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BIOLOGICAL AND COGNITIVE THEORIES
BIOLOGICAL/EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES _ Reticular Activating System (RAS).
Hans Eysenck: Biologically Based Factor Theory
Hans Eysenck is a personality theorist who focused on
temperament.
Eysenck considers psychology as part of people wherein we are
biosocial animals, and psychology is much more an intersection
between biological sciences and social sciences.
Personality, according to Eysenck, is a more or less stable and
enduring organization of a person’s character, temperament,
intellect, and physique which determines his unique adjustment to
the environment and is viewed as a hierarchy. This hierarchy is as
follows:
Specific Responses. This is found at the bottom level of the
hierarchy where these behaviors are observed in certain situations.
For example, when you see another person answering their phone
when their phone vibrates or plays a ringtone.
Habitual Responses. These are clusters of specific behaviors that
characteristically recur in similar circumstances. This is found at
the second to bottom of Eysenck’s personality hierarchy. For
example, when you buy groceries, there are certain items that you
would habitually buy on your grocery list.
Generalized Traits. These are more of the cluster of related habitual
responses, which are the underlying variable that seemed to
determine surface manifestations. This is the third from the bottom
of Eysenck's personality hierarchy. In short, these are more
generalized ones compared to habitual responses.
Related Clusters of Traits
This makes up the broad general dimension or the basic types. Under
Eysenck, we have what we call the superfactors (PEN). According to him,
the two fundamental personality dimension is extraversion vs. introversion
and neuroticism vs. emotional stability. Psychoticism was added by his
wife Sybil Eysenck.
Psychoticism.
This was added by his wife, Sybil Eysenck. This is characterized
by distortion of reality, and the inability to distinguish between
what is real and what is fantasy. There arises a disturbance in
thoughts, emotions, motor behaviors, hallucination, and delusions.
Sometimes, it can also characterize another person as being
asocial, impulse behavior, and absence of guilt.
Extraversion vs. Introversion.
According to Eysenck, this is the degree to how outgoing or
actively relating an individual is to other people. We all know that
some may be talkative or outgoing with other people, but others
seem to be reserved and quiet.
Neuroticism vs. Emotional stability.
This pertains to how an individual adjusts to the environment,
and how stable his/her behavior is. Some people tend to be
emotionally stable meaning they are calm, less easily aroused, and
even-tempered. However, those that we can characterize under
neuroticism tend to be emotionally unpredictable, sometimes they
are anxious, moody, or even restless.
 It should be noted that even though both dimensions are in the
extremes, there are still people who fall in the middle. Even though there is
the existence of extremes (high extraversion, high neuroticism), it does not
necessarily mean that there are psychiatric illnesses.
Causal Analysis _
Causal analysis is used by Eysenck to discuss personality, while he
thought that personality is beyond descriptive analysis and that
some agents can cause certain behavior patterns. He claimed that
people’s activity of the brain and central nervous system as well as
the speed conditioned the responses or how our responses are
developed.
This is the part of your brain with the arousal threshold. It is
claimed to be the one responsible for your extraversion or
introversion. Since it controls the brain’s level of excitability and
responsiveness to stimuli, it follows that the extraversion and
introversion are somehow influenced or the one responsible is the
reticular activating system.
Individuals with weak excitatory or strong inhibitory potential
maybe become more of an extroverted type, requiring them to
continuously look for outside stimuli to overcome their passivity.
On the other hand, individuals with strong, excitatory, and weak
inhibitory potential will most likely become introverted and make
them easily overwhelmed with high levels of stimulation.
To simply put, individuals with a higher level of the reticular
activating system are most likely to be introverted, and those with
lower levels are most likely to be extroverts.
Visceral Brain (VB).
The difference in visceral brain activity is said to be responsible
for neuroticism or emotional stability. The VB includes the limbic
system and hypothalamus.
We all know that the limbic system and hypothalamus are
responsible for our emotions and motivation. If you have a low
threshold of visceral brain activation, you can be more emotional
and susceptible to neuroticism.
