Download Four

HRM 601 Organizational
Behavior
Session 4
Learning & Its Applications
Learning
• A relatively permanent change in behavior
resulting from experience
• Learning and performance -- Performance is
an indirect measure of learning but is
influenced by other factors such as
motivation and fatigue
Learning In Organizations
• Formal learning
– skill training
– orientation
– rules and regulations
• Informal learning
– norms
– attitudes
– shortcuts in doing your job
CLASSICAL
Classical Conditioning
CONDITIONING
conditioned
stimulus
unconditioned
stimulus
reflex
learned
conditioned
response
Time 2
unconditioned
response
Time 1
Some Basics
• Extinction -- eliminating the response
• Generalization -- extending the response to
similar stimuli
• Discrimination -- limiting the response to a
specific stimulus
• Higher order conditioning -- extending the
response to remote conditioned stimuli
Operant Conditioning
ANTECEDENT
A cue about
consequences
ex. advice
BEHAVIOR
CONSEQUENCE
Desired
organizational
behavior
ex. promptness
Positive
reinforcement
ex. attention
Negative
reinforcement
ex. anxiety
Qualities Of Reinforcement
•
•
•
•
Immediate Vs. delayed
Contrived Vs natural
Large Vs small
Relative size
Reinforcement Schedules
• Interval schedules -- time based
– fixed interval: ex. salary
– variable interval: ex. spot inspections
• Ratio schedules -- performance based
– fixed ratio: ex. piece rate
– variable ratio: ex. gambling on slot machines
Shaping
• Reinforcement of successive
approximations of desired behavior
• ex. shaping neatness by rewarding
behaviors which gradually move towards
keeping a workplace neat
Traps & Fences
• Traps -- behaviors with short term gain,
long term pain
– smoking, eating sweets, procrastination
• Fences -- behaviors with short term lack of
consequence or even mildly aversive
consequence
– flossing, getting right on the job, eating
broccoli
Punishment/Discipline
• Defined -- the application of aversive or
unpleasant consequences to a behavior. A
punishment reduces the likelihood of a
behavior occurring.
• Like a negative reinforcer, it is unpleasant
but a negative reinforcer strengthens and
sustains behaviors. Punishment/Discipline
weakens and eliminates behaviors.
Problems In The Process
• Is it truly punishment?
• Is the timing delayed?
• Is the punishment strong enough
A Case Against Punishment
•
•
•
•
It requires monitoring
It is wasteful of supervisor’s time
It only suppresses behavior
It has undesirable side effects
– fear, hostility, revenge
• Nonetheless it is essential
Effective Punishment/Discipline
•
•
•
•
Apply Before the Behavior Takes Root
Make It Quick and Strong Enough
Punish the Act, Not the Person
It Should Be Consistent Across Time and
People
• It Should Have Informational Value
• It Is More Effective in a Warm and
Supportive Relationship
Observational Learning
• Learning by watching
• Distinctiveness of the theory
–
–
–
–
–
cognitive
vicarious learning
motivation
active
efficient
Vicarious Learning
• Modeling
• Ability and practice
• Vicarious reinforcement
Motivation
• Self-efficacy -- self-judgment
concerning ability to perform an act.
– positive enactment
– modeling
– coaching
Self-control
• Arrange work environment so that negative
behaviors are reduced and positive ones
increased. Engineer your antecedents
(signals) for effective behavior
• Self-reward -- use more preferred activities
as a reward for accomplishing less preferred
ones.