Chapter 4 Learning and Perception

Chapter 4Learning andPerception Michael A. Hitt C. Chet Miller Adrienne Colella Slides by Ralph R. Braithwaite

Learning at NUMMI Exploring Behavior in Action • What are your thoughts on the peer pressure approach to teamwork and norms at NUMMI? • What would be your reaction to having a high-level manager from another part of the organization entering your workforce “undercover”? What would be the advantages and disadvantages? • Have you had any experiences similar to the learning at “the old plant” described in the scenario? • How might the approach to teams and employees in place at NUMMI work in other types of industries?

Knowledge Objectives • Describe the effects on learning of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. • Discuss continuous and intermittent schedules of reinforcement. • Explain how principles of learning can be used to train newcomers as well as to modify the behavior of existing associates. • Describe the conditions under which adults learn, in addition to rewards and punishments. • Describe some specific methods that organizations use to train associates. • Discuss learning from failure. • Identify typical problems in accurately perceiving others and solutions to these problems. • Explain the complexities of causal attributions and task perception.

Learning • Relatively permanent change in capabilities • Process of behavior change based on positive or negative experiences • Occurs only when changes in behavior happen • Driven by experience with a particular situation

B.F. Skinner, a behaviorist, emphasized conditioning in people Operant Conditioning • Reinforcement based • Behavior is learned as a function of its consequence • Roots in the late 1800s with animals • Learning results from simple conditioning, not from higher mental functioning

Albert Bandura Social Learning • Humans can observe others in a situation and learn from what they see • No direct experience to a specific situation is needed to understand the behavior and its consequences • Learning can result from higher mental functioning

BehavioralResponse Consequencesof Behavior Situation Contingencies of Reinforcement

Behavioral Response Consequences of the Behavior The Situation New Response to the Situation Contingencies of Reinforcement Positive consequences, or removal of negative ones, reinforces behavioral response Aversive consequences lead to avoidance of the same behavioral response, or to new responses to similar situations in the future Adapted from Exhibit 4-1: Effects of Reinforcing Consequences on Learning New Behaviors

Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement Reinforcing Contingencies Reinforcement increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the same or similar situations

R.I.P. Non-Reinforcing Contingencies Non-reinforcing contingencies always refer to contingent events that decrease the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the same or similar situations Punishment Extinction

Punishment Guidelines • Use only if necessary • Deliver as quickly as possible afterthe undesired event • Focus on specific behaviors that have been made clear to the recipient • Deliver in an objective, impersonal fashion • Listen to the person before taking action

Punishment TakenToo Far ManagerialAdvice • Thoughts about the “obey or else” environment in the cockpit? • What changes would you recommend to improve the working relationships and reduce potential accidents? • What has been your experience with an environment such as this one?

Intermittent Continuous Schedules of Reinforcement

What should I use? Fixed interval Variable interval Fixed ratio or Variable ratio Intermittent Reinforcement

Examples Variable Interval Pressing the "redial" button when you keep getting a "busy" signal Fixed Interval Calling a radio station once a week for a chance to win a prize Betting on specific numbers on a roulette wheel Car salesperson gets a $1000 bonus for each 10 cars sold Variable Ratio Fixed Ratio

Social Learning Theory Symbolizationand Forethought Observation Self-Efficacy

Other Conditions for Learning • Associates need to know why they are learning what they are learning • Associates need to use their own experiences as the basis for learning • Associates need to practice what they have learned • Associates need feedback

Determine new behaviors to be learned Break new behavior into smaller, logical segments Demonstrate desired behaviors to trainee Use contingent reinforcement for new behavior Trainee practices new behavior New job behaviors learned, performance improves Training and Enhancing Performance

Organizational Behavior Mod Also known as performance management, a formal procedure that focuses on improving task performance through positive reinforcement of desired behaviors and elimination of undesired behaviors

OB Mod Part 1 Adapted from Exhibit 4-3: Shaping Behavior Through OB Modification

Simulations Team Leader’s Pizza Curling Club General Manager What factors might have contributed to the reaction of the two situations described in the chapter? Suggestions for the two leaders? A simulation mimics the real system but allows us to take one action at a time to understand its effects and consequences.

Causal Relationships Exhibit 4-4: Casual Relationships at a Sports Club

Learning from Failure Thoughts? “A failure that does not result in learning is a mistake: a failure that results in learning is an intelligent failure.”

Intelligent Failures • Results of certain actions: • Thoughtfully planned • Reasonable chance of success • Typical modest in scale • Executed and evaluated in a speedy fashion • Limited to familiar domains Examples

“We Are Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen” WOW! • What are your thoughts about the Ritz-Carlton’s approach to customers? • Is all the training (310 hours in the first year) they do necessary? • What types of training programs exist in the places you have worked? ExperiencingStrategic OB

Perception A process that involves sensing various aspects of a person, task or event and forming impressions based on selected inputs. Three basic stages: • Sensing various characteristics • Selecting facts • Organizing into useful concepts

Perception • Need a volunteer to read what I am about to show on the screen. • Look at the list below and say the color, not the word as fast as you can. REDGREENPURPLEBLUEORANGEYELLOWGREENBROWNREDPURPLEYELLOWBLUEORANGEGREEN BLACKREDPURPLEORANGE

Perception • That was pretty fast. • Can anyone do it faster. • I need another volunteer.

Perception Look at the list below and say the color, not the word as fast as you can. REDGREENPURPLEBLUEORANGEYELLOWGREENBROWNREDPURPLEYELLOWBLUEORANGE GREENBLACKREDPURPLEORANGE

Perception • Why did the second reading of the colors take longer? • The right side of the brain tries to say the color but the left side of the brain insists on reading the word.

Familiarity with the Other Person Feelings Toward the Other Person General Emotion State Problems in Person Perception Nature of Perceiver Implicit Theories Halo Effect Projecting Stereotyping Perception of the Person Nature of the Situation General Nature of the Other Person Apparent Intentions of the Other Person Consequences of the Interaction Perceptions of People Adapted from Exhibit 4-5: Person Perception

“Beauty Is Only Skin Deep”– Or Is It? Christine Craft • Should attractiveness be one of the considerations for hiring someone? • Thoughts on whether or not attractive people are perceived to be smarter, more confident, and more likeable. • What can be done to overcome some of the perceptual biases that exist in the workplace? ExperiencingStrategic OB

Self-Perception

Consistency Consensus Distinctiveness Internal-External Attribution

High Low External High Distinctiveness Internal Low External High Individual Behavior Consensus Internal Low Internal Consistency External Attributions of Causality Adapted from Exhibit 4.6 Attribution Theory

Fundamental Attribution Error Self-Serving Bias Attributions of Success and Failure

Task Perception • Perceptions of tasks develop through subjective and sometimes idiosyncratic processes • Intelligence, age and gender influence perception of tasks • Levels of satisfaction play a role

The Strategic Lens Bill Breen • How does the knowledge held by managers and associates affect the performance of an organization? • What are some important ways in which associates can learn and thereby enhance their stock of knowledge? What role does perception play in the learning process? • What are the connections between learning, perception, and organizational strategies?

Questions

Chapter 4 Learning and Perception