Abstract
“Considering their dense ignorance of psychology” (J.B. Watson announced to his 1925 audience), “the signers of that document (the American Declaration of Independence) were nearer right than one might expect. They would have been strictly right had the clause at birth been inserted after the word equal”. Thus, in a lecture entitled, rather quaintly ‘Presenting the Thesis that Our Personality Is But the Outgrowth of Our Habits’ (Watson 1925), he laid the foundation for several decades of neglect of individual differences in the investigation of human conditioning. If you believe that ‘every healthy individual starts out equal’ (p. 217) and subsequently develops from ‘each unit of unlearned behaviour’ ‘an ever expanding system of habits’ (p. 218) which eventually constitutes his personality, then there is very little point in the investigation of personality variables in conditioning. In short, if personality is entirely the result of habit formation, it cannot also influence habit formation in any interesting way. Today, we are well aware that behaviour can be studied objectively without recourse to the pejorative attitudes of the early Behaviourists, and individual differences are a respectable, if still neglected, source of variance in the study of conditioning.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albin JB, Lobb H (1976) Eyelid conditioning and intellectual deficit: role of CS duration, US intensity and US mode. J Ment Defic Res 20:267–276
Barr RF, McConaghy N (1972) A general factor of conditionability: a study of galvanic skin responses and penile responses. Behav Res Ther 10:215–227
Barrat ES (1971) Psychophysiological correlates of classical differential eyelid conditioning among subjects selected on the basis of impulsiveness and anxiety. Biol Psychiatry 3:339–346
Brebner J, Cooper C (1974) The effect of a low rate of regular signals upon the reaction times of introverts and extraverts. J Res Pers 8:263–276
Brebner J, Cooper C (1978) Stimulus or response-induced excitation. A comparison of the behaviour of introverts and extraverts. J Res Pers 12:306–311
Brebner J, Flavel R (1978) The effects of catch-trials on speed and accuracy among introverts and extraverts, in a simple RT task. Br J Psychol 69:9–15
Brewer WR (1974) There is no convincing evidence for operant or classical conditioning in adult humans. In: Weimer, WB, Palermo, DS (eds) Cognition and the symbolic processes. Halsted, New York, p 1–42
Campbell AA (1938) The inter-relations of two measures of conditioning in man. J Exp Psychol 22:225–243
Cody WJ, Grant DA (1978 Biasing the development of response topography with non specific positive and negative evocative verbal stimuli. J Exp Psychol [Hum Learn] 4:175–186
Corson SA, Corson EO (1976) Philosophical and historical roots of Pavlovian psycho biology. In: Corson SA (ed) Psychiatry and psychology in the USSR. Plenum, New York
Costello CG (1967) Extra version, neuroticism and the classical conditioning of word meaning. Psychon Sci 8:307–308
Eysenck HJ (1953) The structure of human personality. Methuen, London
Eysenck HJ (1957) The dynamics of anxiety and hysteria. Routledge & Paul, London
Eysenck HJ (1965) Extraversion and the acquisition of eyeblink and GSR conditioned responses. Psychol Bull 63:258–270
Eysenck HJ (1967) The biological basis of personality. Thomas, Springfield
Eysenck HJ (1976a) The learning theory model of neurosis - a new approach. Behav Res Ther 14:251–267
Eysenck HJ (1976b) Sex and personality. University of Texas Press, Austin
Eysenck HJ, Eysenck SBG (1975) Manual of the Eysenck personality questionnaire (Adult & junior). Hodder & Stoughton, London
Eysenck HJ, Eysenck SBG (1976) Psychoticism as a dimension of personality. Hodder & Stoughton, London
Eysenck HJ, Levey AB (1965) Alternation in choice behaviour and extraversion. Life Sci 4:115–119
Eysenck HJ, Levey AB (1967) Konditionierung, Introversion-Extraversion und die Stärke des Nervensystems. Z Psychol 174:96–106
Eysenck, HJ, Levey AB (1972) Conditioning, Introversion-Extraversion and the strength of the nervous system. In: Nebylitsyn VD, Gray JA (eds) Biological bases of individual behaviour. Academic Press, New York, pp 206–220
