Theories of Personality-I

UNIT 3 LEARNING THEORY OF

PERSONALITY (PAVLOV AND
SKINNER)

Structure
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Objectives
3.2 Pavlov: Learning Theory of Personality
3.2.1 Process of Classical Conditioning
3.2.2 Principles of Classical Conditioning
3.2.2.1 Acquisition
3.2.2.2 Generalisation and Discrimination
3.2.2.3 Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
3.2.3 Principles of Behaviour Modification
3.2.4 Process of Behaviour Modification
3.2.5 Evaluation
3.3 B. F. Skinner: Learning Theory of Personality
3.3.1 Operant Behaviour
3.3.2 Schedule of Reinforcement
3.3.3 Aversive Stimuli
3.3.4 Secondary Reinforcement
3.3.5 Successive Approximation or Shaping
3.3.6 Superstitious Behaviour
3.3.7 Abnormal Behaviour
3.3.8 Evaluation
3.4 Let Us Sum Up
3.5 Unit End Questions
3.6 Glossary
3.7 Suggested Readings and References

3.0 INTRODUCTION
Learning theory of personality presents a model of personality that emphasises
observable behaviour, the relationship between stimuli and responses, and the
impact of learning. The behaviourist position is that personality is no more (or
less) than a collection of learned behaviour patterns. They do not give importance
to the internal causes of behaviour. Personality, like other learned behaviour, is
acquired through classical and operant conditioning, observational learning,
reinforcement, extinction, generalisation, and discrimination. Children can learn
things like kindness, hostility, generosity, or destructiveness. In the present unit
we will discuss two important learning theories of personality. First, we will
focus our attention to Pavlov’ theory of learning and then we will turn to explain
the important features of Skinner theory of personality.

40
 Learning Thoery of
3.1 OBJECTIVES Personality (Pavlov and
Skinner)
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
• Define learning concepts underlying learning theories of personality;
• Explain the learning theories of personality;
• Delibeate the process of classical conditioning;
• Describe principles of classical conditioning;
• Explain how classical conditioning develops and maintains behaviours; and
• Explain the applications of classical conditioning in the modification of
behaviour.

3.2 PAVLOV: LEARNING THEORY OF

PERSONALITY
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) was born in Ryazan, Russia, and attended
the religious school and seminary there, where he studied natural science. He
did not complete his studies, but entered St Petersburg University in 1870, where
he continued to study natural science, and decided to make his career as a
physiologist. After graduation in 1875, he went to the Military Medical Academy
to pursue his research. He completed his doctorate there in 1883, and then went
to Germany (1884–6), where he studied in Leipzig with Carl Ludwig, and in
Breslau. In 1890 he was appointed professor in the department of pharmacology
in the Military Medical Academy. In 1904 he received the Nobel Prize for his
work on the physiology of digestion. From 1925 to 1936 he worked mainly in
three laboratories: the Institute of Physiology of the Soviet Academy of Sciences
(which is now named after him), the Institute of Experimental Medicine, and the
biological laboratory at Koltushy (now Pavlov), near St Petersburg. Pavlov was
a skillful ambidextrous surgeon; using dogs as experimental animals, he
established fistulas from various parts of the digestive tract by which he obtained
secretions of the salivary glands, pancreas, and liver without disturbing the nerve
and blood supply.

Pavlov was a behaviourist. This means that his theories focused on observable
behaviour, because behaviour can be measured and thought can not. Pavlov
viewed individual differences in personality as the result of learning and different
environmental experiences. Scientific evidence is the keyword in his theory.
Pavlov studied reflexes, that is the automatic behaviours that are caused by a
stimulus from the environment. Some reflexes, such as blinking our eyes when
a puff of air comes in it, or the sucking of a baby when something is put in his/
her mouth. This automatic behaviour can be manipulated. This is called
conditioning.

Conditioning has been defined as a form of learning in which capacity of eliciting

a response is transferred from one stimulus to another. In the conditioning process,
an unconditioned stimulus is given to a person. This stimulus causes a reflex on
its own. In order to explain Pavlov’s learning theory of personality, first we will
focus our attention on the process and principles of classical conditioning, and
see how these processes and principles are found to be helpful in the development
and change of personality. 41
Theories of Personality-I 3.2.1 Process of Classical Conditioning
In order to examine the process of classical conditioning in a systematic manner,
Pavlov first performed a simple operation on his dog, in which a rubber tube was
inserted into salivary gland so that the precise amount of saliva secreted during
the experiment could be measured. After making these initial preparations a
neutral stimulus (e.g., a bell) was presented for a brief period of time, followed
quickly by a second stimulus known to elicit salivation response and called
unconditioned stimulus (e.g., Meat Powder). Each pairing of conditioned stimulus
(CS) and unconditioned stimulus (UCS) served as conditioning trials, and a
number of such pairings were conducted in rapid succession. As a result of
repeated pairing the CS (bell) acquired the ability to evoke the salivation. Because
the salivation to the bell (CR) began to occur only after the conditioning, it was
termed conditioned response (CR). On the other hand the salivation response to
the meat powder which seems to occur automatically was termed unconditioned
response (UCR).

