Consequences of Behavior
Jane just finished her degree in business administration and landed a great job as manager in a well-known organization. As she begins her first week on the job, it becomes very clear that many of the staff for whom she has oversight are not completing their job duties as assigned, appear to be unmotivated, and do not seem to welcome her management. She has reviewed organizational data and is concerned about the organization’s viability. Jane is struggling to understand why the staff is not meeting expectations. She decides to reach out to ACME Behavior Consulting for guidance.
Fundamental Principles and Organizational Behavior
For your discussion, you will answer Jane’s questions related to operant conditioning by describing concepts of reinforcement and punishment. Additionally, you will provide a brief overview of an antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) analysis that Jane could begin using to gather more information regarding staff behavior.
Jane wants to know more about reinforcement and why a paycheck is not enough to motivate employees to meet job expectations. Explain the following concepts:
Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Punishment
Discuss the effective use of consequences, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each of the above.
Jane also remembers something about ABCs from a psychology class that she took in college. Provide an overview of how ABCs and the PIC/NIC analysis can be used in an organizational environment. Describe the following:
ABC analysis
PIC/NIC analysis
Discuss the types of consequences available for behavior and the effectiveness of each.
Reference
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2019). Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson Education (US).
Daniels, A. (2016). Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill Learning Solutions.
Visit the following website and watch the video about learning:
The difference between classical and operant conditioning – Peggy Andover. [Video]. TED-Ed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LEcM0E0io
