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Perception and Learning
Understanding and
Adapting to the Work
Environment
Chapter 2
Learning Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Distinguish between the concepts of social perception and
social identity.
Explain how the attribution process works and describe the
various sources of bias in social perception.
Understand how the process of social perception operates in
the context of performance appraisals, employment
interviews, and the cultivation of corporate images.
Define learning and describe the two types most applicable
to OB: operant conditioning and observational learning.
Describe how principles of learning are involved in
organizational training and innovative reward systems.
Compare the way organizations use reward in organizational
behavior management programs, how they can use
punishment most effectively when administering discipline,
and how they can manage knowledge effectively.
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Social Identity Theory
Personal Identity: The characteristics that
define a particular individual.
Social Identity: Who a person is, as
defined in terms of his or her membership
in various social groups.
Social Identity Theory: A
conceptualization recognizing that the
way we perceive others and ourselves is
based on our unique characteristics and
our membership in various groups.
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Social Identity Theory
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Social Perception
 Social
Perception: The process of
combining, integrating, and
interpreting information about others
to gain an accurate understanding of
them.
 Attribution: The process through
which individuals attempt to
determine the causes behind others’
behavior.
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Correspondent Inferences
Judgments about people’s dispositions, traits,
and characteristics, that correspond to what we
have observed of their actions.
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Causal Attribution
 Causes of Behavior:
– Internal: Explanations based on actions for
which the individual is responsible.
– External: Explanations based on situations
over which the individual has no control.
 Kelley’s Theory of Causal Attribution: The
approach suggesting that people will
believe others’ actions to be caused by
internal or external factors based on three
types of information: consensus,
consistency, and distinctiveness.
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Kelley’s Theory of Attribution

Consensus: Information regarding the
extent to which other people behave in the
same manner as the person being judged.
 Consistency: Information regarding the
extent to which the person being judged
acts the same way at other times.
 Distinctiveness: Information regarding
the extent to which a person behaves in
the same manner in other contexts.
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Kelley’s Theory of Attribution
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Stereotypes
Beliefs that all
members of
specific groups
share similar
traits and are
prone to behave
the same way.
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Perceptual Biases
Predispositions that people have to
misperceive others in various ways.
Types include
– Fundamental attribution error
– Halo effect
– Similar-to-me effect
– First impression error
– Selective perception
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Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to
attribute others’
actions to internal
causes (e.g., their
traits) while largely
ignoring external
factors that also
may have
influenced behavior.
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Halo Effect
The tendency for
our overall
impressions of
others to affect
objective
evaluations of their
specific traits;
perceiving high
correlations
between
characteristics that
may be unrelated.
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Similar-to-Me Effect
The tendency for
people to perceive
in a positive light
others who are
believed to be
similar to
themselves in any
of several different
ways.
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Selective Perception
The tendency to
focus on some
aspects of the
environment
while ignoring
others.
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First Impression Error
The tendency to base our judgments of others on
our earlier impressions of them.
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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The tendency for
someone’s expectations about another to cause
that person to behave in a manner consistent
with those expectations.
Pygmalion Effect: A positive instance of the selffulfilling prophecy, in which people holding high
expectations of another tend to improve that
individual’s performance.
Golem Effect: A negative instance of the selffulfilling prophecy, in which people holding low
expectations of another tend to lower that
individual’s performance.
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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
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Overcoming Biases

