Basic psychological process

Basic psychological process, Perception, Factors influencing perception, Characteristics of Perceiver, Attribution theory, Specific applications in organizations, Learning, Theories of learning, using learning concepts for self-management, implications for performance and satisfaction, Remembering, Basic motivational concepts, Theories of motivation, Implications for performance and satisfaction, Operant Conditioning Theory, Cognitive Learning Theory, Social Learning Theory, Types of Memory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory, Two factor theory, Alderfer’s ERG Theory, McClelland’s Need Theory, Theory X and Process Theories of Motivation, Equity Theory, Expectancy theory, Porter And Lawler Model Of Motivation,Calicut university OB

1. Basic Psychological Process

2. Perception “The process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environments.” S. P. Robbins Meaning Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the environment. It is the process by which an organism detects and interprets information from the external world by means of the sensory receptors.

3. Factors Influencing Perception Characteristics of Perceiver Characteristics of Target Characteristics of the Situation

4. Characteristics of Perceiver Needs and Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong influence on their perception. When people are not able to satisfy their needs they are engaged in wishful thinking which is a way to satisfy their needs not in the real world but imaginary world. In such cases, people will perceive only those items which suit their wishful thinking. Self Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceivers’ self-concept. An individual with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in another person. In contrast, a negative self-concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative traits in another person. Attitudes:  The attitude and aptitude of employees influence perception formation. If they have positive attitudes towards the management, they directly perceive the stimuli given by management. In the case of negative attitudes, the employees suspect the management’s approach. Interests: The interest of individuals draws more attention and recognition to stimuli. Less attention and recognition lowers the impact of stimuli or objects on behaviour. If employees lack interest, behaviour pattern will be less effective, and the perception will be weak.

5. Cognitive Structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's pattern of thinking, also affects perception. Some people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight, and appearance, more readily. Others tend to focus more on central traits, or personality dispositions. Expectations: Expectations distort perceptions. People see what they expect to see. If they see the object and the situation differently from their expectations, they get frustrated. They are unable to modify their behaviour. The employees may expect more pay and so they perceive the management from that angle. Experiences: Individuals experiences also influence in molding ones perception. The experience of employees results in different levels of perception. A young employee takes time to understand the object and situation. Experienced employees generally understand objects quickly and correctly.

6. Characteristics of the Situation The context at which the incident is occurring can influence the perceptual process. The physical, social, organizational settings, time etc. can influence how we interpret the stimuli. Time: This refers to a person’s subjective experience of the passage of time, or the perceived duration of events, which can differ significantly between different individuals and/or in different circumstances. Work setting: Organisational setting also affects the behaviour of the people. An organisation setting where people are given an opportunity to interact in a friendly and sociable work situation, they become more trustworthy and less defensive. Social setting: It is that part of perception that allows people to understand others in their social world.

7. Characteristics of Target Novelty: Novel or something unique is likely to attract everyone than a familiar one. Motion: The motion principle says that the people pay more attention toa moving object than the stationary ones. Sounds: The louder and frequent is the sound, the greater is the chance of getting attention Background: What a person observes is dependent on how a central figure is being separated from its background. This implies that the perceived object or person or event stands out distinct from its background and occupies the cognitive space of the individual. Size: The larger the size, the more is the probability that it is perceived. Size attracts the attention of the individual. Proximity: People tend to perceive things, which are nearer to each other, as together as group rather than separately. If four or five members are standing together, we tend to assume that they are belonging to same group rather than as separately. Similarity:   Persons, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped together. Closure : In many situation, the information what we intend to get may be in bits and pieces and not fully complete in all respects. However, we tend to fill up the gaps in the missing parts and making it as meaningful whole. Such mental process of filling up the missing element is called as closure.

8. Attribution Theory Attribution theory is a psychological construct that deals with individual’s interpretation of events and how this in turn effects their behaviour, perception and thinking. A person trying to figure out why another person acted in a certain manner may attribute one or more causes to that behaviour. The attribution theory was first propounded by Heider and then perfected by Weiner. According to Heider a person can make two attributions: Internal attribution, the inference that a person is behaving in a certain way as a result of his personality External attribution, the inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of the situation in which she is or because the situation demands it.

