PERCEPTION AND LEARNING:

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Chapter
Two
PERCEPTION AND LEARNING UNDERSTANDING AND
ADAPTING TO THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
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After reading this chapter you should be able to
1. Distinguish between the concepts of perception
and social perception. 2. Explain how the
attribution process works and how it helps us to
understand the causes of other peoples
behavior. 3. Describe the various sources of bias
in social perception and how they may be
overcome. 4. Understand how the process of social
perception operates in the context of performance
appraisals, employment interviews, and the
cultivation of corporate images.
5. Define learning. 6. Describe the concepts of
operant conditioning and observational
learning. 7. Describe how principles of learning
are involved in organizational training and
innovative reward systems. 8. Compare how
organizations can use reward in organizational
behavior management and can use punishment most
effectively when administering discipline.
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Perception - the process through which people
select, organize, and interpret information -
active processing of sensory inputs
Social Perception - the process of combining,
integrating, and interpreting information about
others to gain an accurate understanding
of them - various aspects, including the
attribution process
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Attribution - the process through which
individuals attempt to determine the causes
behind others behavior
Correspondent Inferences - judgments about
peoples dispositions, traits, and
characteristics that correspond to what we
have observed of their actions Challenges in
judging others accurately - many possible
causes of behavior - people sometimes disguise
their true characteristics Making accurate
inferences about others - focus on behavior in
situations with low demand for social acceptabi
lity - focus on behavior for which there is
only one logical explanation
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Figure 2.2 Correspondent Inferences Judging
Dispositions Based on Behavior
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Causal Attribution of Responsibility Internal
causes of behavior - explanations based on
actions for which the individual is
responsible External causes of behavior -
explanations based on situations over which the
individual has no control
Kellys theory of causal attribution - internal
and external attributions based on Consensus -
extent to which other people behave in the same
manner as the person who were judging Consistenc
y - extent to which the person who were
judging acts the same way at other
times Distinctiveness - extent to which a person
behaves in the same manner in other contexts
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Figure 2.3 Kellys Theory of Causal
Attribution A Summary
You observe an individual complaining about the
food, service, and decor in a restaurant. To
answer Why? you note that...
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Perceptual Biases - predispositions to
misperceive others that interfere with making
completely accurate judgments Fundamental
attribution error - tendency to attribute others
actions to internal causes while largely
ignoring external factors - strong bias because
it is easier to attribute actions to
others traits than to recognize the
complexity of others situation
Halo effect - tendency for overall impressions of
others to affect objective evaluations of their
specific traits Positive halo - good impression
causes us to view what the person does in
favorable terms, even if we have no knowledge
about the specific behaviors - results in
consistently high ratings Negative halo -
results in consistently low ratings
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Figure 2.4 The Halo Effect A Demonstration of
Positive Halo
Characteristic 1
low
high
Characteristic 2
low
high
Characteristic 3
low
high
Characteristic 4
low
high
The more favorably someone is perceived on some
characteristics,

Characteristic N
low
high
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Perceptual Biases (cont.) Similar-to-me-effect -
tendency to perceive in a positive light
others who are believed to be similar in any of
several different says - greater empathy for
and better relations with others who seem
similar
First-impression error - tendency to base
judgments of others on our first impression of
them - error may take very subtle forms
Selective perception - tendency to focus on some
aspects of the environment and to ignore
others - narrowing of our perceptual fields
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Figure 2.5 First-Impression Error A Summary
Initial Performance
Initial Impression
Poor
Poor
Excellent
Excellent
Quality of Actual Work Performed
Evaluation of Work Performed
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Stereotypes Fitting Others into Categories -
beliefs that all members of specific groups share
similar traits and are prone to behave in the
same way
Why do we rely on stereotypes? - minimizes
cognitive work in thinking about others - leads
to premature judgments about people
Dangers of using stereotypes in organizations -
run the risk of causing miscommunication and
conflict
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Performance Appraisal - process of evaluating
employees on various work-related dimensions An
inherently biased process - process is far from
objective - ratings depend on extent to which
performance is consistent with raters
initial expectations - ratings reflect
similar-to-me bias - ratings qualified by the
nature of attributions made about performance
Cultural differences in performance evaluations -
evaluations of others work influenced by the
nations from which they come
Impression Management in the Employment Interview
- efforts by individuals to improve how they
appear to prospective employers Self-promotion -
asserting that one has desirable characteristics
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Corporate Image - the impressions that people
have of an organization - result of impression
management by organizations - strongly relates
to peoples interest in seeking employment with
it
Factors contributing to corporate image - amount
of information contained in recruitment ads -
longer ads typically associated with
more positive images - annual report -
official statement for stockholders
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Learning- a relatively permanent change in
behavior resulting from experience - cannot be
observed directly - must be inferred from
permanent changes in behavior
Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning - learning in
which people associate the consequences of their
actions with the actions themselves - behaviors
with positive consequences are acquired, i.e.,
repeated in the future - behaviors with
negative consequences - are eliminated Law of
Effect - tendency for behaviors leading to
desirable consequences to be strengthened and
for behaviors leading to undesirable
consequences to be weakened
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Figure 2.9 The Operant Conditioning Process An
Overview
Steps in the Operant Conditioning Process
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Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning (cont.)
