The document discusses several theories of learning: behaviourist theories including classical conditioning, operant conditioning; cognitive theories including Edward Tolman's cognitive framework; and social learning and social cognitive theories. Classical conditioning involves associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. Operant conditioning focuses on consequences influencing behaviour. Tolman believed cognition preceded behaviour through cue-expectancy associations. Social learning integrates behaviourist and cognitive concepts, emphasizing reciprocal cognitive, behavioural and environmental determinants. Social cognitive theory extends this with concepts like self-regulation. Learning principles can help managers guide employee behaviour and performance.

1. The theories
• The theories to be discussed will include:
• Behaviouristic theories
– Classical conditioning
– Operant conditioning
• Cognitive theory
• Social learning
• Social cognitive theory

2. Cognitive Framework
• The cognitive approach to human behaviour has
many sources of inputs ( the five senses)
• Cognition, which is the basic unit of the cognitive
framework, can be defined as the act of knowing an
item from information
• Under this framework, cognition precedes behaviour
and constitutes input into the persons thinking,
perception, problem solving, and information
processing

3. Edward Tolman Cognitive framework
• Although Tolman believed behaviour to be
appropriate unit of analysis, he felt that behaviour is
purposeful, that it is directed towards a goal
• He felt that cognitive learning consists of a
relationship between cognitive environmental cues
and expectations
• Through experimentation, he found out that a rat
could learn to run through an intricate maze, with
purpose and direction, towards goal (food)

4. • Tolman observed that at each point in the maze,
expectations were established – in other words, the
rat learned to expect a certain cogitative cue
associated with the choice point might eventually
lead to the food
• If the rat actually received the food, the association
between the cue and the expectancy was strengthen,
and leaning occurred
• Tolman’s approach could be depicted that learning is
an association between the cue and the expectancy)

5. • In his laboratory experiment, he found that animals
learned to expect a certain event would follow
another – for example, animal learned to behaviour
as if they expect food when a certain cue appeared.
• Thus, Tolman believed that learning consist of
expectancy that a particular event will lead to a
particular consequence
• This cognitive concept of expectancy implies that
the organisms is thinking about or is conscious or
aware of, the goal.

6. • Thus Tolman and others espousing the
cognitive approach felt hat behaviour is best
explained by these cognitions
• Applied to OB, cognitive approach has
dominated unit of analysis such as perception,
personality and attitudes, motivation, decision
making and goal setting

7. BEHAVIOURISTIC FRAMEWORK
• The roots of behavioristic theory of human
behaviour can be trace back to the work of Ivan
Pavlov and John Watson
• These pioneering behaviorists stressed the
importance of dealing with observable behaviour
instead of the elusive mind that had preoccupied
earlier psychologist
• They used the classical conditioning experiment to
formulate the stimulus-response (S - R) explanation
of human behaviour

8. • Both Pavlov and Watson felt that behaviour could be
best understood in terms of S-R
• A stimulus elicit response
• They concentrated mainly on the impact of the
stimulus and felt that learning occurred when the S -
R connection was made
• Ivan Pavlov who attributed leaning to the association
or connection between stimulus and response (S-R

9. • Based on Pavlov classical conditioning experiment
using dogs as subjects
• When presented with meat powder ( unconditioned
stimulus) - the dog secreted saliva (unconditioned
response)
• When he merely rang a bell (neutral stimulus) the
dog did not salivate
• When meat was accompanied with the ringing of the
bell several times, then Pavlov rang the bell without
presenting the meat, the dog salivated to the bell
alone

10. • Conclusion - that the dog has become classically
conditioned to salivate (conditioned response) to the
sound of the bell ( conditioned stimulus
• Thus classical conditioned can be defined as a
process in which a formerly neutral stimulus, when
paired with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes a
conditioned stimulus that elicit a conditioned
response; in other words, the S-R connection is
learned

11. Example of Pavlov S - R
• Stimulus (S)
• Is stuck by a pin
• Is shocked by an electric
current
• Is surprised by a loud
sound
• Is tapped below the
kneecap
• Response ®
• Flinches
• Jumps/screams
• Jumps/screams
• Flexes lower leg