9. Specific Applications In Organizations Employment Interview-During an interview the interviewers make a perceptual judgement and draw early impressions. As a result information obtained early in the interview carries greater weight than information obtained later. Performance expectation-A manager’s expectation will have a significant impact on the performance of an employee. If a manager expects a very good performance from his subordinate and conveys such expectations to him, that employee will more effort in his work and fulfil the expectation of his manager. Performance evaluation-The evaluator forms a general impression of an employee's work. To the degree that managers use subjective measures in appraising employees, what the evaluator perceives to be good or bad employee characteristics or behaviours will significantly influence the outcome of the appraisal.

10. Employee effort-The level of an employees effort is given high importance in the organization. An assessment of an individual's effort is a subjective judgment according to perceptual distortions and bias. Employee loyalty-Another important judgment that managers make about employees is whether or not they are loyal to the organization. The assessment of an employee's loyalty or commitment is highly judgmental.

11. Learning Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and indirect experience. It means change in behavior, attitude due to education and training, practice and experience. It is completed by acquisition of knowledge and skills, which are relatively permanent. Factors Affecting Learning Motivation Practice Environment Mental group

12. Learning Theories in OB Classical Conditioning theory Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist developed classical conditioning theory. Classical conditioning can be defined as a process in which a formerly neutral stimulus when paired with an unconditional stimulus, becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits a conditioned response. (Luthans 1995) Unconditioned stimulus/UCS:A naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary response. Unconditioned response/UCR: An involuntary response to a naturally occurring or unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned Stimulus/CS: Stimulus that becomes able to produce a learned reflex response by being paired with the original unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned means learned. A neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus when paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned response/CR: Learned reflex response to a conditioned stimulus.

13. When Pavlov presented one dog with a piece of meat, the dog exhibited a noticeable increase in salivation. When Pavlov withheld the presentation of meat and merely rang a bell, the dog did not salivate. Then Pavlov proceeded to link the meat and the ringing of the bell. After repeatedly hearing the bell before getting the food, the dog began to salivate as soon as the bell rang. After a while, the dog would salivate merely at the sound of the bell, even if no food was offered. In classical conditioning, learning involves a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus. Here, the meat was unconditioned stimulus; it invariably caused the dog to react in a specific way. The reaction that took place whenever the unconditioned stimulus occurred was called the unconditioned response. Here, the bell was a conditioned stimulus. When the bell was paired with the meat, it eventually produced a response when presented alone. This is a conditioned response.

14. Operant Conditioning Theory Operant conditioning theory or model is developed by the psychologist B.F. Skinner. Operant Conditioning is concerned primarily with learning as a consequence of behaviour Response-Stimulus (R-S). In Operant Conditioning particular response occurs as a consequence of many stimulus situations. Operant conditioning argues that one’s behavior will depend on different situations. People will repeatedly behave in a specific way from where they will get benefits. On the other hand, they will try to avoid a behavior from where they will get nothing.

15. Skinner trained rats to press a lever to get food. In this experiment, a hungry rat placed in a box containing a lever attached to some concealed food. At first, the rat ran around the box randomly. In this process, it happened to press the lever, and the food dropped into the box. The dropping of food-reinforced the response of pressing the lever. After repeating the process of pressing the lever followed by dropping off food many times, the rat learned to press the lever for food.

16. Cognitive Learning Theory Cognitive mapping theory was established by Edward Tolman (1886-1959), an American psychologist. Cognition is the process of acquiring knowledge. Cognitive is the individual's thought, knowledge, level of understanding and interpretation of any event, object or person. This theory states that learning involves a relationship between cognitive cues (hints about how to choose the right way) and expectations. Learning is the outcome of thinking and knowing.

17. Tolman conducted an experiment with white rat. He first trained rats to run in ‘T’maze without providing rewards (food). After trained them, he served food as rewards. One day after providing food, the rats are found running faster in this maze. This showed that rats learnt that there will be food at the end of race and they used this knowledge in different ways. This proves that animals have ability to learn things which they can use later in different ways. This connects cognitive maps in rats.

