Personality component

A personality component is a part of a Transformer's anatomy in the cartoon portion of the continuity family.

A personality component is a part of a Transformer's anatomy that governs their personality and without which they would be a dumb, almost zombie-like mechanoid. Personality components can be removed and replaced safely. Decepticons imprison some of their criminals by storing their personality components in the Decepticon Detention Center, where for some reason they resemble energon cubes.

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Megatron stole human vehicles and customized them with the intention of making his own squad of land vehicles, the Stunticons. However, there is only one place to give them independent personalities, and that is from Vector Sigma in Cybertron's core. He travels there and gives them personalities. Arriving too late to stop him, Optimus Prime had Vector Sigma imbue sentience within the Aerialbots. The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1

The episode does not speak specifically of personality "components", only of granting new personalities, but presumably the process involves creating a personality component.

In the episode, both Prime and Megatron are convinced that Vector Sigma is the only method of granting a Transformer an independent personality. However, the Dinobots and Technobots were simply manufactured from scratch by other Transformers. S.O.S. Dinobots Grimlock's New Brain

Starscream lacked access to Vector Sigma in his attempt at forming his own army to overthrow Megatron. Therefore he traveled to Cybertron where he liberated the already-formed personality components of the Renegade Decepticons. He transferred these components into a group of five World War II war machines, bringing them to life as the Combaticons. Starscream's Brigade

After selling his fellow Combaticons' parts, Swindle had a bomb placed in his head and was ordered by Megatron to reassemble his comrades or be destroyed within 15 hours. Swindle managed to get all the Combaticon parts except Brawl's personality component. He didn't think it would matter and was disappointed to find that they could not merge into Bruticus... Megatron was not amused.... B.O.T.