12. B.F Skinner
• Another psychologist whose work explains this framework is
B. F. Skinner.
• He felt that the early behaviorists helped explain
respondent’s behaviours (those behaviours elicited by
stimulus) but not the more complex operant behaviours
• In other words, the S -R approach helped explain the physical
reflexes, for examples, when stuck by a pin (S), the person
will flinch ( R) or when tapped below the kneecap (S) the
Epson will extend the lower leg ( R)

13. • Skinner felt that classical conditioning explains only
respondent (reflexive) behaviours. – i.e. involuntary
responses that are elicited by a stimulus
• He felt that more complex, but common human behaviour
cannot be explained by classical conditioning alone.
• He noted that the greater part of the behaviour of an
organism was under control of stimuli which were effective
only because they were correlated with reinforcing
consequences
• Through his research thus , skinner posited that behaviour
was a function of consequences, not the classical conditioning
eliciting stimuli

14. • He felt that most human behaviour affects, or operates on,
the environment to receive a desirable consequences.
• This type of behaviour is learned through operant
conditioning
• Operant conditioning is concerned primarily with learning
that occurs as a consequence of behaviour, or R-S.
• It is not concerned with the eliciting causes of behaviour, as
classical , or respondent, conditioning is
• The organism has to operate on an environment (thus the
term operant conditioning) in order to receive the desirable
consequences.

15. • The preceding stimulus does not cause the behaviour
in operant conditioning; it serves as a cue to emit the
behaviour. For skinner and other behaviorists,
behaviour is a function of its contingent
environmental consequences
• So behavourisitic approach is environmentally based.
It posits that cognitive processes such as thinking,
expectancies, and perception may exist but are not
needed to predict and control or manage behaviour

16. • On the other hand, Skinner found out through
his operant conditioning experiment, that the
consequences of a response could better
explain most behaviour than elicit stimuli
could
• He emphasized the importance of the
response-stimulus (R -S) relationship

17. Example of Skinners operant conditioning
• Response ®
• Works
• Talks to others
• Enters a restaurant
• Enters a library
• Increases productivity
• Completes a difficult
assignment
• Stimulus (S)
• Paid
• Meets more people
• Obtain food
• Finds a book
• Receives merit pay
• Receives praise or a
promotion

18. Behaviouristic theories
• These came out of the behaviorist school of thought
in psychology and derived from the work of:
Classical behaviorist like Ivan Pavlov who attributed
leaning to the association or connection between
stimulus and response (S-R)
• The operant behaviorist, in particular the well
known American psychologist B. F. Skinner who give
more attention to the role that consequences play in
learning or the response –stimulus (R-S) connection

19. Classical conditioning
• Based on Pavlov classical conditioning experiment
using dogs as subjects
• When presented with meat powder ( unconditioned
stimulus) - the dog secreted saliva (unconditioned
response)
• When he merely rang a bell (neutral stimulus) the
dog did not salivate
• When meat was accompanied with the ringing of the
bell several times, then Pavlov rang the bell without
presenting the meat, the dog salivated to the bell
alone

20. Classical conditioning (cont..)
• Conclusion - that the dog has become classically
conditioned to salivate (conditioned response) to the
sound of the bell ( conditioned stimulus
• Thus classical conditioned can be defined as a
process in which a formerly neutral stimulus, when
paired with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes a
conditioned stimulus that elicit a conditioned
response; in other words, the S-R connection is
learned
• This theory is seen to be used in marketing

21. Operant conditioning
• Skinner felt that classical conditioning explains only respondent
(reflexive) behaviours. – i.e. involuntary responses that are elicited by a
stimulus
• He felt that more complex, but common human behaviour cannot be
explained by classical conditioning alone.
• He noted that the greater part of the behaviour of an organism was under
control of stimuli which were effective only because they were correlated
with reinforcing consequences
• Through his research thus , skinner posited that behaviour was a function
of consequences, not the classical conditioning eliciting stimuli
• He felt that most human behaviour affects, or operates on, the
environment to receive a desirable consequences.
• This type of behaviour is learned through operant conditioning

