WGU D564 THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
EXAM STUDY EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS | 2026 UPDATE | 100%
CORRECT.
Shaping - ANS 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.
punishment - ANS an aversive consequence that follows an act in order to stop the act and
prevent its repetition.
five principles of how to punish - ANS 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 - ANS 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 - ANS 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 - ANS in learning theories, a state of psychological tension, the reduction of which feels
good.
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,primary drives - ANS in learning theories, a drive that is innate to an organism, such as the
hunger drive.
secondary drives - ANS 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 - ANS in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the
hypothesis that frustration automatically creates an impulse toward aggression.
approach-avoidance conflict - ANS 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 - ANS 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 - ANS Rotter's theory of how the value and perceived attainability of
a goal combine to affect the probability of a goal-seeking behavior.
expectancy - ANS in Rotter's social learning theory, the degree to which an individual believes
a behavior will probably attain its goal.
efficacy expectations - ANS in Bandura's social learning theory, one's belief that one can
perform a given goal-directed behavior.
learning - ANS in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of experience.
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, behaviorism - ANS 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 - ANS in behaviorism, a description of how a behavior is a function of the
environment of the person or animal that performs it.
empiricism - ANS the idea that everything a person knows comes from experience.
tabula rasa - ANS 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 - ANS the idea that all complex ideas are combinations of two or more simple
ideas.
hedonism - ANS the idea that people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
rewards and punishment on motivation - ANS the fundamental motivations of pleasure and
pain explain why rewards and punishments shape behavior.
utilitarianism - ANS the idea that the best society is the one that creates the most happiness
for the largest number of people.
habituation - ANS the decrease in response to a stimulus on repeated applications; this is the
simplest kind of learning.
classical conditioning - ANS 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).
learned helplessness - ANS 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.
@COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PAGE 3 OF 19
EXAM STUDY EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS | 2026 UPDATE | 100%
CORRECT.
Shaping - ANS 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.
punishment - ANS an aversive consequence that follows an act in order to stop the act and
prevent its repetition.
five principles of how to punish - ANS 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 - ANS 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 - ANS 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 - ANS in learning theories, a state of psychological tension, the reduction of which feels
good.
@COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PAGE 1 OF 19
,primary drives - ANS in learning theories, a drive that is innate to an organism, such as the
hunger drive.
secondary drives - ANS 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 - ANS in Dollard and Miller's social learning theory, the
hypothesis that frustration automatically creates an impulse toward aggression.
approach-avoidance conflict - ANS 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 - ANS 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 - ANS Rotter's theory of how the value and perceived attainability of
a goal combine to affect the probability of a goal-seeking behavior.
expectancy - ANS in Rotter's social learning theory, the degree to which an individual believes
a behavior will probably attain its goal.
efficacy expectations - ANS in Bandura's social learning theory, one's belief that one can
perform a given goal-directed behavior.
learning - ANS in behaviorism, a change in behavior as a result of experience.
@COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PAGE 2 OF 19
, behaviorism - ANS 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 - ANS in behaviorism, a description of how a behavior is a function of the
environment of the person or animal that performs it.
empiricism - ANS the idea that everything a person knows comes from experience.
tabula rasa - ANS 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 - ANS the idea that all complex ideas are combinations of two or more simple
ideas.
hedonism - ANS the idea that people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
rewards and punishment on motivation - ANS the fundamental motivations of pleasure and
pain explain why rewards and punishments shape behavior.
utilitarianism - ANS the idea that the best society is the one that creates the most happiness
for the largest number of people.
habituation - ANS the decrease in response to a stimulus on repeated applications; this is the
simplest kind of learning.
classical conditioning - ANS 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).
learned helplessness - ANS 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.
@COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PAGE 3 OF 19