CS (Bell) ? (Exploratory responses)

UCS (Food) CR (Saliva)

Pavlov further stated that a conditioned stimulus can serve as the basis for further
conditioning, which is demonstrated by Pavlov. In the experiment of first-order
conditioning, food was removed from the situation, and a new stimulus (e.g.,
light) was paired with bell. This new stimulus (light) also acquired the property
of eliciting the response. Rescorla (1973) suggested that under appropriate
circumstances even third order conditioning can be established.

3.2.2 Principles of Classical Conditioning

Now we will focus on some of the important principles of classical conditioning
which governs:
i) Acquisition
ii) Generalisation and Discrimination
iii) Extinction and Spontaneous recovery
3.2.2.1 Acquisition
There are two important factors which exert strong influence upon the ability of
a conditioned stimulus to elicit a response.
1) First is the number of pairings between this stimulus and the unconditioned
stimulus. As the number of pairings increases, the conditioned stimulus
comes to evoke a conditioned response with increasing strength. The strength
of the response is measured in terms of magnitude, latency and probability
of occurrence of the conditioned response.
2) The second factor which exerts an important effect upon the process of
classical conditioning is the interval, which elapses between the presentation
of conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus. For many different
responses, conditioning appears to be maximal when this interval is 0.50
seconds. However, further researches suggest that in some cases, it can be
much longer and still produce conditioning.
42
For example in an experiment of Garcia, McGowan, and Green, (1972), rats Learning Thoery of
Personality (Pavlov and
were given a sweet tasting liquid to drink, and were then injected with a drug Skinner)
which makes them sick in stomach. The rats were found to acquire an aversion
to the taste even when the interval between drinking and nausea was more than
an hour.

Martin Seligman (1972) noted that humans, too, learn strong aversion to the
tastes of foods which makes them sick many hours after they have eaten. The
acquisition of irrational fears or phobias, sexual hang-up (fetish), prejudice and
hostile feelings has successfully been explained through the process of classical
conditioning. In both cases, stimuli initially incapable of eliciting strong reaction
acquire this ability through repeated pairing with the unconditional stimuli.

For example a child while playing a new pet suddenly hears the loud sound of a
backfiring truck. In all probability the noise (which may be viewed as an
unconditional stimulus) will frighten the child greatly (an unconditioned
emotional response), so that the child burst into tears. If the child happens to live
near a busy road and often plays with the pet, this situation may be repeated –
quite by accident – on several other occasions. The child now no longer will play
with the pet; instead he may recoil in terror and seek to escape from its presence.

Similarly sexual hang-up can also be explained through the process of classical
conditioning. Assume that a person for whom an article of clothing (CS) is initially
nothing to do with sexual arousal. Now imagine that the man sees the nude body
of his lover (UCS) along with that clothing article, and it happens to take place
repeatedly. Now what will happen? The sexual arousal which is a natural response
to the nude body of the lover will be associated with that article of cloth. In the
same way development of prejudice and hostility can also be accounted by the
process of classical conditioning.

3.2.2.2 Generalisation and Discrimination

Once the organism is conditioned to one stimulus, it is often found that it will
respond to other stimuli, similar in some dimensions to it. This phenomenon is
known as stimulus generalisation. Stimulus generalisation plays a very important
adaptive role. For example, the sounds made by angry bees, wasps, and hornets
are highly similar, but certainly not identical. Because of stimulus generalisation,
however an individual who has learned through painful experience to react with
the fear and caution to one of the sound may also respond in a similar manner to
others as well.

Opposite to this phenomenon is stimulus discrimination. Within the framework

of classical conditioning, the ability to discriminate between two stimuli is
developed when one of the two similar stimuli is consistently followed by an
unconditioned stimulus while the other is not. Under such conditions, tendencies
to respond to the first are strengthened, while the tendencies to respond to the
second are weakened. Although the ability of human beings and other organisms
to discriminate between various objects is quite impressive, but it has some limits.
The disconcerting effects may result when these limits are exceeded is suggested
by experiments dealing with the phenomenon of experimental neurosis. Let us
what this experimental neurosis is.

43
Theories of Personality-I In a famous experiment by Shenger-Krestovnika (1921) a circle was used as a
conditional stimulus before feeding, and the dog was also trained to associate an
ellipse with not being fed. By small steps the ellipse was then made more and
more like a circle. When the ellipse was almost round, initially the dog could
usually distinguish it from a circle. But after a few weeks the dog became neurotic:
it ceased to be able to recognise obvious ellipses and a circle, became very excited,
and was no longer calm during experiments. Pavlov termed the animal’s abnormal
condition as experimental neurosis and he attributed it to a disturbance of the
balance between excitatory and inhibitory processes in the nervous system.
This explanation of experimental neurosis is grounded in Pavlov’s theory of
personality. He explained personality by variation in the excitation of the nervous
system. He did not, however, attribute neurosis solely to external factors, such as
contradictory stimuli. His experiments on experimental neuroses showed that
dogs with different ‘personalities’ were differentially susceptible to the treatment:
the same treatment on different dogs could produce quite different neuroses.
Although the experiment was conducted on an animal, the results of such
experiments however, suggest that while the ability of human beings to
discriminate between stimuli is impressive, their ability to discriminate between
highly similar stimuli has definite limits. When the environmental conditions
require that these limits be exceeded, extreme stress may be induced.
3.2.2.3 Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
When a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented but is never followed by
the unconditioned stimulus with which it was formerly associated, its ability to
elicit conditioned response gradually decreases, and may fade completely. This
phenomenon is known as extinction. But if the same extinguished stimulus is
then presented again at a later time, its capacity to evoke the response is found to
reappear. This phenomenon is termed spontaneous recovery.
Extinction of conditioned response is also very important for the development
of normal personality. If we lack some mechanism for getting rid of useless
reactions to stimuli which no longer serve as reliable cues for the occurrence of
such events, we would become a walking bundle of useless conditioned responses.