22. Operant conditioning (cont..)
• Operant conditioning is concerned primarily
with learning that occurs as a consequence of
behaviour, or R-S.
• It is not concerned with the eliciting causes of
behaviour, as classical , or respondent,
conditioning is

23. Differences between operant and classical
Classical
• A change in the stimulus
(US to CS ) will elicit a
particular responses
• The strength and
frequency of classically
conditioned behaviour are
determined mainly by the
frequency of the eliciting
stimuli ( the
environmental events that
precedes the behaviour)
Operant
• One particular response
out of many possible ones
occur in a given stimulus
• The stimulus situation
serves as a cue for person
to emit response and does
not elicit response

24. Differences between operant and classical
(cont..)
• The strength and
frequency of classically
conditioned behaviour
are determined mainly
by the frequency of
the eliciting stimuli (
the environmental
events that precedes
the behaviour)
• The strength and
frequency of operantly
conditioned
behaviours are
determined mainly by
the consequences (the
environmental event
that follows behaviour)

25. Differences between operant and classical
(cont..)
• During the classical
conditioning process,
the unconditioned
stimulus, serving as a
reward is presented
every time
• The reward s
presented only after
the organism gives the
correct response
• The organism must
operate in the
environment (thus the
term operant
conditioning) in order
to receive a reward

26. Examples of classical conditioning
Stimulus (S)
• Is stuck by a pin
• Is shocked by an
electric current
• Is surprised by a loud
sound
• Is tapped below the
kneecap
Response ®
• Flinches
• Jumps/screams
• Jumps/screams
• Flexes lower leg

27. Examples of operant conditioning
Response ®
• Works
• Talks to others
• Enters a restaurant
• Enters a library
• Increases productivity
• Completes a difficult
assignment
Stimulus (S)
• Paid
• Meets more people
• Obtain food
• Finds a book
• Receives merit pay
• Receives praise or a
promotion

28. Operant conditioning
• Today operant conditioning has much greater impact
on human learning than classical conditioning
• It explain much of organizational behaviour
• E.g. people go to work to feed, cloth and house
themselves and their families - working (conditioned
response) is instrumental in obtaining food, shelter
and clothing
• Managers can analyse the consequences of
organizational behaviour, to change the
environment, and help accomplish goals

29. Cognitive theories
• Edward Tolman is widely recognized as
pioneer of cognitive theorists
• He felt that cognitive learning consists of a
relationship between cognitive environmental
cues and expectations
• Through experimentation, he found out that a
rat could learn to run through an intricate
maze, with purpose and direction, towards
goal (food)

30. Edward Tolman – Cognitive theory
• Tolman observed that at each point in the maze, expectations
were established – in other words, the rat learned to expect a
certain cogitative cue associated with the choice point might
eventually lead to the food
• If the rat actually received the food, the association between
the cue and the expectancy was strengthen, and leaning
occurred
• In contrast to the S-R and R – S learning in classical and
operant approaches, Tolman’s approach could be depicted as
S-S ( stimulus-stimulus) or learning the association between
the cue and the expectancy)

31. Social learning and social cognitive theory
• This theory combines and integrates both behaviorist
and cognitive concepts and emphasizes the
interactive, reciprocal nature of cognitive, behavioral,
and environmental determinants
• Social learning theory recognizes and draws from
the principles of classical and operant conditioning
but went beyond classical and operant theory by
recognizing that there is more to leaning than direct
learning via antecedent stimuli and contingent
consequences

32. • Social learning takes position that behaviour
can best b explained in terms of continuous
interactions among cognitive, behavioral and
environmental determinants
• The person and the environmental situation
do not function as independent unit but in
conjunction with behaviour itself

33. • It is largely through their actions that people
produce the environmental condition that
affect their behaviour in a reciprocal fashion
• The experience generated by behaviour also
partly determines what a person becomes and
can do which in tern affects subsequent
behaviour

