Basics of Human Nature

Module 1
 Introduction to Human Skills

Efficient management and coordination of

materials and human resources require
considerable human skills and efforts.
Human skills is the ability to work with,
understand and motivate other people both
individually and in groups.
Study of human nature deals with personality,
attitudes, intelligence, thinking, abilities,
values, learning and perception.
 Need For Studying Human Skills

To understand why of human behaviour

To understand individual differences
To understand various internal processes
To understand why men work
To bring a desired or voluntary change
To help individuals and organisation develop in a
mutually accepted and expected direction
To understand ones own self
 Individual differences
 Individual differences referring to the extent and kind
of variations or similarities among people on some of
the important psychological aspects such as
intelligence, personality, interest, and aptitude.
 Individual differences are essential whenever we
wish to explain how individuals differ in their
behavior
 Individual differences research typically includes
personality, motivation, intelligence, ability, IQ,
interests, values, self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-
esteem
 For example when we think about their physical
appearance, some people have dark or fair
complexion, some people are tall and some are
short, some are thin and some are very fat. When we
Individual Differences Influencing
Work Behavior

Hereditary,
Diversity and Personality
Environmental;
Factors

Ability and Attitudes

Perception
Skills
Types of Individual differences
1. Inter individual differences:
 Differences in particular characteristics among various
individuals
 Primary dimensions: age, sex, nationality (cannot be
easily changed)
Personal characteristics such as age, gender,
physical and mental ability have an important and
sustained impact throughout our lives.
 Secondary dimension: attitudes, education, work
experience, beliefs, etc.
 Characteristics that people acquire/discard/modify
throughout their lives.
 These consist of family status, education, work
experience, organizational role, work style,
communication style and attitude.
 Types of individual differences
 Physical Differences: Color of skin, height, weight,
fingerprints, difference in physical characteristics
depending on country of origin, etc., other factors
related to physical development (disability, some kids
learn things faster than others).
 Differences in Intelligence: Intelligence (in all
cultures) is the ability to learn from experience, solve
problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new
situations. Eg: We all differ in our abilities to solve
problems, learn, think logically, use language well,
understand and acquire concepts, deal with
abstractions, integrate ideas, attain goals, and so on.
 Differences in Aptitude: An aptitude is the natural
ability/tendency to do something can also be
considered "talent”. "She handled her brushes with a
 Differences in ability: Ability is the mental or
physical power to do something eg. ability of the soil
to hold water’. The capacity to do something. It
requires physical, mental, or legal power to perform.
Eg: a young woman with many remarkable
musical abilities
 Differences in Interests: A person is said to have
interest in something when he has a liking for it.
Interest change in quality and quantity with age.
Environment has a greater influence on interests
rather than abilities and aptitudes.
 Differences in Attitude: A tendency to respond
positively or negatively to certain peoples’ objects or
situations. A lasting cluster of feelings, beliefs and
behavioural tendencies directed towards specific
persons, ideas, objects or groups
 Factors affecting Human Behaviour
 Biological system: naturally occurring phenomenon, eg: hunger, age,
feelings, etc.
 Heredity: characteristics which we get from our parents. Eg: learning
power, attitudes, intelligence, excessive anger, shyness, etc., body
language, diseases, etc.
 Socio-cultural background: attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, etc. are
greatly influenced by the cultural background
 Motivation: a psychological feature that arouses an action towards a
desired goal. Eg: a person earns money to satisfy his needs of food, clothing,
luxeries, etc.
 Multiple Causes: a particular behaviour may be due to the influence of
many factors at the same time. Eg: a person may behave differently in the
same situation.
 Society: groups which a person deals with. Eg: family, neighbours,
community, club, working group, reference group, social group.
 Adaptation of behaviour: the process of adapting a particular form of
behaviour whether adaptive or maladaptive.
 Factors affecting Human
Behaviour at work
 Leadership: Managers and leaders play an important
role in influencing the behaviour of individuals at
workplace.
 Work Culture: Employees need to feel comfortable at
workplace for them to stay positive and happy. Rules
and regulations should be same for everyone.
Employees ought to be encouraged to respect their
reporting bosses and follow the code of ethics
 Job Responsibilities: Employees should be asked to
do what best they can perform. Do not overburden
employees. Encourage them to upgrade their skills
from time to time.
 Effective Communication: Managers need to
communicate effectively with team members. If
employees feel left out, they lose interest in work.
Influence Of Environment On Individual
Behavior
Environment is nothing but the sum total of the
surroundings in which an individual has to live.
Psychologically an individual’s environment is
related to all those stimuli which he faces from
the moment of fertilization till death.
Environment is generally divided into two:
categories- natural and social.
Examples
Want to be creative, surround yourself with art
If you live near or visit places where you will find fast
food restaurants or advertisements about fast food, you
will end up craving for that burger or French fries.
Expose yourself to metrics about your work or business
or performance and you’ll work to improve them.
Metrics, and depicting them by graphs and other forms
of pictorial representation give us a sense of how we are
doing and how we should be doing.
If you see a lot of negative emotions in your daily life,
you will tend to react to situations with a negative bend
of mind
If you interact with people making smart decisions, you
will also take interest in it and learn from them
Personality
 Personalit
y
 Is referred to one’s character as also those aspects of
individual’s behaviour that set him apart from other
individuals
Personality Development

