WGU D564 Theories of Personality Exam Study EXAM (updated 2025) Qu
tions & Answers | Latest Already Graded A+ UPDATE 2025|2026
1. shaping the idea similar to that of a sculptor that shapes a piece of clay into a
statue by gradually shaving here and there until a square block comes
to resemble a person or an animal.
2. punishment an aversive consequence that follows an act in order to stop the act and
prevent its repetition.
3. five principles of how to 1. availability of alternatives (e.g., Halloween party so kids avoid pranks)
punish 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)
4. dangers of punishment 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
5. habit hierarchy in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, all of the behaviors an
individual might do, ranked in order from most to least probable.
6. drive in learning theories, a state of psychological tension, the reduction of
which feels good.
7. primary drives in learning theories, a drive that is innate to an organism, such as the
hunger drive.
8. secondary drives 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.
9. frustration-aggression in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the hypothesis that frus-
hypothesis tration automatically creates an impulse toward aggression.
, WGU D564 Theories of Personality Exam Study EXAM (updated 2025) Qu
tions & Answers | Latest Already Graded A+ UPDATE 2025|2026
10. approach-avoidance in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the psychological conflict
conflict induced by a stimulus that is at once attractive and aversive (e.g.,
sky-diving).
11. five key assumptions 1. an increase in drive strength will increase the tendency to approach
of the approach-avoid- or avoid a goal. 2. whenever there are two competing responses, the
ance conflict 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.
12. expectancy value theo- Rotter's theory of how the value and perceived attainability of a goal
ry combine to affect the probability of a goal-seeking behavior.
13. expectancy in Rotter's social learning theory, the degree to which an individual
believes a behavior will probably attain its goal.
14. efficacy expectations in Bandura's social learning theory, one's belief that one can perform a
given goal-directed behavior.
15. learning in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of experience.
16. behaviorism 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.
17. functional analysis in behaviorism, a description of how a behavior is a function of the
environment of the person or animal that performs it.
18. empiricism the idea that everything a person knows comes from experience.
19. tabula rasa
, WGU D564 Theories of Personality Exam Study EXAM (updated 2025) Qu
tions & Answers | Latest Already Graded A+ UPDATE 2025|2026
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.
20. associationism the idea that all complex ideas are combinations of two or more simple
ideas.
21. hedonism the idea that people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
22. rewards and punish- the fundamental motivations of pleasure and pain explain why rewards
ment on motivation and punishments shape behavior.
23. utilitarianism the idea that the best society is the one that creates the most happiness
for the largest number of people.
24. habituation the decrease in response to a stimulus on repeated applications; this is
the simplest kind of learning.
25. classical conditioning the kind of learning in which an unconditioned response (such as
salivating), that is naturally elicited by one stimulus (such as food),
becomes elicited also by a new, conditioned stimulus (such as a bell).
26. learned helplessness a belief that nothing one does matters, derived from an experience of
random or unpredictable reward and punishment, and theorized to be
a basis of depression.
27. respondent condition- Skinner's term for classical conditioning.
ing
28. operant conditioning Skinner's term for the process of learning in which an organism's
behavior is shaped by the effect of the behavior on the environment.
29. reinforcement
tions & Answers | Latest Already Graded A+ UPDATE 2025|2026
1. shaping the idea similar to that of a sculptor that shapes a piece of clay into a
statue by gradually shaving here and there until a square block comes
to resemble a person or an animal.
2. punishment an aversive consequence that follows an act in order to stop the act and
prevent its repetition.
3. five principles of how to 1. availability of alternatives (e.g., Halloween party so kids avoid pranks)
punish 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)
4. dangers of punishment 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
5. habit hierarchy in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, all of the behaviors an
individual might do, ranked in order from most to least probable.
6. drive in learning theories, a state of psychological tension, the reduction of
which feels good.
7. primary drives in learning theories, a drive that is innate to an organism, such as the
hunger drive.
8. secondary drives 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.
9. frustration-aggression in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the hypothesis that frus-
hypothesis tration automatically creates an impulse toward aggression.
, WGU D564 Theories of Personality Exam Study EXAM (updated 2025) Qu
tions & Answers | Latest Already Graded A+ UPDATE 2025|2026
10. approach-avoidance in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the psychological conflict
conflict induced by a stimulus that is at once attractive and aversive (e.g.,
sky-diving).
11. five key assumptions 1. an increase in drive strength will increase the tendency to approach
of the approach-avoid- or avoid a goal. 2. whenever there are two competing responses, the
ance conflict 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.
12. expectancy value theo- Rotter's theory of how the value and perceived attainability of a goal
ry combine to affect the probability of a goal-seeking behavior.
13. expectancy in Rotter's social learning theory, the degree to which an individual
believes a behavior will probably attain its goal.
14. efficacy expectations in Bandura's social learning theory, one's belief that one can perform a
given goal-directed behavior.
15. learning in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of experience.
16. behaviorism 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.
17. functional analysis in behaviorism, a description of how a behavior is a function of the
environment of the person or animal that performs it.
18. empiricism the idea that everything a person knows comes from experience.
19. tabula rasa
, WGU D564 Theories of Personality Exam Study EXAM (updated 2025) Qu
tions & Answers | Latest Already Graded A+ UPDATE 2025|2026
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.
20. associationism the idea that all complex ideas are combinations of two or more simple
ideas.
21. hedonism the idea that people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
22. rewards and punish- the fundamental motivations of pleasure and pain explain why rewards
ment on motivation and punishments shape behavior.
23. utilitarianism the idea that the best society is the one that creates the most happiness
for the largest number of people.
24. habituation the decrease in response to a stimulus on repeated applications; this is
the simplest kind of learning.
25. classical conditioning the kind of learning in which an unconditioned response (such as
salivating), that is naturally elicited by one stimulus (such as food),
becomes elicited also by a new, conditioned stimulus (such as a bell).
26. learned helplessness a belief that nothing one does matters, derived from an experience of
random or unpredictable reward and punishment, and theorized to be
a basis of depression.
27. respondent condition- Skinner's term for classical conditioning.
ing
28. operant conditioning Skinner's term for the process of learning in which an organism's
behavior is shaped by the effect of the behavior on the environment.
29. reinforcement
