Case Study Assignemt
Kenneth Thompson 21909857 November 17, 2014
Case Study 1: “The Case of the Manager Who Doubled
Productivity,” page 195 Case Study 2: “The Case of Mike and Marty Scanlon, the
Unlikely Twins,” page 383 Essentials of Psychology SSC130n
Assignment 25063000
Case Study 1 1 One way that Cliff could take advantage of principles of operant conditioning to change his staff’s behavior is to give them punishments for bad behavior. Some people need punishments so they will not have bad behavior all of the time.
2. The use of punishment didn't work for Cliff's predecessor because he used it often and never rewarded good behavior. Reinforcement would control behavior because it is a presentation of something that is pleasant which will produce a more positive outcome.
3. Cliff used a partial reinforcement schedule by setting daily production goals. For those who met their goals every day that week their reward was lunch on Fridays. He also conducted random spot checks on employees, the ones at work were rewarded. Cliff used a fixed-interval, variable-interval and fixed-ratio schedule.
4. Cliff was good at training his staff a complex new task. Shaping builds the desired behavior in steps and rewards those behaviors that get closer to the final goal. As the employee finishes each step they move to the next one in order to receive a reward.
5. In cognitive learning the person learns by listening, watching, reading, touching or experiencing and remembering the information. He could increase the productivity by making work more interesting. This would fulfill the employees need for growth which is great for the employee and the work getting done.
Case Study 2
Marty and mike couldn’t be any more different than two strangers.
Case Study 1: “The Case of the Manager Who Doubled
Productivity,” page 195 Case Study 2: “The Case of Mike and Marty Scanlon, the
Unlikely Twins,” page 383 Essentials of Psychology SSC130n
Assignment 25063000
Case Study 1 1 One way that Cliff could take advantage of principles of operant conditioning to change his staff’s behavior is to give them punishments for bad behavior. Some people need punishments so they will not have bad behavior all of the time.
2. The use of punishment didn't work for Cliff's predecessor because he used it often and never rewarded good behavior. Reinforcement would control behavior because it is a presentation of something that is pleasant which will produce a more positive outcome.
3. Cliff used a partial reinforcement schedule by setting daily production goals. For those who met their goals every day that week their reward was lunch on Fridays. He also conducted random spot checks on employees, the ones at work were rewarded. Cliff used a fixed-interval, variable-interval and fixed-ratio schedule.
4. Cliff was good at training his staff a complex new task. Shaping builds the desired behavior in steps and rewards those behaviors that get closer to the final goal. As the employee finishes each step they move to the next one in order to receive a reward.
5. In cognitive learning the person learns by listening, watching, reading, touching or experiencing and remembering the information. He could increase the productivity by making work more interesting. This would fulfill the employees need for growth which is great for the employee and the work getting done.
Case Study 2
Marty and mike couldn’t be any more different than two strangers.