Hormones.
Eysenck claimed that sex hormone balance, other hormonal
differences, and variations in neurotransmitters levels has to do
_ with psychoticism.
He added that men who have lower levels of androgen are more
likely to exhibit psychoticism, while those who score high in
psychoticism may also have low levels of serotonin.
Intelligence _
According to Eysenck, intelligence plays a major role in an
individual’s personality. He characterized intelligence into three –
biological, psychometric, and practical/social.
Biological Intelligence. It pertains to your physiological,
neurological, and anatomical bases of intelligence.
Psychometric Intelligence. This type of intelligence is more on the
numerical measure, such as IQ.
Practical/Social Intelligence. This is more on how you apply the
successful applications of your intelligence to real-life experiences,
how are you influenced by the environmental or social factors, and
how you react to them. Simply put, this refers to the successful
application of one's intelligence to life experiences.
Evoked Potential _
Eysenck believes that evoked potential is related to the
physiological mechanism of intelligence because there are certain
waves in the cycle per second which you can see that are certain
patterns that are present in high intelligence individuals (complex
patterns), and those with slower intelligence individual are most
likely to have simple patterns.
To simply put, high intelligence individuals tend to have complex
patterns of waves in cycles per second. Those with slower
intelligence, on the other hand, have simple patterns of waves in
cycles per second.
Buss: Evolutionary Theory of Personality
Evolutionary psychology is based on a series of logically
consistent and well-confirmed premises.
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Evolutionary processes are sculpted not only in the body but
also in the brain, psychological mechanisms, and behavior.
There is a notion that psychological mechanisms have adaptive
functions which is an ingredient for a comprehensive psychological
science.
According to Buss, psychological adaptations are activated in a
modern environment that differs from our ancestral environment.
Evolution. It is assumed that the origin of personality and
personality traits can be traced back to ancestral times. According
to Buss, the true origin of personality wherein it encompasses is
the changing environment, changing body, and brain.
Personality, according to Buss, is more from the evolutionary
perspective. These are analyzing either of the three ways –
adaptation, incidental by-product of an adaptation, and product of
noise in the system
Adaptation. There is adaptation when we evolve strategies that
solve important survival and reproductive problems. During ancient
times we adapt to survive, those are the rules, and we inherit those
solutions to adaptive problems. We always find ways to adapt to
the environment.
Incidental by-product of an adaptation. We are non-adaptive
incidental tag-alongs to adaptive traits.
Product of noise in the system. Random non-adaptive
characteristics of adaptations or byproducts because that is our
upbringing, how we act to it is already the random characteristic of
those adaptations, it is not patterned and it depends on how you
adapt in the situations as well as to where you are in the certain
environment.
LEARNING-COGNITIVE THEORIES _ Generalized Conditioned Reinforcers.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner: Behavioral Analysis
For Skinner, in order to study personality, it is important that
overt behavior (observable behavior) should be given attention.
Reinforcement. Anything that increases the likelihood of the
response. There could also be reinforcement when a certain
behavior determines when another behavior will occur again. If a
behavior results in reinforcement, it is more likely that those
behaviors will be repeated again. But if the behavior doesn’t result
in reinforcement the behavior will likely stop and not be repeated.
Simply put, the process of increasing or decreasing the likelihood
of a particular response.
Stimulus. This is the object or event in the environment that
triggers or elicits a response from another person.
Behavior _ similar situations.
Respondent behavior. These are your reflexes or automatic
responses elicited by a stimulus. Such behaviors are unlearned:
they occur involuntarily and automatically. Although these
behaviors are automatic and involuntary, they can actually be
conditioned or changed through learning and the process of
association. An example would be if you are just starting to drive,
you try to look at the lines but eventually, you learn when to drive,
and when you see a person crossing the streets, you will press the
brake, and if you are going to change lane you will look at the
stoplight until it becomes your habit.
