ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

CLASSICAL
CLASSICAL
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
CONDITIONING

AND
AND

OPERANT
OPERANT CONDITIONING
CONDITIONING

ISHIKA MITTAL
19/COM/42
 CONCEPT OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Ideas of classical conditioning originate from old philosophical theories.

However it was the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov who elucidated
classical conditioning. Thus it is also known as Pavlovian Conditioning.
It involves placing a neutral signal PAVLOV'S EXPERIMENT
before a naturally occurring reflex.
Classical conditioning involves forming
an association between two stimuli
resulting in a learned response.

Pavlov set up an experiment in which he

rang a bell shortly before presenting
food to the dogs. At first, the dogs
elicited no response to the bells.
However, eventually, the dogs began to
salivate at the sound of the bell alone.
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IN ORGANIZATIONS

In the words of S.P. Robbins, "Classical conditioning is a passive. Something happens and we react in a
specific or particular way."
Classical Conditioning has a limited value in the study of Organisational Behaviour as it represents only a
very small part of total human learning.
Human beings are more complex than dogs but less amenable to simple cause-and-effect conditioning,
and the behavioural environment in organisations is also complex.
It is elicited in response to a specific, identifiable response and such it explains simple and flexible
behaviours. But behaviour of people in organisations is is emitted is voluntary not elicited and reflexive.
Although most managers will not directly employ the principles of classical conditioning, it is important
for them to understand the process. It can help explain why punitive or disciplinary actions should be
avoided or used with caution, and managers may find an understanding of classical conditioning useful
in modifying their own behaviour.
It would be wonderful if employers could train people to do what you would like them to do by ringing a
bell, as the story about Pavlov’s dog goes, but just studying the basics of psychology can help managers
better understand their employees and create strategies that help them perform better in the workplace.
 EXAMPLE FOR CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IN ORGANIZATIONS

Time and again, corporates across various lines of business have used classical
conditioning to improve employee efficiency. For instance a bell/time clock that makes
a loud noise whenever someone punches in late would create conditioned responses
such as flinching at the sound of the noise and being embarrassed. In order to avoid
that stimulus and the conditioned response, many employees would try harder to be on
time. This approach has worked for many people to build a good habit of punctuality.
The four factors of classical conditioning at work:
The unconditioned stimulus was reaching late to the office.
The unconditioned response was the employee' s natural embarrassment in response
to being late.
The neutral stimulus is employee not being bothered by the sound of the clock
The conditioned stimulus was the loud noise of the time clock, which previously had
no association with being late.
The conditioned response, therefore, was the instant flinching of employee and
immediately checking the time in response to the ringing of the clock, even when he
was not late.
 STAGES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

STAGE 1:
Before Conditioning
In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) (being late) produces an
unconditioned response (UCR) (being embarrassed and flinching) in the
employee.

STAGE 2:
During Conditioning
During this stage, a stimulus which produces no response (i.e. neutral)
(bell/time clock) is associated with the unconditioned stimulus (reaching
office late). At this point the bell/time clock becomes the conditioned
stimulus (CS).

STAGE 3:
After Conditioning
Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the
unconditioned stimulus (UCS) (being late) to create a new Conditioned
Response (CR).
 BEFORE CONDITIONING

UCS: Neutral stimulus:

Being Late/ UCR: Bell/Time
No response
Reaching office late Embarrassment Clock's sound

DURING CONDITIONING AFTER CONDITIONING

Bell/Time
Clock's
sound
+
UCS:
Being Late
CS:
UCR: Bell/Time CR:
Embarrassment Clock's sound Embarrassment
 COMPONENTS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

UNCONDITIONED Reaching late to office (stimulus) elicits a feeling of natural

embarrassment, establishing the importance of punctuality
STIMULUS (response).

UNCONDITIONED The feeling of natural embarrassment establishes the

importance of punctuality (response) that occurs to an
RESPONSE employee who "reaches late to the office".

The sound of the bell/time clock (stimulus) that does not

CONDITIONED
elicit the feeling of embarrassment (response) initially, but
STIMULUS comes as a result of conditioning.

