Organizational Behaviour Chapter 2 PDF

Chapter 2 Personality and Learning Chapter 2/ Slide 1 Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc.  Learning Objectives LO2.1 Define learning. LO2.2 Explain operant learning theory and differentiate between positive a...

Chapter 2 Personality and Learning Chapter 2/ Slide 1 Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc.  Learning Objectives LO2.1 Define learning. LO2.2 Explain operant learning theory and differentiate between positive and negative reinforcements, and extinction and punishment, and explain how to use punishment effectively. LO2.3 Define personality. LO2.4 Discuss the Five-Factor Model of personality, locus of control, self- monitoring, and self esteem. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 2  What is Learning? The environment can change people’s behavior and even shape personalities. But how does this happen? Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior potential that occurs due to practice or experience. The practice or experience that prompts learning stems from an environment that provides feedback concerning the consequences of behavior. Learning does not include the change in behavior due to the biological maturation or temporary change (i.e. being hungry, sneeze). Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 3  How Do People Learn? Types of Learning Two theories that describe how people in organizations learn: 1. Operant learning (self-learning) 2. Social learning (learn by observing and imitating others) Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 4  Operant Learning Theory Operant learning: Learning in which the subject/person learns to operate in the environment to achieve certain consequences. Operantly learned behaviour is controlled by the consequences that follow it. It is the connection between the behavior and the consequence that is learned. NOTE Operant learning can be used to increase the probability of desired behaviors and to reduce or eliminate the probability of undesirable behaviors. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 5  Increasing the Probability of Behavior Reinforcement One of the most important consequences that influences behavior is reinforcement. Reinforcement is the process by which stimuli strengthen behaviors. A reinforcer is a stimulus that follows some behavior and increases or maintains the probability of that behavior. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 6  Increasing the Probability of Behavior Types of Reinforcement 1. Positive Reinforcement 2. Negative Reinforcement NOTE Positive reinforcers work by their application to a situation. Negative reinforcers work by their removal from a situation. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 7 Increasing the Probability of Behavior Positive Reinforcement Positive reinforcement is the application or addition of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability of some behavior. The stimulus is the positive reinforcer. In general, positive reinforcers tend to be pleasant things, such as: food, praise, commission/money, gift or business success. Chapter 2/ Slide 8  Increasing the Probability of Behavior Negative Reinforcement Negative reinforcement increases or maintains the probability of some behavior by the removal of a stimulus from the situation in question. The removed or prevented stimulus is a negative reinforcer. Negative reinforcers are usually aversive or unpleasant stimuli/things such as nagging/criticizing or the threat of fines. This happened when the response prevents some events or stimulus from occurring. i.e. nagging/insulting. Accordingly, we will learn to repeat behaviors that remove or prevent these stimuli. Hence, Negative reinforcers increase the probability of behavior. Chapter 2/ Slide 9  Negative Reinforcement NOTE THAT: An aversive stimulus is basically something that is undesirable, that we naturally try to avoid. When we choose to act a certain way in order to stop an aversive stimulus, we're motivated by negative reinforcement. We choose the particular behavior that will stop the undesired response. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 10  Increasing the Probability of Behavior Negative Reinforcement For example, Managers who continually nag/criticize their employees unless the employees work hard are attempting to use negative reinforcement. The only way employees can stop the aversive nagging is to work hard and be diligent. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 11 Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 12  Organizational Errors Involving Reinforcement Managers sometimes make the following errors when trying to use reinforcement: 1. Confusing rewards with reinforcers 2. Neglecting diversity in preferences for reinforcers 3. Neglecting important sources of reinforcement (i.e. Feedback) Chapter 2/ Slide 13  Organizational Errors Involving Reinforcement 1. Confusing Rewards with Reinforcers Rewards fail to serve as reinforcers when they are not made contingent on some specific desired behaviors. Organizations and individual managers frequently “reward” workers with things such as pay, promotions, fringe benefits, paid vacations, overtime work, and the opportunity to perform challenging tasks. Such rewards can fail to serve as reinforcers, because organizations do not make them contingent on specific behaviors that are of interest to the organization, such as attendance, innovation, or productivity. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 14  Organizational Errors Involving Reinforcement 2. Neglecting diversity in preference for reinforcer Organizations often fail to appreciate individual differences in preferences for reinforcers. The same reinforcer will not work for all people. 3. Neglecting Important Sources of Reinforcement While concentrating on potential reinforcers of a formal nature, such as pay or promotions, managers often neglect important sources of reinforcement such as: Performance feedback (i.e. grades). Chapter 2/ Slide 15  Reducing the Probability of Behavior Two strategies that can reduce the probability of learned behavior: 1. Extinction 2. Punishment Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 16  Reducing the Probability of Behaviour 1. Extinction Extinction is the gradual dissipation of behavior following the termination of reinforcement. Extinction simply involves terminating/removing the stimulus that causes some unwanted behavior. If the behavior is not reinforced, it will gradually dissipate or be extinguished. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 17  Reducing the Probability of Behavior 2. Punishment Punishment is the application of an aversive/unpleasent stimulus following unwanted behavior to decrease the probability of that behavior. For example, If a boss exercise salary deduction of her assistant after seeing her use the office phone for personal calls, we expect to see less of this activity in the future. NOTE In negative reinforcement a unpleasent stimulus is removed following some behavior, increasing the probability of that behavior. With punishment, unpleasent stimulus is applied after some undesirable behavior in order to decrease the probability of that behavior. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 18  Using Punishment Effectively NOTE Punishment can be an effective means of stopping undesirable behavior. However, managers must apply it very carefully to achieve this effectiveness. In general, reinforcing correct behaviors and removing unwanted responses are safer strategies for managers than the frequent use of punishment. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 19  Using Punishment Effectively 1. Make sure the chosen punishment is truly aversive. 2. Punish immediately. 3. Do not punish on a group level. 4. Do not reward unwanted behaviors before or after punishment. 5. Do not mistakenly/accidentally punish desirable behavior. Copyright © 2017 Pearson Canada Inc. Chapter 2/ Slide 20