Operant behavior. These are your responses that get elicited even
without a stimulus, and just a mere act on the environment or
simply freely made by an organism. These are the consequences of
the behavior or the response which will determine if it will be
repeated or not.
Operant Conditioning.
When a behavior is freely made rather than elicited by a stimulus,
and a reinforcement follows a behavior rather than precedes it.
Simply put, this is the process by which an operant response
becomes associated with reinforcement through learning. Many
behaviors can't be accounted for by classical conditioning because
they are originally spontaneous behaviors whose consequences
determine their frequency
Shaping. This is molding or training an organism’s behavior to
achieve the desired behavior.
Discrimination. This ability to distinguish the difference between
stimuli that are and are not reinforced.
Generalization. This is more on applying learned responses from
one situation to another similar situation.
Schedules of Reinforcement _
a program for increasing or decreasing the likelihood of a
particular response
Continuous Reinforcement. A schedule of reinforcement in which
the desired behavior is reinforced each time that it occurs
Interval Reinforcement. A schedule of reinforcement in which the
organism is reinforced after a certain time period has elapsed,
regardless of the response rate. It has two types fixed and variable
interval reinforcement.
Fixed Interval Reinforcement. A schedule of reinforcement in which the
time period elapses each time before reinforcement is identical. The
same time period elapses each time (such as five minutes).
Variable Interval Reinforcement. A schedule of reinforcement in which
the time period elapses each time prior to reinforcement varies. The time
periods may differ in length. Furthermore, interval reinforcement occurs
frequently in the everyday world. An example would be employees are
paid at the end of each week.
Ratio Reinforcement. A schedule of reinforcement in which the
organism is reinforced after a number of appropriate responses.
This holds great power in reinforcing a huge number of
behaviors like praise and affection.
Positive Reinforcement.
It occurs when a behavior is followed by a situation that
increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future.
Furthermore, anything that serves to increase the frequency of
response is positive reinforcement.
Example: A mother gives her son praise (reinforcing stimulus) for
doing homework (behavior).
Negative Reinforcement.
There is an unpleasant or aversive stimulus that can be changed
or avoided by certain behavior. Moreover, this reinforcement comes
about when a behavior is followed by the termination of an
unpleasant situation, increasing the likelihood of that behavior in
Example: Bob does the dishes (behavior) in order to stop his
mother's nagging (aversive stimulus).
Punishment.
It occurs when a behavior is followed by an unpleasant situation
designed to eliminate it
Positive Punishment. The process by which an unpleasant object or event
is presented after a behavior, which decreases the likelihood of that
behavior in the future
Negative Punishment. It occurs when a behavior leads to the removal of a
pleasant event or circumstance, also decreasing the likelihood of that
behavior in the future. A consequence of the behavior is the removal of
something desirable
Satiation.
It entails permitting the behavior to occur until the individual
tires of it.
Behavior Modification.
A form of therapy that applies the principles of learning to
achieve changes in behavior. It seeks to eliminate undesired
behaviors by changing the environment within which they occur.
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Skinner’s approach has been successful in situations in which
traditional insight methods are inapplicable
Albert Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory
Bandura’s theory is more from an agentic perspective. He
viewed people as an agent of experience. He also claimed that
there are casual influences on behavior that are not merely
unidirectional. People are reactive organisms shaped by their
environment but the changes in their behavior are not dependent
on reinforcement.
According to Bandura, there are human agency or factors that
affects people, and these are as follows:
Intentionality. This enables us to behave purposefully
Forethought. It permits us to anticipate outcomes
Self-reactiveness. It allows us to motivate and regulate actions,
behaving in ways that give us satisfaction.
Self-reflectiveness. Gives us the ability to reflect on our thoughts
and behavior and make changes as needed
Triadic Reciprocal Causation. The social cognitive theory holds
that human functioning is molded by the reciprocal interaction of
(1) behavior; (2) personal factors, including cognition; and (3)
environmental events — a model Bandura calls triadic reciprocal
causation.
