Social Cognitive Perspective Overlap and Integration Final Words on Personality Theories

1. Social Cognitive PerspectiveOverlap and Integration Final Words on Personality Theories General Psych 2 Module 42 February 17, 2004 Class #7

2. Social-Cognitive Perspective • Applies psychological principles of learning, cognition, and social behavior • Reciprocal determinism • Bandura (1986) felt that personal factors and environmental factors were constantly interacting to produce behavior

3. The Social-Cognitive Perspective: Conceptualizing Behavioral Problems • Locus of Control (Rotter, 1954) • How much control do you have over your life? • Learned helplessness (Seligman, 1970s) • Uncontrollable events

4. Locus of Control • External Locus of Control • These individuals feel that chance of outside forces determine their fate • Internal Locus of Control • These individuals believe that to a great extent they can control their own destiny

5. Locus of Control • Rotter (1966) and other similar studies found strong support for the hypothesis that individuals who have a strong belief that they can control their own destinies are likely to: • Be more aware of environmental factors that may influence future behavior • Take steps to improve environmental conditions • Place greater value on skill or achievement reinforcement • Be resistive to conformity and other subtle attempts to influence their behavior

6. Locus of Control • Enjoy better health • Feel less depressed • Do better in school • Act more independently • Cope with stress better

7. Seligman (1975) • Next, they put the conditioned dogs into a type of box, consisting of a low fence dividing the box into two compartments • The dogs could easily see over the fence, and jump over if it wishes • So they rang the bell…surprisingly, nothing happened! • They were expecting the dogs to jump over the fence • Then, they decided to shock the conditioned dogs, and again nothing happened! The dogs just pathetically laid there!

8. Seligman (1975) • When they put new dogs into the box, who never experienced inescapable shock, the dog, as expected, immediately jumped over the fence to the other side… • Apparently, what the conditioned dogs learned in the hammock, was that trying to escape from the shocks is futile… • These dogs learned to be helpless!

9. Learned Helplessness as an explanation for depression… • Today the theory of learned helplessness has been extended to human behavior, providing a model for explaining mental disorders such as depression, a state characterized by a lack of affect and feeling…

10. Learned Helplessness as an explanation for depression… • Depressed people became that way because they learned to be helpless… • Depressed people learned that whatever they did, is futile • During the course of their lives, depressed people apparently learned that they have no control • Example: Some factory workers, nursing home patients, college students, etc.

11. Martin Seligman’s “Positive Psychology” • Seligman feels that the field of Psychology has for the most part become a science and practice of healing • It concentrates on repairing damage within a disease model of human functioning • He feels that this almost exclusive attention to pathology neglects the flourishing individual and thriving community • As the 1998 President of the American Psychological Association, at 159,000 members the largest organization of scientists in the world, Seligman proposed changing the focus of the science and the profession from repairing the worst things in life to understanding and building the qualities that make life worth living

12. Seligman (1998) • He calls this new orientation “Positive Psychology”… • At the subjective level, the field is about positive experience: well being, optimism, etc. • At the individual level it is about the character strengths—Love, vocation, courage, aesthetic sensibility, leadership, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future-mindedness, and genius • At the community level it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: responsibility, parenting, altruism, civility, moderation, tolerance, and work ethic

13. Positive Psychology • Sounds like a bit like Rogerian views…Ellis probably isn’t too thrilled with it…

14. Psychoanalysis and Cognitive Processes • The Cognitive Unconscious • Erdelyi (1985) • Reber (1967)

15. How can you have a “cognitive unconscious”??? • Here’s the deal… • Freud felt that we had these repressed memories in the unconscious • Cognitive psychologists have for most of the past century or so said no our behaviors are dictated by conscious processing • But there is a contemporary viewpoint that seems to be including the involvement of unconscious processes in cognition

16. Erdelyi (1985) • A cognitive psychologist currently at Brooklyn College talks about different ways in which we process information… • Attentive processes • Controlled process (effortful) • Preattentive processes • Automatic process (effortless)

17. Erdelyi (1985) • He feels that similar to Freud’s idea that there is a process that keeps threats out of awareness, the preattentive process takes over when there is an excess of information for us to learn and this too puts information into our unawareness • The information becomes unbearable…too much too handle…it goes into your unawareness • And you thought you just didn’t learn it • Well maybe you did

18. The Cognitive Unconscious • Okay, so then if we have this material going into this memory or learning area in our unawareness which corresponds to Freudian ideas…then how do we get to it? • Can we get to it? • Can we even be sure there is such a place?

