Download Strategic Organizational Behavior

Chapter 4
Learning and
Perception
Michael A. Hitt
C. Chet Miller
Adrienne Colella
Slides by R. Dennis Middlemist
Knowledge Objectives
1. Describe the effects on learning of positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment,
and extinction.
2. Discuss continuous and intermittent schedules of
reinforcement.
3. Explain how principles of learning can be used to
train newcomers as well as to modify the behavior of
existing associates.
4. Describe the effects of limited opportunities to learn
from experience.
Knowledge Objectives
5. Describe the effects of unclear feedback and methods
for handling such feedback.
6. Discuss learning from failure.
7. Identify typical problems in accurately perceiving
others and solutions to these problems.
8. Explain the complexities of causal attributions and
task perception.
Fundamental Learning Principles

Learning
–
–
–
A process through which individuals change their
behavior based on positive or negative experiences
in a situation
Learning occurs only when changes in behavior
happen (change is the essence of learning)
Learning is driven by experience with a particular
situation (learning is situationally specific)
Operant Conditioning/Social
Learning

Operant conditioning theory
–

An explanation for consequence-based learning
(behavior is learned as a function of its
consequence)
Social learning theory
–
Humans can observe others in a situation and learn
from what they see (humans do not need to directly
experience a specific situation to understand a
behavior and its consequences)
Contingencies of Reinforcement
The situation
Behavioral
response
Consequences of
the behavior
Positive consequences, or
removal of negative ones,
reinforces behavioral response
New response
to the situation
Aversive consequences lead to avoidance
of the same behavioral response, or to new
responses to similar situations in the future
Adapted from Exhibit 4-1: Effects of Reinforcing Consequences on Learning New Behaviors
Reinforcing Contingencies

Reinforcement always refers to a contingent
event that increases the likelihood that the
behavior will be repeated in the same or similar
situations
–
–
Positive reinforcement occurs when the behavior is
followed by a positive consequence(s)
Negative reinforcement occurs when the behavior is
followed by the absence or withdrawal of a previous
negative consequence(s)
Non-reinforcing Contingencies

Non-reinforcing contingencies always refer to a
contingent events that decrease the likelihood
that the behavior will be repeated in the same
or similar situations
–
–
Punishment occurs when the behavior is followed
by a negative consequence
Extinction occurs when a behavior is followed by the
absence of positive consequences (and by definition
of punishment, negative consequences)
Type of consequence
involved
Effects of Contingent
Consequences
Positive
Presence of a
positive
(Positive
Reinforcement)
Absence of
positive/negative
(Extinction)
Negative
Removal of a
negative
(Negative
Reinforcement)
Presence of a
negative
(Punishment)
Increased
Decreased
Likelihood that the behavior
will be repeated
Schedules of Reinforcement


Continuous schedule—reinforcement follows each
instance of desired behavior
Intermittent schedule—reinforcement does not follow
each instance of desired behavior
–
–
–
–
Fixed interval—reinforcement based on fixed unit of lapsed
time
Variable interval—reinforcement based on varying lapses of
time
Fixed ratio—reinforcement based on consistent number of
instances of the desired behavior
Variable ratio—reinforcement after desired behavior has
occurred a variable number of times
Adapted from Exhibit 4-2: Schedules of Reinforcement
Training and Enhancing Performance
Determine new
behaviors to
be learned
Establish smaller,
ordered units of
new behavior
Demonstrate or
model desired
behaviors to trainee
Use contingent
reinforcement for
Trainee practices
new behavior in
presence of trainer
New job behaviors
learned, performance
improves
new behavior
OB Mod
A formal procedure
focused on improving
task performance
through positive
reinforcement of
desired behaviors
and extinction of
undesired behaviors
Exhibit 4-3 Shaping Behavior
Through OB Modification
Low Probability-High
Consequence Events



Experiencing a particular situation only once or
not at all limits the opportunity to try different
approaches (behaviors and consequences) for
dealing with it
If an approach cannot be used multiple times,
one cannot learn the likelihood of positive or
negative consequences of the approach
Consequently people exposed to low
probability-high consequence events may have
faulty learning
Unclear Feedback


Situations often involve multiple
consequences, such that one cannot clearly
infer how the individual consequences affect
behavior
Simulation may be an approach for separating
out the effects of the consequences on the
behavior
–
A representation of a real system that allows
associates and managers to try various actions and
receive feedback on the consequences of those
actions
Causal Relationships
at a Sports Club
Exhibit 4-4 Casual Relationships at a
Sports Club
Intelligent Failure

Intelligent failures that result in learning are the result
of certain kinds of actions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Actions are thoughtfully planned.
Actions have a reasonable chance of producing a successful
outcome.
Actions are typically modest in scale, to avoid putting the
entire firm or substantial parts of it at risk.
Actions are executed and evaluated in a speedy fashion,
since delayed feedback makes learning more difficult.
Actions are limited to domains that are familiar enough to
allow proper understanding of the effects of the actions.
Three Stages of Perception

Perception: A process that involves sensing various
aspects of a person, task, or event and forming
impressions based on selected facts
1
Sensing
Stage 1: Sensing various characteristics
of a person, task, or event
• Touch
• Sight
• Smell
• Taste
• Hearing
Three Stages of Perception

Perception: A process that involves sensing various
aspects of a person, task, or event and forming
impressions based on selected facts
1
Sensing
2
Selecting
Stage 2: Selecting from the data those
facts that will be used to form the
perception
• Selective or biased perception?
• Accurate perception requires selection
of all relevant data
Three Stages of Perception

Perception: A process that involves sensing various
aspects of a person, task, or event and forming
impressions based on selected facts
1
Sensing
2
Selecting
3
Organizing
Stage 3: Organizing the selected data
into useful concepts pertaining to the
object or person
• Concepts help individuals predict the
consequences of their behaviors
• Formation of everyday concepts help
people deal successfully with problems
Perceptions of People
Nature of Perceiver
Familiarity with Person
Feeling Toward Person
General Emotion State
Nature of the Situation
General Nature of the Other Person
Apparent Intentions of the Other
Person
Consequences of the Interaction
Adapted from Exhibit 4-5 Person Perception
Problems in
Person Perception
Perception
of the
Person
Logical Error
Halo Effect
Projecting
Stereotyping
Problems in Perception

Logical error
–

Individual forms an impression of a person on the
basis of only one or two central characteristics
Halo effect
–
Individual assesses a person positively or negatively
in all situations based on an existing general
assessment of the person
Problems in Perception

Projecting
–

individual assumes that others share his or her
values and beliefs
Stereotyping
–
Individual has preconceived ideas about a group
and assumes that all members of that group share
the same characteristics
Attributions of Causality
Attributions affected by perceptions of
 Consistency
 Consensus
 Distinctiveness
Internal attributions



Personality
Attitudes
Abilities
External attributions



Organizational resources
Luck
Uncontrollable influences
Attributions of Causality
High
Distinctiveness
Low
High
Individual
Behavior
Consensus
Low
High
Consistency
Adapted from Exhibit 4-6 Attribution Theory
Low
External
Internal
External
Internal
External
Internal
Attributions of Success and Failure

Fundamental attribution error
–

Perception problem in which an individual is too
likely to attribute the behavior of others to internal
rather than external causes
Self-serving bias
–
Perception problem in which an individual is too
likely to attribute the failure of others to internal
causes and the successes of others to external
causes
Task Perception



Perceptions of one’s job has important
implications for behavior and outcomes
Task perceptions have been linked to mood,
intrinsic motivation and job performance
Perceptions of tasks develop through
subjective and sometimes idiosyncratic
processes