3.2.3 Principles of Behaviour Modification

The principles of classical conditioning are found to be very useful for the
modification of behaviour The principles of classical conditioning have also
been applied in the treatment of neurosis and phobias. Rather than focusing on
the root of the problem like a traditional psychopathologist, a behaviourist could
focus on eliminating the symptom by bringing classical conditioning into play.
By reinforcing the extinction of the symptom, the psychopathological illness of
the patient could be eliminated (Schwartz & Lacy, 1982). For example, the
therapeutic technique, known as flooding which is used to treat phobias relies
on the principles of extinction. Systematic desensitisation is still another important
technique successfully in dealing with a wide range of mal-adaptive behaviours,
including examination anxiety, phobias, nightmares, stuttering, depression,
obsession, impotence, and anorexia nervosa, based on the principles of extinction

3.2.4 Process of Behaviour Modification

The process of classical conditioning was also found useful for treating alcoholism
and nicotine addiction. According to Pavlovian principles, addiction occurs
44
because of both the pleasurable physiological effects of nicotine and alcohol, Learning Thoery of
Personality (Pavlov and
unconditioned stimuli, and the taste of nicotine and alcohol, conditioned stimuli. Skinner)
When one stops ingesting the substance, as in traditional treatment procedures,
it is extremely easy to become addicted again. After all, “simply not presenting a
conditioned stimulus does not eliminate the relation between it and the
unconditioned stimuli” (Schwartz & Lacy, 1982).

With just one use, the taste and unconditioned pleasurable effects become
associated with each other again. However, if the taste of nicotine or alcohol, the
conditioned response, is paired with a new unpleasant effect such as nausea and
vomiting, the result will be a negative aversion to the substances in question.
Such was the case when both an old alcoholic man and a young chain smoking
adolescent were given apomorphine paired with alcohol and nicotine, respectively.
The drug apomorphine induced severe feelings of nausea and vomiting which
caused both of them to give up these addictive substances for life. This process
is called counter-conditioning and has had remarkable success in curing addictions
(Schwartz & Lacy, 1982), and the therapy based on the principles of counter-
conditioning is termed as Aversion Therapy.

3.2.5 Evaluation
Pavlov started his career as a physiologist. He was interested in studying the
process of digestion and at the time of studying the digestive system he discovered
what has later been termed as classical conditioning. So, originally his theory
was aimed to explain the leaning process. The principles of classical conditioning
were found to be applicable for explaining the development of many
psychopathologies. Although Pavlov’s theory is able to explain the development
and change of a number of aspects of personality, but it is unable to explain the
total personality of human beings. Moreover, since many of his principles are
drawn from the experiments conducted on animals, it is also doubtful if these
principles can also be applied to human beings.
Self Assessment Questions
1) Explain the important features of Pavlov’s theory.
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2) Discuss the process of classical conditioning.
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45
Theories of Personality-I
3) Describe the main principles of classical conditioning, and discuss their
roles in the development of personality.
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4) The principles of classical conditioning have extensively been used in
behaviour modification. Explain it.
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3.3 B. F. SKINNER: LEANING THEORY OF

PERSONALITY
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20, 1904, in a small Pennsylvania
town of Susquehanna. His father was a lawyer, and his mother a strong and
intelligent housewife. His upbringing was old-fashioned and hard-working. He
received his BA in English from Hamilton College in upstate New York. He
didn’t fit in very well, not enjoying the fraternity parties or the football games.
He wrote for school paper, including articles critical of the school and the faculty.

To top it off, he was an atheist — in a school that required daily chapel attendance.
He wanted to be a writer and did try, sending off poetry and short stories. When
he graduated, he built a study in his parents’ attic to concentrate, but it just wasn’t
working for him. Ultimately, he resigned himself to writing newspaper articles
on labour problems, and lived for a while in Greenwich Village in New York
City as a “bohemian.” After some traveling, he decided to go back to school,
this time at Harvard. He got his masters in psychology in 1930 and his doctorate
in 1931, and stayed there to do research until 1936. Also in that year, he moved
to Minneapolis to teach at the University of Minnesota. There he met and soon
married Yvonne Blue. They had two daughters, the second of which became
famous as the first infant to be raised in one of Skinner’s inventions, the air crib.
In 1945, he became the chairman of the psychology department at Indiana
University. On August 18, 1990, B. F. Skinner died of leukemia after becoming
perhaps the most celebrated psychologist since Sigmund Freud.

