fei75766_ch16_495-533.indd 523  02/06/20 01:34 PM
Chapter 16    Skinner: Behavioral Analysis523
Behavior therapists havedeveloped avariety oftechniques overtheyears, most 
based onoperant conditioning (Skinner, 1988), although some arebuiltaround the
principles ofclassical (respondent) conditioning. Ingeneral, these therapists playan
active roleinthetreatment process, pointing outthepositive consequences ofcertain 
behaviors andtheaversive effects ofothers andalsosuggesting behaviors that,over
thelonghaul, willresult inpositive reinforcement. 
Related Research
Initsearly history, operant conditioning wasusedmostly instudies withanimals, 
thenitwasapplied tosimple human responses; butmore recently, Skinner’s ideas 
havebeen usedinamultitude ofstudies dealing withcomplex human behaviors. 
Some ofthese studies havebeen concerned withtherelationship between long-term 
behavior patterns (i.e.,personality) andcontingencies ofreinforcement. These studies 
aregenerally ofthree kinds: They haveasked either howconditioning affects person -
ality, howpersonality affects conditioning, orthemutual influence between personal -
ityandconditioning.
How Conditioning Affects Personality
InChapter 1,wesaidthatthekeyelements ofpersonality arestability ofbehavior 
overtimeandacross different situations. Bythese criteria, personality change occurs 
when newbehaviors become stable overtimeand/or across different situations. One
domain inwhich personality change maybeevidenced isinpsychotherapy. Infact,
amajor goaloftherapy istochange behavior, andifthechanges arestable overtime
andsituations, thenonecould talkabout changing personality. Wesaythistomake 
clear thatwhereas Skinner discussed changing long-term behavior, henever really 
discussed changing personality. 
Murray Goddard (2018) recently suggested thattheEnglish language 
mayactually present animpediment toappreciating theways thatSkinnerian 
 behavior– environment interactions overtimeexplain personality change. Forexample, 
ourvernacular contains hundreds, andeventhousands oftraitterms (seeAllport), 
which mayleadtotheassumption thatourpersonalities areessential, fixed entities, 
which maythenleadustoignore change overtimesimply because ourlanguage is
impoverished todescribe thatchange. Thatis,using traitterms might mean wesee,
andevenreinforce, more stability inonanother’s personalities thanactually exists. 
Goddard (2018) usedtheexample ofhoweasyitistodescribe someone’s conscien -
tiousness withmultiple synonyms, anyoneofwhich could bechosen foraparticular 
person ataparticular timeintheirlife.Forexample, Lydia might score veryhighon
theBigFivetraitofconscientiousness; herfriends andcolleagues describe herasdili-
gent, meticulous, andreliable, butsheisnotdescribed aspunctual. IfLydia becomes 
more punctual overtimebecause herjobdocks herpaywhen she’s late(abehavior–
environment interaction ifthere everwasone:negative punishment, tobespecific), 
thenherpersonality mayindeed havechanged. However, thischange would belostin
thevernacular useoftheumbrella traitterm“conscientious” andfriends maythink, 
“well, ofcourse shebecame more punctual, that’s because she’s soconscientious!” InFinal PDF to printer