Who is the author of reinforcement theory

The theory does not assess personality , but focuses on behavior and recognizes three basic rules of consequences: Reward for positive behavior reinforces positive behavior Punishment for negative behavior weakens negative behavior If there is no reward or punishment, behavior is fading What is reinforcement theory good for in practice?

Other information and sources International. Did this article help you? You cannot contribute to the discussion because it is locked. Further, this theory calls for Reinforcement Schedules. This entails designing the time and schedule of reinforcements - as it has been shown to affect behavior. Reinforcement schedules might be:. Organizational Behavior Modification or OB Mod is the systematic application of reinforcement theory principles.

Del Chiaro concludes that based on the data, "training supervisors in the use of positive verbal reinforcement has no negative effect on employee job satisfaction" p. According to this study, verbal positive reinforcement may increase job satisfaction slightly, but it is more likely that it does not decrease job satisfaction. Under this schedule, cocaine dose-dependently increased responding relative to placebo, indicating that cocaine functioned as a positive reinforcer Stoops, The groups created consisted of employees that either performed complex tasks, or performed relatively simple tasks.

Each group was then broken into subgroups for a total of 4 groups. The complex group was reinforced with money and paid leave, or outcome and process feedback. The simple group was reinforced with an informal dress code, or flexible working hours. There were 36 employees that made up this group and their daily jobs were to develop new software, train employees on the new software, accounting, and auditing. One subgroup 18 employees received discounts on products sold by the company and were offered paid leave for an additional half day every month.

The monetary reinforcer worked well and employee purchases at the retail store almost doubled after the reinforcers were used. The second subgroup 18 employees of group G1 received outcome and process feedback. Outcome feedback communicated to the employee what their performance level was against the set standard Raj et al. Process feedback conveyed to each employee how the performance was executed, and, more importantly, as to what should be done in future to improve their performance Raj et al.

This group of employees 40 in number performed simple task. All of the 40 employees were asked to list what would motivate them and make them feel comfortable in their work spot, which in turn would lead to an increase in their performance Raj et al. The biggest reinforcer chose was informal dress code. Out of 40 employees, 23 of them selected this reinforcer. Plus, the formal dress code made them very uncomfortable because of the weather in India.

The remaining 17 employees that made up G2 viewed working hours that were flexible would be the best reinforcer.

They suggested that management allow them to leave early in lean seasons as soon as the task assigned to them for that day was completed Raj et al. When the season was at its peak the same workers would work longer hours to ensure all tasks were completed before leaving. The aggregate behavior of G11 came down from Money and social recognition are better reinforcers than feedback for less complex tasks according to previous literature.

This experiment shows that providing suggestions and information for future improvement has a more enduring benefit than does the use of monetary discounts combined with increased paid leave Raj et al.

Reinforcement was successful, but management needs to come up with new reinforcements to maintain a high level of performance among employees. Besides an increase in job performance there was an increase in satisfaction for G2. Their attitudes were better than before, their willingness to do the jobs assigned to them was higher, and their spirits were high Raj et al. While Reinforcement Theory is widely accepted and deployed universally and the positive effects are commonly known, there are aspects to consider when adopting practices based on this theory.

The basis for this theory is extrinsic motivation which critics say can offend those whose behavior is the subject. Further evidence reveals that if the target of the behavior modification is aware of the attempt, certain personality types will do everything in their power to skew the results Gergen, The culture needs to be examined to determine if the reward holds value.

What held value twenty years ago, may not hold value today. Provides clues to motivation. Unlike Needs Theory of motivation which focused on internal needs, Reinforcement Theory is based on external conditions.

Within the workplace, organizational management theorists look to the environment to explain and control people's behavior. Because of this, it may be easier to motivate a group of workers through external factors such as pay raise, promotion, etc Operant Conditioning, Keeps employees involved. Installing a schedule of reinforcement, such as a variable interval schedule will keep employees on their toes. The employee does not know exactly when a test or performance review is coming, so they cannot afford to work poorly on a given task Redmond, Easily applied in organization.

Reinforcement Theory deals with learned behaviors, therefore it is easy to apply to organizational management. Upon joining a company, workers deal with certain stimuli, responses, and their consequences. Because the behaviors are rewarded or punished, it can be easy to encourage or change workers' responses by manipulating the stimuli Operant Conditioning, Impressive research support. Reinforcement Theory has had substantial research done in the workplace.