Skinner’s theory of personality, like other learning theories of personality did

not grow out of the therapeutic situations, rather it emerged from the works
carried out in laboratory settings. Skinner derived his principles of learning from
the study of individual subjects in precisely controlled condition. He focused on
the study of individual subjects instead of generalised group which reflected his
46 belief that lawful control can be seen in individual behaviour.
While other personality theorists attempted to understand personality by studying Learning Thoery of
Personality (Pavlov and
groups, Skinner attempted to develop general laws by studying individual. Skinner)
Skinner, in his theory of personality, emphasised some particular aspects of human
nature like determinism, elementalism, changeability, objectivity, reactivity and
knowability, while rejected the other aspects like rationality-irrationality and
homeostasis-hetrostasis completely because he did not consider the internal
sources of human behaviour important for explaining behaviour.

According to Skinner study of personality can be done on the basis of systematic

and precise evaluation of individual’s genetic and idiosyncratic learning history.
It means that for studying the personality one has to study and discover the
relationship between the behaviour of the organism and its reinforcing
consequences. Skinner’s theory is based on the assumptions that behaviour is
lawful, it can be predicted, and it can be controlled. Skinner’s theory can be
explained in the following headings:
• Operant behaviour
• Schedule of reinforcement
• Aversive Stimuli
• Secondary Reinforcement
• Successive approximation or Shaping
• Superstitious behaviour
• Abnormal Behaviour
Now let us discuss these aspects of Skinner’s theory in some detail.

3.3.1 Operant Behaviour

According to skinner personality of an individual can be understand through the
study of his behaviour. He further stated that behaviour can be distinguished in
two types, viz., (i) respondent and (ii) operant. Respondent behaviours are those
which are elicited by the stimuli of the environment that are well-known and
can be identified easily. These behaviours are involuntary and automatic in the
sense that if the stimuli is presented before the organism, the behaviour related
to that stimuli will occur automatically. The organism has no control over it.
Constrictions of pupil, salivation, sweating etc. are examples of such behaviours.
These behaviours are usually not learned by the organism at simple level, but at
complex level.
Operant behaviours, on the other hand, are those behaviours which are not caused
by any specific stimuli of the environment. The stimuli of the operant behaviour
are difficult to identify. These behaviours are performed by the individual
voluntarily. Skinner was of the opinion that behaviours of human beings are
predominantly operant in nature.
Operant behaviours or responses can be tied to a readily identifiable stimulus.
These responses seem to be spontaneous and voluntary. Another property of this
kind of behaviour is that its frequency of occurrence is changed according to the
event that follows. More specifically, the strength of these responses increases
when the response occurs and is followed by reinforcement.
The peculiarity of this class of response gives rise to Skinner’s use of the term
“operant”. An operant is a response that operates in the environment and changes
47
Theories of Personality-I it. The changes in the environment affect the subsequent occurrence of the
response. In operant conditioning, therefore, the reinforcer is not associated with
an eliciting stimulus. Instead it is associated with the response.

Skinner prepared a special cage (called “Skinner box”) that has a bar or lever on
one wall that, when pressed, causes a little mechanism to release a food pellet
into the cage. The rat is bouncing around the cage, doing whatever it is rats do,
when he accidentally presses the lever. So in operant conditioning it is essential
that the reinforcer be presented after the occurrence of the response. A reinforcer
is defined as anything that strengthens a tendency to behave in a particular way
(food satisfies hunger so you eat; money reinforces the likelihood that you will
keep working; a child will behave well overtime because mum and dad approve
him).

In other words a reinforcer is a stimulus event which if it occurs in the proper

temporal relation with a response, tends to maintain or to increase the strength
of a response. Reinforcer may either be positive or negative. The likelihood of
the behaviour will be increased by the positive reinforcement (adding something
pleasant) and also by the negative reinforcement (turning of/removing something
unpleasant).

Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning. Skinner’s process of

operant conditioning is given below: A rat is moving around the cage doing what
a rat does normally. Accidentally it presses the lever and a food pellet falls into
the cage. The operant (pressing the lever) is the behaviour just prior to the
reinforcer, which is the food pellet, of course. In no time at all, the rat is furiously
peddling away at the lever, hoarding his pile of pellets in the corner of the cage.
The behaviour followed by a reinforcing stimulus results in an increased
probability of that behaviour occurring in the future. What if you do not give the
rat any more pellets? Apparently, after a few futile attempts, he stops his lever-
pressing behaviour. This is called extinction of the operant behaviour. A behaviour
no longer followed by the reinforcing stimulus results in a decreased probability
of that behaviour occurring in the future.

Now, if you were to turn the pellet machine back on, so that pressing the lever
again provides the rat with pellets, the behaviour of lever-pressing will return
right back into existence, much more quickly than it took for the rat to learn the
behaviour the first time. This is called spontaneous recovery. This is because
the return of the reinforcer takes place in the context of a reinforcement history
that goes all the way back to the very first time the rat was reinforced for pressing
on the lever.