Physical Psychological Out of the Box

- Body Care - Character

- Communication - Attitudes
- Behavior
- Traits/Skills
Big Five Personality Theory

• The Big Five

personality traits,
acronymed OCEAN,
and also known as
“the five-factor
model” or FFM,
sufficiently describe
The
the Big Five personality
reality of humanity
theory gives a simple
blueprint to:
• understanding others,
• improving relationships by
knowing why people tend
to behave the way that
they do.
• Helps better understand
yourself
1. Openness to Experience
 Openness flashes the level of intellectual curiosity,
creativity and a preference for novelty and variety within
a person
 It can also be elaborated as the scope to which an
individual is imaginative or independent, and portrays a
personal preference for a variety of activities over a
scheduled routine.
 It is basically the extent to which an individual is original,
has immense interests, and willingly takes risk.
2. Conscientiousness
 It is the tendency of being standardized, steady, self-
disciplined, acting dutifully, focusing on achieving goals,
and prioritizing planned instead of spontaneous
behavior. It contrasts efficient or organized behavior with
easy-going or careless behavior.
 It is the level to which a person is careful, cautious, and
honest.
3. Extraversion
 Positive energy, positive emotions, confidence, sociability
and the tendency to explore stimulation in the
organization with others, and talkativeness is
extraversion.
 It contradicts outgoing or energetic behavior with solitary
or reserved behavior.
 Experiencing positive emotional states and feeling good
about oneself and the world around one is extraversion.
4. Agreeableness
 Agreeableness is the tendency of being compassionate
and cooperative instead of suspicious and antagonistic
towards each other.
 It is a method of measuring one's trusting and helpful
nature, and whether a person has a bad temper or not.
 It distinguishes friendliness or compassionate with
analytical or detached nature. In simple words, it is the
tendency to get along well with others.
5. Emotional Stability
 It contradicts sensitive or nervous nature with secure or
confident one. Being bias towards experiencing unpleasant
emotions easily, like anger, anxiety, depression, negativity and
vulnerability. Neuroticism credits the degree of emotional
stability and impulse control, and is frequently known by its low
pole, emotional stability.
 The tendency to sense negative emotional states and see
oneself and the world around one negatively.
Traits important for Organizational Behaviour

1. Authoritarianism,
Principle of blind submission to authority,
as opposed to individual freedom of
thought and action
Tendency to adhere rigidly to
conventional values and to obey
recognized authority
2. Locus of control:
• Generalised beliefs and expectancies about whether
rewards and punishments are based internally
(under one’s control) or externally (external factors).
External
Internal
 Individual believes
 Individual believes that
that his/her
his/her behaviour is
behaviour is guided
guided by his/her
by fate, luck, or
personal decisions and
other external
efforts. “where there is
circumstances. “Man
a will there is a way”.
proposes god
disposes”.
3.
Machiavellianism ((m k - -v l - -n z m)(Mach)):
degree to which an individual is pragmatic,
maintains emotional distance and believes end
justify means. Behaviour directed at gaining
power and controlling the behaviour of others.
High Machs :Manipulate more Win more,
Persuaded less Persuade others more
Job suitability For High Machs Job requiring
bargaining skills ( such as labor negotiation ) Or
that offer substantial rewards for winning ( as
commissioned sales )
• 4.
• Extraversion tends to be manifested
in outgoing, talkative, energetic
behavior,
• Introversion is manifested in more
reserved and solitary behavior
 Self Esteem: individual attitude about himself.
Liking or disliking about themselves
High Self Esteem :
They believe that they possess the ability they
need to succeed at work
Will take more risks in job selection
More likely to choose unconventional jobs than
people with low self esteem
They will not be susceptible to the external
influences
They are more satisfied with their job

