Page 401 - Understanding Psychology

Learning Theories
Reader’s Guide
Exploring Psychology
Responding to Oppression
There is such a thing as the freedom of exhaustion. Some people are so worn down by the yoke of oppression that they give up. A few years ago in the slum areas of Atlanta, a Negro guitarist used to sing almost daily: “Been down so long that down don’t bother me.” This is the type of negative freedom and resignation that often engulfs the life of the oppressed.
But this is not the way out. To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor. . . .
—from Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963
s Main Idea
Behaviorists are interested in how aspects of personality are learned.
s Vocabulary
• behaviorism
• contingencies of reinforcement
s Objectives
• Describe Skinner’s concept of
personality.
• Explain Bandura’s social cognitive
theory of personality.
In the excerpt above, Martin Luther King, Jr., described the behavior of some African Americans in the 1950s. King, a leader in the struggle for civil rights, observed this behavior and looked to the environment to see what was causing it. King recognized that an oppressive system maintained these behaviors. Like King, behaviorists look to the environ- ment to see what is reinforcing behavior.
American psychology has long been dominated by the study of
human and animal learning. John Watson believed that the proper subject
matter of psychology ought to be observable behavior. He believed that if
it could not be seen, then it could not be studied. His beliefs led to the
study of behavior and what is called behaviorism. Behaviorists believe
that as individuals differ in their learning experiences, they acquire differ-
ent behaviors and, hence, different personalities. able behavior—and nothing else
behaviorism: belief that the proper subject matter of psy- chology is objectively observ-
Chapter 14 / Theories of Personality 387