3.3.2 Schedules of Reinforcement

Skinner decided to reduce the number of reinforcements he gave his rats for
whatever behaviour he was trying to condition, and observed that the rats kept
up their operant behaviours, and at a stable rate, no less. This is how Skinner
discovered schedules of reinforcement. Following schedules of reinforcement
were applied by Skinner:
1) Continuous reinforcement: In continuous reinforcement schedule, every
time that the rat does the behaviour (such as pushing the lever), it gets the
food.
48
2) Intermittent Reinforcement Schedule: In intermittent reinforcement Learning Thoery of
Personality (Pavlov and
schedule the rat does not get the reinforcement every time he presses the Skinner)
lever. It is further divided into two types: (a) The fixed ratio (b) The fixed
interval
a) The fixed ratio schedule was the first one Skinner discovered: If the
rat presses the lever three times, say, he gets reinforcement. Or five
times. Or twenty times. Or “x” times. There is a fixed ratio between
behaviours and reinforcers.
b) The fixed interval schedule uses a timing device of some sort. If the
rat presses the lever at least once during a particular stretch of time
(say 20 seconds), then he gets reinforcement. If he fails to do so, he
does not get it. Even if he presses the bar a hundred times during that
20 seconds, he still only gets one reinforcement. One strange thing that
happens is that the rats tend to “pace” themselves: They slow down
the rate of their behaviour right after the reinforcer, and speed up when
the time for it gets close.
Skinner also looked at variable ratios and variable schedules.
Variable ratio means you change the “x” each time — first it takes 3 presses to
get the food, then 10, then 1, then 7 and so on. Variable interval means you keep
changing the time period — first 20 seconds, then 5, then 35, then 10 and so on.

With the variable interval schedule, they no longer “pace” themselves, because
they can no longer establish a “rhythm” between behaviour and reward. Most
importantly, these schedules are very resistant to extinction.

3.3.3 Aversive Stimuli

An aversive stimulus is the opposite of a reinforcing stimulus, something we
might find unpleasant or painful. A behaviour followed by an aversive stimulus
results in a decreased probability of the behaviour occurring in the future. This
both defines an aversive stimulus and describes the form of conditioning known
as punishment. If you shock a rat for making a response, the rat will stop to
make that response. If you spank the baby for throwing his toys he will throw
his toys less and less (maybe). On the other hand, if you remove an already
active aversive stimulus after a rat or baby performs a certain behaviour, you are
doing negative reinforcement. If you turn off the electricity when the rat stands
on his hind legs, he will do a lot more standing.

Skinner (contrary to some stereotypes that have arisen about behaviourists) does
not “approve” of the use of aversive stimuli. It is not because of ethics, but
because they do not work well. That’s because whatever was reinforcing the
bad behaviours has not been removed, as it would have been in the case of
extinction. This hidden reinforcer has just been “covered up” with a conflicting
aversive stimulus. All baby needs to do is wait till you are out of the room, or
find a way to blame it on its brother, or in some way escape the consequences,
and thus the baby is back to its old ways. In fact, because the baby now only gets
to enjoy its reinforcer occasionally, the baby has gone into a variable schedule
of reinforcement, and it will be even more resistant to extinction than ever.

49
Theories of Personality-I 3.3.4 Secondary Reinforcement
A neutral stimulus presented at the time of delivering the response also tends to
acquire the reinforcing ability. For example in the Skinner box at the time of
delivering reinforcement a sound of click is also produced repeatedly each time.
It was found that this click of sound itself acquires the reinforcing characteristics
being associated with the original reinforcer. The sound of click is now called
secondary reinforcer.

Skinner believed that the conditioned or secondary reinforcers are of great

importance in controlling human behaviour. It is obvious that our every action
is not maintained by the presentation of unconditioned or primary reinforcers
such as food, water, and sex. It is possible to reason that much of our behaviours
relies on secondary reinforcement. The most common example of secondary
reinforcer is money. It has no intrinsic value of its own, but being paired with a
number of different unconditioned primary reinforcers, it has itself acquired the
reinforcing quality. The notion of secondary reinforcement is important in
Skinner’s theory of personality, and he used it effectively to account for the
maintenance of many responses that takes place as part of our social behaviour.

3.3.5 Successive Approximation or Shaping

A question Skinner had to deal with was how we get to more complex sorts of
behaviours. He responded with the idea of shaping, or “the method of successive
approximations.” Basically, it involves first reinforcing a behaviour only vaguely
similar to the one desired. Once that is established, you look out for variations
that comes a little closer to what you want, and so on, until you have the organism
performing a behaviour that would never show up in ordinary life. Skinner and
his students have been quite successful in teaching animals to do some quite
extraordinary things.

