AP PSYCH 7.7 Behaviorism and Social-Cognitive Theories of Personality

All Begins with Behavior

Only behavior is observable and therefore able to be studied
- Ignoring for the time being modern methods of measuring brain activity
- Internal factors (cognition) are not observable or measurable, they are in the “black box”
Behaviorism proposes that personality is a function of the environment
Personality is predictable, based on the history of reinforcements and punishments
Inconsistences in personality or behavior are explained by the situation, not internal factors
B.F. Skinner is one of the founders of this ideology
To many psychologists, it felt like there had to be more, or that something was missing

These psychologists who wanted more proposed that personality is due to a combination of environmental conditions, behavior, and cognitive factors
- This opens the “black box” and introduces influence from internal factors
Theorists like Julian Rotter and Albert Bandra expanded on the ideas of behaviorism and introduced new concepts
The research followed to support their new theories
- The “Bobo doll” study showed the effects of aggressiveness, modeling, and learning from example

We learn what to expect in different situations
Our behavior is governed by those expectations and how much we care about the outcome
Your belief in your own ability to affect the outcome is referred to as “locus of control”
- An internal locus of control is when you have high expectations of being able to exert some control over the situation
- External locus of control is when you believe the outcome is determined by factors outside your control such as fate or luck
Born with all capabilities but external factors determine if we reach full potential

Personality is learned in a social situation
There are 3 main components: observational learning, self-efficacy, and reciprocal determinism
Observational learning is seeing something modeled, then replicating it
Self-efficacy is one’s own level of belief in their ability to be successful or not at a specific task
Reciprocal determinism is the interaction of your mental state, your behavior, and the environment
- All of these factors can affect the others