THEORIES OF PERSONALITY OA EXAM 2
PRACTICE TEST 2026 STUDY GUIDE FULL
SOLUTIONS REVIEW PACK
◉ punishment
Answer: an aversive consequence that follows an act in order to stop
the act and prevent its repetition.
◉ five principles of how to punish
Answer: 1. availability of alternatives (e.g., Halloween party so kids
avoid pranks) 2. behavioral and situational specificity 3. timing and
consistency (e.g., hitting dog for making mess hours earlier) 4.
conditioning secondary punishing stimuli (e.g., counting to 3) 5.
avoiding mixed messages (e.g., cuddling with child after punishing)
◉ dangers of punishment
Answer: 1. punishment arouses emotion 2. it is difficult to be
consistent 3. it is difficult to gauge the severity of punishment 4.
punishment teaches misuse of power 5. punishment motivates
concealment
◉ habit hierarchy
,Answer: in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, all of the
behaviors an individual might do, ranked in order from most to least
probable.
◉ drive
Answer: in learning theories, a state of psychological tension, the
reduction of which feels good.
◉ primary drives
Answer: in learning theories, a drive that is innate to an organism,
such as the hunger drive.
◉ secondary drives
Answer: in learning theories, a drive that is learned through its
association with primary drives, and includes drives for love,
prestige, money, power, and the avoidance of fear and of humiliation.
◉ frustration-aggression hypothesis
Answer: in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the
hypothesis that frustration automatically creates an impulse toward
aggression.
◉ approach-avoidance conflict
,Answer: in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the
psychological conflict induced by a stimulus that is at once attractive
and aversive (e.g., sky-diving).
◉ five key assumptions of the approach-avoidance conflict
Answer: 1. an increase in drive strength will increase the tendency
to approach or avoid a goal. 2. whenever there are two competing
responses, the stronger one (i.e., the one with greater drive strength
behind it) will win out. 3. the tendency to approach a positive goal
increases the closer one gets to the goal. 4. the tendency to avoid a
negative goal also increases the closer one gets to that goal 5. most
important, tendency 4 is stronger than tendency 3.
◉ expectancy value theory
Answer: Rotter's theory of how the value and perceived attainability
of a goal combine to affect the probability of a goal-seeking behavior.
◉ expectancy
Answer: in Rotter's social learning theory, the degree to which an
individual believes a behavior will probably attain its goal.
◉ efficacy expectations
Answer: in Bandura's social learning theory, one's belief that one can
perform a given goal-directed behavior.
, ◉ learning
Answer: in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of
experience.
◉ behaviorism
Answer: the theoretical view of personality that focuses on overt
behavior and the ways in which it can be affected by rewards and
punishments in the environment.
◉ functional analysis
Answer: in behaviorism, a description of how a behavior is a
function of the environment of the person or animal that performs
it.
◉ empiricism
Answer: the idea that everything a person knows comes from
experience.
◉ tabula rasa
Answer: Latin for 'blank slate,' term used by 19th century
philosopher John Locke used to describe the mind of a newborn
baby ready to be written on by experience.
◉ associationism
PRACTICE TEST 2026 STUDY GUIDE FULL
SOLUTIONS REVIEW PACK
◉ punishment
Answer: an aversive consequence that follows an act in order to stop
the act and prevent its repetition.
◉ five principles of how to punish
Answer: 1. availability of alternatives (e.g., Halloween party so kids
avoid pranks) 2. behavioral and situational specificity 3. timing and
consistency (e.g., hitting dog for making mess hours earlier) 4.
conditioning secondary punishing stimuli (e.g., counting to 3) 5.
avoiding mixed messages (e.g., cuddling with child after punishing)
◉ dangers of punishment
Answer: 1. punishment arouses emotion 2. it is difficult to be
consistent 3. it is difficult to gauge the severity of punishment 4.
punishment teaches misuse of power 5. punishment motivates
concealment
◉ habit hierarchy
,Answer: in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, all of the
behaviors an individual might do, ranked in order from most to least
probable.
◉ drive
Answer: in learning theories, a state of psychological tension, the
reduction of which feels good.
◉ primary drives
Answer: in learning theories, a drive that is innate to an organism,
such as the hunger drive.
◉ secondary drives
Answer: in learning theories, a drive that is learned through its
association with primary drives, and includes drives for love,
prestige, money, power, and the avoidance of fear and of humiliation.
◉ frustration-aggression hypothesis
Answer: in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the
hypothesis that frustration automatically creates an impulse toward
aggression.
◉ approach-avoidance conflict
,Answer: in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the
psychological conflict induced by a stimulus that is at once attractive
and aversive (e.g., sky-diving).
◉ five key assumptions of the approach-avoidance conflict
Answer: 1. an increase in drive strength will increase the tendency
to approach or avoid a goal. 2. whenever there are two competing
responses, the stronger one (i.e., the one with greater drive strength
behind it) will win out. 3. the tendency to approach a positive goal
increases the closer one gets to the goal. 4. the tendency to avoid a
negative goal also increases the closer one gets to that goal 5. most
important, tendency 4 is stronger than tendency 3.
◉ expectancy value theory
Answer: Rotter's theory of how the value and perceived attainability
of a goal combine to affect the probability of a goal-seeking behavior.
◉ expectancy
Answer: in Rotter's social learning theory, the degree to which an
individual believes a behavior will probably attain its goal.
◉ efficacy expectations
Answer: in Bandura's social learning theory, one's belief that one can
perform a given goal-directed behavior.
, ◉ learning
Answer: in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of
experience.
◉ behaviorism
Answer: the theoretical view of personality that focuses on overt
behavior and the ways in which it can be affected by rewards and
punishments in the environment.
◉ functional analysis
Answer: in behaviorism, a description of how a behavior is a
function of the environment of the person or animal that performs
it.
◉ empiricism
Answer: the idea that everything a person knows comes from
experience.
◉ tabula rasa
Answer: Latin for 'blank slate,' term used by 19th century
philosopher John Locke used to describe the mind of a newborn
baby ready to be written on by experience.
◉ associationism