Fitzgerald, HE, Brackbill Y (1976) Classical conditioning in infancy: development and constraints. Psychol Bull 83:353–376
Franks CM (1956) Conditioning and personality: a study of normal and neurotic subjects. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 52:143–150
Furedy JJ, Schiffmann K (1974) Interrelationships between human classical differential electrodermal conditioning, orienting reaction, responsivity and awareness of stimulus contingencies. Psychophysiology 11:58–67
Gormezano I (1966) Classical conditioning. In: Sidowski JB (ed) Experimental methods and instrumentation in psychology. McGraw-Hill, New York
Gormezano I, Kehoe EJ (1975) Classical conditioning: some methodological - conceptual issues. In: Estes WK (ed) Conditioning and behavior theory. Erlbaum, Hillsdale New Jersey (Handbook of Learning and cognitive processes, vol 2, pp 143— 179)
Grant DA (1972) A preliminary model for processing information conveyed by verbal conditioned stimuli in classical conditioning. In: Black AH, Prokasy WF (eds) Classical Conditioning II: Current theory and research. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York p 28–63
Gray JA (1964) Pavlov’s typology. Pergamon, Oxford
Gray JA (1967) Strength of the nervous system, introversion-extraversion, conditionability and arousal. Behav Res Ther 5:151—169
Gray JA (1970) The psychophysiological basis of introversion-extraversion. Behav Res Ther 8:249–266
Hallam RS (1976) The Eysenck personality scales: stability and change after therapy. Behav Res Ther 14:369–372
Hartmann TF, Ross LE (1961) An alternative criterion for the elimination of voluntary responses in eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 61:334–338
Hellige JB, Grant DA (1974) Response rate and development of response topography in eyelid conditioning under different conditions of reinforcement. J Exp Psychol 103:574–582
Hemming JH (1979) Personality and extinction of a conditioned electrodermal response. Br J Soc Clin Psychol 18:105–110
Hobson CN (1968) Effects of UCS adaptation upon conditioning in low and high anxiety men and women. J Exp Psychol 76:360–363
Ingram EM, Fitzgerald HE (1974) Individual differences in infant orienting and autonomic conditioning. Dev Psychobiol 7:359–367
Jones J (1975) Relationship between UCS intensity, rest, warning signal and personality in eyelid conditioning. Doctoral Dissertation, University of London
Kadlac JA, Grant DA (1977) Eyelid response topography in differential interstimulus interval conditioning. J Exp Psychol [Hum Learn] 3:345—355
Kamin LJ (1969) Predictability, surprise, attention and conditioning. In: Campbell B, Church R (eds) Punishment and aversive behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York pp 279–296
Kantorowitz DA (1978a) Personality and conditioning of tumescence and detumescence. Behav Res Ther 16:117–123
Kantorowitz DA (1978b) An experimental investigation of pre-orgasmic reconditioning and post-orgasmic deconditioning. J Appl Behav Anal 11:23–24
Kimmel HD (1966) Inhibition of the unconditioned response in classical conditioning. Psychol Rev 73:232–240
Krulisova H (1975) Age and individual differences in infant learning abilities. Act Nerv Super (Praha) 17:111–115
Krulisova H (1978) Extinction of the conditioned alimentary reflex in infants. Act Nerv Super (Praha) 20:44–45
Levey AB, Martin I (1968) The shape of the conditioned eyelid response. Psychol Rev 75:398–408
Levey AB, Martin I (1975) Classical conditioning of human ‘evaluative’ responses. Behav Res Ther 13:221–226
Levey AB, Martin I (to be published) Classical conditioning. In: Christie M, Mellett P (eds) Behavioural approaches. Wiley, Chichester (Psychosomatic approaches in medicine, vol 1)
Lockhart RA (1966) Comments regarding multiple response phenomena in long interstimulus interval conditioning. Psychophysiology 3:108–114
Lockhart RA, (1973) Chairman: Classical conditioning and the cognitive processes: A symposium. Psychophysiology 10:74–122
Maltzman I, Mandell MP (1968) The orienting reflex as a predictor of learning and performance. J Exp Res Pers 3:99–106
