Abstract
Four experiments were conducted to test hypotheses derived from 4 alternative models of individual differences in instrumental conditioning. A standard go--no-go discrimination learning task was used in each of the 4 experiments. The results indicate that individual differences in performance of this discrimination are more consistently and strongly associated with impulsivity and anxiety than with extraversion and neuroticism. In each of the experiments, high anxiety hindered the learning of a go--no-go discrimination more among high impulsive Ss than among low impulsive Ss, and in 2 of the experiments high anxiety actually facilitated learning among low impulsive Ss. These findings are incompatible with Eysenck's and Gray's hypotheses regarding extraversion but are not inconsistent with Newman's. Aspects of these results do support Spence's and Gray's models of anxiety and instrumental conditioning. However, both of these models were contradicted by other trends in the data. A modification of Gray's model of impulsivity and anxiety that emphasizes the role of expectancies was proposed to fit these data.
Keywords
PsychologyExtraversion and introversionNeuroticismImpulsivityAnxietyPersonalityDevelopmental psychologyConditioningSocial psychologyBig Five personality traits
MeSH Terms
AnxietyConditioningOperantCuesDiscrimination LearningExtraversionPsychologicalHumansImpulsive BehaviorIntroversionPsychologicalModelsPsychologicalNeurotic DisordersPersonalityPunishmentReward
Related Publications
Personality and Individual Differences: A Natural Science Approach
One: Descriptive.- One The Scientific Description of Personality.- Personality and Taxonomy: The Problem of Classification.- Type and Trait Theories: The Modern View.- Type-Trai...
Longitudinal stability of personality traits: A multitrait-multimethod-multioccasion analysis.
The longitudinal stability of personality was investigated in a group of several hundred adults who were rated by themselves, their marriage partners, and their acquaintances in...
Will the real factor of extraversion-introversion please stand up? A reply to Eysenck.
Eysenck insisted that his Extraversion (E) factor is second-order variable, resting on two first-order factors: S (Sociability) and R (Rhathymia, or impulsiveness as opposed to...
Higher-order factors assessed by the ISI and PRF
The Interpersonal Style Inventory and the Personality Research Form were administered to 327 adolescents in order to test hypotheses with regard to the second-order factors that...
Publication Info
- Year
- 1989
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 301-314
- Citations
- 75
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
75
OpenAlex
2
Influential
44
CrossRef
Cite This
Richard E. Zinbarg,
William Revelle
(1989).
Personality and conditioning: A test of four models..
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
, 57
(2)
, 301-314.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.2.301
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1037/0022-3514.57.2.301
- PMID
- 2760806