Health ministry of republic of moldova the university of medicine and pharmacy nicolae testemiţanu

The behaviorist approach
views personality as a pattern of 
learned behaviors acquired through either classical (Pavlovian) or 
operant (Skinnerian) conditioning and shaped by
reinforcement
 
in the 
form of rewards or punishment. A relatively recent extension of 

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behaviorism
, 
the cognitive-behavioral approach
emphasizes the role 
cognition
 
plays in the learning process. Cognitive and social learning 
theorists focus not only on the outward behaviors people demonstrate 
but also on their expectations and their thoughts about others, 
themselves, and their own behavior. For example, one variable in the 
general theory of personality developed by social learning theorist Julian 
B. Rotter is internal-external orientation. “Internals” think of themselves 
as controlling events, while “externals” view events as largely outside 
their control. Like phenomenological theorists, those who take a social 
learning approach also emphasize people’s perceptions of themselves 
and their abilities (a concept called “self-efficacy” by Albert Bandura). 
Another characteristic that sets the cognitive-behavioral approach apart 
from traditional forms of behaviorism is its focus on learning that takes 
place in social situations through observation and reinforcement, which 
contrasts with the dependence of classical and 
operant conditioning
 
models on laboratory research.
 
2. Aspects of personality 
The personality main peculiarities are: 
temperament, character, 
aptitudes. 
Temperament
is an individual’s characteristic, including energy 
level, prevailing mood and sensitivity to stimulation. Individual 
variations in temperament are most readily observed in newborn babies. 
Even immediately after birth, some babies are calm while others cry a 
lot. Some respond favorably to being held while others squirm and 
protest. Some are soothed by soft music and others do not stop crying 
long enough to hear it. Because of these immediately observable 
variations, temperament is often considered a biologically based 
characteristic. Hippocrates discussed variations in temperament as early 
as the 5th century B.C. His hypothesis that there are four basic human 
temperaments that correspond to various bodily characteristics choleric, 
sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic endured for many years before 
modern theories became accepted.
The environment can nurture changes both positive and negative 
to reshape an infant’s natural tendencies. Natural tendencies can 
ameliorate or worsen environmental situations. Acknowledging the 
interactions of both temperament and environment during development 
should make possible continued progress in understanding of the 

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intricate multiple influences on a human’s life and growth. Neither 
temperament nor biology is destiny. 
Temperament is that aspect of our personalities that is genetically 
based, inborn, there from birth or even before. That does not mean that a 
temperament theory says we don't also have aspects of our personality 
that are learned, it's just that Eysenck focused on "nature," and left 
"nurture" to other theorists. 
Eysenck initially conceptualized personality as two, biologically-
based categories of temperament: The two dimensions or axes, 
extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability, define four 
quadrants. These are made up of: 
- 
Stable extraverts
(sanguine qualities such as - outgoing, talkative, 
responsive, easygoing, lively, carefree, leadership). 
- 
Unstable extraverts
(choleric qualities such as - touchy, restless, 
excitable, changeable, impulsive, irresponsible). 
- 
Stable introverts
(phlegmatic qualities such as - calm, even-tempered, 
reliable, controlled, peaceful, thoughtful, careful, passive). 
- 
Unstable introverts
(melancholic qualities such as - quiet, reserved, 
pessimistic, sober, rigid, anxious, moody).
The temperament is a biological basis for character. The 
character’s qualities may be developed.