Personality

Social Cognitive Perspectives

Emphasizes

conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals.

Social

cognitive psychologists explore the persons ability to reason; to think about the past, present, and future ; and to reflect on ones self are two major social cognitive approaches

There

Albert Bandura Walter Mischel

Banduras Social Cognitive Theory

States

that behavior, environment, and person/cognitive factors are all important in understanding personality

Where

have you heard of Bandura before?

Banduras Social Cognitive Theory

1. Reciprocal determinism

Interaction of behavior, environment, and person/cognitive factors to create personality

2. Observational learning 3. Personal control

Internal locus of control External locus of control

4. Self-efficacy

Belief that one can master situation an produce positive change

Reciprocal determinism
Is

the term to describe the way behavior, environment and person/cognitive factors interact to create personality

Banduras Social Cognitive Theory

Observational Learning
What

is Observational Learning? see monkey do

Monkey It

is believed that we acquire a wide range of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings through observing others behavior and that these observations strongly shape our personalities

Personal Control
Social

cognitive theorists emphasize that we can regulate and control our own behavior despite our changing environment describe as a sense of behavioral control as coming from:

Commonly

Inside the person

An

internal locus of control external locus of control

Outside the person

An

When we feel that we ourselves are controlling our choices and behaviors, the locus of control is internal, but when other influences are controlling them, the locus of control is external.

Where do you fall?

Worksheet time! Where do you fall on the spectrum? Do you agree with it?

Will you perform well on your next test?

Internal Locus of Control

External locus of control

You believe that you are in command of your choices and behaviors Your answers will depend n what you can realistically do

Study hard Attend a review session

You might say that you cannot predict how things will go because so many factors influence performance Such as whether the test is difficult and if the exam room is too hot or too cold.

Mischels Contributions
Critique

of consistency in behavior

No evidence of cross-situational consistency Situationism

Personality

another

and behavior vary from one context to

Mischels Contributions
CAPS

theory

Cognitive affective processing systems Thoughts and emotions about self/world affect behavior Concerned with how personality works

Social Cognitive Perspectives Review

Focuses

on interactions of person with environment observation of behavior

Highlights

Emphasizes

influence of cognitive process

Social Cognitive Perspective Criticisms

Concerned Ignores Makes

with change and situational influences

role of biology in personality

generalizations impossible

Biological Perspectives

Biological Perspectives
Hippocrates

Personality based on bodily fluids, or humours

Connection between the mind and body Traits as neuropsychic, personality as psychophysical No brain, no personality

Freud

Allport

Murray

Eysencks RAS Theory

Reticular

Activating System (RAS)

Located in the brain stem Plays role in wakefulness or arousal

Eysencks

theory

All share optimal arousal level RAS of extraverts and introverts may differ in baseline levels of arousal

Eysencks RAS Theory

Approach or Avoid?

A flower in the middle of the room A snarling dog Halloween candy A man shouting loudly

We have systems within our body that tell us if we would want to approach or avoid certain things or situations

Grays Reinforcement Sensitivity

Behavior

Approach System (BAS)

Sensitive to rewards Predisposition to positive emotion Underlies extraversion

Grays Reinforcement Sensitivity

Behavioral

Inhibition System (BIS)

Sensitive to punishers Predisposition to fear Underlies neuroticism

Behavior Genetics
Study

of inherited foundations of behavioral characteristics

Studies

Twin

Genetic factors explain differences in big five traits Autobiographical memories influenced by genetics

Role

of genetic factors enormously complex Genes and environments intertwined Traits influenced by multiple genes

Biological Perspectives
Tie

personality to:

Animal learning models Advances in brain imaging Evolutionary theory Biology can be effect, not cause, of personality Issue of whether personality can change throughout life

Cautions