Do not overlook the
external cases of
others’ behaviors.
 Identify your
stereotypes.
 Evaluate people
based on objective
factors.
 Avoid making rash
judgments.
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Organizational Applications
 Performance Appraisal: The process of
evaluating employees on various workrelated dimensions.
 An inherently biased process
 Impresssion Management: Efforts by
individuals (esp. in employment interviews)
to improve how they appear to others.
 Corporate Image: The impressions that
people have of an organization.
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Applicant Impression Management
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Corporate Image
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Learning Concepts
Learning: A relatively permanent change
in behavior occurring as a result of
experience.
Operant Conditioning: The form of
learning in which people associate the
consequences of their actions with the
actions themselves.
– Behaviors with positive consequences are
acquired.
– Behaviors with negative consequences tend to
be eliminated.
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Operant Conditioning Process
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Reinforcement Concepts
 Positive
Reinforcement: The
process by which people learn to
perform behaviors that lead to the
presentation of desired outcomes.
 Negative Reinforcement: The
process by which people learn to
perform acts that lead to the removal
of undesired events.
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Punishment and Extinction
Punishment: Decreasing
undesirable behavior by following
it with undesirable consequences.
Extinction: The process through
which responses that are no
longer reinforced tend to gradually
diminish in strength.
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Contingencies of Reinforcement
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Schedules of Reinforcement
Rules governing the timing and
frequency of the administration of
reinforcement.
Continuous Reinforcement: A
schedule of reinforcement in which
all desired behaviors are reinforced.
Partial Reinforcement: A schedule of
reinforcement in which only some
desired behaviors are reinforced.
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Fixed Interval Schedules
Schedules of
reinforcement in
which a fixed
period of time
must elapse
between the
administration of
reinforcements.
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Variable Interval Schedules
Schedules of
reinforcement in
which a variable
period of time
(based on some
average) must
elapse between the
administration of
reinforcements.
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Fixed Ratio Schedules
Schedules of
reinforcement in
which a fixed
number of
responses must
occur between the
administration of
reinforcements.
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Variable Ratio Schedules
Schedules of
reinforcement in
which a variable
number of
responses (based
on some average)
must occur
between the
administration of
reinforcements.
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Observational Learning
The form of learning in which people acquire
new behaviors by systematically observing the
rewards and punishments given to others.
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Steps in Observational Learning
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Applications of Learning
 Training
 Innovative
Reward
Systems
 Organizational
Behavior
Management
 Discipline
 Knowledge
Management
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Training
The process of systematically teaching
employees to acquire and improve jobrelated skills and knowledge.
Types of training:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Classroom training
Apprenticeship programs
Cross-cultural training
Executive training programs
Corporate universities
E-training
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Keys to Effective Training




Participation: Active involvement in the
process of learning; more active participation
leads to more effective learning.
Repetition: The process of repeatedly
performing a task so that it may be learned.
Transfer of Training: The degree to which the
skills learned during training sessions may
be applied to performance on one’s job.
Feedback: Knowledge of the results of one’s
behavior.
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Innovative Reward Systems
$ Skill-Based Pay: An innovative reward
system in which people are paid based
on the number of different skills they
have learned relevant to performing
one or more jobs in the organization.
$ Team-Based Rewards: Innovative
reward systems in which employees
are paid on the basis of their team’s
performance.
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Organizational Behavior Management
The practice of
altering
behavior in
organizations by
systematically
administering
rewards.
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Discipline
The process of systematically
administering punishment.
Progressive Discipline: The
practice of gradually increasing
the severity of punishments for
employees who exhibit
unacceptable job behavior.
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Continuum of Disciplinary Measures
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Using Punishment Effectively

Deliver punishment immediately after the
undesirable response occurs.
 Give moderate levels of punishment – nothing too
high or too low.
 Punish the undesirable behavior, not the person.
 Use punishment consistently across occasions.
 Punish everyone equally for the same infraction.
 Clearly communicate the reasons for the
punishment given.
 Do not follow punishment with noncontingent
rewards.
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Knowledge Management
The process of gathering, organizing, and
sharing a company’s information and
knowledge assets.
Intellectual Capital: Areas of expertise
represented by the employees within a
company.
Knowledge Managers: Individuals who
are responsible for organizing the wealth
of corporate knowledge represented by its
people and ensuring that this information
gets used effectively.
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What Do Knowledge Managers Do?

Explain the company’s knowledge management efforts
to everyone from board member to low-level employee.

Secure funding for knowledge management projects.

Promote job flexibility within the company, making it
possible for people with good ideas to execute them
readily.

Develop, maintain, and promote use of an online
database of ideas that is readily accessible to all.

Discourage keeping information and ideas within a
single division; encouraging all ideas, research findings,
and experiences to be shared with others.
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