Learning and Behavior || Perception, Personality and Learning

Learning and Behavior

Definition:

Learning is a change in behavior due to experience with a view to adjustment to the existing environment. Learning always brings changes in behavior. And once learned, the individual is capable of retaining for at least a certain period. Also, it can be concluded that it brings a permanent change.

S.P. Robbins said: Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.

“Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from reinforced practice or experience.” Steers and Porter

Major steps in learning:

• Stimulus
• response
• motivation or drive
• reward or incentive

Significance of Learning:

• Improve employee skills
• Controlling employee behavior
• Identifying skills
• Training effectiveness
• Behavioral development
• Relationship between learning and job performance
• Multiple impacts

Factors influencing Learning:

1. Psychological factors
2. Social factors
3. Environmental factors
4. nature of learning material
5. process of learning
6. the person or ‘O’ factors

Major models of learning or Theories of learning :

• Classical conditioning,
• Operant conditioning (Voluntary behavior),
• Cognitive learning and
• Social learning

Behavior modification:

“OB modification is the application of reinforcement concepts to individuals in the work setting.” S.P. Robbins

OB mod is important for the application of reinforcement theory some managers use to enhance motivation and performance.

In short OB Mod. is:

• a technique to modify or eliminate undesirable behavior and replace it with behavior that is more compatible with goal attainment.
• is used to improve organizational effectiveness.

Steps in applying the OB Mod. process:

Identification of performance-related behavioral events.

Measurement of behaviors

Functional analysis

Develop intervention strategy

Evaluation for performance improvement.

A-B-C’s of behavioral modification:

The central objective of OB mod. is changing behavior(B) by managing its antecedents(A) and consequences(C). Behavioral mod. recognizes that behavior is influenced by two environmental contingencies: the antecedents that proceed behavior and the consequences that follow behavior.

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