3.3.6 Superstitious Behaviour

The type of conditioning, in which there is no causal relationship between the
response and the reinforcer, is referred by Skinner as superstitious conditioning.
When the reinforcement happens to occur purely due to chance factor at the
time the individual made a particular response, the individual started to believe
that the particular response made by him was the cause for getting the
reinforcement, while there was no functional or causal relationship between the
response he made and the reinforcement he got.
According to Skinner many of our superstitious beliefs are the result of this
conditioning. The members of the primitive tribe, for example, may practice
rain making by the performance of some ritualised dance. On some occasions
rain does happen to follow the performance. Thus the rain-making dance is
reinforced and tends to be repeated. The tribal people believe that a causal
relationship exists between the dance and the rain. Similarly, take another example
of a cat crossing your way: a superstition commonly found in Indian society.
Suppose you were going for some important work, say, for example, to appear in
your annual examination. When you were on the way, a cat happens to cross the
way. If you could not do well in the examination due to one or other reasons, you
started to attribute your failure to the cat crossing your way. While in reality
there was no functional relationship between the cat crossing your way and the
performance in the examination.
50
3.3.7 Abnormal Behaviour Learning Thoery of
Personality (Pavlov and
The constructs like repressed wishes, an identity crisis, conflicts between ego Skinner)
and superego, etc. did not appeal to Skinner for explanation of the abnormal
behaviours. He advocated that the framework on which his theory is based is
sufficient to understand and explain the abnormal behaviour. Abnormal behaviour
is assumed to be the same in its principles of development as normal behaviour.

In putting forward a programme for the treatment of abnormal behaviour, skinner

repeatedly asserted that the goal is simply to replace abnormal behaviour with
normal behaviour. The undesirable behaviour can be modified by the manipulation
of the environment in a manner determined by the techniques of operant and
respondent conditioning.

Through these techniques, we can extinguish an undesirable behaviour (by

removing the reinforcer) and replace it with a desirable behaviour by
reinforcement. It has been used on all sorts of psychological problems such as
addictions, neuroses, shyness, autism, even schizophrenia. It has been observed
that this technique works particularly well with children.

The other technique used for behaviour modification is token economy. This
technique is used primarily in institutions such as psychiatric hospitals, juvenile
halls, and prisons. Certain rules are made explicit in the institution, and behaving
appropriately is rewarded with tokens, including poker chips, tickets, funny
money, recorded notes, etc. The tokens can be traded in for desirable things
such as candy, cigarettes, games, movies, time out of the institution, etc.

3.3.8 Evaluation
Skinner’s theory of personality’ like other theories of personality, also has certain
strengths and also some weaknesses. Some of the strengths of the Skinner’s
learning perspectives on personality are as follows:
Skinner based his theory upon impressive experimental evidence. It is supported
by a number of scientific and testable constructs supported by research findings.
Skinner, in his theory personality, places great emphasis on the importance of
the environment to explain the situational variations in behaviour
The theory has useful therapeutic applications. Psychotherapists have used the
principles of operant conditioning for treating a variety of behaviour problems
successfully.
However, in spite of the above merits Skinner’s theory has also been criticized
on the following grounds:
Skinner’s theory tends to explain specific behaviour and behaviour changes but
not a comprehensive theory of personality. The word personality itself seems
missing from the theory.
The role of biological factors has been ignored. Skinner overlooked the individual
differences present from birth.
In-depth case studies are lacking, partly because comprehensive personality
assessment tests have not been developed from the learning perspective.

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Theories of Personality-I Skinner’s theory tends to explain specific behaviour and behaviour changes but
not a comprehensive theory of personality. The word personality itself seems
missing from the theory.

The role of biological factors has been ignored. Skinner overlooked the individual
differences present from birth.

Skinner’s theory is unable to cover the whole story of personality. For example
language is certainly acquired to some degree via learning processes: i.e. operant
conditioning, reinforcement and shaping all play a part. However, according to
Noam Chomsky (1959) these concepts do not explain fully how a child learns
to speak. How for example do children come up with sentences they have never
heard before? Why the incredible similarity in language development across
cultures?

Boulding (1984) questions Skinner’s application of principles of animal behaviour

to the much more complex human behaviour. In using animals as substitutes for
humans in the exploration of human behaviour, Skinner is making the big
assumption that general laws relating to the behaviour of animals can be applied
to describe the complex relations in the human world.

If this assumption proves false, then the entire foundation upon which Skinner’s
theory rests will come crashing down. More experiments with human participants
must be done to prove the validity of this.
Self Assessment Questions
1) What are the main characteristics of learning theory of personality?
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2) Discuss the salient features of Skinner’s theory of personality.
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3) Explain the procedures of operant conditioning.
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 Learning Thoery of
4) What do you mean by ‘operant behaviour? Personality (Pavlov and
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5) What do you mean by schedule of reinforcement?
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6) How does a superstitious behaviour acquired? Explain it in the light of
Sinner’s theory.
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7) How can the principles of operant conditioning be applied in the
modification of undesirable behaviours?
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3.4 LET US SUM UP

