Transcript Personality Psychology

Personality Psychology
Cognitive Theories
George Kelly
Personal Construct Theory
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Born: April 28, 1905, Perth, Kansas
Died: March 6, 1967.
Career: He received a bachelor's degree physics and math, and a
master's in sociology. Then he received a bachelor of education
degree in psychology and he received his Ph.D. in psychology.
During the depression, he worked at Fort Hays Kansas State
College, where he developed his theory and clinical techniques.
During World War II, Kelly served as an aviation psychologist with
the Navy, followed by a stint at the University of Maryland.
In 1946, he left for Ohio State University, the year after Carl Rogers
left, and became the director of its clinical program. He worked with
Julian Rotter. It was here that his theory matured, where he wrote
his two-volume work, The Psychology of Personal Constructs. In
1965, he began a research position at Brandeis University, where
Maslow was working.
George Kelly
Personal Construct Theory
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Known as the first Cognitive theorist.
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Human as Scientist
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In an effort to understand the world, we develop
personal constructs that serve as hypotheses that
make the world meaningful to us.
Construct: your constructs represent the view you
have constructed about the world as you
experienced it. On the other hand, your constructs
indicate how you are likely to construe the world as
you continue to experience it.
George Kelly
Personal Construct Theory
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We seek to understand the world around us and to forecast
the events in our lives. If the constructs we develop are
useful, we keep them. We generate constructs and
hypotheses with which we try to anticipate and control events
in our lives.
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To understand someone, we must "study" his or her own
personality theory. For example, you come home and your
roommate is crying. You ask what is wrong and she says
nothing…what hypothesis do you develop and how do you
react? You then look over and see a pile of chopped onions
and you realize why she has been crying.
George Kelly
Personal Construct Theory
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Constructive Alternativism
 While there is only one true reality, reality is always
experienced from one or another perspective, or
alternative construction.
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Fundamental Postulate
 His fundamental postulate says this: "A person's
processes are psychologically channelized by the
ways in which he anticipates events."
George Kelly
Personal Construct Theory
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Constructive Alternativism
 While there is only one true reality, reality is always
experienced from one or another perspective, or
alternative construction.
Fundamental Postulate
 His fundamental postulate says this: "A person's
processes are psychologically channelized by the
ways in which he anticipates events."
 A person's activities are guided by the constructs he
uses to predict events. Therefore, it is the anticipated
future that primarily guides our behavior.
George Kelly
Personal Construct Theory
Within this model,
 the individual creates his or her own ways of seeing the world
in which he lives; the world does not create them for him;
 (s)he builds constructs and tries them on for size;
 the constructs are sometimes organized into systems, group
of constructs which embody subordinate and superordinate
relationships;
 the same events can often be viewed in the light of two or
more systems, yet the events do not belong to any system;
and
 the individual's practical systems have particular foci and
limited ranges of convenience.
11 Corollaries
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Construction
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Experience
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"Each person characteristically evolves, for his convenience in anticipating
events, a construction system embracing ordinal relationships between
constructs." We develop an organized, hierarchical system of constructs.
Range
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"A person's construction system is composed of a finite number of dichotomous
constructs." We make bipolar constructs (i.e. Selfish vs. Unselfish).
Organization
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"A person's construction system varies as he successively construes the
replication of events." We reconstruct in the light of experience.
Dichotomy
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"A person anticipates events by construing their replications." We anticipate by
interpreting.
"A construct is convenient for the anticipation of a finite range of events only."
Each construct has a certain focus, and is not useful for everything.
Modulation
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"The variation in a person's construction system is limited by the permeability of
the constructs within whose range of convenience the variants lie." Some
constructs we develop are flexible and open to experience; others are not.
11 Corollaries
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Choice
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Individuality
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"To the extent that one person employs a construction of experience which is
similar to that employed by another, his psychological processes are similar to the
other person." If our construction system -- our understanding of reality -- is
similar, so will be our experiences, our behaviors, and our feelings.
Fragmentation
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"Persons differ from each other in their construction of events." No two people
interpret events in the same way.
Commonality
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"A person chooses for himself that alternative in a dichotomized construct through
which he anticipates the greater possibility for extension and definition of his
system." We are free and able to chose among alternative of the construct.
"A person may successively employ a variety of construction subsystems, which
are inferentially incompatible with each other." We can be inconsistent within
ourselves.
Sociality
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"To the extent that one person construes the construction processes of another,
he may play a role in a social process involving the other person." Social
interactions entail understanding other constructs.
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura
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Born: December 4, 1925, in the small town of Mundare
in northern Alberta, Canada.
He was the youngest child and only boy among six
children in a family of Eastern European descent. His
parents had each emigrated to Canada when they were
adolescents—his father from Krakow, Poland, and his
mother from the Ukraine.
