CLASSI

O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L B E H AV I O U R

CLASSICAL

CAL
CONDITIONING
AND
OPERANT I S H I K A M I T TA L
19/COM/42
 CONCEPT OF CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING
Id eas of c las s ica l co nditi oning or igin ate f r om old p hilos oph ical the orie s. H ow e ver
i t wa s the Rus s ian phys iol ogis t I van P avlov w ho e luci dat ed cl assical cond iti oning.
T hus it is als o k now n as P avl ovian Condit ioni ng.
• It in vol ves pl aci ng a neut r al s ign al befor e a PAVLOV'S EXPERIMENT
nat ur al l y occur ri ng ref lex.
• Classical condi t i oni ng i nv olv es f ormi ng an
associat io n between t wo st i mul i r esul t i ng i n
a learn ed resp onse.

P av lov se t up an expe r im ent in w hi ch he r an g

a be ll shor tl y bef or e pr ese nti ng fo od t o the
dog s. A t f ir s t, the do gs elic ite d no r e sp onse
t o t he be lls . H ow ever, even tuall y, the dogs
be gan to s al ivate at t he s oun d of the bell
a lone.
 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
Ti me and again , co rpor at es acr oss vari ous l i nes of bus in ess hav e used cl assi cal condi t i oni ng t o
i mp rov e empl oyee effi ci ency. For in s t an ce a b el l / t i me cl ock t h at m ak es a l o ud no i se whenev er
so meone p un ch es i n l at e wou l d cr eat e cond i t i o ned r espo nses such as fl i n ch i n g at t h e s oun d o f t he
no i se and bei ng em barr assed. I n o rd er t o av oi d t hat st i mu l us and t he co nd i t i on ed resp on se, many
empl o yees wo ul d t ry har der t o be on t i me. Thi s ap pr oach has wo rk ed fo r man y p eo pl e t o b ui l d a
go od h ab i t of p un ct ual i t y.
Th e f ou r f act or s o f cl as si cal con di t i o ni n g at wor k:
• Th e un cond i t i o ned st i mu l u s was reach i ng l at e t o t he offi ce.
• Th e un cond i t i on ed resp on se was t h e empl o yee's nat ur al em bar rassm en t i n r es pon se t o b ei n g
l at e.
• Th e neu t ral st i m ul us i s emp l oy ee no t b ei ng b ot h er ed by t h e so un d of t he cl o ck
• Th e con di t i o ned st i mu l us was t h e l ou d no i se o f t he t i me cl ock, wh i ch p r ev i ou sl y had no
as soci at i o n wi t h b ei ng l at e.
• Th e con di t i o ned r es po ns e, t heref or e, was t h e i n st ant f l i nchi n g o f empl o yee and i mm ed i at el y
ch eck i ng t h e t i m e i n r es po nse t o t he r i ngi ng o f t he cl o ck , even when he was n ot l at e.
 STAGES OF CLASSICAL
S TA G E 1:
Befo re Condi tion ing
CONDITIONING
In thi s s ta ge, the un condit ione d s t imu lus ( U CS ) ( bei ng l ate ) pro duces an
unco nditi oned r es pons e ( U CR) ( bein g em bar r a ss ed a nd f li nchi ng) in the em ployee .

S TA G E 2:
D uring Condit ioni ng
D uring thi s st age , a st imu lus w hic h pr oduce s no r e sp onse ( i . e. ne utral ) (bel l/t im e
cl ock) is as s oci ated w ith the uncondi tio ned s tim ulus ( r ea ching office la te ). A t this
point the bell /ti me clo ck bec ome s t he c ondit ioned st im ulus ( CS ).

S TA G E 3:
A fter Condit ioni ng
N ow the condi tione d s tim ulus ( CS ) has b een as s oci ated wi th the u ncondi tion ed
stim ulus (U CS ) ( be ing late ) to cr ea te a new Cond iti oned R es ponse (CR) .
 BEFORE CONDITIONING

UCS: Neutral stimulus:

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

DURING AFTER
Bell / Time CONDITIONING CONDITIONING
Cl ock's
sound
+
UCS:
Being Late
CS:
UCR: Bell/Time Clock's CR:
Embarrassment sound Embarrassment
 COMPONENTS OF CLASSICAL
UN C O N D IT I O N E D
CONDITIONING
Reaching late to office (stimulus) elicits a feeling of natural
embarrassment, establishing the importance of punctuality (response).
ST I M UL U S

The feeling of natural embarrassment establishes the importance of

UN C O N D IT I O N E D
punctuality (response) that occurs to an employee who "reaches late to
R E SP ON SE the office".

The sound of the bell/time clock (stimulus) that does not elicit the
C O N D I T IO N E D feeling of embarrassment (response) initially, but comes as a result of
ST I M UL U S conditioning.

