perception and learning chapter 2 understanding and adapting to the work environment

Perception and Perception and LearningLearning

Chapter 2Chapter 2

Understanding and Adapting to the Work Environment

2 © Copyright 2003, Prentice Hall

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives1. Distinguish between the concepts of social perception and

social identity.

2. Explain how the attribution process works and describe the various sources of bias in social perception.

3. Understand how the process of social perception operates in the context of performance appraisals, employment interviews, and the cultivation of corporate images.

4. Define learning and describe the two types most applicable to OB: operant conditioning and observational learning.

5. Describe how principles of learning are involved in organizational training and innovative reward systems.

6. Compare the way organizations use reward in organizational behavior management programs, how they can use punishment most effectively when administering discipline, and how they can manage knowledge effectively.

© Copyright 2003, Prentice Hall 3

Social Identity TheorySocial Identity Theory

Personal IdentityPersonal Identity: The characteristics that define a particular individual.

Social IdentitySocial Identity: Who a person is, as defined in terms of his or her membership in various social groups.

Social Identity TheorySocial Identity Theory: A conceptualization recognizing that the way we perceive others and ourselves is based on our unique characteristics and our membership in various groups.


Social Identity TheorySocial Identity Theory


Social PerceptionSocial Perception

Social PerceptionSocial Perception: The process of combining, integrating, and interpreting information about others to gain an accurate understanding of them.

AttributionAttribution: The process through which individuals attempt to determine the causes behind others’ behavior.


Correspondent InferencesCorrespondent Inferences

Judgments about people’s dispositions, traits, and characteristics, that correspond to what we

have observed of their actions.


Causal AttributionCausal Attribution

Causes of BehaviorCauses of Behavior:– InternalInternal: Explanations based on actions for

which the individual is responsible.– ExternalExternal: Explanations based on situations

over which the individual has no control. Kelley’s Theory of Causal AttributionKelley’s Theory of Causal Attribution: The

approach suggesting that people will believe others’ actions to be caused by internal or external factors based on three types of information: consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness.


Kelley’s Theory of Kelley’s Theory of AttributionAttribution ConsensusConsensus: Information regarding the

extent to which other people behave in the same manner as the person being judged.

ConsistencyConsistency: Information regarding the extent to which the person being judged acts the same way at other times.

DistinctivenessDistinctiveness: Information regarding the extent to which a person behaves in the same manner in other contexts.


Kelley’s Theory of Kelley’s Theory of AttributionAttribution


StereotypesStereotypes

Beliefs that all members of specific groups share similar traits and are prone to behave the same way.


Perceptual BiasesPerceptual Biases

Predispositions that people have to misperceive others in various ways.

Types include– Fundamental attribution error– Halo effect– Similar-to-me effect– First impression error– Selective perception


Fundamental Attribution Fundamental Attribution ErrorErrorThe tendency to attribute others’ actions to internal causes (e.g., their traits) while largely ignoring external factors that also may have influenced behavior.


Halo EffectHalo Effect

The tendency for our overall impressions of others to affect objective evaluations of their specific traits; perceiving high correlations between characteristics that may be unrelated.


Similar-to-Me EffectSimilar-to-Me Effect

The tendency for people to perceive in a positive light others who are believed to be similar to themselves in any of several different ways.


Selective PerceptionSelective Perception

The tendency to focus on some aspects of the environment while ignoring others.


First Impression ErrorFirst Impression Error

The tendency to base our judgments of others on our earlier impressions of them.


Self-Fulfilling ProphecySelf-Fulfilling Prophecy

Self-Fulfilling ProphecySelf-Fulfilling Prophecy: The tendency for someone’s expectations about another to cause that person to behave in a manner consistent with those expectations.

Pygmalion EffectPygmalion Effect: A positive instance of the self-fulfilling prophecy, in which people holding high expectations of another tend to improve that individual’s performance.

Golem EffectGolem Effect: A negative instance of the self-fulfilling prophecy, in which people holding low expectations of another tend to lower that individual’s performance.


Self-Fulfilling ProphecySelf-Fulfilling Prophecy


Overcoming BiasesOvercoming Biases

Do not overlook the external cases of others’ behaviors.

Identify your stereotypes.

Evaluate people based on objective factors.

Avoid making rash judgments.


Organizational Organizational ApplicationsApplications Performance AppraisalPerformance Appraisal: The process of

evaluating employees on various work-related dimensions. An inherently biased process

Impresssion ManagementImpresssion Management: Efforts by individuals (esp. in employment interviews) to improve how they appear to others.

Corporate ImageCorporate Image: The impressions that people have of an organization.