Reinforcement contingencies - relationships
between a persons behavior and the consequences
resulting from it
Positive reinforcement - process through which
people learn to perform behaviors leading to the
presentation of the desired outcomes
Negative reinforcement (avoidance) - process
through which people learn to perform acts that
lead to the removal of undesired events
Punishment - decreasing undesirable behavior by
following it with undesirable consequences
Extinction - process through which responses
that are no longer reinforced tend to gradually
diminish in strength
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Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning (cont.)
Schedules of reinforcement - rules governing the
timing and frequency of administering
reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement - schedule in which all
desired behaviors are reinforced
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement - schedule
in which only some desired behaviors are
reinforced - fixed interval - a fixed period of
time must elapse between reinforcements
- variable interval - a variable period of time
(based on some average) must elapse
between reinforcements
- fixed ratio - a fixed number of responses must
occur between reinforcements
- variable ratio - a variable number of
responses based on some average) must
occur between reinforcements
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Observational Learning (Modeling) - people
acquire new behaviors by systematically
observing the rewards and punishments given to
others - knowledge acquired vicariously -
behavior of a model is imitated
Steps in observational learning - pay careful
attention to the model - good retention of the
models behavior - behavioral reproduction of
the models behavior - person motivated to learn
from the model
Examples - much of what is learned about how to
behave in organizations can be explained by
observational learning - formal job training -
absorbtion of norms and traditions
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Training - process of systematically teaching
employees to acquire and improve job-related
skills and knowledge Varieties of training -
both formal and informal
Apprenticeship programs - formal program, often
used in the skilled trades, involving both
on-the-job and classroom training, usually over
a long period
Cross-cultural - systematic way of preparing
employees to live and work in another country
Executive training - systematic development of
top company leaders, either in specific skills
or in general managerial skills
Corporate universities - centers devoted to
handling a companys training needs on a
full-time basis
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Training (cont.) Keys to effective training -
principles
Participation - active involvement in the
learning process - greater participation is more
effective
Repetition - repeatedly performing a task so that
it may be fully learned
Transfer of training - degree to which skills
learned during training may be applied to
performance of ones job - training is more
effective to the degree that it matches the
demands and conditions on a job
Feedback - knowledge of the results of ones
behavior - 3600 feedback - collection of
performance feedback from multiple sources at
various organizational levels
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Figure 2.12 3600 Feedback An Overview
You
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Innovative Reward Systems - based on various
principles of learning
Skill-based pay - people are paid based on the
number of different skills they have learned
relevant to performing one or more jobs in the
organization
Team-based rewards - employees are paid based on
their teams performance
Organizational Behavior Management (OB Mod) -
principles Pinpoint the desired behavior -
specify new, desired behavior Perform baseline
audit - measure level of behavior to be
changed Define a criterion standard -
performance goal Choose a reinforcer - nature of
reward for desired behavior Selectively reward
desired behavior - shaping Periodically
re-evaluate the program - careful monitoring -
OB Mod has successfully stimulated a variety of
behaviors in many different organizations
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Discipline - systematically administering
punishment to eliminate undesirable
organizational behaviors Disciplinary practices
- characteristics of discipline programs
Progressive discipline - gradually increasing the
severity of punishments for employees who
exhibit unacceptable job behavior
Clarify contingencies - publicize punishment
rules - employees should know what behavior will
not be tolerated
Punish all instances of inappropriate behavior -
doing nothing creates chronic and serious
problems
Take immediate action
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Discipline (cont.) Keys to using punishment
effectively Deliver punishment immediately
after undesirable behavior occurs Give
moderate levels of punishment - not to high or
too low Punish the undesirable behavior,
not the person - be impersonal - focus on
what person can do to avoid disapproval Use
punishment consistently - all the time, for all
employees Clearly communicate reasons for
the punishment - identify undesirable
behaviors that precipitated the disciplinary
action Do not follow punishment with
noncontingent rewards - represents inadvertent
reward for unwanted behavior