Mangan GL (1974) Personality and conditioning; some personality, cognitive and psychophysiological parameters of classical appetitive (sexual) GSR conditioning. Pavlovian J Biol Sci 9:125–135
Mangan GL, Farmer RG (1967) Studies of the relationship between neo-Pavlovian properties of higher nervous activity and western personality dimensions: the relationship of nervous strength and sensitivity to extraversion. J Exp Res Pers 2:101–106
Marks I, Boulougouris J, Marset P (1971) Flooding versus desensitisation in the treatment of phobics: a cross-over study. Br J Psychiatry 119:353–375
Martin I, Levey AB (1969) The genesis of the classical conditioned response. Pergamon, Oxford
Martin I, Levey AB (1978) Evaluative conditioning. Adv Behav Res Ther 2:57–101
Martin I, Marks I, Gelder M (1969) Conditioned eyelid responses in phobic patients. J Behav Res Ther 7:115–124
Mathews AM, Johnston DW, Shaw PM, Gelder MG (1974) Process variables and the prediction of outcome in behaviour therapy. Br J Psychiatry 125:369–372
McDonald DG, Johnson LC (1975) Classical conditioning of autonomic responses in alert and drowsy subjects. Biol Psychol 3:101–112
Nebylitsyn VD (1972a) The problem of general and partial properties of the nervous system. In: Nebylitsyn VD, Gray JA (eds) Biological bases of individual behavior. Academic Press, New York pp 400–417
Nebylitsyn VD 1972 b) Fundamental properties of the human nervous system. Plenum, New York
Nebylitsyn VD, Gray J A (1972) Biological bases of individual behaviour. Academic Press, London
O’Brien CP, Testa T, O’Brien TJ, Brady JP, Wells B (1977) Conditioned narcotic withdrawal in humans. Science 195:1000–1002
Öhman A, Bohlin G (1973) Magnitude and habituation of the orienting reaction as predictors of discriminative electrodermal conditioning. J Exp Res Pers 6:293–299
Ominsky M, Kimble GA (1966) Anxiety and eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 71:471–472
Page MM (1974) Demand characteristics and the classical conditioning of attitudes experiment. J Pers Soc Psychol 30:468–476
Pavlov IP (1927) Conditioned reflexes. (Edited and Trans. CV Anrep). Oxford University Press, London
Pavlov IP (1941) Lectures on conditioned reflexes, 2nd edn, vols 1, 2 (Edited and trans. W Horsley Gantt). Lawrence & Wishart, London
Pavlov IP (1955) Selected works. (Edited J Gibbons, trans. S Belsky). Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow
Pavlov IP (1957) Experimental psychology and other essays. Philosophical Library, New York
Piers EV, Kirchner EP (1969) Eyelid conditioning and personality: positive results from nonpartisans. J Abnorm Psychol 74:336–339
Prokasy WF (1965) Classical eyelid conditioning: experimenter operations, task demands and response shaping. In: Prokasy WF (ed) Classical conditioning: a symposium. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, pp 208–225
Putnam LE, Ross LE, Graham FK (1974) Cardiac orienting during ‘good’ and ‘poor’ differential eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 102:563–578
Spence KW (1956) Behaviour theory and conditioning. Yale University Press, New Haven
Spence KW (1958) A theory of emotionally based drive (D) and its relation to performance in simple learning situations. Am Psychol 13:131–141
Spence KW (1964) Anxiety (Drive) level and performance in eyelid conditioning. Psychol Bull 61:129–139
Spence KW (1966) Cognitive and drive factors in the extinction of the conditioned eyeblink in human subjects. Psychol Rev 73:445–458
Spence KW, Ross LE (1959) A methodological study of the form and latency of eyelid responses in conditioning. J Exp Psychol 58:376–381
Spence KW, Spence JT (1964) Relation of eyelid conditioning to manifest anxiety, extraversion and rigidity. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 68:144–149
Spence KW, Spence JT (1966) Sex and anxiety differences in eyelid conditioning. Psychol Bull 65:137–142
Spence KW, Taylor JA (1951) Anxiety and strength of UCS as determinants of amount of eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 42:183–188
Staats AW (1975) Social behaviorism. Dorsey, Homewood, 111
Staats CK, Staats AW (1957) Meaning established by classical conditioning. J Exp Psychol 54:74–80
