Session XXII and XXIII

7/29/2019 Session XXII and XXIII

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/session-xxii-and-xxiii 1/23

Session XXII

Learning



LEARNING

Any relatively permanent change inbehaviour that occurs as a result of experience is learning.



Though people are already equipped withsome skills (like engineers are hired fortheir specialised technical skills) beforethey enter an organisation, yet they need

to learn other skills (such as peopleskills) they join. Organisations conductformal training programs to helpemployees assimilate the desired skills,work culture, values and norms of theorganisation.

Importance of learning



Ivan Pavlov, a Russian behaviourist, hadconducted an experiment to teach dogsto salivate in response to the ringing of bell. Initially, the dogs salivated whenthey saw food but did not react to the

ringing of the bell. After repeated ringingof the bell before getting the food, thedog began to salivate as soon as the bellrang. Thus the dog learned to associateneutral stimulus (bell) with conditionedstimulus (food). The theory of classicalconditioning emerged from theseexperiments.

Classical conditioning



Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning theory hasbeen associated with the work of B.F.Skinner. Skinner designed an

apparatus called the operantchamber or the skinner box. Tounderstand the learned behaviour in

animals.



The skinner box has a lever, which on

pressing, drops a pellet of food.A hungry rat was placed in the skinnerbox. It eventually pressed the lever byaccident and received a pellet of food. The

rat soon learned to associate pressing of the lever with the reward of food. Thisreward acted as a reinforcing factor. Thisform of learning, which is based on trial

and error, is called operant conditioning.



Social learning thoery

Albert Bandura gave two steps describingthe process of learning through a model.

1. Through observation a person acquires a

mental picture of an act carried out bysomeone and its consequences.

2. Then the person enacts the acquiredimage.

If the consequences turnout to be positive,the behaviour is repeated, otherwise , it isdiscontinued.



Instrumental learning

Some psychologists are of the viewthat learning results frombehavioural consequences. This type

of learning is called instrumentallearning. If an individual observesthat responding in a particular way

to a particular stimulus is rewarding,he will tend to behave similarly inthe future as well.



Instrumental (or operant) learning iscommon in organisations. Forexample, if working overtime during

a busy season results in a significantincrement in salary (positivereinforcer) in the appraisal that

follows, the worker is likely to repeatthis in the next year as well.



Behaviour modification

Learning through reinforcement:Behaviour modification – a theorythat explains learning in terms of the

antecedents and consequences of behaviour.This argues that we learn fromprevious interactions with theenvironment to alter our behaviour in

such a way that we maximise positiveconsequences and minimise theadverse consequences.



Behaviour modification emphasizesvoluntary behaviour researchers call

them operant behaviours because theyoperate on the environment.

For example, you put a certain amount of money in a soft drink (MILK) machineand press a certain button so that themachine will provide a particular can of Pop (or Milk). You learned from past

experiences how to cause theenvironment (the machine) to deliverthat brand of the drink.



Flowchart of steps in the OB Mod

process

Identify Measure Analyse

InterveneEvaluate



Session XXIII



Law of effect

Behaviour modification is based onlaw of effect.

It is a principle stating that thelikelihood that an operant behaviourwill be repeated depends on itsconsequences.



A-B-C’s of Behaviour

Modification

A-Antecedents

B-Behaviour

C-Consequences.



Steps

Antecedents Behaviour Consequences

Whathappens

before the

behaviour

What the

person says or

does

Whathappens

after the

behaviour



Example

Warning light

flashes on

operator’sconsole

Operator

switches off

the machine’s power source

Co-workers

thank

operator

for stopping

the machine



New

attendance

bonus

system

is

announced

Employee

attends work

at

designatedtimes

Employee

receives

attendance

bonus



Contingencies of reinforcement

Behaviour modification identifies fourtypes of consequences, collectively knownas the contingencies of reinforcement,that strengths , maintains, or weakenbehaviour.

They are

positive reinforcement

Negative reinforcementPunitive reinforcement

Extinction



Schedules of reinforcement

Continuous – a schedule that

reinforces behaviour every timeit occurs.

Fixed interval – a schedule that

reinforces behaviour after it hasoccurred a fixed period of time.



Variable interval- a schedule thatreinforces behaviour after it hasoccurred for a variable period of time around some average.

Fixed ratio- a schedule thatreinforces bahaviour after it hasoccurred a fixed number of times.



POSITIVEREINFORCEMENT

Ex. Goodperformancerating

PUNISHMENT

Ex. Suspension of

the employee

NEGATIVEREINFORCEMENT

Ex. Calling off strike andresuming work to

avoid beingdismissed

PUNISHMENT

Ex. No access torecreationfacilities for aweek.

STIMULUSPRESENTED

STIMULUSREMOVED

OR

WITH HELD



A case study

A consulting firm has recommended thatABC Mining Company should rely on actionlearning to prepare its technical staff for

leadership positions in the organisation.The executives complain that actionlearning takes too long, where as theycould have consultant provide several

classroom sessions in less tome and withless expense. Discuss the merits of theirarguments against action learning.

Documents

Session XXII and XXIII