Burrhus Frederic Skinner's Theory of behaviorism

My Personality

These photos demonstrate my dependence and fear of separation. (Left) I was too fearful of parting with my mother to take a picture with Santa Clause by myself so she had to join in. (Right) Me in my cribs just moments before I would be traumatized for life by "self-soothing".

Gordon Allport's Trait Theory:

These photos illustrate where my love of giving gifts derives from. All the items in the pictures above are gifts given to me by my mother.

Trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed of broad dispositions. Gordon Allport categorized traits into three levels; Cardinal, Central, and Secondary. Cardinal Traits dominate an individual's entire life to the point that the person becomes known for these traits. Central Traits are the general characteristics that form basic foundations of personality. They are the traits that you would often use to describe another person. Secondary traits are traits that are sometimes to attitudes and often appear only under specific circumstances.

How it applies to me:

Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory:

With exception to my previously stated generosity, I am an incredibly frugal person. I will go to great lengths to save a buck, including asking McDonald's for a cup for "water" then filling it with pop. I only spend money when I feel the purchase can be justified and is completely necessary. Bandura would suggest that this part of my personality derives from years of watching my father pinch pennies and listening to his mantra of "Spend no dime before it's time". Being exposed to his attitude towards money shaped my own opinion on the subject to model his.

Bandura's theory states that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people. There are three core concepts at the centre of social learning theory. The first is that people can learn through observation. The next is that internal mental states are an essential part of this process. And finally, just because something has been learned, does not mean that it will result in a change in behavior.

How it Applies to me:

In my life I have come to be dependent on those who are closest to me. I have acquired the fear of being abandoned or left behind by my loved ones. From when I was an infant up until my teen years, I was dependent upon my mother, as she was a stay-at-home mom, we grew to be quite close. When I met my boyfriend, the weight of my dependency sifted from my mother, to him. Using Erikson's Theory, this dependency and fear of abandonment could stem from an early childhood event. More specifically, when I was in the Basic Trust vs... Mistrust stage of psycho social crisis, my mother tried to teach me to self soothe by letting me cry in my crib by myself. Although a common parenting tactic that is considered harmless, I remember it vividly and its effects were unpleasant. I can still see in my mind the impending darkness of my room as my mother slowly shut the door, not attending to my cries. Erikson would say that because the Basic trust vs. Mistrust stage of my life was unsuccessful upon completion, it came back to haunt me as a problem in the future. I trusted my mother to always be there to comfort me in a time of need, her failing to do so created a mistrust regarding people disappearing.

How it applies to Me:

The struggle of me trying to get my N demonstrates my Central Trait of determination. It took me over a year of driving school and four driving tests until I finally passed, but I never stopped trying or lost hope.

I am incredibly generous when it comes to people that I love. I am more willing to spend money on buying gifts for my friends and family than I am to buying necessary things for myself. Based on Bandura's Theory, this could be due to the fact that on my mother's side of the family, people show their love for one another with money. The more you give a person, the more you love them, in our family. So while I was growing up, I observed my family's way of expressing their love in a materialistic fashion, and took on that behavior myself.

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How it applies to me:

Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development:

How it applies to me:

How it Applies to me

My Central trait would have to be determined. If I want to accomplish something, there is no one and nothing that can stop me from trying to make it happen. I believe that if you try hard enough and you believe in yourself, you can achieve just about anything. For those reasons, I believe that Allport would consider my central trait to be Determined.

Erikson's theory explains eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to adulthood. Each stage holds new challenges for the person to confront and hopefully master. Unsuccessfully completed challenges are expected to reappear as problems in the future.

As far back as I can remember I have been a very hardworking individual. Even when something is challenging, I still strive to complete the task that is presented to me. Based on Skinner's theory, the reason that I try so hard to be successful in my endeavors is because I receive positive reinforcement when I achieve what I intended to. As a child my hard work was always rewarded, such as when I showed them a good report card and they gave me money for my efforts. Being rewarded for my hard work gave me incentive to continue to work just as hard, therefore reinforcing the behavior.

My secondary trait would be humorous. This is a trait that is only revealed in certain situations where being witty is considered appropriate. Since it is not shown in all settings, Allport would consider it my secondary trait, opposed to a cardinal trait or central trait.

A perfect example of one of my Secondary traits; humorous. As a child I used to put on comedy routines for my parents. How funny they really were, I'll never know.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner's Theory of Behaviorism

Skinner innovated his own philosophy of science and called his particular brand of behaviorism "Radical" behaviorism. Radical Behaviorism seeks to understand behavior as a function of environmental histories of reinforcing consequences. Reinforcement is a central concept in Behaviorism, and he saw it as a central mechanism in the shaping and control of behavior. Positive reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the application of some event, and negative reinforcement is the strengthening of behavior by the removal or avoidance of some aversive event. Both types of reinforcement strengthen behavior, or increase the probability of behavior occurring.