18. Social Learning Theory The Social Learning Theory is proposed by Albert Bandura, who believed that individual learns behavior by observing the others. Simply, by observing the other person’s behavior, attitude, and the outcome of that behavior, an individual learns how to behave in a given situation, depending on the consequences observed. For example children can easily copy the dancing steps observing their teacher dancing. This model is more applicable in teaching-learning process in school and colleges, training and development in organization, etc. This is popularly known as vicarious learning

19. According to this model, the individual learning process consists of following steps: Attentional process: Individual need to pay adequate attention to recognize and understand critical features to learn. Greater the attention on subject matter or event or person, greater chance of learning is observed.  Retention process: Retention process is the act of remembering or retaining information or prior knowledge in learning process. The intensity of retention affects on learning process.  Motor reproduction process: Motor reproduction is the process of further practicing learned behavior. Motor reproduction strengthens and advances the skills through practice.  Reinforcement process: Positive rewards reinforce for the positive behavior. Greater the reinforcement, the reinforced behavior will get more attention, learned better and performed more frequently. 

20. Learning concepts for self management Self management means the methods, skills, and strategies by which individuals can effectively direct their own activities towards the achievement of objectives and include goal setting, decision making, focusing, planning, scheduling, task tracking, self evaluation, self intervention and self development. Self management may also refer to a form of workplace decision making in which the employees themselves agree on choices instead of the supervisor telling workers what to do, how to do it and where to do it, in the traditional way. The concept of learning can be used to allow individuals to manage their own behaviour. In such cases the need for managerial control can be reduced. This is called self management. Self management requires an individual deliberately manipulate stimuli internal processes and responses to achieve personal behaviour outcomes, the basic process involve on serving one’s own behaviour, compare the behaviour with the standard and regarding oneself if the behaviour meets the standard,

21. Implications for performance and satisfaction In many organisations, performance management is based on principles of self management. In such situations employees themselves set personal goal of performance and identify performance measurement techniques. In such a way, they learn how to self monitor their performance to establish whether individual and organisational goals is being achieved. Individuals are self managing when they accept a high degree of responsibility for their work and for making decisions on their won. Employees are encouraged to do this on the assumption that if selection and training has been appropriate, individuals know best how to perform their jobs and are qualified to make decisions about how those jobs are performed. Self management models encourage training and development of employees who act as their own bosses by individually and independently solving their own problems.

22. Job satisfaction has been identified as a positive outcome of self-managing activity because it gratifies demands for interesting and challenging work and the desire for self-control. Promoting individual self management will enrich employees' job situations and offer them many opportunities for growth and satisfaction. Self managing activities reduce obstacles by empowering individuals with greater decision-making authority. Individuals who are rated high on self management will likely perceive bureaucracy, lack of authority and lack of support as small problems than those lower on self management. In an organisation promoting self management would also generate opportunities for upward mobility and less resistance to change. self management can substantially benefit team performance, teamwork effectiveness and employee attitudes.

23. Remembering/Memory Memory is the ability to encode, store and recall information. Stages of Memory

24. Encoding: When information comes into our memory system (from sensory input), it needs to be changed into a form that the system can cope with, so that it can be stored. This process of receiving, processing, and combining information is called encoding. Storage: The creation of a permanent record of the encoded information. Storage is the second memory stage or process in which we maintain information over periods of time. Retrieval: This refers to getting information out storage. Retrieval is the reproduction of the encoded message as and when required using the process of remembering.

25. Types of Memory Sensory memory: Sensory memory processes information from the environment and holds it for a brief period of time, generally for no longer than a second. This memory retains impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has stopped. Short-term memory:It is also known as working memory. Information in short term memory is not stored permanently. It holds only a few items (research shows a range of 7 +/- 2 items) and only lasts for about 20-40 seconds. Long-term memory: Long-term memories are all the memories we hold for longer periods . Long-term memory has an incredibly vast storage capacity, and some memories can last from the time they are created until we die.

26. Motivation “Motivation is the process of attempting to influence others to do their work through the possibility of gain or reward”. Edwin B. Flippo Motivation can also be defined as "The processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward achieving a goal”. Key elements of motivation Intensity: How hard a person tries Direction: Toward a beneficial goal Persistence: How long a person tries

27. Concepts of Motivation Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. Intrinsic motivation can be long-lasting and self-sustaining. For example self generated factors (responsibility, freedom to act, scope to use and develop skills and abilities, interesting and challenging work, opportunities for advancement) Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, coercion and threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity.