Learning theory of personality presents a model of personality that emphasises
observable behaviour, the relationship between stimuli and responses, and the
impact of learning. The behaviourist position is that personality is no more (or
less) than a collection of learned behaviour patterns. Personality, like other learned
behaviour, is acquired through classical and operant conditioning, observational
learning, reinforcement, extinction, generalisation, and discrimination. In the
present unit we have discuss two important learning theories of personality. First,
we focused on Pavlov’ theory of learning and then we explained Skinner theory
of personality.
Classical conditioning, called Pavlovian conditioning, explains how a previously
neutral stimulus can come to have a learned effect on someone. This takes place
by pairing (associating) an unconditioned stimulus (which already produces an
unconditioned response) with a neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus). In this
way, the organism learns to respond to the conditioned stimulus with a conditioned
response which is like the unconditioned response. The strength of a conditioned
response depends on the number of pairings between the conditioned stimulus
and the unconditioned stimulus and also on the interval, which elapses between 53
Theories of Personality-I the presentation of conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus. The
acquisition of irrational fears or phobias, sexual hang-up (fetishm), prejudice
and hostile feelings has successfully been explained through the process of
classical conditioning. Once the organism is conditioned to one stimulus, it is
often found that it will respond to other stimuli, similar in some dimension to it.
This phenomenon is known as stimulus generalisation. Stimulus generalisation
plays very important adaptive role. Opposite to this phenomenon is stimulus
discrimination. Within the framework of classical conditioning the ability to
discriminate between the two stimuli is developed when one of the two similar
stimuli is consistently followed by an unconditioned stimulus while the other is
not. This phenomenon is accounted for developing the experimental neurosis.
The principles of classical conditioning are found very us effective for the
modification of behaviour. It has been applied in the treatment of neurosis, phobia,
alcoholism and nicotine addiction Rather than focusing on the root of the problem
like a traditional psychopathologist, a behaviourist could focus on eliminating
the symptom by bringing classical conditioning into play. By reinforcing the
extinction of the symptom, the psychopathological illness of the patient could
be eliminated.
According to Skinner’s theory, individual differences in behaviour are largely
the result of different kinds of learning experiences encountered by different
people. Some behaviour patterns may be learned through direct experience
Skinner stated that the personality of an individual can be understood through
the study of his behaviour. He further stated that behaviour can be distinguished
in two types – respondent and operant. Operant behaviours are those behaviours
which are not caused by any specific stimuli of the environment. Classical
conditioning is labeled by Skinner as respondent conditioning, whereas his own
conditioning procedure is termed by him as operant conditioning.
Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning. In operant conditioning
the desired behaviour of the organism is strengthened by presenting the
reinforcement. A reinforcer is defined as anything that strengthens a tendency to
behave in a particular way. In other words a reinforcer is a stimulus event which
if it occurs in the proper temporal relation with a response, tends to maintain or
to increase the strength of a response. Reinforcer may either be positive or
negative. The likelihood of the behaviour will be increased by the positive
reinforcement (adding something pleasant) and also by the negative reinforcement
(turning of/removing something unpleasant).
Skinner identified different schedules of reinforcement. In continuous
reinforcement schedule, the organism gets reinforcement every time he does the
behaviour. In the fixed ratio schedule the reinforcement is given to the organism
if he made the response at certain number of times. For example if the rat presses
the lever three times, say, he gets reinforcement, Or five times, Or twenty times,
Or “x” times. In fixed interval schedule a timing device of some sort is used. If
the rat presses the lever at least once during a particular stretch of time (say 20
seconds), then he gets reinforcement. If he fails to do so, he does not get it.
Variable ratio means you change the “x” each time — first it takes 3 presses to
get the food, then 10, then 1, then 7 and so on. Variable interval means you keep
changing the time period — first 20 seconds, then 5, then 35, then 10 and so on.
With the variable interval schedule, they no longer “pace” themselves, because
they can no longer establish a “rhythm” between behaviour and reward. Most
importantly, these schedules are very resistant to extinction.
54
An aversive stimulus is the opposite of a reinforcing stimulus, something we Learning Thoery of
Personality (Pavlov and
might find unpleasant or painful. A behaviour followed by an aversive stimulus Skinner)
results in a decreased probability of the behaviour occurring in the future. But
Skinner doesn’t “approve” of the use of aversive stimuli - not because of ethics,
but because they don’t work well. Instead of extinguishing the behaviour it only
suppresses it. Skinner, on the other hand believed that conditioned or secondary
reinforcers are of great importance in the control of human behaviour.
It is obvious that our every action is not maintained by the presentation of
unconditioned or primary reinforcers. The most common example of secondary
reinforcer is money. It has no intrinsic value of its own, but being paired with a
number of different unconditioned of primary reinforcers, it has itself acquired
the reinforcing quality. The notion of secondary reinforcement is important in
Skinner’s theory of personality, and he used it effectively to account for the
maintenance of many responses that takes place as part of our social behaviour.
According to Skinner method of successive approximation or shaping helps us
in learning of complex behaviours. It involves first reinforcing a behaviour only
vaguely similar to the one desired. Once that is established, you look out for
variations that come a little closer to what you want, and so on, until you have
the animal performing a behaviour that would never show up in ordinary life.
Process of operant conditioning is found useful for the development and treatment
of superstitious and abnormal behaviour. According to Skinner when the
reinforcement happens to occur purely due to the chance factor at the time the
individual made a particular response, the individual started to believe that the
particular response made by him was the cause for getting the reinforcement,
while there was no functional or causal relationship between the response he
made and the reinforcement he got.
According to Skinner many of our superstitious beliefs are the result of this
conditioning. The constructs like repressed wishes, an identity crisis, conflicts
between ego and superego, etc. did not appeal Skinner for the explanation of the
abnormal behaviour. He advocated that the framework on which his theory is
based is sufficient to understand and explain the abnormal behaviour. Abnormal
behaviour is assumed to be the same in its principles of development as normal
behaviour. In putting forward a programme for the treatment of abnormal
behaviour, skinner repeatedly asserted that the goal is simply to replace abnormal
behaviour with normal behaviour.

