Allport
How does Allport believe that traits can influence a person's behavior?
Traits exist internally and cause us to behave in predictable ways externally because traits influence our perceptions
What is a Factor Analysis?
In the case of personality, this is an our way of investigating the relationship between different descriptors of personality. How does each trait relate to every single other trait? Those traits which are very highly related to one another get clustered together (they share variance, so they have a pattern and belong together). When all descriptors of personality are sorted or "factored", we get EACNO! (I think of this like Trait Plinko. The traits get sorted into their best-fitting categories based on qualities they share).
What is the core lens held by George Kelly?
We are constantly creating ourselves. We gather information and pivot based on the information we gain through experience. Our perception of the world is as real as the world, therefore we must be mindful of the things we say to ourselves. We are creating our own reality cognitively.
“Constructive alternativism”: No one need be prisoner to their own construct system. He argues everybody has the power to change.
What is the gist of classical conditioning?
A new, previously neutral, stimulus can trigger a response (through conditioning) that used to be triggered by a different stimulus.
Example, a previously neutral bell now triggers salivation because it was paired with meat powder, which naturally triggered salivation. This bell can be generalized to other bells/chime sounds too.
BAS vs. BIS vs. FFF
Gray wrote about conceptual nervous systems. Brain pathways responsible for affective elements of personality. Interested in individual differences and the sensitivities of these nervous stems.
There are 3 conceptual nervous system, Behavioral Activation System (in pursuit of reward), Flight Flight Freeze, and the Behavioral Inhibition System (anxiety driven).
High BAS = more impulsive.
What is Functional Equivalence?
Our traits are unique to us and they are like a filter through which we process the world. On the perceptual side (information we take in), the traits we have are the reason that various experiences can be PERCEIVED similarly. So these different experiences of perception are the same (equivalent) in their function of activating this trait. On the other side, our traits influence behavior the same way. Our activated trait causes us to respond to things with the same function. Even if it looks like different behaviors depending on the environmental context, the function of the different possible behaviors caused by that trait is the same.
When Cattell applied factor analysis to Allport & Odberts Lexical hypothesis, what did he find?
Cattell said "let me take all of these descriptor words and plug them into my fancy factor analysis machine (team of grad students) and see how they cluster together". When he did this, he found 16 factors, which he called "source traits".
What did we learn from the BoBo doll experiment?
We have the capacity to learn "vicariously" or through others or from the experiences of others. We all observe, we reflect, and we decide whether or not to replicate/adopt a behavior (we have AGENCY).
What is Thorndike's Law of Effect?
Learning is initiated through trial and error. If a response is satisfying, the behavior is strengthened. If the response is annoying, it's weakened.
Skinner's version of this deemphasized "satisfaction and annoyance" and focused more on the idea that likelihood of behavior depends on consequences
What was Rogers' deal?
He argued that everybody's phenomenology is different, so we all have our own valid realities.
Everybody has worth and potential and an actualization or drive to achieve it inherently.
He rejects determinism (instead thinks that full potential can be achieved given the right circumstances).
Human beings = human becomings, we are always growing.
To encourage max potential, we must have unconditional positive regard, empathy, and model self-congruence (authenticity of the self).
What is a "Common Trait"?
Allport indeed thought everybody had unique traits. My version of "outgoingness" looks very different from your version of "outgoingness". Traits are like snowflakes, unique to each person. BUT some traits are so commonly observed among people and are similar enough across people to consider them "common" traits. He said that there are 100 or so common traits.
Why didn't Cattell name the factors he found?
Naming something is very subjective! When we give something a name, we can contaminate it with bias. He didn't want to do that, so he just left then with other identifiers, like numbers.
What is Triadic Reciprocal Determinism (AKA SELF SYSTEM)
This is a 3-part interactive model where each part mutually influences the other part (bidirectional arrows between each part). This is a way of understanding personhood in context.
1. Person Factors: Thinking, feeling, emotion, biology
2. Ongoing Behavior: How we act, what we do.
3: The environment: our social/environmental context.
Punishment v. Reinforcement?
Positive v. Negative?
Punishment - something that REDUCE the likelohood of a behavior in the future.
Reinforcement -something at INCREASES or maintains the likelihood of a behavior in the future.
