Organizational behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Organizational behaviour - Essay Example an and Kentridge (2000) define behavioral psychology as a â€Å"subset of psychology that focuses on studying and modifying observable behavior by means of systematic manipulation of environmental factors†. Behaviorists or behavior psychologists affirm that a behavior is to be studied and evaluated without giving any consideration to the inner mental condition of the individual. Classical conditioning. This theory, put forth by Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson, suggests that a behavior can be assessed by watching how an animal or an individual shoes an unconditioned response by associating a neutral stimulus with a naturally occurring (unconditioned) stimulus. Pavlov experimented with dogs and conditioned them so that they salivated on the sound of bell ringing by associating the sound with their food. Operant conditioning is of four types. Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement tend to support the behavior as under these two conditions, the individual experiences a good ending and thus repeats his experience in future. On the other hand, Punishment and Extinction tend to weaken the chances of future occurrences of a behavior as under these two circumstances, the individual has had a bad or neutral ending. Learning based on behavioral psychology. Behavioral psychologists carry on the process of learning by assuming that a person can be completely understood by observing his behavior. And how a behavior is to be learnt? It is done by learning an individual’s responses to environmental stimuli. This is basically a stimulus-response theory. The boss orders the employee to leave (stimulus) and the employee leaves (response). This means that â€Å"learning in humans and animals can take place through the association of a response with particular stimuli† (Psychologist World, 2009). Strengths. Behaviorism approaches are well designed and focused because of well organized ways of measuring behavioral responses. Classical behaviorism has a great advantage in