Chapter 2: Foundations of Individual Behavior

Abilities

There are 2 major types of abilities.

 Intellectual abilities – capacity to perform mental tasks. There are a few dimensions of Intellectual ability: number aptitude, verbal
comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, memory.

Moreover, the notion of general mental ability (GMA) appears – it is an overall aspect of intelligence. Intelligence and job satisfaction do
not relate to each other.

 Physical abilities – needed to perform physical tasks. There are nine basic physical abilities grouped in 3 categories: strength
factors (dynamic strength, trunk strength, static strength, explosive strength), flexibility factors (extent flexibility, dynamic
flexibility) and other factors (body coordination, balance, stamina).

Biographical characteristics

> age and relationship between variables:

1) turnover: the older a person gets, it is less probable that he/she will quit a job.

2) absenteeism: older employees have lower rates of voluntary absenteeism, but higher on involuntary (unavoidable) one (due to health
problems).

3) productivity: age and productivity are not related.

4) job satisfaction: mixed evidence. Generally, satisfaction increases with age in professional job types and decreases with age in
nonprofessional.

> gender – main difference between females and males refers to working hours. Women prefer more flexible working times and are
more often absent at work than men.

> race and relationships:

1) people positively discriminate individuals of the same race as themselves (pay them more, promote and award more often)

2) different approach of black and white race toward affirmative actions

3) African Americans perform worse in employment assessments/decisions

> tenure and relationships:

1) productivity: positive correlation between productivity and tenure

2) job satisfaction: positive correlation between job satisfaction and tenure

2) absenteeism: negative correlation between absenteeism and tenure (seniority)

3) turnover: the longer a person works in a company, the less probable that he will qui

> religion

Religious discrimination can lead to more health problems, absence and turnover.

Learning

Learning is a process, brings changes in behavior, based on experience.

There are 3 main theories of learning.

A) Classical conditioning

Theory based on the concept that unconditioned stimulus causes unconditioned response and that conditioned stimuli cause conditioned
response. It is based on building connection between conditioned and unconditioned stimulus. Example: Pavlov’s experiment with dog

B) Operant conditioning

Theory based on idea that one behaves to achieve what he wants or to avoid what he doesn’t want. Reward after the desired and
deliberate behavior occurs is the reinforcement. The elimination of punishment in case of lack of desired and deliberate behavior is also
reinforcement. Those two methods reinforce achievement of desired response, effect, equal behavior. The theory of operant conditioning
is a part of behaviorism concept which argues that people react to stimuli not associating them consciously with response. We act in
response to stimuli, but all process takes place on unconscious level.

C) Social learning
People learn by observation others as well as they learn through experience, “on mistakes”. There are 4 models of social learning:

1. attentional process – people learn from people they pay attention to due to their vital characteristics

2. retention process – depends on how well one remembers someone’s behavior when he/she is no longer close, visible, available

3. motor reproduction process – new behavior is a consequence of observation, one copies behavior of another

4. reinforcement process – one performs desired behavior if he is encouraged to do so by rewarding.

Managerial tool

Managers shape behavior of employees, meaning that the change of behavior happens in steps, and each step is reinforced. There are 4
main shaping behavior methods:

 positive reinforcement,
 negative reinforcement,
 punishment
 extinction

Positive reinforcement refers to rewarding desired behavior, negative refers to elimination of something unpleasant, not wanted when a
behavior occurs. Punishment causes unpleasant condition when one doesn’t behave in a desired way. Extinction means not applying any
reinforcement and waiting until particular behavior extincts, disappears.

Those reinforcements can happen on continuous or intermittent basis. Desired behavior is reinforced each time continuous
reinforcement is performed. Intermittent reinforcement occurs when reinforcement is not regular, but it happens enough often to make
one behave in a desired way repeatedly.

When it comes to reinforcement schedules, the concept goes further beyond continuous or intermittent models. One distinguishes 4
time schedules:

 fixed-interval schedule
 variable-interval schedule
 fixed-ratio schedule
 variable-ratio schedule.

We are talking about fixed-interval schedule when reinforcement is applied after a particular period of time (e.g. salaries). When
reinforcement happens on irregular time basis we are referring to fixed-interval schedule (e.g. class tests in high schools, money
bonuses). Fixed-ration schedule tells us that reinforcement happens always after a certain and constant amount of desired behaviors is
performed (e.g. pupil is not praised each time he gets A, but he is praised after he gets 10 As, and then 20 As,and so on). Variable-ratio
schedule is the opposite. One is rewarded on unpredictable basis; each time after different amount of desired behaviors occurs. In
general, variable schedules are more effective than fixed.

OB Mod means the application of reinforcement methods described above to people in their working environment. This happens in 5
steps:

1. Identification of problematic behavior

2. Collecting data
3. Identification of a response’s consequences
4. Setting up and executing a strategic plan
5. Measuring improvement