• Classical conditioning: A behavioural technique where a natural stimulus is paired with a previously neutral stimulus. The previously neutral stimulus eventually cause the response without pairing it to the natural stimulus.
• Operant conditioning: A...

While we often talk about personality, psychologists disagree on what exactly constitutes personality.

Personality is then broadly defined as the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that originate within the person and make a person unique.

• Personality is organized and consistent.
• Personality is generally stable, but the environment can influence it. A shy personality in social situations might take charge and be more outspoken in an emergency.
• Personality causes beha...

• Experimental methods are used by researchers to control and manipulate the variables of interests and then to measure the results. The ideas are internal, abstract, and difficult to measure.
• Case studies and self-report methods. Case studies rely o...

• Biological Theories suggest genetics are responsible for personality traits.
• Behavioural Theories suggest that personality is the result of interaction between the individual and the environment.
• Psychodynamic Theories of ...

A trait is a stable characteristic or "blueprint" that causes specific behavioural patterns.

• The three dimensions of personality: extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.
• Later researchers suggested five dimensio...

• Sigmund Freud: He was the founder of psychoanalytic theory. His theories emphasised the unconscious mind, childhood experience, dreams, and symbolism.
• Erik Erikson: He was an ego psychologist. His theory of psychosocial stages describes the develop...