INSHA ALLAH A FUTURE PSYCHOLOGIST

1. PERSPECTIVES OF INDUSTRIAL AND
ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
PREPARED BY;
QURAT-ULL-AIN SARWAR

2. PERSPECTVES OF INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONALPSYCHOLOGY
PERSPECTIVE;
A point of view, a particular way of considering something, and to think about a
situation or problem in a wise and reasonable way.
PSYCHOLOGY;
Psychology is the scientific study of mental process and behavior.
INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY;
Industry is a division in which processing of raw materials and manufacturing and trade
of goods take place. Industrial psychology looks at behavior that occurs within the work place.
ORAGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY;
Organization is a group of people who work interdependently towards some purpose.
Organizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces, and organizations.
INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY;
I/O psychology is concerned with understanding human skills and abilities, how they
change and develop over time, and how they impact behaviors in organizational settings. It is the
usage of psychological principles and theories to the workplace.
PERSPECTIVES OF I/O PSYCHOLOGY;
The perspectives of industrial and organizational psychology; as the definition of I/O
psychology says it is the usage of psychological principles and theories to the workplace, so it
include motivation theories nor the perspectives like psychoanalytic, humanistic, behavioral,
biological and others. Motivational theories in I/O psychology are used for the motivation of
employees. Within organizational psychology, the study of employee motivation represents one
of the most important topics in the disciplines. These motivation theories actually determine the
perspectives of I/O psychology.
o Motivational theories
I. Need based theories

3. II. Job based theories
III. Cognitive process theories
IV. Reinforcement theories
REINFORCEMENT THEORY (THE BEHAVIORAL APPROACH)
INTODUCTION;
o Reinforcement is defined as anything that causes a certain behaviors to be repeated or
inhibited.
o Reinforcement theory is simply looks at the relationship between behavior and its
consequences.
CONTRIBUTIONS:
Modern reinforcement theory can be traced to Thorndike’s (1898) discussion of animal
behavior, although many others have contributed to its development like; Hull, Skinner and
Tolman.
EDWARD THORNDIKE’S REINFORCEMENT THEORY;
Edward Thorndike (1898) is famous in psychology
for his work on learning theory that lead to the
development of operant conditioning within
Behaviorism.
Experiment;
Thorndike studied learning in animals (usually cats). He devised a classic experiment in
which he used a puzzle box to empirically test the laws of learning. He placed a cat in the puzzle
box, which was encourage to escape to reach a scrap of fish placed outside. Thorndike would
put a cat into the box and time how long it took to escape. The cats experimented with different
ways to escape the puzzle box and reach the fish. Eventually they would stumble upon the lever
which opened the cage. When it had escaped it was put in again, and once more the time it took
to escape was noted. In successive trials the cats would learn that pressing the lever would have
favorable consequences and they would adopt this behavior, becoming increasingly quick at
pressing the lever. Edward Thorndike put forward a “Law of effect” which stated that any
behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and any behavior
followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped.

4. THORNDIKE’S PUZZLE BOX
Thorndike (1905) introduced the concept of reinforcement and was the first to apply
psychological principles to the area of learning. His research led to many theories and laws of
learning, such as operant conditioning.
B.F SKINNER’S REINFORCEMENT THEORY;
Indeed, Skinner's theory of operant conditioning is
built on the ideas of Edward Thorndike. Skinner (1938),
like Thorndike, put animals in boxes and observed them
to see what they were able to learn. Skinner proposes that
the consequences of behavior will motivate employees to
behave in pre-determined ways.

5. HULL’S REINFORCEMENT THEORY;
The learning theories of Thorndike and Pavlov were
later synthesized by Hull (1935). The DRIVE REDUCTION
THEORY created by Behaviorist Clark Hull to explain behavior,
learning and motivation. In this theory he emphasized on
Biological needs. Basic concept’s in Hull’s theory was;
Need- physiological imbalances
Drive- state of tension
Reinforcement-reward (primary and secondary)
Goal- commodity which reduce drive.
According to Hull physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates
organism to satisfy the need.
TOLMAN’S REINFORCEMENT THEORY;
According to Tolman’s theory of sign learning, an organism learns by pursuing signs to
a goal, i.e., learning is acquired through meaningful behavior. Tolman emphasized the organized
aspect of learning. Tolman (1932) proposed five types of learning: (1) approach learning, (2)
escape learning, (3) avoidance learning, (4) choice-point learning, and (5) latent learning. All
forms of learning depend upon means-end readiness.

6. SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT:
o Continuous reinforcement
i. Each and every desirable behavior is reinforced.
o Intermittent reinforcement
I. Time based schedules
a. Fixed interval
b. Variable interval
II. Output based schedules
a. Fixed ratio
b. Variable ratio
EXAMPLE FOR APPLYING REINFORCEMENT STARTEGIES
ORGANIZATION BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION;
In organizations the application of behaviorism is known as Organizational Behavior
Modification (OBM). This approach has been used to influence a number of behaviors, such as
safety, suggestive selling and production efficiency. Reinforcement modification is a technique,
based on the reinforcement theory, can be used to change people’s action by changing their
outcomes. Theoretically, any of the motivational process can be used to modify behavior.