Your initial post should begin with a brief summary of the assigned theory. Your instructor may reassign theories as needed for this discussion. Be sure to check the announcements in case your instructor has reassigned any theories.

Consider the following in your initial post:

• Discuss some potential areas where the theory seems particular weak or biased. More specifically, are there any “weak links” in the theory or areas that the theory does not address?
• Is there any bias in how the theory explains personality?
• As you discuss the weaknesses and biases of your assigned theory, also discuss any other theories that may address the weaknesses or biases of your assigned theory.

My last name starts with J so the assigned theory should be Bandura’s social learning theory!

Respond to peers whose initial posts are on different theories than your own. Consider the similarities and differences of the weaknesses and biases that you identified. Also, discuss other theories that may help address the weaknesses and biases discussed in your peers’ posts.

To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric document.

AFTER COMPLETING THE INITIAL POST, PLEASE ALSO RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING TWO STUDENTS REGARDING THE SAME TOPIC!

STUDENT ONE:

Cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS) was proposed in 1995 by Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda. This theory is based on the idea that a certain situation or experience causes our minds to first encode or evaluate the situation then to apply our expectations and beliefs using our past experiences as the base of our knowledge to form context. After these two stages we then develop goals and values and decide if we are going to openly experience the situation or avoid it. Then we predict possible outcomes of the situation so we have an idea of what to expect. After this we have an emotional response in other words we decide how we feel about the situation. Then finally we self regulate and decide how we relate to the situation and what our response should be. This is the proposed internal mechanism or flowchart that is being proposed in the CAPS theory. The largest most obvious weakness I encountered in this theory was to point out how long this list of internal responses is. The idea that we deal with situations with this long list of relating to things in our environment is taking out the concept of spontaneous variables life often dishes out. It is fair to say we do all of these evaluative techniques at one time or another but none can confirm in this order and that all techniques are done each time. For instance what about situations that are responded to with pure instincts or the situations that instantly cause emotional responses. I am not discrediting this theory completely merely questioning the validity of the lengthy check list. If everyone completed all of these steps in every situation their would be less misunderstandings and careless behavior in the world.

Mendoza, D. R., & Goldman, F. M. (2009). Personality and Racial/Ethnic Relations: A Perspective From Cognitive–Affective Personality System (CAPS) Theory. Journal of Personality, 77(5), 1261–1282. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00581.x

STUDENT TWO:

B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism theory says the you can dictate a person or animal’s behavior using positive and/or negative reinforcement (aka operant conditioning). For example, positive reinforcement would be if you tell a dog to sit and they do, you then give them a biscuit. An example of negative reinforcement is if you tell a child not to draw on the wall and they do, you then punish them with time-out.

One weakness of the theory is when applied to humans, they may not abide by the process out of curiosity or “what if” approach. For example, if you tell a child they will get a cupcake if they do their chores, they may test the limit and see what they can get away with by not following the command.

One theory that would oppose Skinner’s is Michael Scriven’s unpredictability theory. Scriven believes that you cannot predict a human’s behavior in any given situation.

-Al