MGTS1601 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Observational Learning, Social Cognitive Theory, Organizational Learning
Lecture 4 - Learning
What is Learning?
● Learning occurs when practice or experience leads to a relatively permanent change
in behaviour potential.
● The practice or experience that prompts learning stems from an environment that
provides feedback concerning the consequences of behaviour.
What Do Employees Learn?
● Practical skills:
○ Job-specific skills, knowledge, technical competence.
● Intrapersonal skills:
○ Problem solving, critical thinking, alternative work processes, risk taking.
● Interpersonal skills: Inter = between
○ Interactive skills such as communicating, teamwork, conflict resolution.
● Cultural awareness:
○ The social norms of organizations, company goals, business operations,
expectations, and priorities.
How Do People Learn?
● Two theories that describe how people in organizations learn:
○ Operant learning theory
○ Social cognitive theory
Operant Learning Theory
● Learning in which the subject learns to operate on the environment to achieve
certain consequences.
● Operantly learned behaviour is controlled by the consequences that follow it.
● It is the connection between the behaviour and the consequence that is learned.
● Operant learning can be used to increase the probability of desired behaviours and
to reduce or eliminate the probability of undesirable behaviours.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Increasing the Probability of Behaviour
● One of the most important consequences that influences behaviour is
reinforcement.
● Reinforcement is the process by which stimuli strengthen behaviours.
● A reinforcer is a stimulus that follows some behaviour and increases or maintains the
probability of that behaviour.
○ Positive reinforcers work by their application to a situation. - more effective
than negative reinforcement, gets the jobs done faster.
○ Negative reinforcers work by their removal from a situation.
Positive Reinforcement
● The application or addition of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability
of some behaviour.
● The stimulus is the positive reinforcer.
● The reinforcer is dependent or contingent on the occurrence of some desired
behaviour.
● Whether or not something is a positive reinforcer depends on whether it increases
or maintains the occurrence of some behaviour by its application.
Negative Reinforcement
● The removal of a stimulus from a situation that increases or maintains the
probability of some behaviour.
● Negative reinforcement occurs when a response prevents some event or stimulus
from occurring.
● The removed or prevented stimulus is a negative reinforcer.
● Negative reinforcers are defined by what they do and how they work, not by their
unpleasantness.
Neglecting Important Sources of Reinforcement
● Managers sometimes make the following errors when trying to use reinforcement:
○ Confusing rewards with reinforcers
○ Neglecting diversity in preferences for reinforcers
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Learning occurs when practice or experience leads to a relatively permanent change in behaviour potential. The practice or experience that prompts learning stems from an environment that provides feedback concerning the consequences of behaviour. Problem solving, critical thinking, alternative work processes, risk taking. Interactive skills such as communicating, teamwork, conflict resolution. The social norms of organizations, company goals, business operations, expectations, and priorities. Two theories that describe how people in organizations learn: Learning in which the subject learns to operate on the environment to achieve certain consequences. Operantly learned behaviour is controlled by the consequences that follow it. Operant learning can be used to increase the probability of desired behaviours and. It is the connection between the behaviour and the consequence that is learned. to reduce or eliminate the probability of undesirable behaviours. One of the most important consequences that influences behaviour is reinforcement. Reinforcement is the process by which stimuli strengthen behaviours.