Tauremannova M, Brichacek V, Krulisova H, Dittrichova J, Paul K (1978) The relationship between the infant’s behaviour during waking and the process of conditioning. Act Nerv Super (Praha) 20:43–44
Van Bunt A, Barendregt JT (1961) Intercorrelations of three measures of conditioning. In: Barendregt JT (ed) Research in psychodiagnostics. Mouton, The Hague
Watson JB (1925) Behaviourism. Paul, London
Wyrwicka W (1972) The mechanisms of conditioned behavior. Thomas, Springfield
Zajano MJ, Grant DA (1974) Response topography in the acquisition of differential eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 103:1115–1123
Selected Bioliography Conditioning and Personality
Adcock NV (1971) Skin conductance responses and personality dimensions. Personality 2:15–22
Al-Issa I (1964) The effect of attitudinal factors on the relationship between conditioning and personality. Br J Soc Clin Psychol 3:113–119
Baron MR, Conner JP (1960) Eyelid conditioned responses with various levels of anxiety. J Exp Psychol 60:310–313
Barrat ES (1971) Psychophysiological correlates of classical differential eyelid conditioning among subjects selected on the basis of impulsiveness and anxiety. Biol Psychiatry 3:339–346
Beam JC (1955) Serial learning and conditioning under real-life stress. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 51:543–551
Beck SB (1963) Eyelid conditioning as a function of CS intensity, UCS intensity and Manifest Anxiety Scale score. J Exp Psychol 66:429–438
Becker WC, Matteson HH (1961) GSR conditioning, anxiety and extraversion. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 62:427–430
Caldwell DF, Cromwell RL (1959) Replication report: the relation of manifest anxiety and electric shock to eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 57:348–349
Costello CG (1967) Extraversion, neuroticism and the conditioning of word meaning. Psychon Sci 8:307–308
Davidson PO, Payne RW, Sloane RB (1964) Introversion, neuroticism, and conditioning. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 68:136–143
Elias MF (1965) The relation of drive to finger withdrawal conditioning. J Exp Psychol 70:109–116
Eysenck HJ (1962) Conditioning and personality. Br J Psychol 53:299–305
Eysenck HJ (1965) Extraversion and the acquisition of eyeblink and GSR conditioned responses. Psychol Bull 258–270 Vol 63
Field JG, Brengelmann JC (1961) Eyelid conditioning and three personality parameters. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 63:517–523
Finkensieper HO, Systerman J J, Timmer LM (1970) Conditioning of eyelid movements in psychiatric patients. Psychiatr Neurol Neurochir 73:437–440
Franks CM (1956) Conditioning and personality: A study of normal and neurotic subjects. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 52:143–150
Franks CM (1957a) Personality factors and the rate of conditioning. Br J Psychol 48:119–126
Franks CM (1957b) Effect of food, drink, and tobacco deprivation on the conditioning of the eye-blink response. J Exp Psychol 53:117–120
Franks CM (1963) Personality and eyeblink conditioning seven years later. Acta Psychol (Amst) 21:295–312
Fuhrer MJ, Baer PE, Cowah CO (1973) Orienting responses and personality variables as predictors of differential conditioning of electrodermal responses and awareness of stimulus relations. J Pers Soc Psychol 27:287–296
Halberstam JL (1961) Some personality correlates of conditioning, generalisation and extinction. Psychosom Med 67–76 vol 23
Harris CS, Thackray RI, Schoenberger RW (1966) Blink rate as a function of induced muscular tension and manifest anxiety. Percept Mot Skills 22:155–160
Hemming JH (1979) Personality and extinction of a conditioned electrodermal response. Br J Soc Clin Psychol 18:105–110
Hilgard ER, Jones LV, Kaplan SJ (1951) Conditioned discrimination as related to anxiety. J Exp Psychol 42:94—99
Hobson CH (1968) Effects of UCS adaptation upon conditioning in low and high anxiety men and women. J Exp Psychol 76:360–363
Kantorowitz DA (1978) Personality and conditioning of tumescence and detumescence. Behav Res Ther 16:117–123
King MS, Kimble GA, Gorman J, King RA (1961) Replication report: Two failures to reproduce effects of anxiety on eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 62:532–533
