Behavioral Theories
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through consequences.
Master clue: Behavior → consequence → learning.
What is delayed gratification?
The ability to resist an immediate reward for a better later reward.
Master clue: Wait now → better reward later.
Who developed the hierarchy of needs?
Abraham Maslow.
Master clue: Maslow = hierarchy.
Who is associated with evolutionary personality theory?
David Buss.
Master clue: Buss = evolution.
What is personality according to Cattell?
What permits prediction of what a person will do in a given situation.
Master clue: Personality helps predict behavior.
What is positive reinforcement?
Adding something desirable to increase behavior.
Master clue: Add something good → behavior increases.
What is a behavior-outcome expectancy?
A belief about what will happen if one performs a behavior.
Master clue: “If I do this, what will happen?”
What is congruence?
Alignment between the real self and the ideal self.
Master clue: Real self = ideal self.
What is Buss’s main focus?
Evolved psychological mechanisms that helped humans survive and reproduce.
Master clue: Evolution → survival + reproduction.
What are Cattell’s three types of data?
Q-data, T-data, and L-data.
Master clue: Questionnaire, Test, Life record.
What is chaining?
Teaching complex behavior by linking smaller learned actions.
Master clue: Small actions connected together.
What is a stimulus-outcome expectancy?
A belief about what events may happen in the environment outside direct personal control.
Master clue: What might happen around me?
What are conditions of worth?
Rules a person feels they must meet to be loved or accepted.
Master clue: “I have to be ___ to be loved.
What is the biological approach to individual differences?
People differ in hereditary predispositions.
Master clue: People inherit different predispositions.
What are metaergs?
Learned motivational traits shaped by the environment.
Master clue: Learned motivation.
What is frustration-aggression hypothesis?
Frustration can lead to aggression.
Master clue: Blocked goal → possible aggression.
What is self-regulation?
Controlling thoughts, emotions, and behavior to reach goals.
Master clue: Control yourself to reach your goal.
What is a peak experience?
A powerful moment of joy, awe, meaning, or unity.
Master clue: A powerful, meaningful moment.
What does the biological approach say about culture?
Society provides the context for expressing inherited traits through learning.
Master clue: Biology provides traits; culture influences expression.
Who are major leaders of the Five-Factor Model?
Paul Costa and Robert McCrae.
Master clue: Costa + McCrae = Big Five.
What does inadequate learning produce according to Staats?
Maladjustment.
Master clue: Poor learning → maladjustment.
Does Bandura believe reinforcement is necessary for learning?
No. Reinforcement affects performance, but learning can occur without reinforcement.
Master clue: You can learn by watching even without being rewarded.
What is the difference between deficiency motivation and being motivation?
Deficiency motivation comes from unmet needs; being motivation comes from the need to grow and actualize.
Master clue: Deficiency = fill a need; being = grow.
Which approach explains fears, imitation, and sexual preferences through evolved mechanisms?
Biological approach.
Master clue: Evolutionary explanations.
What is the HEXACO model?
A six-factor model that adds Honesty-Humility to the Big Five.
Master clue: Big Five + Honesty-Humility.