Foundations of Individual Behavior.
CH2 – Foundations of Individual Behavior
Ability * Everyone has strengths and weaknesses that make them superior or inferior to others * Ability refers to an individuals capacity to perform various tasks * Intellectual * Mental activities * Assessed by GMA (General Mental Ability), takes into account aptitude, verbal comp, perceptual speed, inductive/deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, memory * High score in one cat usually means high score in another * GMA widely used * Side note: The correlation between intelligence and job satisfaction is about 0 smarter people expect more and are more critical of their jobs * Physical – 9 basic abilities (cats include: strength, flexibility, .etc)
Biographical characteristics
Age * demands in most jobs are not extreme enough for age to become a significant factor impacting productivity * often any age related con is offset by experience * employee satisfaction continues as they age
Gender - women have higher rates of absenteeism often at-home responsibilities are placed on the women
Race = biological heritage people use to identify themselves – racial minorities are disadvantaged in terms of pay
Learning * any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience * takes place in an individual when the individual BEHAVES, REACTS, AND RESPONDS differently as a result of experience * involves CHANGE (good or bad) * 3 theories – how we learn: classical, operant, social
Classical conditioning – passive, simple, elicited, reflexive (PAVLOV) * elicited in response to a specific identifiable event * involves building up an association between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus * can explain SIMPLE reflexive behaviors
Operant conditioning – active, complex, emitted, voluntary (SKINNER) * explains COMPLEX behavior, emitted rather than
Ability * Everyone has strengths and weaknesses that make them superior or inferior to others * Ability refers to an individuals capacity to perform various tasks * Intellectual * Mental activities * Assessed by GMA (General Mental Ability), takes into account aptitude, verbal comp, perceptual speed, inductive/deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, memory * High score in one cat usually means high score in another * GMA widely used * Side note: The correlation between intelligence and job satisfaction is about 0 smarter people expect more and are more critical of their jobs * Physical – 9 basic abilities (cats include: strength, flexibility, .etc)
Biographical characteristics
Age * demands in most jobs are not extreme enough for age to become a significant factor impacting productivity * often any age related con is offset by experience * employee satisfaction continues as they age
Gender - women have higher rates of absenteeism often at-home responsibilities are placed on the women
Race = biological heritage people use to identify themselves – racial minorities are disadvantaged in terms of pay
Learning * any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience * takes place in an individual when the individual BEHAVES, REACTS, AND RESPONDS differently as a result of experience * involves CHANGE (good or bad) * 3 theories – how we learn: classical, operant, social
Classical conditioning – passive, simple, elicited, reflexive (PAVLOV) * elicited in response to a specific identifiable event * involves building up an association between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus * can explain SIMPLE reflexive behaviors
Operant conditioning – active, complex, emitted, voluntary (SKINNER) * explains COMPLEX behavior, emitted rather than