Personality Theories Glossary

Key Terms

Acquisition Behavior--behavior that results in the addition of a thing or event to a situation.
Activation--activity of the visceral brain responsible for the fight-or-flight response in the face of danger; possible basis for neuroticism.
Agreeableness--tendency to be a nice person.
Arousal--activity in the cortico-reticular loop of the brain's ascending reticular activating system (ARAS); possible basis for extraversion.
Antecedent Events--conditions present prior to the occurrence of a behavior.
Avoidance Behavior--behavior that results in the removal of an ongoing event, or prevents a future event from occurring.
Behavioral Approach System (BAS)--brain system that underlays the tendency to seek out pleasant stimuli.
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)--brain system that underlays the tendency to avoid unpleasant stimuli.
Biological Preparedness--evolved predisposition to learn a behavioral contingency.
Circumplex--circular arrangement of variables in two-dimensional space, including all possible blends of the two dimensions.
Conscientiousness--tendency to set high goals, to accomplish work successfully, and to behave dutifully and morally.
Consequence--contingent result of a behavior.
Disinhibition--tendency to act without regard for consequences.
Environment, Non-Shared--environment that is unique to the individual, such as the individual's peer group.
Environment, Shared--environment that is shared by siblings reared in the same family, such as parents' education and socioeconomic status.
Escape Behavior--behavior that terminates an ongoing event.
Existentialism--philosophical approach that emphasizes individual freedom and responsibility in the face of limitations, including the ultimate limitation of death.

Extinction--procedure of terminating the contingency between a behavior and its previously contingent consequence; the consequence is either removed or is available non-contingently.
Extraversion--trait associated with sociability and positive affect.
Factor--hypothetical construct that explains the correlations among observed variables, such as items on a test.
Factor Loading--correlation of an item with a factor.
General Factor--usually a factor on which all items have a positive factor loading, such as the factor known as general intelligence (g).
Heritability--degree to which variation among individuals can be attributed to genetic factors.
Humanism--term loosely applied to North American psychologies that emphasize the self and self-actualization.
Impulsivity--personality trait characterized by acting on impulse, nonplanning, liveliness, and risk-taking.
Negative Punishment--procedure of removing an event or thing from a situation--or preventing a future event from occurring--contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior decreases.
Negative Reinforcement--procedure of removing an event or thing from a situation--or preventing a future event from occurring--contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior stays the same or increases.
Neuroticism--trait associated with emotional instability and negative affect.
Novelty-Seeking--tendency to seek out-of-the-ordinary experiences.
Openness to Experience--tendency to be intellectual, interested in the arts, emotionally aware, and liberal.
Phenomenology--philosophical approach that emphasizes subjective experience, and assumes that "existence precedes essence."
Positive Manifold--all-positive correlation matrix, which results in (but is not identical to) a general factor.

Positive Punishment--procedure of adding an event or thing to a situation contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior decreases.
Positive Reinforcement--procedure of adding an event or thing to a situation contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior remains unchanged or increases.
Psychoticism--also called toughmindedness; trait associated with nonconformity, disagreeablenss, and nonconscientiousness.
Punisher--event or thing added to or removed from a situation that is contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) of the related behavior decreases.
Reinforcer--event or thing added to or removed from a situation that is contingent on the occurrence of a behavior. Probability of occurrence (POO) or the related behavior remains unchanged or increases.
Reliability--the correlation of a test with a test just like it.
Response--behavior or group of behaviors to be analyzed--target behavior.
Risk Factor--condition that increases the likelihood of a particular outcome.
Sensation-Seeking--tendency to seek exciting experiences.
Situational Demands--events, conditions, or expectations associated with a particular setting.
Surgency--trait characterized by being outgoing, socially dominant, and high on positive affect; see also extraversion.
Trait--temporally stable, cross-situational individual difference.
Transference--condition in which a patient feels and behaves toward a therapist as if the therapist were the patient's parent.
Validity--the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
Vulnerability--increased likelihood of a particular outcome.