Generalisation is related to classical conditioning, it occurs when we attribute to a similar stimulus the characteristics of the conditioned stimulus. This may be used in the design of the industrial training course, for example the trainee, when dealing with a new problem, may see certain similarities between it and past problem and that way the employee will be able to solve the problem.
The law of effect states that responses that satisfy the needs of the organism tend to be retained whereas those that fail to satisfy these needs tend to be eliminated. In this case if a trainee gets satisfaction from performing a particular act, then that act will tend to be repeated in the future, therefore it will be important to use this when it comes to the design of an industrial training course.
Learning of stimulus response association occurs through operant conditioning. An operant is a unit of behaviour emitted by a person; such examples of operant are eating a meal and smoking a cigarette. Most human behaviour, in fact, is operant behaviour, such examples of operant behaviour is going to work, playing tennis and driving a car. According to skinner, such behaviours is learned and strengthened by a process of operant conditioning.
The key elements involved in operant conditioning are the stimulus, the response and reinforcement or reward. Operant conditioning is a form of conditioning that shapes behaviour by the application of reinforcement, punishment or extinction.
Operant methods, unlike classical conditioning, can be used to produce behaviour that is not normally part of the person’s repertoire. For example the employees might be taught how to use a particular machine which they have never used before. Therefore operant conditioning unlike classical conditioning is more likely to be of importance when it comes to the design of an industrial training course. Operant behaviours produce reinforcement for example praise, and as a consequence the behaviour that produced the reinforcement is learned and strengthened.
With humans reinforcement may take a wide variety of forms for example money, smiles, praise, gifts and other things that may provide reinforcement for behaviour.
According to B.F.Skinner, he believed that the environment shapes an individual behaviour by maintaining certain responses and restraining others. He believes the most powerful shaping mechanism is reinforcement. Reinforcement operates either positively or negatively. Positive reinforcement occurs when a pleasant reinforcement follows a response. Money, status, recognition and praise can all act as positive reinforces, since they all increase the possibility of the former response being emitted again. In this circumstance praise and recognition would be an important positive reinforcement in the training course, since it is likely that the positive reinforcement will be powerful enough to stamp response into a trainees behaviour pattern.
Any response, which reduces the intensity or removes an unpleasant stimulus, is said to be negatively reinforced. Just like positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement increases the probability that the response will take place again. Negative reinforcement produces two types of learning; escape and avoidance. Skinner believed escape and avoidance were very common in human society.
Punishment involves an unwilling stimulus following a response. This reduces the probability of that response happening again. Punishment can be used in the design of the industrial training course, like for example a trainer responds by telling the trainees the rules and the codes of practice of the company in the training course. Followed by the real life implications that has occurred in the past when these rules have been broken, this will reduces the chances of any other trainees misbehaving in the future. Skinner (1965) experimented with rewards and punishment. He showed that a response would be learned when it was rewarded. Learning took place by using rewards for positive behaviours rather than by punishing inappropriate behaviours. Punishment plays a role in changing behaviour; therefore it should be used sparingly.
Operant theorists believe that reward is a more powerful method of shaping behaviour than punishment. This is true because punishment only indicates what response a person should disown, while reward on the other hand has the morality to indicate what behaviour is required.
Skinner believed that programmes in this case training courses should be designed to make the chances of a learner (the trainer) making a mistake as close to zero as possible. This is true to some extent, since training is given so mistakes made can be identified and learned from, but on the other hand training an employee cannot make them a perfect candidate, who will not mistakes at all.
Classical conditioning being an emotional response, whereas operant conditioning is an analytical response having to do with cause and effect. It involves thinking and reasoning.
In conclusion operant conditioning should be used rather than classical conditioning in the design of an industrial training course. Overall the key elements of operant conditioning that are most likely to be used should be the response and the positive reinforcement as it increases the probability of the former response happening again, which can be useful for the industrial company. Also reward should be more likely to be used in the design of the industrial training course. It is not to say that punishment should not necessarily be used at all, but it can be used if the trainee feels the need to use it. However, it is not considered as important as the other elements in operant conditioning. Overall the key elements of classical conditioning that are most likely to be used is the unconditioned and conditioned stimulus and response.
Bibliography
Eugene Mckenna – Business Psychology and organisational behaviour (2001) 3rd edition
Robin Fincham, Peter Rhodes – Principles of Organizational Behaviour (1999) 3rd edition