Self efficacy: individual’s belief that he or she

is capable of performing a task
 Self Monitoring: personality trait that measures an
individual’s ability to adjust his or her behaviour to
external situational factors
High self monitoring: Capable of presenting striking
contradictions between their public persona & private
self . Capable of putting different “faces” for different
audiences

 Type A Personality pattern:

A & B Types of Personality
Type ‘A’ Suffer high level of stress, Quantity over
quality, Time pressure/deadlines, Rarely creative,
Poor decision makers, Behavior is easier to predict
Type ‘B’ Difficult to predict behavior, Good decision
makers, Quality of work, No compromise on health,
 Work Related Motives
 Achievement Motivation (n-ach): refers to an
individual's desire for significant accomplishment,
mastering of skills, attainment of realistic but
challenging goals, control, or high standards.

 Power Motivation (n-pow): The n-pow person is

'authority motivated'. This driver produces a need to
be influential, effective and to make an impact.

 Affiliation Motivation (n-affil): describes a

person's need to feel a sense of involvement and
"belonging" within a social group. has a need for
friendly relationships and is motivated towards
 Johari Window
 A model for self-awareness, personal development, group
development and understanding relationship
 Developed by American psychologists Joseph Luft and
Harry Ingham in the1950’s,
 calling it 'Johari' after combining their first names, Joe and
Harry
 „ Especially relevant due to emphasis on, and influence of,
'soft' skills, behaviour, empathy, cooperation, inter-group
development and interpersonal development
 Also referred to as a 'disclosure/feedback model of self
awareness', and an 'information processing tool'
 „ Represents information - feelings, experience, views,
attitudes, skills, intentions, motivation, etc - within or about
a person - in relation to their team, from four perspectives
 „ Can also be used to represent the same information for a
team in relation to other teams
Johari quadrant 1
1. Open self/area‘, 'free area‘, 'public area', 'arena‘ „
 Also known as the 'area of free activity‘
 „ Information about the person - behaviour, attitude,
feelings, emotion, knowledge, experience, skills,
views, etc - known by the person ('the self') and
known by the team ('others'). „
 The aim in any team is to develop the 'open area' for
every person, because when we work in this area with
others we are at our most effective and productive,
and the team is at its most productive too „
 The open free area, or 'the arena‘ - the space where
good communications and cooperation occur, free
from distractions, mistrust, confusion, conflict and
misunderstanding
Johari quadrant 2
 ‘Blind self' or 'blind area' or 'blindspot‘: what is
known about a person by others in the group, but is
unknown by the person him/herself
 Could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself,
or issues in which one is deluded
 Not an effective or productive space for individuals or
groups
 Also include issues that others are deliberately
withholding from a person
 The aim is to reduce this area by seeking or soliciting
feedback from others and thereby to increase the
open area, i.e., to increase self-awareness
 Team members and managers take responsibility for
reducing the blind area - in turn increasing the open
area - by giving sensitive feedback and encouraging
Johari quadrant 3
 Hidden self' or 'hidden area' or 'avoided self/area' or
'facade'
 What is known to ourselves but kept hidden from,
and therefore unknown, to others
 Represents information, feelings, etc, anything that a
person knows about him/self, but which is not
revealed or is kept hidden from others
 Also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas,
manipulative intentions, secrets - anything that a
person knows but does not reveal
 Relevant hidden information and feelings, etc, should
be moved into the open area through the process of
'self-disclosure' and 'exposure process'
 Organizational culture and working atmosphere have
a major influence on team members' preparedness
Johari quadrant 4
 Unknown self‘, 'area of unknown activity‘, 'unknown
area'
 Information, feelings, latent abilities, aptitudes,
experiences etc, that are unknown to the person
him/herself and unknown to others in the group
 Can be prompted through self-discovery or
observation by others, or through collective or mutual
discovery
 Counselling can also uncover unknown issues
 Uncovering 'hidden talents' - that is unknown
aptitudes and skills, not to be confused with
developing the Johari 'hidden area' - is another aspect
of developing the unknown area, and is not so
sensitive as unknown feelings
 Managers and leaders can create an environment
Attitude
Attitude
A settled way of thinking or feeling about
something
An attitude is a positive, negative, or mixed
evaluation of an object that is expressed at
some level of intensity.
Attitude can be formed from a person's past
and present
A predisposition or a tendency to respond
positively or negatively towards a certain
idea, object, person, or situation.
Attitude influences an individual's choice of
action, and responses to challenges,
incentives, and rewards (together called
Functions of Attitude
 According to Katz, attitudes serve four important
functions from the viewpoint of organizational
behavior:
1. The Adjustment Function.
 Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work
environment.
 Eg: Well-treated employees tend to develop a positive
attitude towards their job, management and the
organization in general while berated and ill treated
organizational members develop a negative attitude.
 In other words, attitudes help employees adjust to
their environment and form a basis for future
behavior.
2. Ego-Defensive Function.
 Attitudes help people to retain their dignity and self-
3. The Value-Expressive Function.
Attitudes provide individuals with a basis for
expressing their values.
Eg: a manager who values hard and sincere work
will be more vocal against an employee who is
having a very casual approach towards work.
4. The Knowledge Function.
Attitudes provide standards and frames of
reference that allow people to understand, and
perceive the world around him.
Eg: If one has a strong negative attitude towards
the management, whatever the management does,
even employee welfare programmes can be
perceived as something ‘bad’ and as actually
against them.
Changing Attitudes