28. Theories of Motivation 1.Content theories of Motivation The content approach to motivation focuses on the assumption that individuals are motivated by the desire to fulfil inner needs. Content theories focus on the needs that motivate people. Maslow’s need hierarchy theory This theory was propounded by Abraham Harold Maslow. In this regard, Abraham Maslow developed a model in which basic, low-level needs such as physiological requirements and safety must be satisfied before higher-level needs such as self-fulfillment are pursued. In this hierarchical model, when a need is mostly satisfied it no longer motivates and the next higher need takes its place.

29. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

30. Hierarchy of Needs Physiological -includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex and other bodily needs Safety- includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm Social- includes affection, belongingness acceptance, and friendship Esteem- includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement; and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention Self-actualization- the drive to become what one is capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving one’s potential, and self-fulfillment

31. Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory/Two factor theory Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two-factor theory or the motivator-hygiene theory. According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. Herzberg says the opposite of Satisfaction is No satisfaction and the opposite of Dissatisfaction is No Dissatisfaction. The two factors are: Motivators – factors that really motivate people, also called satisfiers, provide intrinsic motivation. Hygiene factors – dissatisfiers; their absence would demotivate people, but their presence not necessarily improves motivation; essentially describe the environment, little effect on positive job attitudes

32. Herzberg’s Motivational And Hygiene Factors Hygiene: Job Dissatisfaction Motivators: Job Satisfaction Company policy&Administration Achievement Supervision Recognition Interpersonal Relations Work itself Working Conditions Responsibility Salary Advancement Status Growth Security

33. Alderfer’s ERG Theory ERG theory condenses Maslow's five human needs into three categories: Existence, Relatedness and Growth. 1. Existence Needs: Include all material and physiological desires (e.g., food, water, air, clothing, safety, physical love and affection). Maslow's first two levels. 2. Relatedness Needs: Encompass social and external esteem; relationships with significant others like family, friends, co-workers and employers. This also means to be recognized and feel secure as part of a group or family. Maslow's third and fourth levels. 3. Growth Needs :Internal esteem and self actualization; these impel a person to make creative or productive effects on himself and the environment. Here more than one level of needs can be relevant at the same time.

34. McClelland’s Need Theory David McClelland built on this work in his 1961 book, "The Achieving Society" . He identified three motivators that he believed we all have: a need for achievement, a need for affiliation, and a need for power. People will have different characteristics depending on their dominant motivator. Need for achievement (n-ach) - need to achieve something , people have the need to prove something, to overtake others, and they seek recognition Need for power (authority) (n-pow) - need for power , these people have a need to dominate, influence others and have power over them Need for affiliation (n- affil ) - need to belong to somewhere , people have a need to be part of something or some social group and want to develop relationships and desire a friendship Everyone has all three needs. It only depends on his internal priorities, which need prevails.

35. Theory X and Theory Y The Theory X and Theory Y are the theories of motivation given by Douglas McGregor in 1960’s. These theories are based on the premise that management has to assemble all the factors of production, including human beings, to get the work done. Theory X: Theory X relies on the authoritarian style of management, where the managers are required to give instructions and keep a close check on each employee. As it is assumed, the employees are not motivated, and they dislike working. This theory is based on the following assumptions: The employee is lazy and dislikes work. He is not ambitious and dislikes responsibility and therefore prefers to be led. The employee is self-centered and indifferent towards the organizational interest. Management is responsible for assembling all the factors of production, Viz. Money, material, equipment, people. The managers are required to control his employees, manage their efforts, motivate them, modify their behavior to comply with the organizational needs. The management must intervene to keep the employees working towards the economic ends. The employees must be persuaded, rewarded, motivated, punished, controlled to get the work completed

36. Theory Y: Theory Y relies on the participative style of management, where the managers assume that the employees are self-directed and self- motivated to accomplish the organizational objectives. Thus, here the management attempts to get the maximum output with least efforts on their part. Following are the assumptions of Theory Y: The average human being does not inherently dislike work, they are creative and self-motivated and likes to work with greater responsibilities. Employees are self-directed and self-controlled and therefore the threat of punishment is not only the means for getting the desired results. The extent to which an employee is committed to objectives is determined by the rewards associated with their achievement. The most significant rewards in this context could be the satisfaction of the ego and the fulfillment of self-actualization needs. The average human being is ambitious and is ready to take responsibilities. He likes to lead rather than to be led by others. The employees exercise a relatively high degree of imagination and creativity in solving the complex organizational problems.

