Ability And Learning

Ability And Learning

Ability refers to an individuals capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. It is a current assessment of what one can do. An individual’s overall abilities are essentially made up of two sets of factors:1. Intellectual abilities 2. Physical abilities

Dimensions of Intellectual Ability ••Number Numberaptitude aptitude ••Verbal Verbalcomprehension comprehension ••Perceptual Perceptualspeed speed ••Inductive Inductivereasoning reasoning ••Deductive Deductivereasoning reasoning ••Spatial Spatialvisualization visualization ••Memory Memory

Intellectual abilities Dimensions

Descriptions

Job example

Ability to do seedy and accurate arithmetic

Accountant

Verbal comprehension

Ability to understand what is read or heard

Manager

Perceptual speed

Ability to identify visual similarities & differences quickly.

Fire investigator

Inductive reasoning

Ability to identify logical sequence in a problem

Market researcher

Deductive reasoning

Ability to use logic

Supervisor

Spatial visualization

Ability to imagine hoe an object would look if its position in space were changed

Interior decorator

Memory

Ability to retain and recall

Doctor

Number Aptitude

Physical Abilities It is the capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics. Strength factor • Dynamic strength • Trunk strength • Static strength • Explosive

Nine Physical Abilities Strength Factors 1. Dynamic strength 2. Trunk strength 3. Static strength 4. Explosive strength

Flexibility Factors 5. Extent flexibility

Other Factors

6. Dynamic flexibility

7. Body coordination 8. Balance 9. Stamina E X H I B I T 2–2

The Ability-Job Fit The main concern of OB is with explaining and predicting the behaviour of people at work. we all know that jobs make different demands on people and that people differ in the abilities they possess. Therefore, employee performance is enhanced when there is a high ability-job fit.

The Ability-Job Fit

Employee’s Abilities

Ability-Job Fit

Job’s Ability Requirements

The specific intellectual or physical abilities required for adequate job performance depend on the ability requirements of the job. For example airline pilot needs strong spatial-visualization abilities; beach lifeguards need spatialvisualization and body co-ordination. Directing attention to only the employee’s abilities or only the ability requirements of the job ignores the fact that employee performance depends on the interaction of the two.

What predictions can we make when the fit is poor? If the employees lack the abilities, they are likely to fail. If you are hired as a word processor and you cannot meet the job’s basic keyboard typing requirements, your performance is going to be poor irrespective of your positive attitude or your high level of motivation. When the ability-job fit is because the employee has abilities that far exceed the requirements of the job, the predictions would be totally different.

In this situation the job performance is likely to be adequate, but there will be organizational inefficiencies and possible decline in the job satisfaction. Given that pay tends to reflect the highest skill level that employees possess, if an employee’s ability far exceed those necessary to do the job, management will be paying more than it needs to. Abilities significant above those required can also reduce the employee’s job satisfaction when the employee’s desire to use his or her abilities is particularly strong and is frustrated by the limitations of the job.

Learning Learning is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience. The various components that deserve clarification are:1. It involves change. 2. Change can be good or bad for the organization. 3. Change must be relatively permanent. 4. Learning takes place when there is a change in actions i.e. behaviour. 5. Some form of experience is necessary for learning.

The Learning Process Shaping Shaping

Environment

Law Law of of Effect Effect

Environment

Modeling Modeling

Theories Of Learning • Classical Conditioning • Operant Conditioning • Social Learning • Cognitive Learning

Classical Conditioning • Given by Ivan Pavlov who was a physiologist. • He conducted an experiment on dog to measure the relation between the amount of food presented and the amount of salivation. • According to this theory a cause-andeffect relationship is established between one stimulus and a response. • It tells us that we tend form a relation between various stimulus's.

UCS (Meat)

CS (Bell)

CS (Bell)

UCR (salivation)

+

UCS (Meat)

UCR (Salivation)

CR (Salivation)

Factors Influencing Classical Conditioning • The number of paring of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditional stimulus. Greater the number of paring stronger is the response. • Intensity of the UCS. • The time gap between CS and UCS. • Conditioning will take place only when CS is followed by UCS.

Limitations • Humans are more complex than dogs • Behavioral environment in the organizational is complex in nature • Human decision making being complex in nature makes it possible to override simple conditioning.

Operant Conditioning • This theory was given by B.F.Skinner after conducting exp on a cat, pigeon etc • It argues that behaviour is a function of its consequences. • People learn to behave to get some thing they want or some thing they don’t want. • Operant behaviour means voluntary or learned behaviour. • The tendency to repeat such behaviour is influenced by the reinforcement or lack of it. • Therefore it is also known as reinforcement theory.

• It is also called instrumental conditioning because the subject is instrumental in bringing abut the consequence. • The behaviour that results in positive rewards tends to be repeated and that with negative result not to be repeated. • Thus behaviour can be controlled by manipulating its consequences.

Cognitive Learning Theory • Cognition refers to individual’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation and understanding about the individuals and environment. • Cognition focuses on an unobservable change in mental knowledge. • Cognitive learning is learning achieved by thinking about the perceived relationship between events and individual goals and expectations.

Assumptions Of Cognitive Theory • Some learning processes may be unique to human beings. • Cognitive processes are the focus of study. • Individuals are actively involved in the learning process. • Learning involves the formation of mental associations that are not necessarily reflected in overt behaviour changes. • Learning is a process of relating new information to previously learned information. • Knowledge is organized.

Social Learning Theory • It focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context. • It considers how people learn from one another, involving such concepts as observational learning. Imitation and modeling. • According to Bandura, modeling is done by observing others behaviour through reinforcement, environment and the interactions with the world and society.

Principles Of Social Learning Theory • People can learn by observing the behaviors of others and the outcomes of those behaviors. • Learning can occur without a change in behavior. • The consequences of behavior play a role in learning. • Cognition plays a role in learning.

Four Process While Modeling 1. Attention process (recognize and pay attention) 2. Retention process (how well he remembers the model) 3. Motor reproduction process (watching must be converted to doing) 4. Reinforcement process (positive incentives)

Attentional

Recognize

Retention

Remember

Motor Reproduction

Do

Reinforcement

Get rewarded

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