HND – 2. Individual BehaviorLim Sei Kee @ cK

Introduction

How biographical characteristics (such as age and gender) and ability (which includes intelligence) affect employee performance and satisfaction.

Biographical CharacteristicsObjective and easily obtained personal characteristics.

Age Older workers bring experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and

commitment to quality.

Gender Few differences between men and women that affect job

performance.

Tenure People with job tenure (seniority at a job) are more productive,

absent less frequently, have lower turnover, and are more satisfied.

AbilityAn individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.

Made up of two sets of factors: Intellectual Abilities

Physical Abilities

Intellectual AbilitiesThe abilities needed to perform mental

activities- for thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.

General Mental Ability (GMA) is a measure of

overall intelligence.

Examples: IQ (Intelligence quotient) tests, GCE ‘O’ level.

Dimensions of Intellectual Ability Number AptitudeAccountant: Computing the sales tax

Verbal ComprehensionPlant manager: Following corporate policies on hiring

Perceptual SpeedFire investigator: Identifying clues to support a

charge of arson

Inductive Reasoning Market researcher: Forecasting demand for a product

in the next time period

Dimensions of Intellectual Ability Deductive ReasoningSupervisor: Choosing between two

different suggestions offered by employees

Spatial VisualizationInterior decorator: Redecorating an office

Memory Salesperson: Remembering the names of

customers

Physical Abilities

The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.

Nine Basic Physical Abilities

Strength Factors Dynamic strength Trunk strength Static strength Explosive strength

Flexibility Factors Extent flexibility Dynamic flexibility

Other Factors Body coordination Balance Stamina

Ability-Job Fit

Jobs make differing demands on people and that people differ in their abilities.

Employee performance is enhanced when there is a high ability-job fit.

Poor ability-job fit?

Employees are likely to fail.

Organizational efficiencies and possible declines in employee satisfaction.

LearningAny relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience

Learning components: Involves Change Is Relatively Permanent Is Acquired Through Experience

Theories of Learning Classical Conditioning

A type of conditioning in which an individual responds to some stimulus that would not ordinarily produce such a response.

Operant Conditioning A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary

behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.

Social-Learning Theory People can learn through observation and direct

experience.

Classical Conditioning

Experiments to teach dogs to salivate in response to the ringing of bell, conducted in the early-1900s by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.

Meat: Unconditioned stimulusReaction that took place: Unconditioned

responseBell: Conditioned stimulusBehavior of the dog: Conditioned response

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s Dog Drool Key Concepts:

Unconditioned stimulus▪ A naturally occurring phenomenon.

Unconditioned response▪ The naturally occurring response to a natural stimulus.

Conditioned stimulus▪ An artificial stimulus introduced into the situation.

Conditioned response▪ The response to the artificial stimulus.

This is a passive form of learning. It is reflexive and not voluntary – not the best theory for OB learning.

Examples of Classical Conditioning# Your romantic partner always uses the same

shampoo. Soon, the smell of that shampoo makes you feel happy.

# You have a meal at a fast food restaurant that causes food poisoning. The next time you see a sign for that restaurant, you feel nauseous.

# The nurse says “Now this won’t hurt a bit” just before stabbing you with a needle. The next time you hear “This won’t hurt” you cringe in fear.

Operant Conditioning B. F. Skinner’s concept of Behaviorism: behavior

follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner.

Key Concepts: Conditioned behavior: voluntary behavior that is learned,

not reflexive. Reinforcement: the consequences of behavior which can

increase or decrease the likelihood of behavior repetition. Pleasing consequences increase likelihood of repetition. Rewards are most effective immediately after

performance. Unrewarded/punished behavior is unlikely to be repeated.

Operant conditioning

Behavior is a function of its consequences. People learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don’t want.

Examples of Operant Conditioning A child learns to clean his/her room

after being rewarded with TV time, every time he cleans it.

A person stops teasing his fiance about an issue after she gives him the silent treatment.

Social-Learning Theory

Based on the idea that people can also learn indirectly: by observation, reading, or just hearing about someone else’s – a model’s – experiences.

Examples of Social learning

Advertisements are prime examples of Social Learning Theory. We watch them, then copy them.

If your a new person to IGS and it's lunch time, and you finish with your lunch but you don't know where to put the tray you would follow someone who knows what their doing. So you learn off of other peoples examples.

Shaping Behavior

Systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves an individual closer to the desired response

Four ways- Positive reinforcement- Negative reinforcement- Punishment- Extinction

Methods of Shaping Behavior:Positive ReinforcementFollowing a response with something pleasant.

Negative ReinforcementFollowing a response by the termination or withdrawal of

something unpleasant.

Punishment Attempts to decrease the probability of specific behaviours

being exhibited (eliminate undesirable behavior.)

Extinction Eliminating any reinforcement that is maintaining a

behavior.  its purpose is to reduce unwanted behavior.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Two Major Types: Continuous Reinforcement

▪ A desired behavior is reinforced each time it is demonstrated

Intermittent Reinforcement▪ A desired behavior is reinforced often enough

to make the behavior worth repeating but not every time it is demonstrated

▪ Multiple frequencies.

Types of Intermittent Reinforcement

Ratio Depends on the number of responses made.

Interval Depends on the time between reinforcements.

Fixed Rewards are spaced at uniform time intervals

or after a set number of responses. Variable

Rewards that are unpredictable or that vary relative to the behavior.

Schedules Of Reinforcement : The timing of the behavioural consequences that follow a given behavior.

Reinforcement Schedule

Nature Of Reinforcement

Effects On Behavior Example

Continuous Reward given after each desired behavior

Fast learning of new behavior but rapid extinction

Compliments

Fixed Interval Reward given at fixed time intervals

Average and irregular performances with rapid extinction

Weekly Paychecks

Variable Interval

Reward given at variable time intervals

Moderately high and stable performance with slow extinction

Pop Quizzes

Fixed Ratio Reward given at fixed amounts of output

High and stable performance attained quickly but also with rapid extinction.

Piece-rate Pay

Variable Ratio Reward given at variable amounts of output

Very high performance with slow extinction

Commissioned Sales

Behavior Modification (OB Mod)

The application of reinforcement concepts to individuals in the work setting. Follows the Five-Step Problem-Solving Model: Identify critical behaviors Develop baseline data Identify behavioral consequences Develop and apply intervention Evaluate performance improvement

Problems with OB Mod

OB Mod ignores thoughts and feelings.

OB Mod may not explain complex behaviors that involve thinking and feeling.

Stimuli may not be consciously given as a means of shaping behavior.

Modern managers and OB theorists are using cognitive approaches to shaping behavior.