3.5 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) How does the learning theory of personality differ from the psychoanalytic
theory of personality?
2) What are the main features of Behaviouristic theory of personality?
3) Discuss the principles of classical conditioning..
4) Discuss the process of classical conditioning.
5) Describe the principles of classical conditioning, and discuss how it can be
applied in explaining the development of personality.
6) What are the salient features of Skinner’s theory of personality? Discuss it.
7) What is ‘operant behaviour’? How does it differ from the’ respondent
behaviour’?

55
Theories of Personality-I 8) What do you mean by schedule of reinforcement? Discuss its importance in
the acquisition of behaviour.
9) How does a superstitious behaviour acquired? Explain it in the light of
Sinner’s theory.
10) How can the principles of operant conditioning be applied in the modification
of undesirable behaviours?

3.6 GLOSSARY
Classical conditioning : A form of leaning in which stimuli initially
incapable of eliciting certain responses acquire
the ability to do so through repeated pairing with
other stimuli that are able to elicit such
responses.
Conditioned response : A response evoked by a conditioned stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus : A stimulus which acquires the capacity to evoke
particular responses through repeated pairing
with another stimulus capable of eliciting such
reactions.
Continuous reinforcement : Condition under which a particular form of
behaviour is followed by reinforcement on every
occasion it is emitted.
Experimental neurosis : Disturbances in behaviour produced in the
laboratory by requiring organisms to make
discriminations of which they are incapable.
Extinction : The process through which conditioned response
is weakened and eventually eliminated.
Fixed interval schedule of : A schedule in which the first response following
reinforcement the passage of a fixed interval of time yields
reinforcement.
Fixed ratio schedule of : A schedule in which the first response following
reinforcement the emission of a specific number of responses
yields reinforcement.
Generalisation : The process by which a learned response will
occur in more situations than those in which was
first learned; it will be also applied to similar
situations.
Higher-order conditioning : A process in which previously established stimuli
serve as the basis for further conditioning.
Operant : Responses freely emitted by organisms. The
frequency with which such responses appear
may be strongly affected by the application of
various schedules of reinforcement.
Operant conditioning : A form of learning in which responses that yield
positive consequences or lead to escape from
negative outcomes are strengthened.
56
Schedules of reinforcement : Rules governing the delivery of reinforcement. Learning Thoery of
Personality (Pavlov and
When a given schedule is in effect, reinforcement Skinner)
can be obtained only by meeting its requirements.
Secondary reinforcer : A stimulus which acquires reinforcing properties
through association with a primary reinforcer
such as food or water.
Second–order conditioning: Classical conditioning established on the basis
of earlier conditioning. That is, previously
conditioned stimuli are employed as the basis
for the further conditioning.
Successive approximation : Small changes in the behaviour in the direction
desired bt a trainer. Such changes are reinforced
during the process of shaping.
Superstitious coditioning : The type of conditioning, in which there is no
causal relationship between the response and the
reinforcer, is referred by Skinner as superstitious
conditioning.
Unconditioned response : A response evoked by an unconditioned
stimulus.
Unconditioned stimulus : A stimulus possessing the capacity to elicit
reactions from the organisms in the absence of
prior conditioning.

3.7 SUGGESTED READINGS AND REFERENCES

Hall, C.S., Lindzey, G. and Campbell, J.B. (2004).Theories of Personality (Fourth
Edition). New York: Wiley
Burger, J. M. (1993). Personality (3rd ed.) Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2000). Perspectives on Personality (4th ed.)
Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster.
Funder, D. C. (2001). The Personality Puzzle (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton.
References
Boulding, K. E. (1984). B. F. Skinner: A dissident view. Behavioural and Brain
Sciences, 7, 483-484.
Gracia, J., McGrown, B. K., & Green, K. F. (1972) Biological constraints on
conditioning. In A. H. Black and W. F. Prokasy (Eds) Classical Conditioning II:
Current Research and Theory. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Rescorla, R. A. (1973). Pavlovlian conditioning: It’s not what you think it is.
American Psychologist, 43, 151-160.
Schwartz, B., & Lacey, H. (1982). Behaviourism, science, and human nature.
New York: Norton.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1972). On the generality of the laws of learning. Psychological
Review, 77, 406-418.

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