The feeling of embarrassment and flinching (response that is

C O N D I T IO N E D eventually elicited by the sound of the time clock (conditioned
R E SP ON SE stimulus) after repeated pairing with being late (unconditioned
stimulus).
 CONCEPT OF OPERANT
CONDITIONING
• Oper an t cond i t i o ni n g i s based o n t he wor k o f B.F. S k i nn er who ad vo cat ed t h at
i nd i v i du al s emi t r es po nses t h at are rewar ded an d wi l l n ot emi t res pon ses t hat ar e
nei t h er rewar d ed n or pu ni sh ed.
• T hi s pr ocess h as a wi d er ap pl i cat i on t han t he cl assi cal cond i t i o ni n g ap pr oach as i t
pr o vi d es s hapi n g t he behavi o ur i n par t i cu l ar pat t ern s.
• T hr ou gh op erant co nd i t i on i ng an ass oci at i on i s made b et ween a b ehavi o ur an d a
con sequ en ce f or t h at p ar t i cul ar B.F. SKINNER'S EXPERIMENT
behaviour. Operant conditioning is also
called instrumental conditioning.
Sk i n ne r' s o perant co nd it i on in g c ha m be r a l so
c a l l e d 'a Sk in n er Bo x' was des i g ne d t o t e a c h
ra t s ho w t o p us h a l ever. Thi s be h a vi ou r i s n ot
n a t u ra l for rats , s o op erant con di t i on i ng wi t h
p os i t i v e a nd n eg ati ve rei nfo rce m en t s we re
p e rf orm e d i n ord er t o teach th e b eh a vi ou 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
P O S I T I V E R E IN F O R C E M E N T
W h e the r in th e f o rm o f sal ary, b en ef its, o r p a id tim e- o ff ; m o n etar y co m p en satio n i s a co m mo n fo rm of
p o sitiv e re in fo r cem en t in th e w o r k pla ce . It is o n ly re in fo r cin g if d eliv er ed in p ro p o rtio n w ith
p er fo r m an ce. F o r ex am p le: C o m p eti tive salar y, Mo n eta ry b o n u s or r aise, P e rfo r m an ce b o n u ses,
E d u catio n r eim b u rsem en t , E m p lo y ee d isc ou n ts, Ad d ed v ac atio n d ay s, Qu ali ty h ealth in su ra n ce/b en e fits,
P a id si ck leav e, P aid p aren t al leav e, M en tal h ea lth allo w an ce, etc .

N E G AT I V E R E I N F O R C E M E N T
M an y c o nsid e r n e ga tiv e rein f o rce m en t a n effec tiv e w ay to str en gt he n a d esir ed b eh av i ou r. I t w or k s b est
w h en th e rei n fo rc ers ar e p re sen ted rig h t af ter a b eh av io u r.
F o r e x am p le: som et ime s, em p lo y ee s ar e a ske d to co m e in o n S atu r d ay s. E mp l oy ee s w an t to re st d u rin g
th e w ee k en d s an d a b o ss u nd er stan d s th at . S o in o r d er to av o id co m in g in on S atu r d ays, a b o ss c an ask
em p lo y e es to h it th e ta rg et w ith in t h e wee k so th ey d o n ’t n ee d t o co m e in o n th e w e ek en d . T his w ill g ive
em p lo y e es m o tiv atio n to w o rk h ard e r so the y can h av e tim e o ff o n S a tur d ay. A n y o p p or tu n ity to re st an d
r elax w ill lik ely m o tiv ate an e m plo y ee to wo r k h a rd er so tha t all th e targe ts th at n ee d to be h it are m et
w ith in th e w o rk w eek .
CLASSI CONCLUSION
Pavlov’s pioneering work wi th dogs contribut ed greatl y t o what we know about l earning. His
experiments explored the type of associat ive learning we now call cl assi cal conditioni ng .
Pavlov’s experi ments show how stimul us-response bonds are formed. Classical conditi oning is
a process t hat i nvol ves creat ing an associ ation bet ween a naturall y existi ng st imulus and a
previously neutral one.

CAL
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 ei ther a reinforcer or a punisher. Al l reinforcement (posit ive or negative)
i ncreases the likelihood of a behavioural response. All punishment (posi tive or negati ve)
decr eases the likelihood of a behavioural response.
In simple words, classical condit ioning involves associat ing an involuntary response and a
stimulus, whi le operant condi tioning i s about associating a volunt ary behaviour and a
consequence.
Today, both classical and operant condit ioning are util ized for a variet y of purposes by
mangers and employers in organizations and workplaces. Both the condi tionings are essential
t o be understood and st udied because they provide t estable and practi cal tools for l earning and
behaviourism. These concepts have hel ped shape serveral behaviours, habi ts and practices that
help i n increasi ng productivity and efficiency in outputs produced by employees.