• Learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge or skills
through study, practice or experience
• Learning usually causes a relatively permanent change in the
behavior of a person Significance of Learning • Learning impacts practically all aspects of OB
• All behaviors of people in an organization are learnt, either
directly or indirectly
• The learned behaviors are:
The skills of a worker Attitude of a manager A manager’s style of dressing
• Organizations can mould the behavior of employees through
applying learning principles to enhance their performance Activity • Stand and tell what designation you would like to be in after MBA • Sit only when I say “okay”! Else keep standing. Classical Conditioning Theory (S-R)- Ivan Pavlov • Classical conditioning is defined as a process in which a formerly neutral stimulus, when paired with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits a conditioned response
• First, there is a stimulus and then, there is a response (S-R)
Operant Conditioning (Reinforcement) Theory (R-S)- F Skinner
• Consequences determine the behavior that results in learning
• Behavior is repeated depending on the reinforcement or lack
of reinforcement brought about as a consequence of a particular behavior
• First, there is a response and then, there is a stimulus (R-S)
Examples of Classical and Operant Conditioning Ex-1
Watches favorite tennis player winning a
tournament
AND
Jumps with Joy
Ex-1-Key- Classical Conditioning
Watches favorite tennis player winning a
Tournament (S)
AND
Jumps with Joy (R)
Ex-2
Touches a hot vessel
AND moves away Ex-2-Key- Classical Conditioning
Touches a hot vessel(S)
AND moves away(R) Ex-3
Achieves sales targets
AND obtains incentives and gifts Ex-3- Key- Operant Conditioning
Achieves sales targets(R)
AND obtains incentives and gifts(S) Ex-4
Hears a good music
AND hums and rocks gently Ex-4-Key- Classical Conditioning
Hears a good music (S)
AND hums and rocks gently (R) Ex-5
Browses the Internet
AND obtains desired information Ex-5-Key-Operant Conditioning
Browses the Internet (R)
AND obtains desired information (S) Ex- 6
Uses power carefully
AND saves money on electricity bills Ex- 6-Key-Operant Conditioning
Uses power carefully (R)
AND saves money on electricity bills (S) Ex-7
Steps on a nail AND jumps and screams in pain Ex-7-Key- Classical Conditioning
Steps on a nail (S)
AND jumps and screams in pain (R) Ex-8
Carries a credit card
AND finds it convenient for shopping Ex-8-Operant Conditioning
Carries a credit card (R)
AND finds it convenient for shopping (S) Ex-9
Pays loan installments promptly
AND attracts no penalty for delayed payment Ex-9
Pays loan installments promptly
AND attracts no penalty for delayed payment Ex-9-Key- Operant Conditioning
Pays loan installments promptly (R)
AND attracts no penalty for delayed payment (S) Reinforcement • Law of Effect states that responses followed by pleasant consequences are more likely to be repeated, while responses followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated • Reinforcement refers to a stimulus which strengthens the probability of a particular response being repeated • Positive Reinforcement increases the chances that a particular behavior would be repeated because it results in a desirable consequence • Negative Reinforcement makes an individual repeat a behavior not because he wants to but because he wants to avoid negative consequence • Punishment can be defined as an action that weakens a particular behavior and reduces its frequency Examples of Negative Reinforcement and Punishment Ex-1
A Manager who has a poor performance record
had to face curtailment of some of his organizational privileges Ex-1-Key- Punishment
A Manager who has a poor performance record
had to face curtailment of some of his organizational privileges
Stimulus presented: Curtailment
Behavior suppressed: Poor Performance Ex-2
Calling off a strike and resuming work thinking
about being dismissed Ex-2-Key- Negative Reinforcement
Calling off a strike and resuming work thinking
about being dismissed
Stimulus removed or withheld: Strike
Behavior encouraged: Resuming work Ex-3
Getting nauseous after eating rotten food
Ex-3- Key- Punishment
Getting nauseous after eating rotten food
Stimulus presented: Getting nauseous
Behavior suppressed: Eating Rotten food Ex-4
No access to recreation facilities or emailing
system for a week for employees who were caught wasting time at work Ex-4-Key- Punishment
No access to recreation facilities or emailing
system for a week for employees who were caught wasting time at work
Stimulus removed or withheld: Recreation
facilities and emailing system
Behavior suppressed: Wasting time at work
Ex-5
A worker is asked to get back to work when the
supervisor notices him talking to his colleagues Ex-5-Key: Negative Reinforcement
A worker is asked to get back to work when the
supervisor notices him talking to his colleagues
Stimulus removed: Talking to colleagues
Behavior encouraged: Focus at work Ex-6
Jimmy doesn’t want to eat carrots but his
parents keep trying to get him to eat them. At dinner time, if there are any carrots on his plate he will scream and shout until they are taken off his plate. His parents always give in to the tantrums and take away the carrots because his tantrums are becoming increasingly severe and last longer Ex-6- Key- Negative Reinforcement
Jimmy doesn’t want to eat carrots but his parents keep
trying to get him to eat them. At dinner time, if there are any carrots on his plate he will scream and shout until they are taken off his plate. His parents always give in to the tantrums and take away the carrots because his tantrums are becoming increasingly severe and last longer