Positive - Adding a stimulus to the environment. Can be "good" or "bad". This is just math - ADDING something in.
Negative - Removing a stimulus from the environment. an be "good" or "bad". This is just math - SUBTRACTING something OUT.
Introjection vs. Subception?
Both of these relate to incongruence.
Introjection: Your mom is hurtful, calling you a crybaby but that's not how you would have viewed yourself. Introjection is now seeing this quality as part of ourselves because of the harsh evaluative landscape, but we are actually adopting the views of others as if they are our own.
Subsception: Genuine experiences or parts of yourself are denied to awareness b/c they’re inconsistent with or threaten self-concept
Central Disposition vs. Cardinal Disposition?
Central Dispositions - most people have a handful of these. These are the traits you'd likely use to describe somebody because they are central to who they are. Your more defining traits. Think of these as the traits somebody would highlight if they were to write a letter of recommendation.
Cardinal Disposition - THIS IS VERY RARE. This is when there is a single trait that overwhelmingly defines a person. They are KNOWN for this trait and only for this trait. Think Gahndi with pacifism. This trait and this trait alone dictates his perception and his behavior.
What is the 5 Factor Model?
This is EACNO! (I don't want to see any "OCEAN"). McCrea and Costa wanted to sort personality into the broadest domains possible. They used the lexical approach and factored down until they landed on EACNO. Note, that these are specifically in this order because the largest factor (comprised of most facets) is always listed first.
What are the two kinds of "expectancies"?
A "positive expectancy" increases the likelihood we engage in a behavior. There are two kinds:
Outcome expectancy - how we think something is going to go. influences behavior all the time.
Self Efficacy - personal beliefs about our ability to do something. Behavior specific. Describes our personal beliefs about our competence. Our belief in our competence is grown from personal experience with same Behavior (Bx) in past + observation of others in this completion of Bx (vicarious) + What others tell us we can do (verbal persuasion) + Emotional reaction to the Bx. THIS LIST IS IN ORDER OF INFLUENCE. NUMBER ONE FACTOR IS OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
If we believe we can do something, and that it leads to a desirable outcome, we will do it.
What was Eseynks deal?
He proposed a link between physiology and personality. Really wanted to dig into the link between brain physiology and elements of personality. Wanted to find brain regions responsible for major dimensions of personality.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
From bottom to top:
Biological and Physical Needs - Air, food, drink etc.
Safety Needs - protection, securityBelongingness and Love - relationships, groups, sense of community
Esteem - Achievement, status, reputationNeed to fulfill deficiency needs sufficiently before advancing to the next one
Why did Allport look to the lexicon?
Our words are our context for the world. (weird example, but "green" doesn't really mean green. We just said "here's this thing we observed, we are going to call it "green"".) With this in mind, every word reflects our social environment and our context. Language evolves with us to capture the relevant parts of personality, because it is through words that we describe what we perceive and how people behave.
Identify a shortcoming of the 5FM?
1) When the mechanism was applied to other cultures we got different results. So clearly these factors and language/culture-dependent, not universal truths of all people. This is a Etic v. Emic argument.
2) Other folks felt the labels EACNO were not good. Example, Peabody et al., thought Agreeableness should be called Love
What are the tenets of Gestalt Psychology?
1.We seek meaning
2.Sensation organized into meaningful perceptions
3.The whole exceeds the sum of its parts.
What are some prevailing assumptions of early Behaviorists?
1.Evolutionary continuity: Behavior is Behavior; humans differ from animals only in complexity of this behavior, but we evolve the same.
2.Reductionism: Personality = learned behavioral patterns. personality is reducible to learned behavioral patterns
3.Determinism: Behavior is never accidental, random or free. We are compelled to act as a function of environmental circumstances
4.Empiricism: Measurable events are the only suitable objects of study. Argue that behavior is the only real part of psychological science. Thoughts (mentalisms) are only byproducts of environmental circumstances, thus aren’t worth studying
Differences in Cortical Arousal between Introverts and Extraverts
–Introverts = More ‘sensitive’. Have a higher internal cortical arousal. "Stimulus shy".
–Extraverts = Less ‘sensitive’; Lower cortical arousal. "Stimulus hungry" to compensate.