Work Motivation &

Environmental
Characteristics:

BEHAVIORISM
&
BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

Behaviorism

Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is

a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors
are acquired through conditioning.
Conditioningoccurs through interaction with the
environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to
environmental stimuli shape our actions.

Brief History

Watson's classic paper, "Psychology as the Behaviorist

Views It." Itis best summed up by the following quote from
Watson, who is often considered the "father" of behaviorism:
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my
own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee
to take any one at random and train him to become any
type of specialist I might selectdoctor, lawyer, artist,
merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities,
vocations, and race of his ancestors. -Watson 1924

Two Important Theories of

Behaviorism
Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning is the type of learning made famous by
Pavlov's experiments with dogs. It is used by trainers to condition
(train) autonomic responses, such as the drooling, producing
adrenaline, or reducing adrenaline (calming) without using the
stimuli that would naturally create such a response; and, to create
an association between a stimulus that normally would not have
any effect on the animal and a stimulus that would. Classical
conditioning reflects how an organism learns to transfer a natural
response from one stimulus to another. It is association between
two stimuli.

Two Important Theories of

Behaviorism
B.F. Skinners Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning forms an association between
a behavior and consequences. This process has a wider
application than the classical conditioning approach as
it provides shaping of behavior in particular patterns.
The basic assumption of operant conditioning is that
behavior is influenced by its consequences

Principles Of Operant Conditioning

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Managers often use positive reinforcement to influence
behavior. A positive reinforcement is a stimulus which,
when added to the situation, strengthens the probability of
a behavioral response. It can be used to improve
employee's performance.
Positive reinforcement is highly effective and used for two
reasons. Firstly, it is used for the direction or motivation of
the actions of other people and secondly it uses versatile
concept of reinforcement as an explanation of behavior.
Many organizations uses positive reinforcements to increase
productivity,
decrease
absenteeism
and
workplace
accidents.

Principles Of Operant Conditioning

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
Negative reinforcement increases the frequency of a response
following removal of a negative reinforcement immediately
after the response. It strengthens the response as response
removes some painful stimulus and enables the organization
to avoid it.
PUNISHMENT
It relates to unpleasant reward for particular behaviors. It is
defined as presenting an uncomfortable consequence for a
particular behavioral response. It is increasingly used
managerial strategy. This forms of reinforcements decreases
the occurrence of the behavior in question.

Principles Of Operant Conditioning

EXTINCTION
It refers to stopping of the reinforcement, firstly it leads to
reduction n eventually omission of reinforcement.
Managers must strategically balance between the use of
pleasant and unpleasant events occurring in an organization in
order to meet their desired outcomes. However positive
management procedures dominates in any well-run organization.
Before applying reinforcements in an organization, managers
also need to know as to when reinforcements should be used in
order to influence level and rate of continued repetition of
desired behavior.

Schedules Of Reinforcement

In an organization it is very essential to time the rewards and

punishment and timing of the outcomes. It is known as
reinforcement scheduling. There are different results of timing
and frequency of reinforcement.
Continuous and Intermittent Reinforcement
Continuous reinforcements means that the behavior is
reinforced each time it occurs and is the simplest schedule of
reinforcement. If the reinforcement does not occur after each
response ,an intermittent reinforcement schedule is being used.

Four types of intermittent

schedules
1. Fixed Interval Schedule In fixed interval schedule, a constant amount of
time should pass before a reinforcer is provided. In other words behavior
pattern almost stops after a reward until the next interval .
2. Variable Interval Schedule It represents changes in the amount of time
between reinforcer. Variable reinforcer varies in time and predictability.
3. Fixed Ratio Schedule In fixed ratio schedule ,the behavior which you
desire must occur number of times specifically before reinforcement takes
place. It produces high reinforce rate at closing of reinforcements.
4. Variable Ratio Schedule Unlike fixed ratio, variable ratio schedule varies
in the number of repetitions of desired behavior. There is a high rate of
responding in this schedule. Managers often uses variable ratio with
praise and recognition.

Organization Application Of
Behavioral Modification
Application of behavior modification in organization follows
step by step process:
1. Managers must define and identify the behavior
specifically. When a behavior is observable and can be
recorded then it is being pinpointed.
2. Pinpointed behaviors must be counted by the managers as it
provides a clear perspective of the strength of the behavior at the
present or before change situation.
3. ABC analysis should be conducted any managers of an organization.
ABC refers to antecedents (analyzing antecedents of actual
behavior), behavior (pinpointing critical behavior) and
consequences (indicates contingent consequences).

Organization Application Of
Behavioral Modification
4. Manager describes action plan and strategies after setting the
first three steps. The strategies for strengthening desirable
performance and weaken undesirable behaviors are positive
reinforcers, negative reinforcers, punishment and extinction.
5. The last steps involves evaluation. This step is essential as it
tells manager to review changes in behavior before the
implementation of the program. Evaluation permits managers
to measure performance on an ongoing basis. It also provide
feedback to managers which help them to take corrective
measures if any.

Thank you