Stimulus removed or withheld: Carrots on the plate
Behavior encouraged: Screaming Ex- 7
The car stuck in front of Sarah is aversive to her
and she wants it removed. She blasts her horn at the car and it moves out of the way Ex- 7-Key- Negative Reinforcement
The car stuck in front of Sarah is aversive to her
and she wants it removed. She blasts her horn at the car and it moves out of the way
Stimulus removed or withheld: Annoying Car
Behavior encouraged: Blast the car horn Ex- 8
Siblings get in a fight over who gets to go first
in a game or who gets to play with a new toy, the parent takes the game/toy away Ex- 8-Key-Punishment
Siblings get in a fight over who gets to go first
in a game or who gets to play with a new toy, the parent takes the game/toy away
Stimulus removed or withheld: Game/ Toy
Behavior suppressed: Getting in a fight Ex-9
A student plays with his mobile phone during
class and the teacher reprimands him in front of his classmates Ex-9-Key- Punishment
A student plays with his mobile phone during
class and the teacher reprimands him in front of his classmates
Stimulus Presented: Reprimand
Behavior suppressed: Playing with mobile
phone Ex-10
Mike’s morning alarm goes off at 5:00am. He
hates this noise and reaches over and hits the STOP button which stops the alarm noise. He does this every morning when his alarm goes off. Ex-10-Key- Negative Reinforcement
Mike’s morning alarm goes off at 5:00am. He
hates this noise and reaches over and hits the STOP button which stops the alarm noise. He does this every morning when his alarm goes off
Stimulus removed or withheld: Noise made by
alarm
Behavior encouraged: Hitting the STOP button
Schedules of Reinforcement • Definition: a tactic used in operant conditioning that is critical in modifying the behavior. It is the concept of encouraging any behavior by arranging interval between reinforcers and responses. • Objective: to try and decide how and when a desired behavior occurs. • The rate of any behavior occurring repeatedly is increased by the use of reinforcers and decreased through the use of punishments. Removal of stimulus however renders the behavior to be extinct. Fixed-Ratio (FR) Schedule • Reinforcement should be delivered after a constant or “fixed” number of correct responses. – A fixed ratio schedule of 2 (FR2) means reinforcement is delivered after every 2 correct responses Fixed Interval (FI) Schedule • Reinforcement becomes available after a specific period of time. – An FI2 would mean reinforcement becomes available after 2 minutes has passed Variable-Ratio (VR) schedule • delivery of reinforcement will “vary” but must average out at a specific number. – A “VR2” schedule of reinforcement might give reinforcement after 1 correct response, then after 3 more correct responses, then 2 more, then 1 more and finally after 3 more correct responses. Variable-Interval (VI) schedule • The time periods that must pass before reinforcement becomes available will “vary” but must average out at a specific time interval. – Following a “VI3” schedule of reinforcement, a teacher could make reinforcement available after 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 4 minutes and finally 1 minute. • In this example, reinforcement became available 5 times over a total interval period of 15 minutes. On average then, three minutes had to pass before reinforcement became available (2 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 1 = 15 ÷ 5 = 3) and so this was a VI3 schedule. Cognitive Theory (S-S)- Edward Tolman
• Cognitive learning involves learning a relationship between
two stimuli and thus is also called S‐S learning. • Types of cognitive learning – Latent learning (incidental learning): Learning without reinforcement and is not immediately demonstrated when it occurs. • An employee wants a coffee break, wonders where to go, and suddenly remembers a new coffee shop near campus. – Insight: A new way to organize stimuli or a new approach to solving a problem. • An employee struggling with a mathematical problem who suddenly sees how to solve it without having been taught additional methods has had an insight. Social Learning- Albert Bandura
• Modeling process: People could learn by observing others
– Through observation a person acquires a mental picture of an act carried out by someone and its consequences – Then, the person enacts the acquired image
• Self-efficacy: beliefs about one's capabilities to learn or
perform behaviors at designated levels – People with high in self-efficacy tend to persevere at their tasks and do a good job without becoming stressed out OB Mod Process OB Mod process focuses on:
• Influence of the environment on employee behavior
• Antecedent cues or conditions that precede a behavior
• Consequence of a particular behavior
• Impact of the behavior on performance effectiveness
OB Mod Process Steps
• Identify critical performance behaviors
• Measuring the critical performance behaviors
• Carrying out a functional analysis of the behaviors
• Developing an effective intervention strategy
• Evaluation of the intervention strategy to ensure performance
(CSR, Sustainability, Ethics &_ Governance) Friedrich Glauner (auth.)-Future Viability, Business Models, and Values_ Strategy, Business Management and Economy in Disruptive Markets-Springer Interna.pdf
(Applied Linguistics and Language Study) Candlin, Christopher N. - Hyland, Ken - Writing - Texts, Processes and Practices - Edited by Christopher N. Candlin - Ken Hyland (1999, Longman)