Psychology 3051 Psychology 305A: Theories of Personality Lecture 16 1

Psychology 3052 Scoring Your Questionnaire: NC 1. Reverse score items 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 16, and  1 4  2 3 = 3 2  4 1  5 2. Sum your responses to the 18 items. 2

Psychology What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? (continued) 2.What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? The Learning and Cognitive Perspectives 3 3. What are the goals of the cognitive perspective on personality?

4 2. define the terms “observational learning” and “self- efficacy.” By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 4 1. describe Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality. 3. distinguish between extrinsic, intrinsic, vicarious, and self-reinforcement. 4. identify determinants of self-efficacy.

describe the therapeutic methods of systematic desensitization and exposure treatment. 6. distinguish between mastery modeling, coping modeling, and participant modeling. 7. review the primary goals of the cognitive perspective on personality.

Psychology 3056 What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? (continued) Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory emphasizes 5 concepts: 1. Drive 2. Cue 3. Response 4. Reinforcement 5. Habit Hierarchy 6

Psychology 3057  Dollard and Miller argued that learning occurs when there is a change in the order of responses in a habit hierarchy.  According to their theory, each person has unique habit hierarchies, and these unique habit hierarchies account for individual differences in personality. 7

Psychology 3058 What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? One of the most influential social-cognitive learning theories today was proposed by Albert Bandura. Bandura’s theory of personality emphasizes 2 broad concepts not recognized by early learning theorists: 8

Psychology Observational Learning  Refers to learning through the observation of models.  Bandura described observational learning as a perceptual process: people learn what they attend to.  Observational learning accounts for our ability to learn both simple and complicated behaviours. 9

Psychology  Bandura argued that observational learning (a) is more efficient than learning through direct experience, (b) is the method by which most of our learning is accomplished, and (c) has evolved among humans because it enhances the probability of survival: 10

Psychology “If human behaviour depended solely on personally experienced consequences, most people would not survive the hazards of early development. Of those who managed to outlive their mistakes, each would have to rediscover, through tiresome trial and error, what works and what fails in everyday transactions with their environment. Fortunately, people are spared many hazards and much tedium by their capacity to benefit from the experiences of others.” (Bandura, 1986) 11

Psychology  Observational learning does not require reinforcement. However, when reinforcement does occur, it facilitates learning. 12

Psychology Self-Efficacy  Refers to an individual’s subjective belief about her/his ability to successfully perform a behaviour. High self- efficacy entails expectations of success; low self- efficacy entails expectations of failure.  Self-efficacy is not a global, trait-like characteristic. It varies from situation to situation. 13

Psychology  Research has demonstrated that individuals with high self efficacy in a given domain:  set more challenging goals for themselves.  persist longer in the pursuit of those goals.  recover more quickly from setbacks.  experience less fear, anxiety, and stress.  Example: Study of leg strength in men and women as a function of self-efficacy. 14

Psychology  Bandura maintained that self-efficacy is influenced by:  Mastery experiences (i.e., performance accomplishments).  Social modeling (i.e., vicarious experiences).  Social persuasion (i.e., verbal persuasion).  Emotional arousal (e.g., levels of fear and anxiety). 15

Psychology  Therapeutic methods derived from the learning perspective are designed to increase self-efficacy:  Systematic desensitization.  Exposure treatment. 16  Modeling (mastery, coping, and participant modeling).

Reminder Cognitive Perspective, Chapter 12: As noted in our course syllabus, you are only responsible for pages and

18 What are the goals of the cognitive perspective on personality? The cognitive perspective on personality has two primary goals: 1. to describe how the mind processes information (i.e., cognitive processing). 2. to relate individual differences in cognitive processing to personality. 18

19 In contrast to some other perspectives, the cognitive perspective highlights people’s capacity to overcome impulses and environmental influences through reason: 19

“The image is one of the human being as an active, aware problem-solver, capable of profiting from an enormous range of experiences and cognitive capacities, possessing great potential for good or ill, actively constructing his or her psychological world, and influencing the environment but also being influenced by it in lawful ways …. It is an image that has moved a long way from the instinctual drive-reduction models, the static global traits, and the automatic stimulus-response bonds of traditional personality theories. It is an image that highlights the shortcomings of all simplistic theories that view behavior as the exclusive result of any narrow set of determinants, whether these are habits, traits, drives, reinforcers, instincts, or genes and whether they are exclusively inside or outside the person” (Mischel, 1976). 20

Psychology What is Dollard and Miller’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? (continued) 2.What is Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory of personality? The Learning and Cognitive Perspectives What are the goals of the cognitive perspective on personality?