Here’s how this might work: Richard walks into a classroom filled with other students, but no teacher is present at this time. (This is the environment.) Part of Richard’s personal characteristics includes the desire to have attention from other people by talking loudly and telling jokes, which has been very rewarding to him in the past (past reinforcements are part of his cognitive processes, or expectancies of future rewards for his behavior). Also in the past, he has found that he gets more attention when an authority figure is not present. His behavior will most likely be to start talking and telling jokes, which will continue if he gets the reaction he expects from his fellow students. If the teacher walks in (the environment changes), his behavior will change.If the other students don’t laugh, his behavior will change. In the future, Richard might be less likely to behave in the same way because his expectations for reward (a cognitive element of his personal variables) are different.