Foundations of Individual Behavior

1
Foundations of Individual Behavior
2
Learning Objectives

• Define key biographical characteristics
• Identify two types of ability
• Shape the behavior of others
• Examine four schedules of reinforcement
• Clarify the role of punishment in learning
• Practice self-management
• Exhibit effective discipline skills

3
Dependent Variables

• Productivity
• Absenteeism
• Turnover
• Job Satisfaction

4
BiographicalCharacteristics
Gender
Age
Marital Status
Tenure
5
Age

• Perception of older worker
• experience, judgement, commitment
• lack of flexibility, resistant to change
• Age and absenteeism (-)
• avoidable vs unavoidable absence
• Age and productivity ()
• Age and job satisfaction
• professionals ()
• Nonprofessionals (-)

6
Gender

• No significant differences in productivity and
  job satisfaction between men and women
• Mixed results in turnover
• Women have higher rates of absenteeism
• traditional home and family responsibilities

7
Marital Status

• No conclusive results on productivity
• married employees have fewer absences, less
  turnover, and are more satisfied.

8
Tenure
performance

absenteeism
-
Seniority
-
turnover

satisfaction
9
Intellectual Abilities

• Number aptitude
• Verbal comprehension
• Perceptual speed
• Inductive reasoning
• Deductive reasoning
• Spatial visualization
• Memory ability

10
Basic Physical Abilities
Strength Factors
Other Factors
Flexibility Factors
11
The Ability-Job Fit

• Abilities of the employee
• Requirements of the job
• Consequence of mis-fit

12
What Is Learning? Any relatively permanent change
in behavior that occurs as a result of experience
Social Learning
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
13
Classical conditioning
A type of conditioning in which an individual
responds to some stimulus that would not
ordinarily produce such a response
Unconditional stimulus
response
A
B
C
Conditional response
14
Operant Conditioning
Behavior is a function of consequences
Behavior
rewards

Behavior
punishment
-
15
Social Learning

• People learn from observation and direct
  experience
• attentional process
• retention processes
• motor reproduction processes
• reinforcement processes

16
Strengthen a response Increase the probability of
repetition
Methods of Shaping Behavior
Weaken behavior decrease subsequent frequency
17
Timing Schedules of Reinforcement
Interval
Ratio
Fixed- Interval
Fixed- Ratio
Fixed
Variable- Ratio
Variable- Interval
Variable
18
Behavior Modification OB Mod

• Critical behaviors
• Baseline data
• Behavioral consequences
• Intervention strategy
• Performance improvement

19
Organizational Applications

• Lotteries to reduce absenteeism
• Well pay versus sick pay
• Employee discipline
• Training programs
• Mentoring programs
• Self-management

20
Effective disciplining

• Respond immediately
• Provide a warning
• State the problem specifically
• allow the employee to explain his/her position
• keep discussion impersonal
• be consistent
• take progressive action
• obtain agreement on change

21
Debate Topic

• Point You can not teach old dog new tricks!
• Counterpoint You can teach old dog new tricks!

22
Assignments

• Find three organizations that have been involved
  in discrimination suits. What were the specific
  issues involved? If resolved, what was the
  outcome?
• Case Incident Predicting Performance (p. 55)