Observational Learning
This is an important concept for Bandura, and it occurs either
intentionally or unintentionally. Moreover, it refers to how an
individual learns by observing behavior, in which an individual
observes another individual doing a behavior then compares
his/her behavior and tries to imitate or model it.
Imitation. This is more on copying or mimicking the model itself.
Modeling. The core of observational learning is that you are
matching the structure or style of behavior. To put it other way, it is
a process in which someone learns new behaviors by observing
others. These people present their behavior as one to be imitated.
Bobo Doll Experiment _ Moral disengagement
This experiment showed that watching a live person be abusive
leads to aggression. Bandura comes up with a conclusion that
whatever the child sees, he/she will follow.
Factors that influence modeling _ The central mechanism of personal agency. This is your belief
Through the Bobo doll experiment, Bandura was able to deduce
these factors.
Characteristics of the model. We're more likely to be influenced by
someone whom we believe is similar to ourselves than by someone
who is different
Attributes of the observer. People with low self-esteem or
incompetence are prone to follow the structure and style of a
model. Also the case for highly dependent individuals and those
who have been rewarded previously for conforming behavior
Reward consequences associated with a behavior. People are
more likely to emulate a behavior if they believe that such actions
will lead to positive short or long-term results. Bandura believes
this is the strongest variable
Processes of Observational Learning _ behaviors and actions are responsible for the consequences that
Alternation Processes. You pay attention to the model, you look at
the environment, your needs wants, wishes.
Retention Processes. Those behaviors during the alternation
processes, you do not immediately perform but you represent them
for you to use later on. You will have symbols, verbal or imaginary
symbols that will help you to retain or facilitate your retention of
those images, words, or behaviors that you will copy. Simply put,
we will only perform behaviors when we can remember how they
were modeled.
Motor Production Processes. Since you now have verbal, symbolic,
or imaginary words that you retain during the retention process.
After that, you convert those words to behavior into appropriate
actions.
Motivational Processes. You do not enact everything that they
observed and learned but more on you enact only what you think
will lead to consequences that you value or desire. Simply put, we
will not imitate behaviors that we are unmotivated to perform
Types of Reinforcement _
Extrinsic Reinforcement. These are reinforcements that are socially
arranged rather than natural outcomes of behavior. Furthermore, it
is effective in creating behavioral change. Examples are a medal for
winning a race, or an A+ on a test.
Intrinsic Reinforcement. It is naturally related to behavior.
Examples are relaxing after a workout, that feeling of relief after
accomplishing something difficult.
Vicarious Reinforcement. When we learn appropriate behavior from
the successes and mistakes of others.
Self-Reinforcement. This increases through motivational function
and it is dependent on your definition and perception of
satisfaction.
_
Self-Regulation _
How your behavior is influenced
Self-monitoring. It involves paying attention to your own behavior.
It helps you to check, balance, and understand your own action,
and also for you to get motivated and set goals for yourself.
Self-judgment. It focuses not on paying attention but on evaluating
your own behavior. You evaluate based on your own achievement
level and performance level.
Affective self-reaction. You try to give incentives to motivate
yourself.
It permits individuals and institutions to perpetuate and
encourage violence and other inhumane activities while justifying
their behavior.
Self-efficacy
that you can do it, you believe that you can successfully perform a
certain behavior and your belief that you can produce your desired
effects.
Julian Rotter and Walter Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory
Locus of Control
The extent to which a person believes that reinforcements are
controlled by his or her own behavior or by people or outside forces
such as luck of fate.
I-E Scale
An assessment tool that measures an individual's perception of
control.
I (Internally controlled).
Internally controlled individuals assume that their own
happen to them. Moreover, they are more perceptive and more
ready to learn. They usually ask questions and process how to do
this and that.
They also try to gather more information for them to do the
behaviors more efficiently. They are more likely to know about the
conditions that will lead to good physical and emotional health.