This research has shown impressive results due to its focus on observable behaviors. Disregards internal motivation. The reinforcement theory only considers behavior and consequences without considering processes of internal motivation or individual differences Redmond, One main weakness in dealing with Reinforcement Theory is the difficulty to identify rewards or punishments Booth-Butterfield, Each human being is different and unique, and Reinforcement Theory has to take this into account.

A reward that works for one person may not work for someone else. For example, one person may be lacking self-confidence, so higher praise from a manager may act as a reward. If only a raise in pay were the reward in this situation, the lack of self-confidence would still be evident and an increase in productivity would not be present.

Hard to apply to complicated forms of behavior. It is not equally reliable in all situations. Using it to impact behaviors involved in complicated task work can be problematic. It is easier to reinforce behavior that applies to a simple task because positive and negative behaviors are easier to keep track of and modify Redmond, Imposes on freewill.

The control and manipulation of rewards in order to change behavior is considered unethical by some Redmond, Effectivity often expires. Even when an acceptable reward or punishment is met, they often become less meaningful over time Booth-Butterfield, The reward of praise seen above, for instance, becomes much less desirable after the person receives a boost in self-confidence. Now, the manager may have to move on to another reward to keep the motivation fresh.

Can be complicated. The punishment aspect of Reinforcement Theory can be difficult to apply well. According to Booth-Butterfield , for punishment to be effective, a few guidelines may be required:. Findings and conclusions of behaviorism, to a large extent, are based on research with animals.

Thorndike used cats, Pavlov used dogs, and Skinner - pigeons and rats. Many aspects that are important to human beings, such as problem-solving and thinking process, are not addressed by behaviorism. The emphasis is on the environmental stimuli that modify behavior, not on any internal factors that may be present Funder, Despite the initial success that behaviorism enjoyed, some researchers believed that it ignored many important psychological phenomena.

One of the first ones was German Psychologist Wolfgang Kohler. Kohler believed that animals, specifically chimpanzees, developed insight regarding their situation, thereby developing an understanding regarding their condition. The emphasis here was the immediacy at which the chimpanzees applied their response, as opposed to a more gradual learned behavior.

This indicated a comprehension and understanding of stimuli and consequences resulting in immediate responses Kohler, ; Gleitman, Kohler's research on insight applied to behaviorism would eventually lead to the beginnings of social learning theory, as well as some cognitive research Funder, The last guideline - the punishment should be consistent - may be the most important.

If the punishment is not consistent, the employee will not associate his or her error with the punishment. When there is consistency, the employee will try to avoid the punishment by fixing their error and proceeding in the fashion the manager would like. In Conversation with Skinner , he mentions that it is important to identify the desired consequence, which will elicit the desired behavioral response. Ever since Skinner first published his findings in , reinforcement theory has been widely studied and implemented in the industrial setting to decrease the frequency of undesired behavior and increase the frequency of desired behavior.

There are many theories that can be used to assist management in employee motivation. Specifying the desired behavior as objectively as possible. A good manager is a good leader and a good leader is goal oriented. Informing employees of the specific goal in mind, making sure they understand it and keeping them focused on the goal is key to the process. Measuring the current incidence of desired behavior. Before a consequence can be enacted, a manager must keep track of each employee's productivity and quality of work.

Once this baseline is recorded and behaviors are identified, then the reinforcement can begin. With the baseline recorded, it is easier to observe the benefits of using the Behavioral Modification Model.

Providing behavioral consequences that reinforce desired behavior. This step involves reinforcing individuals for desired outcomes and providing consequences for undesired outcomes.

For example, individuals that are working above the status quo may get a reward for their hard work and those that are below par will see this and be motivated to work harder. Determining the effectiveness of the program by systematically assessing behavioral change.

It is important to observe the effectiveness of the applied reinforcement, to determine if reinforcement has been used ineffectively and possibly shed light on a better strategy for next time. For example, ABC Manufacturing Company found they employed a large number of mothers with small children.

When their children got sick the mothers were naturally absent from work. This was affecting productivity within the company.

Rather than taking disciplinary action against these employees, the company sought out a solution to the problem and asked the mothers what could be done to avoid this situation in the future. The logical solution was to provide a day care for the employees' children.

