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Foundations of Individual Behavior: Learning Objectives

This document provides an overview of foundations of individual behavior, including ability, intellect, intelligence, physical abilities, biographical characteristics, learning concepts, and theories of learning like classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning theory. Key points covered include dimensions of intellectual ability, classifications of physical abilities, the ability-job fit concept, definitions of learning and reinforcement, and examples of how behavior modification applies reinforcement concepts in work settings.

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Jahangir Alam
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
74 views13 pages

Foundations of Individual Behavior: Learning Objectives

This document provides an overview of foundations of individual behavior, including ability, intellect, intelligence, physical abilities, biographical characteristics, learning concepts, and theories of learning like classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning theory. Key points covered include dimensions of intellectual ability, classifications of physical abilities, the ability-job fit concept, definitions of learning and reinforcement, and examples of how behavior modification applies reinforcement concepts in work settings.

Uploaded by

Jahangir Alam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Foundations of Individual Behavior

Md. Rakibul Hassan, Associate Professor


Department of Marketing, Jahangirnagar University
[email protected]

Learning Objectives
 Ability, Intellect, and Intelligence
 Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
 Physical Abilities and Its Classification
 Biographical Characteristics
 Learning Concept
 Theories of Learning
 Types of Reinforcement
 Behavior Modification

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Ability, Intellect, and Intelligence
Ability
An individual’s capacity to perform
the various tasks in a job.

Intellectual Ability
The capacity to do mental activities.

Multiple Intelligences
Intelligence contains four subparts:
cognitive, social, emotional, and cultural.

Dimensions of Intellectual Ability

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

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Physical Abilities

Physical Abilities
The capacity to do tasks
demanding stamina, dexterity,
strength, and similar
characteristics.

Nine Physical Abilities


Strength Factors
1. Dynamic strength
2. Trunk strength
3. Static strength
4. Explosive strength Flexibility Factors
5. Extent flexibility
6. Dynamic flexibility
Other Factors
7. Body coordination
Source: Adapted from
8. Balance HRMagazine published
by the Society for Human
Resource Management,
9. Stamina Alexandria, VA.

3
The Ability-Job Fit

Ability-Job
Employee’s Fit Job’s Ability
Abilities Requirements

Biographical Characteristics
Biographical Characteristics
Personal characteristics—such as age, gender,
race and tenure—that are objective and easily
obtained from personnel records.

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Learning Concept
Learning
Any relatively permanent change in behavior
that occurs as a result of experience.

Learning
• Involves change
• Is relatively permanent
• Is acquired through experience

Theories of Learning

Classical Conditioning
A type of conditioning in which an individual
responds to some stimulus that would not
ordinarily produce such a response.

Key Concepts
• Unconditioned stimulus
• Unconditioned response
• Conditioned stimulus
• Conditioned response

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Classical Conditioning (Cont’d)
Classical conditioning is viewed as a “knee-jerk”
(or automatic) response that builds up through
repeated exposure and reinforcement. For
instance, if Tyler’s friends compliment him on his
expensive Prada boots, he is likely to save money
to buy a pair of Prada sneakers. If he sees a
Prada ad in a magazine, Tyler will immediately
recall his friends’ compliments and feel good
about himself and his prior purchase.
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, developed
the concept of classical conditioning. Pavlov
maintained that conditioned learning results
when a stimulus that is paired with another
stimulus that elicits a known response produces
the same response when used alone.

Theories of Learning (cont’d)


Operant Conditioning
A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary
behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.

Key Concepts
• Reflexive (unlearned) behavior
• Conditioned (learned) behavior
• Reinforcement

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Operant Conditioning (Cont’d)
Instrumental conditioning (or operant
conditioning) is based on the notion that
learning occurs through a trial-and-error
process, with habits formed as a result of
rewards received for certain responses or
behaviors. Like classical conditioning,
instrumental conditioning requires a link
between a stimulus and a response.
However, in instrumental conditioning, the
stimulus that results in the most rewarded
response is the one that is learned.

Theories of Learning (cont’d)


Social-Learning Theory
People can learn through observation
and direct experience.

Key Concepts
• Attentional processes
• Retention processes
• Motor reproduction processes
• Reinforcement processes

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Theories of Learning (cont’d)

Shaping Behavior
Systematically reinforcing each successive step that
moves an individual closer to the desired response.

Key Concepts
• Reinforcement is required to change behavior.
• Some rewards are more effective than others.
• The timing of reinforcement affects learning
speed and permanence.

Types of Reinforcement (Shaping Behavior)


• Positive reinforcement
• Providing a reward for a desired behavior.
• Negative reinforcement
• Removing an unpleasant consequence when the desired behavior occurs.
• Punishment
• Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate an undesirable behavior.
• Extinction
• Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to cause its cessation.

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Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement
A desired behavior is reinforced
each time it is demonstrated.

Intermittent Reinforcement
A desired behavior is reinforced
often enough to make the
behavior worth repeating but not
every time it is demonstrated.

Schedules of Reinforcement (cont’d)


Fixed-Interval Schedule
Rewards are spaced at
uniform time intervals.

Variable-Interval Schedule
Rewards are initiated after a
fixed or constant number of
responses.

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Schedules of Reinforcement (cont’d)

Fixed-ratio

Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement

10
Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement (cont’d)

Behavior Modification
OB Mod
The application of reinforcement concepts
to individuals in the work setting.

Five Step Problem-Solving Model


1. Identify critical behaviors
2. Develop baseline data
3. Identify behavioral consequences
4. Develop and apply intervention
5. Evaluate performance improvement

11
Chapter Checkup: Reinforcement Theory
When professors give random pop quizzes or take random
attendance, students often complain that they are
adults, old enough to make their own decisions, and
should therefore not be required to come to class. How
do you reconcile this argument with what we know
about reinforcement theory? Discuss with a classmate.

What kind of reinforcement schedule are these


professors using? Would a different schedule be
preferable? If so, which one?

Chapter Checkup: Reinforcement Theory

Recall and write down the three criteria that indicate


learning has occurred. Do you think that learning,
according to these criteria, really occurs as a result of a
one semester college class? Discuss with a neighbor.

What kinds of things would you recommend to a


college professor to increase the likelihood of
students learning all class material? Use theories
from the text to frame your answer.

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