Knott PD, Lasater L, Shuman R (1974) Aggressionguilt and conditionability for aggressiveness. J Pers 42:332–344
Knowles JB (1963) Rigidity, extraversion and conditioning. Clin Psychol 19:282–286
Mangan GL (1974) Personality and conditioning; some personality, cognitive, and psychophysiological parameters of classical appetitive (sexual) conditioning. Pavlovian J Biol Sci 9:125–135
Mangan GL (1978) The relationship of inhibition to rate of inhibitory growth and measures of flexibility, extraversion and neuroticism. J Gen Psychol 99:271–279
Murphy IC (1964) Serial learning, conditionability and the choice of an independent measure of anxiety. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 69:614–619
Ominsky M, Kimble GA (1966) Anxiety and eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 71:471–472
Piers EV, Kirchner EP (1969) Eyelid conditioning and personality: positive results from non-partisans. J Abnorm Psychol 74:336–339
Prokasy WF, Truax XB (1959) Reflex and conditioned responses as a function of manifest anxiety. Am J Psychol 72:262–264
Prokasy WF, Whaley FL (1962) Manifest anxiety scale score and the ready signal in classical conditioning. J Exp Psychol 63:119–124
Runquist WN, Ross LE (1959) The relation between physiological measures of emotionality and performance in eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 57:329–332
Runquist WN, Spence KW (1959) Performance in eyelid conditioning related to changes in muscular tension and physiological measures of emotionality. J Exp Psychol 58:417–422
Spence KW (1958) A theory of emotionally based drive (D) and its relation to performance in simple learning situations. Am Psychol 13:131–141
Spence KW (1964) Anxiety (Drive) level and performance in eyelid conditioning. Psychol Bull 61:129–139
Spence KW, Beecroft RS (1954) Differential conditioning and level of anxiety. J Exp Psychol 48:399–403
Spence KW, Farber IE (1954) Conditioning and extinction as a function of anxiety. J Exp Psychol 45:116–119
Spence KW, Goldstein H (1961) Eyelid conditioning performance as a function of emotion-producing instructions. J Exp Psychol 62:291–294
Spence KW, Spence JT (1964) Relation of eyelid conditioning to manifest anxiety, extraversion and rigidity. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 68:144–149
Spence KW, Spence JT (1966) Sex and anxiety differences in eyelid conditioning. Psychol Bull 65:137–142
Spence KW, Taylor J A (1951) Anxiety and strength of UCS as determinants of amount of eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 42:183–188
Spence KW, Taylor JA (1953) The relation of conditioned response strength to anxiety in normal, neurotic, and psychotic subjects. J Exp Psychol 45:265–272
Spence KW, Weyant GF (1960) Conditioning performance of high and low anxious Ss in the absence of a warning signal. J Exp Psychol 60:146–149
Spence KW, Farber IE, Taylor JA (1954) The relation of electric shock and anxiety to level of performance in eyelid conditioning. J Exp Psychol 48:404–408
Sweetbaum HA (1963) Comparison of the effects of introversion-extraversion and anxiety on conditioning. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 66:249–254
Taylor JA (1951) The relationship of anxiety to the conditioned eyelid response. J Exp Psychol 41:81–92
Vogel MD (1961) GSR conditioning and personality factors in alcoholics and normals. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 63:417–421
Willett RA (1960) Measures of learning and conditioning; In: Eysenck HJ (ed), Experiments in personality vol 2. Routledge & Paul, London, p 157–192
Willett RA (1964) Eyeblink conditioning and situation-induced anxiety drive. In: Eysenck HJ (ed) Experiments in motivation. Macmillan, New York, p 68–73
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Levey, A.B., Martin, I. (1981). Personality and Conditioning. In: Eysenck, H.J. (eds) A Model for Personality. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67783-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67783-0_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-67785-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-67783-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive