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Perception, Attribution, and Learning

hard-working. Once formed, person schemas are stored in long-term memory and
retrieved only when needed for a comparison of how well a person matches the
schemas features.4

Interpretation Once your attention has been drawn to certain stimuli and you have
grouped or organized this information, the next step is to uncover the reasons behind the
actions. Even if your attention is called to the same information and you organize it in the
same way your friend does, you may still interpret it differently or make different assumptions about what you have perceived. As a team leader, for example, you might interpret
compliments from a team member as due to his being eager and enthusiastic about a
task; your friend might interpret the team members behavior as an attempt at insincere
flattery.
Retrieval Each stage of the perception process becomes part of memory. This information stored in our memory must be retrieved if it is to be used. But all of us at times
have trouble retrieving stored information. Memory decays, so that only some of the
information may be retrieved. Schemas can make it difficult for people to remember
things not included in them. If you hold the prototype of a good worker as someone
showing lots of effort, punctuality, intelligence, articulateness, and decisiveness, you may
emphasize these traits and overlook others when evaluating the performance of a team
member whom you generally consider good.
Perception, Impression Management, and Social Media
Richard Branson, CEO of the Virgin Group, is one of the richest and most famous executives in the world. He may also be the ultimate master of impression management, the
systematic attempt to behave in ways that will create and maintain desired impressions
in the eyes of others.5 One of Bransons early business accomplishments was the successful start-up of Virgin Airlines, now a global competitor to the legacy airlines. In a memoir,
the former head of British Airways, Lord King, said, If Richard Branson had worn a shirt
and tie instead of a goatee and jumper, I would not have underestimated him.6
Dont you wonder if creating
a casual impression was part of
How to Build Your Personal Brand Through
Bransons business strategy?
Impression Management in Social Networks
Whether intended or not, the
chances are hes used this persona to very good advantage in
Dont let your social media presence get out of control. Impression management
other business dealings as well.
counts online as well as face to face, and here are some things to help you make
Its an example of how much our
it work for you.
impressions can count, both pos Ask: How do I want to be viewed? What are my goals in this forum?
itive and negative, in how others
Ask: What am I communicating, or about to communicate, to my public
perceive us. And its not a new
audience?
lesson; weve all heard it before.
Ask: Before I post this item, is it something that I want my family, loved ones,
Who hasnt been told when
or a potential employer to see?
heading off to a job interview
Do: Choose a respectable username.
Dont forget to make a good first
Do: Profile yourself only as you really would like to be known to others; keep
impression?
everything consistent.
The fact is that we already
Do: View your online persona as a brand that you are going to wear for a long
practice a lot of impression mantime; make sure your persona and desired brand are a fit and not a misfit.
agement as a matter of routine in
everyday life. Impression man Do: Post and participate in an online forum only in ways that meet your goals
for your personal brand; dont do anything that might damage it.
agement is taking place when
we dress, talk, act, and surround

Impression management is
the systematic attempt to
influence how others
perceive us.

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Common Perceptual Distortions

ourselves with what reinforces a desirable self-image and helps to convey that image
to other persons. When well done, that can help us to advance in jobs and careers,
form relationships with people we admire, and even create pathways to group memberships. We manage impressions by such activities as associating with the right
people, dressing up and dressing down at the right times, making eye contact when
introduced to someone, doing favors to gain approval, flattering others to impress
them, taking credit for a favorable event and apologizing for a negative one, and agreeing with the opinions of others.7
One of the most powerful forces in impression management today might be the one
least recognizedhow we communicate our presence in the online world of social
media. It might even be the case that this short message deserves to go viral: User beware!
The brand you are building through social media may last a lifetime. For tips to remember, check the sidebar on How to Build Your Personal Brand Through Impression Management in Social Networks.
Its no secret that more and more employers are intensely scouring the Web to learn
what they can about job candidates. What they are gathering are impressions left in the
trails of the candidates past social media journeys. One bad photo, one bad nickname, or
one bad comment sends the wrong impression and can kill a great job opportunity. We
are creating impressions of ourselves whenever we are active in the online world. The
problem is that those impressions may be fun in social space but harmful in professional
space. Theres a lot to learn about impression management and social media. At a minimum it pays to keep the two social media spacesthe social and the professional
separated with a good firewall between them.

Common Perceptual Distortions

LE A R N ING
ROA DM A P

STEREOTYPES HALO EFFECTS SELECTIVE PERCEPTION

PROJECTION CONTRAST EFFECTS SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES

Given the complexity of the information streaming toward us from various environments, we use various means of simplifying and organizing our perceptions. However,
these simplifications can cause inaccuracies in our impressions and in the perception
process more generally. Common perceptual distortions trace to the use of stereotypes, halo effects, selective perception, projection, contrast effects, and self-fulfilling
prophecies.

Stereotypes
One of the most common simplifying devices in perception is the stereotype. It
occurs when we identify someone with a group or category, and then use the attributes perceived to be associated with the group or category to describe the individual.
Although this makes matters easier for us by reducing the need to deal with unique
individual characteristics, it is an oversimplification. Because stereotypes obscure
individual differences, we can easily end up missing the real individual. For managers
this means not accurately understanding the needs, preferences, and abilities of others
in the workplace.
Some of the most common stereotypes, at work and in life in general, relate to
such factors as gender, age, race, and physical ability. Why are so few top executives
in industry African Americans or Hispanics? Legitimate questions can be asked
about racial and ethnic stereotypes and about the slow progress of minority managers
into Americas corporate mainstream.8 Why is it that women constitute only a small

A stereotype assigns
attributes commonly
associated with a group
to an individual.

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Perception, Attribution, and Learning

percentage of American managers sent abroad to work on international business

assignments? A Catalyst study of opportunities for women in global business points
to gender stereotypes that place women at a disadvantage compared to men for these
types of opportunities. The tendency is to assume women lack the ability and/or
willingness to work abroad.9 Gender stereotypes may cause even everyday behavior
to be misconstrued. For example, consider Hes talking with co-workers (Interpretation: Hes discussing a new deal) and Shes talking with co-workers (Interpretation:
Shes gossiping).10
Ability stereotypes and age stereotypes also exist in the workplace. Physically or
mentally challenged candidates may be overlooked by a recruiter even though they
possess skills that are perfect for the job. A talented older worker may not be promoted because a manager assumes older workers are cautious and tend to avoid
risk.11 Yet a Conference Board survey of workers age 50 and older reports that 72
percent felt they could take on additional responsibilities, and two-thirds were interested in further training and development.12 Then theres the flip side: Can a young
person be a real leader, even a CEO? Facebooks founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg
is still in his twenties. When current CEO Sheryl Sandberg was being recruited from
Google, she admits to having had this thought: Wow, Im going to work for a CEO
who is quite young. Mark is a great leader, she now says. After working for him, her
perception has changed. Mark has a real purity of vision. . . . He brings people along
with him.13

Halo Effects
A halo effect uses one
attribute to develop an overall
impression of a person or
situation.

A halo effect occurs when one attribute of a person or situation is used to develop an
overall impression of that individual or situation. Like stereotypes, these distortions are
more likely to occur in the organization stage of perception. Halo effects are common in
our everyday lives. When meeting a new person, for example, a pleasant smile can lead to
a positive first impression of an overall warm and honest person. The result of a halo
effect is the same as that associated with a stereotype, however, in that individual differences are obscured.
Halo effects are particularly important in the performance appraisal process
because they can influence a managers evaluations of subordinates work performance. For example, people with good attendance records may be viewed as intelligent and responsible while those with poor attendance records are considered poor
performers. Such conclusions may or may not be valid. It is the managers job to try to
get true impressions rather than allowing halo effects to result in biased and erroneous evaluations.

Selective Perception
Selective perception is the
tendency to define problems
from ones own point of view.

Selective perception is the tendency to single out those aspects of a situation,

person, or object that are consistent with ones needs, values, or attitudes. Its strongest impact occurs in the attention stage of the perceptual process. This perceptual
distortion was identified in a classic research study involving executives in a manufacturing company.14 When asked to identify the key problem in a comprehensive
business policy case, each executive selected a problem consistent with his or her
functional area work assignments. Most marketing executives viewed the key problem area as sales, whereas production people tended to see the problem as one of
production and organization. These differing viewpoints would likely affect how each
executive would approach the problem; they might also create difficulties as the
executives tried to work together to improve things.

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Common Perceptual Distortions

WORTH CONSIDERING

...OR BEST AVOIDED?

Not Enough Women on Board?

Europe Turns to Quotas

he consulting rm McKinsey & Company reports that

women are hired to ll more than 50 percent of professional jobs in Americas large corporations. Then they start
leaking from the career pipeline. They hold 3 percent of CEO
positions, 14 percent of C-suite jobs, and 28 percent of director positions on corporate boards. Thats the good news.
Data from the rest of the world are worse. Women hold just
13.7 percent of seats on corporate boards in Europe and
7.1 percent elsewhere in the world.
The low percentage of women serving at the top of corporate hierarchy doesnt match well with data showing their
presence has a positive performance impact. A Millward
Brown Optimor study found that top global companies
with women on their boards showed 66 percent brand
growth over a 5-year period and those with no female
board members had 6 percent brand growth. An Ernst &
Young study concludes, The undisputed conclusion from
all the research is that having more women at the top improves nancial performance. The report went on to say
that Performance increased signicantly once a certain
critical mass was attained, namely at least three women on
management committees for an average membership of 10
people.
Rather than leave the future of female representation on
corporate boards to chance, Europe has started to consider
quotas. Norway, Spain, Iceland, and France have already
passed 40 percent quotas. When legislation requiring all
EU-listed companies to appoint women to 40 percent of
nonexecutive board seats by 2020 was proposed by the
European Commission, it was later pulled for lack of support. Some member countries say they plan to le it again in
the future.

Trista Weibell/iStockphoto

A Heidrick & Struggles survey showed 51 percent of

women directors supporting quotas like those appearing in
Europe. Only 25 percent of men directors voiced similar
support.

Do the Analysis
Is Europe on the right path with quotas to correct gender
disparities in corporate boards? Should this conversation be
limited to women in general? What about women of color?
What about other minoritiesmale or female? When it
comes to career advancement for women and minorities in
the corporate world, is it time for quotas, or are we better
off waiting for changes to take a natural course?

Projection
Projection is the assignment of ones personal attributes to other individuals. It is especially likely to occur in the interpretation stage of perception. A classic error is projecting
your needs, values, and views onto others. This causes their individual differences to get
lost. Such projection errors can be controlled through a high degree of self-awareness and
empathythe ability to view a situation as others see it.
Suppose, for example, that you enjoy responsibility and achievement in your work.
Suppose, too, that you are the newly appointed leader of a team whose jobs seem dull
and routine. You may move quickly to expand these jobs so that members get
increased satisfaction from more challenging tasks. Basically, you want them to experience what you value in work. However, this may not be a good decision. Instead of
designing team members jobs to best fit their needs, you have designed their jobs to
best fit yours.

Projection assigns personal

attributes to other
individuals.

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Contrast Effects
A contrast effect occurs
when the meaning of
something that takes place is
based on a contrast with
another recent event or
situation.

We mentioned earlier how a bright red sports car would stand out from a group of gray
sedans. This shows a contrast effect in which the meaning or interpretation of something
is arrived at by contrasting it with a recently occurring event or situation. This form of
perceptual distortion can occur, say, when a person gives a talk following a strong speaker
or is interviewed for a job following a series of mediocre applicants. A contrast effect
occurs when an individuals characteristics are contrasted with those of others recently
encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
A self-fulfilling prophecy
is creating or finding in a
situation that which you
expected to find in the first
place.

A final perceptual distortion is the self-fulfilling prophecy: the tendency to create or

find in another situation or individual that which you expected to find in the first place.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is sometimes referred to as the Pygmalion effect, named for a
mythical Greek sculptor who created a statue of his ideal mate and then made her come
to life.15
Self-fulfilling prophecies can have both positive and negative outcomes. In effect, they
may create in work and personal situations that which we expect to find. Suppose you
assume that team members prefer to satisfy most of their needs outside the work setting
and want only minimal involvement with their jobs. Consequently, you assign simple,

CHECKING ETHICS IN OB

Workers Report
Views on Ethical
Workplace Conduct
These data on ethical workplace conduct are from a
survey conducted for Deloitte & Touche USA.
42 percent of workers say the behavior of their managers is a major inuence on an ethical workplace.
Most common unethical acts by managers and supervisors include verbal, sexual, and racial harassment, misuse
of company property, and giving preferential treatment.

Izvorinka Jankovic/iStockphoto

Most workers consider it unacceptable to steal from

an employer, cheat on expense reports, take credit for
anothers accomplishments, and lie on time sheets.

Top reasons for unethical behavior are lack of personal

integrity (80 percent) and lack of job satisfaction
(60 percent).

Most workers consider it acceptable to ask a work

colleague for a personal favor, take sick days when not
ill, and use company technology for personal affairs.

Among workers, 91 percent are more likely to behave

ethically when they have worklife balance; 30 percent
say they suffer from poor worklife balance.

Whose Ethics Count?

Shouldnt an individual be accountable for her or his own ethical reasoning and
analysis? How and why is it that the ethics practices of others, including managers, inuence our ethics behaviors?
What can be done to strengthen peoples condence in their own ethical frameworks so that even bad management
wont result in unethical practices?

61

Perception, Attribution, and Social Learning

highly structured tasks designed to require little involvement. Can you predict what
response they will have to this situation? In fact, they may show the very same lack of
commitment you assumed they would have in the first place. In this case your initial
expectations get confirmed as a negative self-fulfilling prophecy.
Self-fulfilling prophecies can also have a positive side. In a study of army tank
crews, one set of tank commanders was told that some members of their assigned
crews had exceptional abilities whereas others were only average. However, the crew
members had been assigned randomly so that the two test groups were equal in ability. The commanders later reported that the so-called exceptional crew members
performed better than the average ones. Th e study also revealed that the commanders had given more attention and praise to the crew members for whom they had the
higher expectations.16 Dont you wonder what might happen with students and workers in general if teachers and managers adopted more uniformly positive and optimistic approaches toward them?

Perception, Attribution,
and Social Learning
LE A R N ING
ROA DM A P

IMPORTANCE OF ATTRIBUTIONS ATTRIBUTION ERRORS

ATTRIBUTION AND SOCIAL LEARNING

One of the ways in which perception exerts its influence on behavior is through
attribution. This is the process of developing explanations or assigning perceived causes
for events. It is natural for people to try to explain what they observe and what happens
to them. What happens when you perceive that someone in a job or student group isnt
performing up to expectations? How do you explain this? And, depending on the explanation, what do you do to try and correct things?

Importance of Attributions
Attribution theory helps us understand how people perceive the causes of events,
assess responsibility for outcomes, and evaluate the personal qualities of the people
involved.17 It is especially concerned with whether the assumption is that an individuals behavior, such as poor performance, has been internally or externally caused.
Internal causes are believed to be under an individuals controlyou believe Jakes
performance is poor because he is lazy. External causes are seen as coming from
outside a personyou believe Kellies performance is poor because the software shes
using is out of date.
According to attribution theory, three factors influence this internal or external
determination of causality: distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency. Distinctiveness
considers how consistent a persons behavior is across different situations. If Jakes
performance is typically low, regardless of the technology with which he is working, we
tend to assign the poor performance to an internal attributiontheres something
wrong with Jake. If the poor performance is unusual, we tend to assign an external
cause to explain ittheres something happening in the work context. Consensus takes
into account how likely all those facing a similar situation are to respond in the same
way. If all the people using the same technology as Jake perform poorly, we tend to
assign his performance problem to an external attribution. If others do not perform
poorly, we attribute Jakes poor performance to internal causation. Consistency concerns whether an individual responds the same way across time. If Jake performs
poorly over a sustained period of time, we tend to give the poor performance an

Attribution is the process

of creating explanations
for events.

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Perception, Attribution, and Learning

Bias against Black Leaders

Found on the Football Field
Are black leaders at a disadvantage when leadership
success is evaluated? The answer is yes according
to research reported in the Academy of Management
Journal.
Scholars Andrew M. Carton and Ashleigh Shelby
Rosette studied how the performance of football
quarterbacks was reported in the news. They found
that successful performances by black quarterbacks
were attributed in news articles less often to the

players competence, such as

making decisions under
pressure, and more often to
factors that made up for
incompetence, such as having
the speed to get away. The
researchers expressed concern
that black leaders may suffer
from poor career advancement because of biased
evaluations.

Sportschrome/NewsCom

internal attribution. If his low performance is an isolated incident, we may well attribute it to an external cause.

Attribution Errors

Fundamental attribution
error overestimates internal
factors and underestimates
external factors as influences
on someones behavior.
Self-serving bias
underestimates internal
factors and overestimates
external factors as influences
on someones behavior.

Social learning theory

describes how learning
occurs through interactions
among people, behavior, and
environment.

FIGURE 3.2 Attribution

errors by executives when
explaining poor performance
by others and themselves.

People often fall prey to perception errors when making attributions about what caused
certain events.18 Look, for example, at the data reported in Figure 3.2. When executives
were asked to attribute causes of poor performance among their subordinates, they
most often blamed internal deficiencies of the individuallack of ability and effort,
rather than external deficiencies in the situationlack of support. This demonstrates
what is known as fundamental attribution errorthe tendency to underestimate the
influence of situational factors and to overestimate the influence of personal factors
when evaluating someone elses behavior. When asked to identify causes of their own
poor performance, however, the executives mostly cited lack of supportan external,
or situational, deficiency. This demonstrates self-serving biasthe tendency to deny
personal responsibility for performance problems but to accept personal responsibility
for performance success.
The managerial implications of attribution errors trace back to the fact that perceptions influence behavior.19 For example, a team leader who believes that members are
not performing well and perceives the reason to be an internal lack of effort is likely to
respond with attempts to motivate them to work harder. Th e possibility of changing
external, situational factors that may remove job constraints and provide better organizational support may be largely ignored. This oversight could sacrifice major performance gains for the team.

Attribution and Social Learning

Perception and attribution are important components in social learning theory, which
describes how learning takes place through the reciprocal interactions among people,

Cause of Poor
Performance by
Others

Most Frequent
Attribution

Cause of Poor
Performance
by Themselves

Many
Many
Few

Lack of ability
Lack of effort
Lack of support

Few
Few
Many

Perception, Attribution, and Social Learning

Symbolic Processes
Verbal/mental images
help guide behavior

Behavior

Self-control
Self-efficacy controls
behavior

Modeling behavior
acquired by observing
and imitating others

Environment

FIGURE 3.3 Simplied model of social learning.

behavior, and environment. According to the work of Albert Bandura, an individual uses
modeling or vicarious learning to acquire behavior by observing and imitating others.20 In
a work situation, the model may be a higher manager or co-worker who demonstrates
desired behaviors. Mentors or senior workers who befriend younger and more inexperienced protgs can also be important models. Indeed, some have argued that a shortage
of mentors for women in senior management has been a major constraint to their progression up the career ladder.21
The symbolic processes shown in Figure 3.3 are important in social learning.
Words and symbols used by managers and others in the workplace help communicate values, beliefs, and goals and thus serve as guides to an individuals behavior.
For example, a thumbs up or other signal from the boss lets you know your behavior is appropriate. At the same time, the persons self-control is important in influencing his or her own behavior. And self-efficacythe persons belief that he or she
can perform adequately in a situationis an important part of such self-control.
Closely associated with the concept of self-efficacy are such terms as confidence,
competence, and ability.22
People with high self-efficacy believe that they have the necessary abilities for a
given job, that they are capable of
the effort required, and that no
Four Ways to Build or Enhance Self-Efcacy
outside events will hinder them
from attaining their desired
performance level.23 In contrast,
Scholars generally recognize the following four ways of building or enhancing
people with low self-efficacy
our self-efficacy:
believe that no matter how hard
1. Enactive masterygaining confidence through positive experience. The
they try, they cannot manage
more you work at a task, so to speak, the more your experience builds and
their environment well enough
the more confident you become at doing it.
to be successful. If you feel high
2.
Vicarious
modelinggaining confidence by observing others. When someone
self-efficacy as a student, a low
else
is
good
at a task and we are able to observe how they do it, we gain configrade on one test is likely to
dence
in
being
able to do it ourselves.
encourage you to study harder,
3. Verbal persuasiongaining confidence from someone telling us or
talk to the instructor, or do other
encouraging us that we can perform the task. Hearing others praise our
things to enable you to do well
efforts and link those efforts with performance successes is often very
the next time. In contrast, a
motivational.
person low in self-efficacy would
probably drop the course or give
4. Emotional arousalgaining confidence when we are highly stimulated
up studying. Of course, even peoor energized to perform well in a situation. A good analogy for arousal is
ple who are high in self-efficacy
how athletes get psyched up and highly motivated to perform in key
do not control their environment
competitions.
entirely.

63

Learning by Reinforcement

67

OB IN POPULAR CULTURE

Positive
Reinforcement and
Big Bang Theory
Learning is an important part of an individuals development. In the workplace, reinforcement can be used
to help employees learn proper behavior. Through the
principle of operant conditioning, reinforcement uses
consequences to help mold the behavior of others.
In one episode of The Big Bang Theory, Leonard,
Penny, and Sheldon are watching anime on television.
Penny is bored with a show she does not understand
and begins to tell a story about a high school classmate named Anna Mae. Sheldon uses chocolate to
get her to stop talking. Later, when Pennys cell phone
rings, Sheldon again uses chocolate to get Penny to
take the call in the hallway. Leonard discovers the
tactic and forbids Sheldon from experimenting with
Penny. Sheldon then sprays Leonard with a water
bottle (punishment).

Cliff Lipson/CBS/Getty Images

The episode is hilarious yet serious. It demonstrates

how easily behavior can be inuenced through the
proper application of operant conditioning techniques.
However, its important to remember that what works at
one point in time may not work at another. If Sheldon
continues to give Penny chocolates, for example, will
she eventually lose her desire for them and the
reinforcement will no longer be effective?

Get to Know Yourself Better

Take Assessment 12, The Downside of Punishment, in the OB Skills

Workbook. Have you ever experienced punishment as a student or an employee? What was your reaction? Have
you ever seen a boss punish an employee in front of co-workers or customers? Is this an effective way to change
behavior? If you were a teacher, how would you handle a behavior problem with a studentsuch as unwanted text
messaging in class?

rewards immediately upon completing a casting that has no cracks or gaps. In this way
behavior is shaped gradually rather than changed all at once.

Scheduling Positive Reinforcement Positive reinforcement can be given on

either continuous or intermittent schedules. Continuous reinforcement administers a
reward each time a desired behavior occurs, whereas intermittent reinforcement
rewards behavior only periodically. In general, continuous reinforcement draws forth a
desired behavior more quickly than does intermittent reinforcement. However, it is easily
extinguished when reinforcement is no longer present. Behavior acquired under intermittent reinforcement is more resistant to extinction and lasts longer upon the discontinuance of reinforcement. This is why shaping typically begins with a continuous reinforcement schedule and then gradually shifts to an intermittent one.
Figure 3.4 shows that intermittent reinforcement can be given according to fixed or
variable schedules. Variable schedules typically result in more consistent patterns of
desired behavior than do fixed reinforcement schedules. Fixed-interval schedules provide

Continuous reinforcement
administers a reward each time
a desired behavior occurs.
Intermittent reinforcement
rewards behavior only
periodically.

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Fixed

Variable

Perception, Attribution, and Learning

Interval

Ratio

Fixed interval

Fixed ratio

Reinforcer given after a given

time
Weekly or monthly paychecks
Regularly scheduled exams

Reinforcer given after a given

number of behavior
occurrences
Piece-rate pay
Commissioned salespeople:
certain amount is given for
each dollar of sales

Variable interval

Variable ratio

Reinforcer given at random times

Occasional praise by boss on
unscheduled visits
Unspecified number of pop
quizzes to students

Reinforcer given after a random

number of behavior
occurrences
Random quality checks with
praise for zero defects
Commissioned salespeople:
a varying number of calls are
required to obtain a given sale

Time-based

Behavior occurrencebased

FIGURE 3.4 Alternative ways to schedule positive reinforcement.

rewards at the first appearance of a behavior after a given time has elapsed. Fixed-ratio
schedules result in a reward each time a certain number of the behaviors have occurred.
A variable-interval schedule rewards behavior at random times, whereas a variable-ratio
schedule rewards behavior after a random number of occurrences.

Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
strengthens a behavior by
making the avoidance of an
undesirable consequence
contingent on its occurrence.

A second reinforcement strategy in operant conditioning is negative reinforcement or

avoidance learning. It uses the withdrawal of negative consequences to increase the likelihood of desirable behavior being repeated. An example might be the manager regularly
nags a worker about being late for work and then doesnt nag when the worker next
shows up on time. The term negative reinforcement comes from this withdrawal of the
negative consequences. The strategy is also called avoidance learning because its intent
is for the person to avoid the negative consequence by performing the desired behavior.
Think of it this way. Even when the streets are deserted, we still stop at red lights to avoid
getting a traffic ticket.

Punishment
Punishment discourages a
behavior by making an
unpleasant consequence
contingent on its occurrence.

Unlike positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement which are intended to encourage desired behavior, punishment intends to discourage undesirable behavior. It is the
administration of negative consequences or the withdrawal of positive consequences to
reduce the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
Evidence does show that punishment administered for poor performance can lead to
better performance. Yet, when punishment is perceived as arbitrary and capricious, it
leads to low satisfaction and low performance.32 The lesson here and highlighted in the
How to Make Positive Reinforcement and Punishment Work for You sidebar is that
punishment can be handled poorly, or it can be handled well. If it is necessary to use
punishment as a reinforcement strategy, be sure to do it well.

69

Study Guide

Its also worth noting that punishment may be

offset by positive reinforcement received from
another source. Take the case of someone being
positively reinforced by peers at the same time as
he or she is receiving punishment from a boss,
parent, or teacher. Sometimes the positive value of
peer support is so great that the individual chooses
to put up with punishment and continues the bad
behavior. As many times as a child may be verbally
reprimanded by a teacher for playing jokes, for
example, the grins offered by classmates may
keep the jokes flowing in the future.

Extinction

How to Make Positive Reinforcement

and Punishment Work for You
Positive Reinforcement
Clearly identify desired work behaviors.
Maintain a diverse inventory of rewards.
Inform everyone what must be done to get rewards.
Recognize individual differences when allocating rewards.
Follow the laws of immediate and contingent reinforcement.
Punishment
Tell the person what is being done wrong.
Tell the person what is being done right.
Make sure the punishment matches the behavior.
Administer the punishment in private.
Follow the laws of immediate and contingent reinforcement.

The final reinforcement strategy is extinctionthe

withdrawal of reinforcing consequences in order to
weaken undesirable behavior. For example, Enya is
often late for work and co-workers provide positive
reinforcement by covering for her. The manager
instructs Enyas co-workers to stop covering, thus
withdrawing the positive consequences of her tardiness. This is a use of extinction to try
and get rid of an undesirable behavior. Still, even though a successful extinction strategy
decreases the frequency of or weakens behavior, the behavior is not unlearned. It simply is
not exhibited and will reappear if reinforced again.

Reinforcement Pros and Cons

The effective use of the four reinforcement strategies presented in these pages can help in
the management of human behavior at work, but their use is not without criticism.33
A major criticism is that using reinforcement to influence human behavior is demeaning
and dehumanizing.34 Another criticism is that it becomes too easy for managers to abuse
the power of their positions when they exert this type of external control over individual
behavior.
Advocates of the reinforcement approach attack its critics head on. They agree that
behavior modification involves the control of behavior, but they also argue that such control is an irrevocable part of every managers job. The real question, they say, is how to
ensure that the reinforcement strategies are done in positive and constructive ways.35

Study Guide

Key Questions and Answers

What is perception, and why is it important?

Individuals use the perception process to select, organize, interpret, and retrieve information from the world around them.

Perception acts as a filter through which all communication passes as it travels from
one person to the next.

Extinction discourages a
behavior by making the
removal of a desirable
consequence contingent on
its occurrence.

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Because people tend to perceive things differently, the same situation may be interpreted
and responded to differently by different people.

Factors influencing perceptions include characteristics of the perceiver, the setting,

and the perceived.

What are the common perceptual distortions?

Stereotypes occur when a person is identified with a category and is assumed to display
characteristics otherwise associated with members of that category.

Halo effects occur when one attribute of a person or situation is used to develop an
overall impression of the person or situation.
Selective perception is the tendency to single out for attention those aspects of a situation or person that reinforce or emerge and are consistent with existing beliefs, values,
and needs.
Projection involves the assignment of personal attributes to other individuals.
Contrast effects occur when an individuals characteristics are contrasted
with those of others recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics.

What is the link between perception, attribution,

and social learning?

Attribution theory addresses tendencies to view events or behaviors as primarily the

results of external causes or internal causes.

Three factors that influence the attribution of external or internal causation are distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency.
Fundamental attribution error occurs when we blame others for performance problems while excluding possible external causes.
Self-serving bias occurs when, in judging our own performance, we take personal credit
for successes and blame failures on external factors.
Social learning theory links perception and attribution by recognizing how learning
is achieved through the reciprocal interactions among people, behavior, and
environment.

What is involved in learning by reinforcement?

Reinforcement

theory recognizes that behavior is influenced by environmental

consequences.
The law of effect states that behavior followed by a pleasant consequence is likely to be
repeated; behavior followed by an unpleasant consequence is unlikely to be repeated.
Positive reinforcement is the administration of positive consequences that tend to
increase the likelihood of a persons repeating a behavior in similar settings.
Positive reinforcement should be contingent and immediate, and it can be scheduled
continuously or intermittently depending on resources and desired outcomes.
Negative reinforcement, or avoidance learning, is used to encourage desirable behavior through the withdrawal of negative consequences for previously undesirable
behavior.
Punishment is the administration of negative consequences or the withdrawal of
positive consequences to reduce the likelihood of an undesirable behavior being
repeated.
Extinction is the withdrawal of reinforcing consequences to weaken or eliminate an
undesirable behavior.

Self-Test 3

Terms to Know
Attribution (p. 61)
Classical conditioning
(p. 64)
Continuous reinforcement
(p. 67)
Contrast effect (p. 60)
Extinction (p. 69)
Extrinsic rewards (p. 65)
Fundamental attribution
error (p. 62)
Halo effect (p. 58)
Impression management
(p. 56)
Intermittent reinforcement
(p. 67)

Law of contingent
reinforcement (p. 65)
Law of effect (p. 65)
Law of immediate
reinforcement (p. 65)
Negative reinforcement
(p. 68)
Operant conditioning (p. 64)
Organizational behavior
modification (p. 65)
Perception (p. 52)
Positive reinforcement
(p. 65)
Projection (p. 59)

Prototype (p. 55)

Punishment (p. 68)
Reinforcement (p. 64)
Schemas (p. 54)
Selective perception (p. 58)
Selective screening (p. 53)
Self-fulfilling prophecy
(p. 60)
Self-serving bias (p. 62)
Shaping (p. 65)
Social learning theory
(p. 62)
Stereotype (p. 57)

Self-Test 3
Multiple Choice
1. Perception is the process by which people ____________ and interpret information.
(a) generate
(b) retrieve
(c) transmit
(d) verify
2. When an individual attends to only a small portion of the vast information available
in the environment, this tendency in the perception process is called ____________.
(a) interpretation
(b) self scripting
(c) attribution
(d) selective screening
3. Self-serving bias is a form of attribution error that involves ____________.
(a) blaming yourself for problems caused by others
(b) blaming the environment for problems you caused
(c) poor emotional intelligence
(d) low self-efficacy
4. In fundamental attribution error, the influence of ____________ as causes of a
problem are ___________.
(a) situational factors, overestimated
(b) personal factors, underestimated
(c) personal factors, overestimated
(d) situational factors, underestimated
5. If a new team leader changes tasks for persons on his or her work team mainly
because I would prefer to work the new way rather than the old, she may be committing a perceptual error known as ____________.
(a) halo effect
(b) stereotype
(c) selective perception
(d) projection

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6. Use of special dress, manners, gestures, and vocabulary words when meeting a
prospective employer in a job interview are all examples of how people use
____________.
(a) projection
(b) selective perception
(c) impression management
(d) self-serving bias
7. The perceptual tendency known as a/an ____________ is associated with the
Pygmalion effect and refers to finding or creating in a situation that which was
originally expected.
(a) self-efficacy
(b) projection
(c) self-fulfilling prophecy
(d) halo effect
8. If a manager allows one characteristic of a person, say a pleasant personality, to
bias performance ratings of that individual overall, the manager is falling prey to a
perceptual distortion known as ____________.
(a) halo effect
(b) stereotype
(c) selective perception
(d) projection
9. The underlying premise of reinforcement theory is that ____________.
(a) behavior is a function of environment
(b) motivation comes from positive expectancy
(c) higher-order needs stimulate hard work
(d) rewards considered unfair are de-motivators
10. The law of ____________ states that behavior followed by a positive consequence is
likely to be repeated, whereas behavior followed by an undesirable consequence is
not likely to be repeated.
(a) reinforcement
(b) contingency
(c) goal setting
(d) effect
11. ____________ is a positive reinforcement strategy that rewards successive approximations to a desirable behavior.
(a) Extinction
(b) Negative reinforcement
(c) Shaping
(d) Merit pay
12. B. F. Skinner would argue that getting a paycheck on Friday reinforces a person for
coming to work on Friday but would not reinforce the person for doing an extraordinary job on Tuesday. This is because the Friday paycheck fails the law of
____________ reinforcement.
(a) negative
(b) continuous
(c) immediate

(d) intermittent

13. The purpose of negative reinforcement as an operant conditioning technique is to

____________.
(a) punish bad behavior
(b) discourage bad behavior
(c) encourage desirable behavior
(d) offset the effects of shaping