They try to take positive steps to improve their health like
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engaging in exercise and, say, for example, quitting smoking. They
are also more resistant to influences coming from other people.
E (Externally controlled).
Externally controlled individuals believe that control is out of
their hands. They believed that they are more likely to conform,
and they don’t have a choice and prefer not to have a choice.
They tend to be more vulnerable to stress and develop defense
strategies, and they usually attribute their lack of success to bad
luck and difficulty of tasks.
Prediction of behavior _ person predicts future happenings.
Behavior potential. It refers to the likelihood that a particular
response behavior will occur in a given situation. Rotter uses this
term broadly to refer to a wide class of responses that includes
overt movements, verbal expressions, along with cognitive and
emotional reactions.
Expectancy. It refers to an individual’s subjective expectations
about the outcome of their behavior. It's an estimation of the
probability that a particular reinforcement will occur if one behaves
in a certain way in a given situation.
Reinforcement value. It refers to the importance or preference of a
particular reinforcement for an individual. Differs from individual to
individual.
Psychological Situation. It refers to the psychological context in
which the individual responds. It is the situation as defined from
the perspective of the person. Any given situation has different
meanings for different individuals, and these meanings affect the
response.
Walter Mischel
Behavior Specificity.
It proposes that an individual's behavior is influenced by a
specific situation.
According to Mischel, individuals behave the same way in
different situations only if it leads to similar consequences.
However, if the consequences are different, individuals learn to
discriminate and behave accordingly. He further added that our
behaviors are dependent on discriminative stimuli.
Cognitive Affective System (CAPS).
The theory considers both the stability of personality and the
variability of behaviors across situations. Simply put, it suggests
that personality is a stable system that mediates the selection,
construction, and processing of social information that generates
social behavior.
It also suggests individuals differ in the selection of situations to
attend to and the encoding of the situation, and the emotional
responses to the situation. It is emphasized in this theory that the
variations in behaviors are not considered errors but rather
reflections of the same personality among individuals. This theory
accounts for both the unchanging qualities of personality and the
expected variability of behavior across the situation.
Constructive alternativism
This is the assumption that any event is open and can lead to a
variety of interpretations.
Fundamental Postulate. Kelly emphasized that the way a person
predicts the future happening is crucial to him/her behavior. A
person’s processes are psychologically channelized by the way
he/she anticipates a certain event.
Corollaries _
These are the ways to elaborate fundamental postulates, on how a
Construction. People anticipate events by interpreting.
Individuality. Each person construes events differently.
Organization. People develop an organized system of constructs.
Dichotomy. Constructs are of a bipolar nature.
Choice. People choose from among alternatives the most useful
construct.
Range. Each construct has a limited range or focus.
Experience. Constructs are changed in the light of experience.
Modulation. Constructs are open to change and alteration.
Fragmentation. People may use constructs that seem to be
incompatible.
Communality. Communication is based on similar personal
construct
Sociability. Social interaction entails understanding constructs
Self-construct. It is based on what we perceive as consistencies
in our own behavior.
Role. A process or behavior that people engage in based on
their understanding of the behavior and constructs of others.
Rap Test. It permits a person to reveal his or her constructs by
comparing and contrasting a number of different persons in his or
her life.
Role-playing. A technique where Kelly sought to help his
patients reconstrue the world by first elaborating the complaint
and then elaborating the construct system. This is more on helping
the patient understand that he/she has participated in how others
think as well and of course how his/her framework and the
framework of other people are developed.

George Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs

Personal constructs
According to Kelly, individuals are like scientists in that they try
to predict and control events by developing and testing
hypotheses.
That said, the personal construct was developed to serve as a
hypothesis to make the world meaningful to us. If the individual
finds the constructs fitting to his/her experiences, then he/she will
find them useful. However, if constructs do not lead to behavior
that will help individuals adjust to the world, he/she will seek to
change the constructs to develop them into a better one.

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