The company assessed the cost effectiveness and decided to give it a try. As a result, within a few months of the implementation of this daycare program, absenteeism decreased dramatically and there was a noticeable increase in productivity.

Gitman and McDaniel provide an excellent example of how reinforcement may be used in the workplace. According to them, hospitals, for a long time, have been offering surgeons the coveted option of scheduling their elective surgeries in the middle of the week, leaving them time to teach, attend conferences, and take long weekends.

A hospital in Springfield, Missouri decided to remedy this scheduling issue by spreading its elective surgeries out over five days, rather than two. The fines went into a pool which rewarded those surgeons who were on time the most. In this program, the fine for late surgeries would be considered negative punishment because something desirable money was removed negative in order to decrease the unwanted behavior punishment. The monetary reward for being on time the most would be considered positive reinforcement because something desirable money was added positive in order to increase the desirable behavior reinforcement.

Another example of reinforcement theory in action is the story of Snowfly, a new company that designs, implements and administers workforce incentive programs. Snowfly's approach to employee motivation follows reinforcement theory and involves four themes: immediate recognition, relevant incentive rewards, accountability, and positive reinforcement Kadlub, Program participants are informed of specific goals they need to achieve and desired behaviors they need to demonstrate. When employees successfully meet their goals, participant accounts are credited with points or game tokens.

The size or type of award the player wins is left up to chance, much like playing the slots in Las Vegas. Unfortunately the applied reinforcement theory of positive punishment or simply punishment D.

Hockenbury, has been put into effect much more often than has other forms of reinforcement. Waird, To reduce undesirable behaviors it seems almost natural to deliver a punishment rather than offer a reward. However the behavior that is being reinforced is reducing undesired behavior instead of actually trying to increase desirable behavior Waird, To increase desirable behavior, and ultimately performance in the working environment, Waird suggests the implementation of positive reinforcement as it as directly orientated to desired results.

Waird states the answer is: Yes, positive reinforcement is a critical management skill. In his article " Why Manage Behavior? A Case for Positive Reinforcement" he outlines three considerations for the successful implementation of any positive reinforcement campaign:.

Desired levels of performance should be very specifically determined, and once determined, they should be clearly stated. If you do not know how you should be performing, how can you be expected to perform? Rewards for desired performance should be appropriate to the performance, but above all they should be rewarding.

Different people elicit different feelings to different rewards. Ensure that the reward you are providing is actually rewarding to the person that is being rewarded. Rewards should follow desired performance as closely as possible.

The connection must be made between the desired performance and the reward. Many people may find it difficult to comprehend increasing desirable behaviors through positive reinforcement systems instead of reducing undesirable behaviors through punishment.

However taking the time to positively reinforce people for performing desirable behaviors could lead to more people performing more desirable behaviors, and ultimately lead to a better world Waird, This company had organizational problems such as employees not using the correct sized containers for shipping.

The results were hefty costs in shipping for the company. Managers chose to focus on feedback and positive reinforcement. This allowed managers to specify desired behaviors and praise employees for their improvement and progress. The effect of implementing OB Mod was apparent after one day. Performance increases from 45 percent up to 95 percent standard. While OB Mod can help to motivate a change in behavior within organizations, there are ethical concerns that need to be considered in the use of OB Mod in an organization.

It also has practical application such as token economy which can be applied in classrooms, prisons and psychiatric hospitals. However, operant conditioning fails to take into account the role of inherited and cognitive factors in learning, and thus is an incomplete explanation of the learning process in humans and animals. For example, Kohler found that primates often seem to solve problems in a flash of insight rather than be trial and error learning.

Also, social learning theory Bandura, suggests that humans can learn automatically through observation rather than through personal experience.

The use of animal research in operant conditioning studies also raises the issue of extrapolation. Some psychologists argue we cannot generalize from studies on animals to humans as their anatomy and physiology is different from humans, and they cannot think about their experiences and invoke reason, patience, memory or self-comfort. McLeod, S. Skinner - operant conditioning. Simply Psychology.

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Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2 4 , i Watson, J. Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20 , — Presenting the subject with something that it likes. Toggle navigation. Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement.

Download this article as a PDF. How to reference this article: How to reference this article: McLeod, S. The psychiatric nurse as a behavioral engineer.