34. Org. participant, environment and behaviour
- relationship
• participant control their own behaviour to
the extent that they rely on cognitive
support and manage relevant environmental
cues and consequences
• Cognitive representation of reality helps
guide organizational behaviour
• Much of complex behaviour is acquired by
directly observing others in the surrounding
environment

35. Organizational participants
Organizational behaviour
Organizational environment

36. Social learning theory (cont..)
• Social learning theory posits that learning can also
take place via vicarious/explicit/shocking/juicy, or
modeling, and self –control conditioning processes.
• Thus social learning theory agrees with classical and
operant conditioning processes, but says they too are
limiting and adds vicarious, modeling and self-control
processes

37. Social cognition – Albert Bandura
• This theory goes beyond social learning
• It extents learning and/or modifying by giving more
attention to self-regulatory mechanisms
• Specifically, social cognitive theory identifies five
capabilities that people use to initiate, regulate and
sustain their behaviours.
• Theses are (1) symbolizing, (2) forethoughts, (3)
vicarious/ modeling learning (observational) , (4) self
regulation, and (5) self reflection

38. • Learning is one of the fundamental behaviour
processes, involves both the development and
the modification of thoughts and behaviours
• Other concepts and aspects of organizational
behaviour 9 for example motivation that will
be discussed in later chapters can be fully
explained with the use of learning principles

39. • New employees will bring with them a set of
previously leaned ways of behaving. They are then
expected to learn additional information than applies
to their jobs.
• Established employees continue to develop their job
related skills and abilities
• Therefore, learning is a never ending process for all
employees.

40. • The process is also very complex. -an employee
who has already learned one way to perform a
job may have trouble learning a second albeit
better way
• An employee motivation to perform is closely
linked to learning.
• Therefore a manager who understands leaning
process can use the principles of learning to
guide employees behaviour and performance.

41. • Today operant conditioning has much greater impact
on human learning than classical conditioning
• It explain much of organizational behaviour
• E.g. people go to work to feed, cloth and house
themselves and their families - working (conditioned
response) is instrumental in obtaining food, shelter
and clothing
• Managers can analyse the consequences of
organizational behaviour, to change the
environment, and help accomplish goals

42. Social cognitive Framework
• The cognitive approach has been accused of being
mentalistic, and the behavioristic approach has been accused
of being deterministic.
• Social Cognitive theorists argue that the S-R model and to a
lesser degree the R –S model, are too mechanistic explanation
of human
• The social cognitive approach tires to integrate the
contribution so both of these approaches
• Social cognitive theory recognizes the importance of
behaviorism’s contingent environmental consequences, but
also includes cognitive processes of self regulation

43. • Based on the work of Albert Bandura social learning theory
and David and Luthans, this framework proposes a social
learning approach to organizational behaviour
• Social learning takes the position that behaviour can best be
explained in terms of a continuous reciprocal interaction
among cognitive, behavioral and environmental determinants.
• The persons and the environmental situations do not
function as independent units but, in conjunction with the
behaviour itself, reciprocally interact to determine behaviour

44. • Bandura explains that “it is largely through their actions that
people produce the environmental conditions that affect their
behavior in a reciprocal fashion
• The expediencies generated by behaviour also partly
determine what a person becomes and can do which in turn,
affects subsequent behaviour
• A triangular model of Organizational participants,
organizational environment and organizational behaviour
takes this social learning work of Bandura and translates it
into relevant unit of analysis and variables of organizational
behaviour

45. • Org. participant, environment and behaviour -
relationship
• participant control their own behaviour to the extent that they
rely on cognitive support and manage relevant environmental
cues and consequences
• Cognitive representation of reality helps guide organizational
behaviour
• Much of complex behaviour is acquired by directly observing
others in the surrounding environment
• Bandura has taken his social leaning and developed into the
more comprehensive social cognitive theory (SCT).
Specifically SCT recognises the importance of behaviorism’s
contingent environmental consequences, but also includes
cognitive processes of self regulation