INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

What is individual behaviour?

How do biographical characteristics affect individual behaviour?

Role of ability in individual behaviour.

“There’s beauty in individual differences”

Individual behaviour

Both innate factors and Environmental factors affects our behavior. (Lewin, 1951)

B=f (P, E)

where: B=Behavior P=Person (innate), and E=Environment

BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Personal characteristics—such as age, gender, and marital status—that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records.

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

AgeGenderMarital statusTenure Dependent variables:I. Productivity (Job performance)II. AbsenteeismIII. TurnoverIV. Job satisfaction

ABILITIES

AbilityAn individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.

Intellectual AbilityThe capacity to do mental activities.

Multiple IntelligencesIntelligence contains four subparts:

cognitive, social, emotional, and cultural.

TYPES OF ABILITY

Intellectual Ability1) Verbal Ability2) Numerical Ability3) Reasoning Ability4) Deductive Ability5) Memory6) Spatial Ability7) Perceptual Ability

Physical Ability1) Motor Skills (e.g.

reaction time, dexterity)2) Physical Skills (e.g.

strength, endurance)

PHYSICAL ABILITIES

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

Employee’sEmployee’sAbilitiesAbilities

Job’s AbilityJob’s AbilityRequirementsRequirements

Employee’sEmployee’sAbilitiesAbilities

Job’s AbilityJob’s AbilityRequirementsRequirementsABILITY -

JOB FIT

Ability-Job Fit using Human Resource Management

Selection

Placement

Training AND Rewards

LEARNINGLearning-Any relatively permanent

change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.

Learning(a)Involves change

(b)Is relatively permanent

(c)Is acquired through experiencing

Learning is defined by the outward expression of new behaviors

Focuses solely on observable behaviors

A biological basis for learning

Learning is context-independent

THEORIES OF LEARNING

BEHAVIOURISM

Confined to observable and measurable behavior

Classical Conditioning - Pavlov

Operant Conditioning - Skinner

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY

S R

A stimulus is presented in order to get a response:

IVAN PAVLOV,S EXPERIMENT

Measured accurately the amount of saliva sectreted by a dog.

Presented meat- noticeable salivation No meat,only bell-no salivation Ring bell,then show food- salivation on

hearing bell Hear bell,no food-salivation occrred

FOUR ELEMENTS

Unconditioned Stimulus(US)-meat Caused the dog to react in a specific way Unconditioned response(UR)-noticeable

increase in salivation(whenever US given)

Conditioned stimulus(CS)-the bell The object that initially does not bring the

desired response Conditioned response(CR) A conditoned behaviour that the organism

learns to produce

THEORIES OF LEARNING

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

Operant conditioning

Behaviour is a function of consequences. Behaviour follows stimuli in a relatively

unthinking manner People learn to associate stimulus and their

response

Conditioning stimulus-response (S-R) associations through reinforcement

Shaping behaviour through selective reinforcement

Skinner’s Learning Theory

REINFORCEMENT

Anything that increases the strength of the response and tends to induce repetitions of the behaviour that preceded the reinforcement.

Is an environmental event that follows a response

Schedule of Reinforcement

Fixed-ratio

THEORIES OF LEARNING(CONT.)

Social-Learning Theory

People can learn through observation and direct experience.

Key Concepts-Learning occurs in two steps-

Person observes how others act-acquires a mental picture-bears consequences

Person acts out of certain image,if+ve consequences-tend to do again

-s

Grew out of Cognitivism

A. Bandura (1973)

Learning takes place through observation and sensorial experiences

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Social Learning Theory (SLT)

Four Processes to determine the influence....

Attentional process-when people recognize and pay attention-they learn.

Retention process- how well the individual remembers the model's action

Motor reproduction process- Observation turns into action. Individual performs the modeled activities.

Reinforcement process- exhibit modeled behaviour if rewards occur and vice versa

TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT

Positive reinforcementProviding a reward for a desired behavior.

Negative reinforcementRemoving an unpleasant consequence when the

desired behavior occurs.

PunishmentApplying an undesirable condition to eliminate an

undesirable behavior.

ExtinctionWithholding reinforcement of a behavior to cause its

cessation.

BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATIONOB Mod

The application of reinforcement concepts to individuals in the work setting.

Five Step Problem-Solving Model

a) Identify critical behaviors

b)Develop baseline data

c) Identify behavioral consequences

d)Develop and apply intervention

e) Evaluate performance improvement

Organisational Applications

Well Pay versus Sick PayReduces absenteeism by rewarding attendance, not

absence.

Employee DisciplineThe use of punishment can be counter-productive.

Developing Training ProgramsOB MOD methods improve training effectiveness.

Self-managementReduces the need for external management control.