that individuals are active participants in their processes.

    • Variation arises from differing interpretations of experiences.

    • Individuals can exercise their freedom in how they channel these processes.

    • Past experiences inform but do not restrict future anticipations; forward-looking focus emphasizes predictive capabilities.

Construct Dichotomy

  • Importance of dichotomy in constructs:

    • Constructs only hold significance if they reflect contrasting poles.

    • Example constructs: “This is good” implies a negation of something not good.

  • Coexistence of Contrasts:

    • Opposite poles (e.g., freedom vs. non-freedom) exist simultaneously yet remain uncontradictory.

  • Demonstration of Constructs:

    • Utilization of comparisons among three objects to showcase similarity and contrast.

Range of Convenience

  • Categorization of Related Objects:

    • Contextual illustration where specific objects are construed within defined criteria, such as furniture classification.

    • Examples given: Table, Desk vs. Chair.

  • Range of Convenience Definition:

    • The set of constructs relevant for categorizing contexts; others may exist, but they remain extraneous to the construct's efficacy.

Implications of Dichotomous Nature of Constructs

  • Construct Necessity:

    • A lack of dichotomy limits a construct's constructive potential; thus, maintaining distinct contrasts is crucial.

  • Challenges in Clarity:

    • Individuals may struggle identifying contrast poles due to pre-verbal constructs or blocks in understanding akin to Freud's repression.

    • Illustrative case: A person perceiving all aspects of the world positively lacks an identifiable negative contrast.

Individuality, Freedom, and Determinism

  • The Role of Constructs in Action:

    • Constructs define individual actions; diverse constructs lead to varied behaviors even among shared constructs.

    • Organization of constructs influences perception and decision-making.

Case Study and Repertory Grid Analysis

  • Personal Construction of Important Figures:

    • Mildred Beal serves as a case example, showcasing the individual's unique construct system as revealed through a repertory grid.

Case study of Mildred Beal

  • Excessive use of repetitive, simplistic constructs indicative of ineffective construction of social identities.

  • Key contrasts identified: hypersensitive vs. relaxed, hypercritical vs. easygoing.

  • The core construct: Unhappy striving contrasted with comfortable quiescence.

Counselor Interactions and Construct Shifts

  • Insights from Beal’s Interaction:

    • Limited vocabulary and rigidity in conversations noted.

    • Notable resistance to suggestions but tendency toward rationalization. (defence mechanisms)

    • Potential for transference observed, drawing parallels to maternal or sibling relationships.

Marrying Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches

  • Consideration of Personality Assessments:

    • Can the nomothetic approach thoroughly encapsulate an individual's constructs?

    • Big Five + Repertory Grid: the personal contructs can be explained mostly by FFM, but it cannot capture the construction system completely.

Construct Complexity vs. Simplicity

  • Simple construction system→ applied beyond range of convenience→ low predictability

  • More complex construction→ high cognitive complexity, also higher predictive power

    • A highly differentiated construct system enhances predictive power while a less varied system restricts it.

Distinction between High and Low Complexity Individuals

  • High-complex individuals incorporate inconsistent information to form impressions, while low-complex individuals reject incongruent data maintaining consistency.

  • Complexity correlates positively with the openness dimension in the FFM framework.

Person-as-Scientist Approach

  • Construct Failure in Explanation: (need to accommodate new experiences, not as predicted)

    • Conceptualizing anxiety, fear, and threat concerning construct applicability.

    • Mechanisms to expand or rationalize construct systems vary in efficacy (good vs. bad scientists).

Clinical Applications of Personal Construction Theory

  • Role of Constructs:

    • Constructs(how we see things/phenomenological field) lead to actions; individuals must have the freedom to adjust for better outcomes.

  • Kelly’s Fixed-Role Therapy:

    • Clients assume new roles to facilitate new constructs, aided by fixed-role sketches for transformation.

    • Through new experiences, clients reconstruct self-concepts to enhance predictive effectiveness.

Repertory Test and Confrontation of Constructs

  • Purpose of Repertory Test:

    • Confronts clients with the rigidity of their constructs, prompting reflection.

    • Illustrative dialogues expose limited perceptions: “Isn’t that a narrow view?” or recognizing dehumanization of significant figures.

Therapist's Role in Fixed-Role Therapy

  • Dynamic of Therapy:

    • Therapists help shift client construct systems by creating urgency for change and challenging clients' defenses.

    • Techniques include suggesting alternative perspectives and leveraging past experiences within new contexts.

Concluding Remarks on Theories and Constructs

  • Skinner’s Perspective:

    • Seen as reducing people to mere subjects lacking autonomy, yet upholding freedom as an experimenter.

  • Rogers's Contrasting View:

    • Advocated for “good control” that facilitates potential actualization rather than mechanical productivity.

  • Kelly's Conclusion:

    • Abandonment of energy theories to focus on the nuanced nature of the phenomenal field in understanding human behavior.

    • The intersection of freedom and determinism viewed as inherently connected.