19. Reber (1967) • Reber started this research with a few grad assistants at Brooklyn College • But nobody paid much attention to his numerous studies for about 15-20 years • It was relatively isolated research and seldom cited by others • Not so today – one of the thriving parts of cognitive psychology

20. Implicit Learning:An Unconscious Learning • Reber (1967) – coined the term implicit learning • Learning that appears to occur without awareness or intention to learn and often cannot be described in words what has been learned. • “Cognitive unconscious” • Explicit Learning – consciously controlled learning (deliberate form of learning)

21. Implicit Learning:An Unconscious Learning • Howard and Howard (1992): serial-reaction-time task (implicit learning) • On a computer screen there are 16 different locations – as soon as a box lights up, the subject pushes the button corresponding to that location – the faster you hit the button the better. • Subjects are nottold that the sequence repeats and think its one long trial of 320 trials. In reality, its 20 separate repeating trials of 16 buttons. Same sequence each time.  • Experiment 1: college students • Experiment 2: elderly subjects

22. Howard and Howard (1992) • Basically, learning would be occurring only if we see faster reaction times across trials. • In both experiments that’s exactly what happens. • As if they were anticipating the sequences • When told later that there was a sequence they seemed surprised. • Didn’t think there was one and couldn’t even guess the sequence’s next position at better than chance levels. • What do you think about this experiment? Any other explanations?

23. Implicit Learning: Learning that lacks perception? • Reber (1980) • Learning of complex tasks is enhanced more by implicit learning than explicit learning • Too many variables involved – too much to remember. In explicit learning, we consciously select only the key variables • In implicit learning, we are unselective and pay attention to all variables. • Few attentional resources are needed • So then, why is non-verbalizable?

24. Implicit Learning: Expert Knowledge? • McGeorge and Burton (1990) • Implicit learning allows us to skip steps • Everything becomes automatic • We become experts • Examples: • Chess players • Football QB’s • Riding a bike

25. Implicit Learning: Mindless Learning • Interestingly, its not based on logic… • Reber says when we are observed making choices and solving problems of complexity we are irrational • Rational and logical elements are missing yet we do better… • Why???

26. Personality Psychology… • What we tried to do over the last four classes is to try to explain behavior from personality theorists whose viewpoints were varied… • That’s an understatement

27. Some final words…which view is best??? • Dr. Freud with his psychosexual stages and unconscious conflicts and desires where nothing is an accident…if nothing else he set the table…but don’t argue with him you might not be invited back…just ask Carl Jung…or Alfred Adler…or Sandor Ferenczi or anybody else for that matter

28. The women in here didn’t know it but… • You still have this repressed desire to be with your father and that’s why you look for a guy like him • Not to mention you still have this repressed “penis-envy”… • And Freud doesn’t think you are as moral as your male counterparts

29. What envy do guys have? • Karen Horney says that we have womb-envy • She’s probably joking but feels Freud’s view is equally laughable

30. Some final words…which view is best??? • Allport got “freaked out” by Freud’s silence then thought Freud was sometimes way off base because he plunged too deep • Allport felt this might cause you to miss something that was right in front of you…so we don’t always have to look for something that’s buried because it might not be

31. Some final words…which view is best??? • But do Allport and his trait perspective colleagues really explain behavior or are they just describing it? • Freud would say they fall short as psychologists

32. Fat people are jolly??? • That’s what Sheldon suggests and that skinny people are studious • He believes that our body types give us our personality

33. Some final words…which view is best??? • Eysenck thinks that introverts are overly aroused individuals and extraverts are under aroused…

34. Some final words…which view is best??? • Carl Rogers “Mr. Nice Guy” brings his religious background into the mix…something Freud says we shouldn’t do • But I got the feeling that Roger’s ideas were accepted well by our class • He talks about love, caring, and looks on the positive side of life • He says Freud was wrong to think of man as having this capacity for evil…

35. Some final words…which view is best??? • Albert Ellis says “psychology is a science so lets keep religion out of it” and “you don’t have to like your client” to help him or her • He’s going to “make mincemeat” out of incorrect beliefs and faulty thinking • And he probably doesn’t care if he makes them cry…

36. Some final words…which view is best??? • Seligman seems ready to support Rogers and would like for us to change the “disease model” that’s been around since Freud • But not everybody has been jumping on this bandwagon

37. Some final words…which view is best??? • Some try to integrate ideas… Erdelyi and Reber talk about a cognitive unconscious…

38. Some final words…which view is best??? • Well, which view really is best??? • William James, an early psychologist, said that depends on you – the one that’s best is the one you think is best • So lets take a vote…