Behavioral Theories
What does the behavioral approach say about personality development?
Personality develops through learned responses to environmental consequences.
Master clue: Experience + consequences = learned behavior.
What did Mischel emphasize when predicting behavior?
Beliefs and emotions.
Master clue: Think + feel → behavior.
What is the fundamental motivation emphasized by humanistic theory?
Growth.
Master clue: Humans want to grow.
What does heredity contribute to personality?
Biological predispositions that influence personality traits.
Master clue: Genes influence tendencies.
What are the Big Five personality traits?
Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Master clue: OCEAN. 🌊
A student studies harder because their good grades lead to praise from their parents. What concept explains this?
Reinforcement.
Master clue: Good consequence increases behavior.
What is the consistency paradox?
People seem to have stable personalities, but their behavior can vary across situations.
Master clue: Personality seems stable, behavior changes by situation.
What is the organismic valuing process?
An inner guide that helps a person move toward growth and away from harmful experiences.
Master clue: Inner guide toward growth.
What is the difference between inhibited and uninhibited temperament?
Inhibited people are shy, cautious, and slow to approach new situations, while uninhibited people are outgoing, curious, and comfortable with new situations.
Master clue: Inhibited = cautious; uninhibited = outgoing.
Which Big Five trait is associated with being hardworking, ambitious, and responsible?
Conscientiousness.
Master clue: Responsible + organized = conscientiousness.
A child learns to perform a complicated task by mastering several smaller steps first. What concept is this?
Shaping.
Master clue: Reinforce the steps toward the goal.
What debate asks whether behavior is better explained by personality traits or situations?
The person-situation debate.
Master clue: Person or situation?
What can conditional positive regard create according to Rogers?
Incongruence in the self-concept.
Master clue: “I must be this way to be loved” → conflict with your real self.
Which system responds to rewards and approach behavior?
Behavioral Activation System (BAS).
Master clue: BAS = approach/reward.
Which Big Five trait is associated with helping and altruism?
Agreeableness.
Master clue: Kind + cooperative = agreeableness.
A person learns to behave differently at work than they do with friends because different behaviors are rewarded in each setting. What concept explains this?
Discrimination.
Master clue: Different settings → different learned responses.
A student watches a classmate successfully give a presentation and becomes more confident about giving their own presentation. What concept explains this?
Vicarious experience.
Master clue: Someone else succeeds → your confidence increases.
Which Rogers characteristic involves trusting one's inner feelings and experiences as guides?
Organismic trust.
Master clue: Trust your inner experience.
Which system responds to punishment, anxiety, and avoidance?
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS).
Master clue: BIS = stop/avoid.
What does the HEXACO model add to the Big Five?
Honesty-Humility.
Master clue: HEXACO = Big Five + H.
What did Dollard and Miller attempt to do with Freud's ideas?
Explain Freud's ideas using learning theory and scientific methods.
Master clue: Psychoanalysis + learning theory.
What two factors increase the probability of dropping out of school according to the study guide?
Low self-efficacy and low outcome expectation.
Master clue: “I can't” + “It won't work.”
What are the characteristics of a fully functioning person according to Rogers?
Open to experience, living authentically, trusting themselves, feeling free, and being creative.
Master clue: Open + authentic + free + trusting + creative.
What is the main idea of evolutionary personality theory?
Personality includes psychological mechanisms that evolved because they helped humans survive and reproduce.
Master clue: Evolution → survival + reproduction.
What is the difference between fluid and crystallized intelligence?
Fluid intelligence is the ability to learn and solve new problems, while crystallized intelligence is knowledge and skills gained through experience.
Master clue: Fluid = new problems; crystallized = learned knowledge.