1. Providing New Information

Sometimes a dramatic change in attitude is
possible only by providing relevant and adequate
information to the person concerned.
Scanty and incomplete information can be a major
reason for brewing negative feeling and attitudes.
2. Use of Fear.
Attitudes can be changed through the use of fear.
People might resort to change their work habit for
the fear of fear of unpleasant consequences.
However, the degree of the arousal of fear will
have to be taken into consideration as well.
3. Resolving Discrepancies:
Whenever “people face “a dilemma or
conflicting situation they feel confused in
choosing a particular course of action.
Like in the case where one is to choose from”
between two alternative courses of action, it is
often become difficult for him to decide which is
right for him.
Even when he chooses one over the other, he
might still feel confused.
If some one helps him in pointing out the
positive points in favor of the chosen course of
action, he person might resolve the his dilemma.
4. Influence of friends and peers
A very effective way of changing one’s attitude is
through his friends and colleagues.
Their opinion and recommendation for something often
proves to be more important.
If for example, they are all praise for a particular policy
introduced in the work place, chances are high that an
individual will slowly accept that even when he had
initial reservations for that.
5. Co-opting.
If you want to change the attitude of some body who
belongs to a different group, it is often becomes very
effective if you can include him in your own group.
Like in the case of the union leader who are all the time
strongly against any management decision, can be the
person who takes active initiative in implementing a
new policy when he had participated in that decision
making process himself.
Thinking
 Thinking
 Thinking, or cognition, refers to a process that
involves knowing, understanding, remembering, and
communicating
 Thinking refers to mental processing of the data
 Thinking refers to the mental process of using one’s
brain in an attempt to solve some problems or to
arrive at some conclusion on some particular topic.
Thinking Skills
 Thinking skills are a set of basic and advanced skills
and sub skills that govern a person’s mental
processes
1) Focusing Skills: focus on necessary information and
ignores information that is irrelevant.
2) Information gathering skills: collect together
relevant information needed for thinking.
3) Remembering skills: skills that store and bring back
information when needed.
4) Organising skills: arrange information in a particular
order so that it can be used properly.
5) Analysing skills: examine existing information into
parts and relationships.
6) Generating skills: produce new information or ideas
The six hats…
 Helps a person to look at important decisions from
various point of views
 This forces you to move outside your habitual
thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded
view of a situation.
 This tool was created by Edward de Bono in his book
'6 Thinking Hats'
 Six colors of hats for six types of thinking
Each hat identifies a type of thinking
Hats are directions of thinking
 Hats help a group use parallel thinking
You can “put on” and “take off” a hat
 Benefits of Six Thinking Hats
Provides a common language
Experience & intelligence of each person
(Diversity of thought)
Use more of our brains
Helps people work against type, preference
Removal of ego (reduce confrontation)
Save time
Focus (one thing at a time)
Create, evaluate & implement action plans
 The blue hat…
 The Blue Hat stands for process control.
 This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings.
 When running into difficulties because ideas are
running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat
thinking.
 what we are thinking about
 definition of the situation or problem
 alternative definitions
 what we want to achieve
 where we want to end up
 the background to the thinking
 a plan for the sequence of hats
 Green Hat Thinking
 The Green Hat stands for creativity.
 This is where you can develop creative solutions to a
problem.
 It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is
little criticism of ideas.
 A whole range of creativity tools can help you here.
 New ideas, concepts, perceptions
 Deliberate creation of new ideas
 Alternatives and more alternatives
 New approaches to problems
 Creative & lateral thinking
 White Hat Thinking
 With this thinking hat you focus on the data available.
 Look at the information you have, and see what you
can learn from it.
 Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill
them or take account of them.
 This is where you analyze past trends, and try to
extrapolate from historical data.
 Neutral, objective information
 Facts & figures
 Questions: what do we know, what don’t we know,
what do we need to know
 Excludes opinions, hunches, judgements
 Removes feelings & impressions
 Red Hat Thinking

 Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using

intuition, gut reaction, and emotion.
 Also try to think how other people will react
emotionally.
 Try to understand the responses of people who do
not fully know your reasoning.
 Emotions & feelings
 Hunches, intuitions, impressions
 Doesn’t have to be logical or consistent
 No justifications, reasons or basis
 All decisions are emotional in the end
 Yellow Hat Thinking
 The yellow hat helps you to think positively.
 It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to
see all the benefits of the decision and the
value in it.
 Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going
when everything looks gloomy and difficult.
 Speculative
 Positive thinking, optimism, opportunity
 Benefits
 Best-case scenarios
 Exploration
 Black Hat Thinking
 When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for
Black Hat thinking, etc.
 Cautious and careful
 Logical negative – why it won’t work
 Critical judgement, pessimistic view
 Separates logical negative from emotional
 Focus on errors, evidence, conclusions
 Logical & truthful, but not necessarily fair
 look at all the bad points of the decision. Look at it
cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work.
 This is important because it highlights the weak points in a
plan.
 It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or
prepare contingency plans to counter them.
 Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans
'tougher' and more resilient.
 It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks
before you embark on a course of action.
 Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this
technique, as many successful people get so used
to thinking positively that often they cannot see
problems in advance.
 This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties.
Five Thinking Styles
According to Bramson, the five thinking
styles are:
1. Synthesists
2. Idealists
3. Pragmatist Thinkers
4. Analyst Thinkers
5. Realist Thinkers
1. Synthesists
 "Synthesists are creative thinkers who perceives the
world in terms of opposites. .
 When you say black, they think white, when you say
long, they think short."
 To connect with Synthesists, "listen appreciatively to
their speculation and don’t confuse their arguing
nature with resistance.”
2. Idealists
 "Idealists believe in lofty goals and standards."
 To connect with Idealists, "associate what you want
to do with these goals of quality, service, and
community good.“
3. Pragmatic Thinkers
"Pragmatic thinkers are flexible, resourceful folk who
look for immediate payoff rather than for a grand plan
that will change the world."
To connect with Pragmatists, "emphasize short-term
objectives on which you can get started with resources
at hand."
4. Analyst Thinkers
According to Bramsom, "Analyst thinkers equate
accuracy, thoroughness, and attention to detail with
completeness.
They are likely to gather data, measure it, categorize it,
and rationally and methodically calculate the right
answer to any problem you come up with.
To connect to Analysts, "provide a logical plan replete
with back-up data and specifications."
5. Realist Thinkers
"Realist thinkers are fast moving doers who know that
reality is what their senses – sight, sound, taste, smell,
and touch – tell them it is, and not that dry stuff that
one finds in accounting ledgers, or the insipid pages of
manual of operations.“
"If you communicate with Realist bosses as if they
were Analysts, you will never get their attention.
Rather than computer-printouts and other detailed
information, Realists want a three-paragraph
“Executive Summary” which tells briefly what is wrong
and how you propose to fix it.
 You become an expert in their eyes when they know
that you’ve assembled a store of facts in which they
are interested, and you have proposed a set of actions
that they already believe are the best things to do.”
LEARNING
Learning
 Learning is the process of acquiring new, or
modifying existing, knowledge, behaviors, skills,
values, or preferences
 Measurable and relatively permanent change in
behavior through experience, instruction, or study
 This change may range from
the acquisition of a relatively simple skill, item of
information
the mastery of complicated mechanical
performance and
application of difficult and abstract reading
material,
change in response or behavior is caused partly
Learning Characteristics

1) Learning is growth
 The individual grows as he lives.
 This growth implies i both physical as well as mental
development of the learner.
 The individual gains experiences through various
activities.
 These are all sources of learning.
 The individual grows through living and learning.
Thus growth and learning are inter-related and even
synonymous.
2) Learning is adjustment
 Learning enables the individual to adjust himself
properly, with the new situations.
 The individual faces new problems and new
(3) Learning is purposeful
 All kinds of learning is goal-oriented.
 The individual acts with some purpose. He learns
through activities.
 He gets himself interested when he is aware of his
objectives to be realized through these activities.
(4) Learning is experience
 The individual learns through experiences.
 Human life is fall of experiences.
 All these experiences provide new knowledge,
understanding, skills and attitudes
(5) Learning is intelligent
 Mere cramming without proper understanding does
not make learning.
 Thus meaningless efforts do not produce
6) Learning is active
 It implies self-activity of the learning.
 Without adequate motivation he cannot work whole-
heartedly and motivation is therefore at the root of
self-activity.
 Learning by doing is thus an important principle of
education, and the basis of all progressive methods
of education
7) Learning is both individual and social
 Individual mind is consciously or unconsciously
affected by the group activities.
 Individual is influenced by his peers, friends,
relatives’ parents and classmates and learns their
ideas, feelings and attitudes in some way or others.
 The social agencies like family, church, markets, and
(8) Learning is-the product of the environment
 The individual lives in interaction of the society.
 Environment plays an important part in the growth
and development of the individual.
 The physical, social, intellectual and emotional
development of the child is molded and remolded
by the objects and individuals in his environment.
(9) Learning affects the conduct of the learner
 Learning is called the modification of behavior.
 It affects the learner’s behavior and conduct.
 Every learning experience brings about changes in
the mental structure of the learner.
 Theories of Learning
1. Classical Conditioning
 The Classical Conditioning
Theory was proposed by a Russian
Physiologist Ivan Pavlov. According
to this theory, behavior is learnt by
a repetitive association between the
response and the stimulus.
 The classical conditioning theory is
based on the assumption that
learning is developed through the
interactions with the environment.
 Also, the environment shapes the
behavior and internal mental state
such as thoughts, feelings,
emotions do not explain the human
behavior.

1. Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) :is the one that
automatically triggers a response. For example, when
you smell one of your favorite foods, you may
immediately feel very hungry. In this example, the
smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus.
2. Unconditioned Response (UCR): is the unintentional
reaction that occurs when a person is triggered by the
unconditioned stimulus. Eg: the feeling of hunger in
response to the smell of food is the unconditioned
response.
3. Conditioned Stimulus (CS): is the neutral signal that,
after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus,
triggers the conditioned response. suppose that when
you smelled your favorite food, you also heard the
sound of a whistle. While the whistle is unrelated to
the smell of the food, if the sound of the whistle was
paired multiple times with the smell, the sound would
Operant Conditioning
 Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as
instrumental conditioning) is a method of learning that
occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior.
 Through operant conditioning, an association is made
between a behavior and a consequence for that
behavior
Reinforcement in Operant Conditioning
 Reinforcement is any event that strengthens or increases
the behavior it follows. There are two kinds of reinforcers:
1. Positive reinforcers
 These are favorable events or outcomes that are
presented after the behavior.
 In situations that reflect positive reinforcement, a
response or behavior is strengthened by the addition of
something, such as praise or a direct reward.
 For example, if you do a good job at work and your
manager gives you a bonus.
2. Negative reinforcers
 It involve the removal of an unfavorable events or
outcomes after the display of a behavior. In these
situations, a response is strengthened by the removal of
something considered unpleasant.
 For example, if your child starts to scream in the middle
of the grocery store, but stops once you hand him a treat,
Social-cognitive Theory
 The social-cognitive
theory is a theoretical
perspective in which learning
by observing others is the focus
of study. Social-cognitive theory
is grounded by several basic
assumptions.
 This theory was given by Albert
Bandura
Bobo doll experiment:
 In a famous and influential
experiment known as the Bobo
doll experiment, Albert Bandura
and his colleagues were able to
demonstrate one of the ways in
 After witnessing the adult's behavior,
the children would then be placed in
a room without the model and were
observed to see if they would imitate
the behavior they had witnessed
earlier
 Bandura and his colleagues believed
that the experiment demonstrates
how specific behaviors can be
learned through observation and
imitation.
 In a follow-up study conducted in
1965, Bandura found that children
were more likely to imitate aggressive
behavior if the adult model was
rewarded for his or her actions
 They were far less likely to imitate if
they saw the adult model being
punished or reprimanded for their
hostile behavior.
Several studies involving television commercials
and videos containing violent scenes have
supported this theory of modeling.
Albert Bandura believed television was a source
of behavior modeling.
Elements of Observational Learning
1. Attention
 In order to learn through observation, we have to pay attention.
 In teaching, you will have to ensure students’ attention to the
critical features of the lesson by making clear presentations
and highlighting important points.
2. Retention
 In order to imitate the behavior of a model, you have to
remember it.
 Retention can be improved by mental rehearsal or by actual
practice.
3. Production
 Once we “know” how a behavior should look and remember the
elements or steps, we still may not perform it smoothly.
 In the production phase, practice makes the behavior smoother
and more expert.
4. Motivation and Reinforcement
We may acquire a new skill or behavior through
observation, but we may not perform that
behavior until there is some motivation or
incentive to do so.
If we anticipate being reinforced for imitating
the actions of a model, we may be more
motivated to pay attention, remember, and
reproduce the behaviors.
Elements of Observational Learning
1. Attention
 In order to learn through observation, we have to pay attention.
 In teaching, you will have to ensure students’ attention to the
critical features of the lesson by making clear presentations
and highlighting important points.
2. Retention
 In order to imitate the behavior of a model, you have to
remember it.
 Retention can be improved by mental rehearsal or by actual
practice.
3. Production
 Once we “know” how a behavior should look and remember the
elements or steps, we still may not perform it smoothly.
 In the production phase, practice makes the behavior smoother
and more expert.
4. Motivation and Reinforcement
We may acquire a new skill or behavior through
observation, but we may not perform that
behavior until there is some motivation or
incentive to do so.
If we anticipate being reinforced for imitating
the actions of a model, we may be more
motivated to pay attention, remember, and
reproduce the behaviors.
1. Emotional Intelligence Test:
Help employers identify which candidates have better relationship
management skills and who can be aware of and in control of their
emotions.
◦ Also guide decisions on which candidates to place in leadership
positions.
◦ People who are emotionally intelligent are:
◦ Self-aware
◦ Able to perceive other’s emotions
◦ Not quick to react
◦ Likely to help others
◦ Able to empathize with others
◦ Curious
◦ Adaptable
2. Intelligence Quotient Test
With a Pre Employment IQ Test, employers now hope to get insight into
candidate’s intelligence, and if they have necessary skills needed to function in
their roles.
Some of these skills are:
◦ Logical Reasoning Ability
◦ Decision Making
◦ Information Retention
◦ Information Analysis and Organization
◦ Sound Inference And Conclusion

