Question

When Parvati Patil took over as the new department manager, she discovered that the existing staff was unusually inefficient and unproductive. Parvati learned that the previous manager often criticized and chided staff members for every little mistake until many of the best employees had left and the rest felt demoralized.

Parvati resolved not to criticize or punish staff members unless it was absolutely necessary. Instead, she frequently complimented them whenever they did a good job. She set daily production goals for them, and every Friday afternoon she bought lunch for all staff members who met their goals each day that week. Moreover, Parvati randomly conducted spot checks on what staff members were doing; if she found them hard at work, she gave them small rewards such as extra break time.

Within just three months, productivity in Parvati’s department nearly doubled. It became the most efficient department in the company.

1). How did Parvati take advantage of principles of operant conditioning to modify her staff’s behavior?

2). How could Parvati train her staff to complete a complex new task that they had never done before? Be sure to specifically name and describe the technique that she would be using

3). How might Parvati make use of principles of cognitive learning theory to improve her staff’s productivity?

4). Name and describe 2 types of partial reinforcement schedules Parvati used

Answer 1

Answer 1: The operant conditioning method is when there is a connection made between a behaviour and the result. Here, Parvati used this method by rewarding the employees for behavior. By doing this she tried to make an association the behavior and the result.

Answer 2:  Parvati can train her staff to complete a complex new task that they had never done before by using the Positive reinforcement technique. This means giving something to the employees when they perform the the desired task. This will also motivate them to do the complex task as well as do such difficult task more often because of the reward. Parvati could include some bonus as a reward for those who can do that complex task.  

Answer 3: Parvati could use various principles of cognitive learning theory to improve her staff’s productivity like improving work discipline, encouraging the staff by being personal to them.

Answer 4: Two types of partial reinforcement schedules Parvati used are Fixed ratio schedules and Variable ratio. Fixed ratio occurs when a particular reinforcement is carried out after doing a behaviour for a number of times. Parvati applied this technique as she rewarded the employee who completed the daily goal of one week.

variable ratio. She also used variable ratio as the behaviour is reinforced after an indefinite number of responses. Parvati bought lunch for only those who completed the goal task and not all.