Learning or Cognitive Personality Theories Podcast

Ashley Francis, Nik Gomes

PSY/405

Bridget Seeley

4/18/2016
Learning or Cognitive Personality Theories Podcast

What is cognition? When talking about cognition we express the understanding of

theories that are presented to our knowledge to empathize cognitive personality. We first

recognize that in order to understand cognition we have to understand how get to

cognitive personality; each and every individual creates a personality based off of a

observation and learning or cognition in which the mind allows us to experience a

situation and responding to the effects of the situation. We begin to comprehend

situations according to experience and learning which allow us to adjudicate decisions

and assessments according to our experiences; when we become aware of these

assessments, we than are able to conclude on which direction to present our behavioral

either intentionally or unintentionally. Taking a look at theories from scholars and

utilizing some examples, we will be able to understand what cognition is, and how

cognitive personality play a role in human existence.

Skinner believed that classical conditioning was too simple as far as learning

goes. He believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action

and its consequences. (Mcleod, 2015) Not only did Skinner find that rewarding behavior causes

repeat behavior, he also studied that negatively rewarding behavior tends to cease certain

behaviors. This was dubbed operant conditioning. Operant Conditioning deals with operants -

intentional actions that have an effect on the surrounding environment. (Mcleod, 2015) When he

began his study with rats, he found that they would repeatedly push a lever when they realized

that every push gave a reward. He began to alter the research slightly, causing a food pellet to
drop when the lever was pushed only after every few pushes instead of with every single push of

the lever. Even without a reward every time, the rats would still go up to and push the lever.

Skinner believed there were three kinds of responses, or what he referred to as operant,

that followed behavior. Punishers are responses from the environment that decrease the

likelihood of a behavior being repeated; punishment weakens behavior. (Mcleod,2015)

Reinforcers are responses form the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being

repeated; reinforcers can be both positive and negative. (Mcleod, 2015) Neutral operants are

responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior

being repeated. (Mcleod, 2015) Basically, the neutral operant would be something like the sun

shining. Just because the sun is out does not mean you are going to avoid walking down the

street. It does not change your behavior one way or the other. If you planned to walk twenty

miles, the sun then becomes a negative reinforcement. You are going to be against walking for

that long in the sun due to the negative effects it can have on you. Sunburns, heat related injury,

and a slew of other things can deter the behavior because of the sun. Now if you want to go to a

swimming pool, the sun then becomes a positive reinforcement. You would not typically plan to

go spend a day at the pool if the sun were not out, which caused it to be cold and cloudy. Most

would go to the pool on a hot, nice sunny day to enjoy themselves. The behavior in each

situation is altered with the stimulus, in this case, the sun. There are both positive, neutral, and

negative aspects of this one thing, however it is situationally dependent where it stands. We have

learned through the different reinforcements when it is positive, negative, or neutral. Getting

sunburned is a negative reinforcement, and causes people to not want to be in the sun as much.

Having a nice warm day to have a picnic in the park or go swimming is a positive reinforcement.

We have all been operant conditioned to have these responses when it comes to the sun. We are
not born knowing what it can and cannot do, we learn these things by going through each of the

reinforcements that make up operant conditioning.

References

McLeod, S. A. (2015). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from

www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html