3. Spiritual Quotient Test

Spiritual intelligence is an ability to access higher meanings, values, abiding
purposes, and unconscious aspects of the self and to embed these meanings,
values, and purposes in living richer and more creative lives.
Errors in managerial decisions
1. Stereotyping:
The definition of a stereotype is any commonly
known public belief about a certain social group or
a type of individual.
Stereotype can be positive, negative or neutral.
Stereotypes are assumptions made about a group
of people and are applied to individuals,
irrespective of their personal characteristics,
because of their affiliation with a certain group.
2. Prejudice:
It is an unjustified attitude or opinion, usually a
negative one, directed toward an individual for
something the individual cannot control.

3. Halo Effect:
 Your overall impression of a person ("He is nice!")
impacts your evaluations of that person's specific
traits ("He is also smart!").
 The individual’s performance is completely appraised
on the basis of a perceived positive quality, feature
or trait.
 the tendency to rate a man uniformly high or low in
other traits if he is extra-ordinarily high or low in one
particular trait. If a worker has few absences, his
supervisor might give him a high rating in all other
areas of work.
4. Horn Effect:
 The individual’s performance is completely appraised
on the basis of a negative quality or feature
perceived. This results in an overall lower rating than
6. First Impression (primacy effect):
 Raters form an overall impression about the ratee
on the basis of some particular characteristics of
the ratee identified by them.
 The identified qualities and features may not
provide adequate base for appraisal.
7. Recency Effect:
 Rating is influenced by the most recent behaviour
ignoring the commonly demonstrated behaviours
during the entire appraisal period.
 Factors Influencing Perception
1. Characteristics of the Perceiver
 Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception.
When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret
what he or she, that interpretation is heavily influenced by
personal characteristics of individual perceiver. The major
characteristics of the perceiver influencing perception are:
 Attitudes: The perceiver's attitudes affect perception.
 Moods: . We think differently when we are happy than we do
when we are depressed. In addition, we remember
information that is consistent with our mood state better than
information that is inconsistent with our mood state. When in
a positive mood, we form more positive impression of others.
When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others
unfavourably.
 Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals
and may exert a strong influence on their perceptions.
 Self-Concept: An individual with a positive self-concept
 Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be
influenced by our interests. Because our individual
interests differ considerably, what one person notices in a
situation can differ from what others perceive.
 Cognitive Structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's
pattern of thinking, also affects perception. Some people
have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as
height, weight, and appearance, more readily. Others tend
to focus more on central traits, or personality dispositions.
 Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your
perceptions in that you will see what you expect to see.
The research findings of the study conducted by Sheldon
S Zalkind and Timothy W Costello on some specific
characteristics of the perceiver reveal.
Knowing oneself makes it easier to see others
accurately.
One's own characteristics affect the characteristics one
is likely to see inothers.

2.. Characteristics of the Target
 Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect
what is perceived. Physical appearance plays a big role in our
perception of others. Extremely attractive or unattractive
individuals are more likely to be noticed in a group than ordinary
liking individuals. Motion, sound, size and other attributes of a
target shape the way we see it.
 The perceiver will notice the target's physical features like height,
weight, estimated age, race and gender.
 Interviewers rate attractive candidates more favourably and
attractive candidates are awarded higher starting salaries.
 Verbal communication from targets also affects our perception of
them. We listen to the topics they speak about, their voice tone,
and their accent and make judgements based on this input.
 Non-verbal communication conveys a great deal of information
about the target. The perceiver deciphers eye contact, facial
expressions, body movements, and posture all inan attempt to
form an impression of the target.
 Targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to
its background influences perception because of our tendency to
3. Characteristics of the Situation
The situation in which the interaction between the
perceiver and the target takes place has an influence
on the perceiver's impression of the target. For
example, In the same way, meeting a manager in his
or her office affects your impression in a certain way
that may contrast with the impression you would
form had you met the manager in a restaurant.
The strength of the situational cues also affects
social perception. Some situations provide strong
cues as to appropriate behaviour.
In these situations, we assume that the individual's
behaviour can be accounted for by the situation, and
that it may not reflect the individual's disposition.
This is the discounting principle in social perception.