Applicant Impression Applicant Impression ManagementManagement


Corporate ImageCorporate Image


Learning ConceptsLearning Concepts

LearningLearning: A relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as a result of experience.Operant ConditioningOperant Conditioning: The form of learning in which people associate the consequences of their actions with the actions themselves.– Behaviors with positive consequences are

acquired.– Behaviors with negative consequences tend to

be eliminated.


Operant Conditioning Operant Conditioning ProcessProcess


Reinforcement ConceptsReinforcement Concepts

Positive ReinforcementPositive Reinforcement: The process by which people learn to perform behaviors that lead to the presentation of desired outcomes.

Negative ReinforcementNegative Reinforcement: The process by which people learn to perform acts that lead to the removal of undesired events.


Punishment and ExtinctionPunishment and Extinction

PunishmentPunishment: Decreasing undesirable behavior by following it with undesirable consequences.

ExtinctionExtinction: The process through which responses that are no longer reinforced tend to gradually diminish in strength.


Contingencies of Contingencies of ReinforcementReinforcement


Schedules of Schedules of ReinforcementReinforcement

Rules governing the timing and frequency of the administration of reinforcement.Continuous ReinforcementContinuous Reinforcement: A schedule of reinforcement in which all desired behaviors are reinforced.Partial ReinforcementPartial Reinforcement: A schedule of reinforcement in which only some desired behaviors are reinforced.


Fixed Interval SchedulesFixed Interval Schedules

Schedules of reinforcement in which a fixed period of time must elapse between the administration of reinforcements.


Variable Interval Variable Interval SchedulesSchedules

Schedules of reinforcement in which a variable period of time (based on some average) must elapse between the administration of reinforcements.


Fixed Ratio SchedulesFixed Ratio Schedules

Schedules of reinforcement in which a fixed number of responses must occur between the administration of reinforcements.


Variable Ratio SchedulesVariable Ratio Schedules

Schedules of reinforcement in which a variable number of responses (based on some average) must occur between the administration of reinforcements.


Observational LearningObservational Learning

The form of learning in which people acquire new behaviors by systematically observing the

rewards and punishments given to others.


Steps in Observational Steps in Observational LearningLearning


Applications of LearningApplications of Learning

Training Innovative Reward

Systems Organizational

Behavior Management

Discipline Knowledge

Management


TrainingTraining

The process of systematically teaching employees to acquire and improve job-related skills and knowledge.

Types of training:– Classroom training

– Apprenticeship programs

– Cross-cultural training

– Executive training programs

– Corporate universities

– E-training


Keys to Effective TrainingKeys to Effective Training

ParticipationParticipation: Active involvement in the process of learning; more active participation leads to more effective learning.

RepetitionRepetition: The process of repeatedly performing a task so that it may be learned.

Transfer of TrainingTransfer of Training: The degree to which the skills learned during training sessions may be applied to performance on one’s job.

FeedbackFeedback: Knowledge of the results of one’s behavior.


Innovative Reward Innovative Reward SystemsSystems$$ Skill-Based PaySkill-Based Pay: An innovative reward

system in which people are paid based on the number of different skills they have learned relevant to performing one or more jobs in the organization.

$$ Team-Based RewardsTeam-Based Rewards: Innovative reward systems in which employees are paid on the basis of their team’s performance.


Organizational Behavior Organizational Behavior ManagementManagement

The practice of altering behavior in organizations by systematically administering rewards.


DisciplineDiscipline

The process of systematically administering punishment.

Progressive DisciplineProgressive Discipline: The practice of gradually increasing the severity of punishments for employees who exhibit unacceptable job behavior.


Continuum of Disciplinary Continuum of Disciplinary MeasuresMeasures


Using Punishment Using Punishment EffectivelyEffectively Deliver punishment immediately after the

undesirable response occurs. Give moderate levels of punishment – nothing

too high or too low. Punish the undesirable behavior, not the person. Use punishment consistently across occasions. Punish everyone equally for the same infraction. Clearly communicate the reasons for the

punishment given. Do not follow punishment with noncontingent

rewards.


Knowledge ManagementKnowledge Management

The process of gathering, organizing, and sharing a company’s information and knowledge assets.Intellectual CapitalIntellectual Capital: Areas of expertise represented by the employees within a company.Knowledge ManagersKnowledge Managers: Individuals who are responsible for organizing the wealth of corporate knowledge represented by its people and ensuring that this information gets used effectively.


What Do Knowledge Managers What Do Knowledge Managers Do?Do? Explain the company’s knowledge management efforts

to everyone from board member to low-level employee.

Secure funding for knowledge management projects.

Promote job flexibility within the company, making it possible for people with good ideas to execute them readily.

Develop, maintain, and promote use of an online database of ideas that is readily accessible to all.

Discourage keeping information and ideas within a single division; encouraging all ideas, research findings, and experiences to be shared with others.