Parents had no formal education but placed a high value
on educational attainment. For example, his father
taught himself to read three languages, Polish, Russian,
and German, and he also served as a member of the
school board in the district where they lived.
Albert Bandura
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He received his bachelors degree in Psychology from
the University of British Columbia in 1949. He went on to
the University of Iowa, where he received his Ph.D. in
1952. It was there that he came under the influence of
the behaviorist tradition and learning theory.
University of Iowa was closely connected (theoretically)
with Yale. Yale is considered the birthplace of the Social
Learning Theory. Important figures in this area are Clark
Hull, Neil Miller and John Dollard.
In 1953, Bandura joined the faculty at Stanford
University.
Basic Premise
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We learn behavior through observation
Vicarious reinforcement: Learn through
observing consequences of behaviors of
others.
Reciprocal Determinism:
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Behavior, Person
and Environment influence
each other.
The Observational Learning
Process: 4 Steps
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Attentional processes
Retention processes
Production processes
Incentive and motivational processes
Step 1: Attentional Processes
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Developing cognitive processes to pay
attention to a model - more developed
processes allow for better attention
Must observe the model accurately enough to
imitate behavior
Step 2: Retention Processes
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To later imitate behavior, must remember
aspects of the behavior
Retain information in 2 ways:
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Imaginal internal representation: Visual image
Ex: Forming a mental picture
Verbal system: Verbal description of behavior Ex:
Silently rehearsing steps in behavior
Step 3: Production Processes
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Taking imaginal and verbal representations
and translating into overt behavior- practice
behaviors
Receive feedback on accuracy of behaviorhow well have you imitated the modeled
behavior?
Important in mastering difficult skills
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Ex: Driving a car
Step 4: Incentive and
Motivational Processes
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With incentives, observation more quickly
becomes action, pay more attention, retain
more information
Incentive to learn influenced by anticipated
reinforcements
Aspects of the Self:
Self-reinforcement and Selfefficacy
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Self-reinforcement: Rewards or punishments
given to oneself for reaching, exceeding or
falling short of personal expectations
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Ex: Pride, shame, guilt
Self-efficacy: Belief in ability to cope with life
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Meeting standards: Enhances self-efficacy
Failure to meet standards: Reduces self-efficacy
Self-Efficacy
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High self-efficacy
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Believe can deal effectively with life events
Confident in abilities
Expect to overcome obstacles effectively
Low self-efficacy
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Feel unable to exercise control over life
Low confidence, believe all efforts are futile
Sources of Information in
Determining Self-efficacy
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Performance attainment
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Most influential
Role of feedback
More we achieve, more we believe we can
achieve
Leads to feelings of competency and control
Sources of Information in
Determining Self-efficacy
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Vicarious experience
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Verbal persuasion
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Seeing others perform successfully
If they can, I can too
Verbal reminders of abilities
Physiological and emotional arousal
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Related to perceived ability to cope
Calm, composed feelings: Higher self-efficacy
Nervous, agitated feelings: Lower self-efficacy
Jullian Rotter
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B = f(E + RV)
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Locus of Control
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Internal vs. External
Martin Seligman
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Learned Helplessness
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Optimism vs. Pessimism
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Attributions/Locus of Control
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Learned Optimism
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Carol Dweck’s Mastery Oriented vs. Helpless
Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory
Albert Ellis
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Born: Sept. 27, 1913 in Pittsburgh PA, raised in the Bronx
Died: July 24, 2007
He was a sick child who grew up is a poor and not too
functional family. He earned a master's in English during
the depression.
He was persuaded not to do his original dissertation on
love and sex, so he did one on personality test questions.
In 1955, his theory began. Today it is call Rational Emotive
Behavioral Theory or REBT. The modern precursor of
REBT was Alfred Adler.
Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory
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ABC Theory of Personality
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A (activating event)
B (belief system)
C (emotional consequence)
D (disputing the beliefs rationally and behaviorally minimizes the
disturbed consequences)
Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory
12 Irrational Ideas That Cause and Sustain Neurosis
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It is a dire necessity for adults to be loved by significant others for
almost everything they do.
Certain acts are awful or wicked, and that people who perform such
acts should be severely damned.
It is horrible when things are not the way we like them to be.
Human misery is invariably externally caused and is forced on us by
outside people and events.
If something is or may be dangerous or fearsome we should be terribly
upset and endlessly obsess about it.
It is easier to avoid than to face life difficulties and self-responsibilities
We absolutely need something other or stronger or greater than
ourselves on which to rely.
Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory
12 Irrational Ideas That Cause and Sustain Neurosis
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We should be thoroughly competent, intelligent, and achieving in all
possible respects.
Because something once strongly affected our life, it should
indefinitely affect it.
We must have certain and perfect control over things.
Human happiness can be achieved by inertia and inaction.
We have virtually no control over our emotions and we cannot help
feeling disturbed about things.