The feeling of embarrassment and flinching (response that is

CONDITIONED eventually elicited by the sound of the time clock
RESPONSE (conditioned stimulus) after repeated pairing with being late
(unconditioned stimulus).
 CONCEPT OF OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant conditioning is based on the work of B.F. Skinner who advocated

that individuals emit responses that are rewarded and will not emit
responses that are neither rewarded nor punished.
This process has a wider application than the classical conditioning
approach as it provides shaping the behaviour in particular patterns.
Through operant conditioning an association is made between a behaviour
and a consequence for that particular B.F. SKINNER'S EXPERIMENT
behaviour. Operant conditioning is
also called instrumental conditioning.
S k i n n e r ' s o p e r a n t c o n d i t io n in g c h a m b er
a l s o c a l l e d ' a S k i n n e r B o x ' w a s d es ig n ed
t o t e a c h r a t s h o w t o p u s h a l ev er . Th is
behaviour is not natural for rats, so
o p e r a n t c o n d i t i o n i n g w i t h p o s it iv e a n d
n e g a t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t s w er e p er f o r m ed
i n o r d e r t o t e a c h t h e b e h a v io u r .
 OPERANT CONDITIONING IN ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations apply the direct results of lab rat experimentation in workplaces every day
through operant conditioning. Skinner proved he could train or condition rats to press a lever
to get rewarded with stimuli such as food or to not press the lever in order to avoid an
expected punishment. Similar forms of operant conditioning are useful in the workplace to
reward jobs well done and stop bad behaviours.
Organizations can use positive reinforcement to condition the brain by rewarding desired
behaviours in the form of raises, bonuses, promotions and other forms of awards or
recognition that directly relate to a job well done.
While positive reinforcement involves rewards that give you something you like, negative
reinforcement involves rewards that remove something you don't like.
While reinforcement rewards desired behaviours, punishment aims to stop undesirable
behaviours. With positive punishment, you get something you don’t want when you do
something your boss doesn’t want you to do. In the case of negative punishment, however,
when you perform inappropriately, your boss takes away something you do want.
 EXAMPLE FOR CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IN ORGANIZATIONS

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Whether in the form of salary, benefits, or paid time-off; monetary compensation is a
common form of positive reinforcement in the workplace. It is only reinforcing if delivered in
proportion with performance. For example: Competitive salary, Monetary bonus or raise,
Performance bonuses, Education reimbursement, Employee discounts, Added vacation days,
Quality health insurance/benefits, Paid sick leave, Paid parental leave, Mental health
allowance, etc.

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
Many consider negative reinforcement an effective way to strengthen a desired behaviour. It
works best when the reinforcers are presented right after a behaviour.
For example: sometimes, employees are asked to come in on Saturdays. Employees want to
rest during the weekends and a boss understands that. So in order to avoid coming in on
Saturdays, a boss can ask employees to hit the target within the week so they don’t need to
come in on the weekend. This will give employees motivation to work harder so they can have
time off on Saturday. Any opportunity to rest and relax will likely motivate an employee to
work harder so that all the targets that need to be hit are met within the work week.
 CONCLUSION
Pavlov’s pioneering work with dogs contributed greatly to what we know about
learning. His experiments explored the type of associative learning we now call

CLASSICAL
classical conditioning. Pavlov’s experiments show how stimulus-response bonds are
formed. Classical conditioning is a process that involves creating an association
between a naturally existing stimulus and a previously neutral one.
Operant conditioning is based on the work of B. F. Skinner. It is a form of learning in
which an animal or a human receives a consequence after performing a specific
behaviour. The consequence is either a reinforcer or a punisher. All reinforcement
(positive or negative) increases the likelihood of a behavioural response. All
punishment (positive or negative) decreases the likelihood of a behavioural
response.
In simple words, classical conditioning involves associating an involuntary response
and a stimulus, while operant conditioning is about associating a voluntary behaviour
and a consequence.
Today, both classical and operant conditioning are utilized for a variety of purposes
by mangers and employers in organizations and workplaces. Both the conditionings
are essential to be understood and studied because they provide testable and
practical tools for learning and behaviourism. These concepts have helped shape
serveral behaviours, habits and practices that help in increasing productivity and
efficiency in outputs produced by employees.