37. Process Theories of Motivation Whereas the content theories concentrate on the question of 'what' motivates, the process theories address more the issues relating to how the process works and sustains itself over time, such as factors that determine the degree of effort, the continuation of effort, the modification of effort, etc. As with content theory, there are a number of process theories. These include: 1.Equity theory 2.Expectancy theory 3.The Porter-Lawler Model

38. Equity Theory John Stacey Adams, a workplace and behavioural psychologist, put forward the Equity Theory. Equity theory is based on a principle that peoples' actions and motivations are guided by fairness and that discrepancies in this fairness in the workplace will spur them to try and redress it. Adams suggested that employees try to maintain a balance between what they give to an organisation against what they receive, and base satisfaction with their own balance on perceptions of the same balance in colleagues. The 'inputs,' or what the employee gives to an organisation, can be broken down to many metrics including time, loyalty, effort, tolerance, flexibility, enthusiasm, personal sacrifice, skill and trust in superiors. Outcomes include 'hard' factors, such as salary, job security and employee benefits, but extend to less tangible aspects such as praise, sense of achievement, praise and reputation.

39. Expectancy theory The expectancy theory was proposed by Victor Vroom of Yale School of Management in 1964. Vroom stresses and focuses on outcomes. The theory states that the intensity of a tendency to perform in a particular manner is dependent on the intensity of an expectation that the performance will be followed by a definite outcome and on the appeal of the outcome to the individual. The Expectancy theory states that employee’s motivation is an outcome of how much an individual wants a reward (Valence), the assessment that the likelihood that the effort will lead to expected performance (Expectancy) and the belief that the performance will lead to reward (Instrumentality).

40. Porter And Lawler Model Of Motivation Lyman Porter and Edward Lawler came up with a comprehensive theory of motivation, combining the various aspects. Porter and Lawler's model is a more complete model of motivation. This model has been practically applied also in their study of managers. This is a multivariate model which explains the relationship that exists between job attitudes and job performance. This model is based on four basic assumptions about human behaviour : (i) As mentioned above, it is a multivariate model. According to this model, individual behaviour is determined by a combination of factors in the individual and in the environment. (ii) Individuals are assumed to be rational human beings who make conscious decisions about their behaviour in the organizations. (iii) Individuals have different needs, desires and goals. (iv) On the basis of their expectations, individuals decide between alternative behaviours and such decided behaviour will read to a desired outcome.

41. Various Elements of Porter and Lawler Model Effort : Effort refers to the amount of energy an employee exerts on a given task. How much effort an employee will put in a task is determined by two factors: (i) value of reward and (ii) perception of effort-reward probability. 2. Performance : One's effort leads to his/her performance. Both may be equal or may not be. However, the amount of performance is determined by the amount of labour and the ability and role perception of the employee. Thus, if an employee possesses less ability and/or makes wrong role perception, his/her performance may be low in spite of his great efforts. Satisfaction : Performance leads to satisfaction. The level of satisfaction depends upon the amount of rewards achieved. If the amount of actual rewards meet or exceed perceived equitable rewards, the employee will feel satisfied. On the contrary, if actual rewards fall short of perceived ones, he/she will be dissatisfied.

42. Reinforcement Theory Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by B.F. Skinner and his associates. It states that individual’s behavior is a function of its consequences. It is based on “law of effect”-this law of effect is the idea that behaviors are selected by their consequences, i.e., individual’s behavior with positive consequences tends to be repeated, but individual’s behavior with negative consequences tends not to be repeated. This theory is a strong tool for analyzing controlling mechanism for individual’s behavior. However, it does not focus on the causes of individual’s behavior.

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