BUS 2111- 410  Organizational Behavior

Chapter 1:

none

Chapter 2:

Homework Assignment for Chapter 2: Page 68, Case Incident 2 - Professional Sports: Rewarding and Punishing the Same Behaviors.  Each student is to individually handwrite (not type) the answer to questions 1, 2, 3, and 4.  Students are encouraged to work together to develop answers. (due Thursday, Septermber 31, 2009 at start of class)

(optional) YouTube - Classical Conditioning

(optional) YouTube - Pavlov's Dogs Get Conditioned

(optional) YouTube - bf skinner on reinforcement - general psychology

(optional) http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/prtut/reinpair.htm - Reinforcement tutorial and computer practice exercise (this is not perfect for our class but will give you some practice exercises)

Simple schedules of Reinforcement

  • Fixed ratio (FR) schedules deliver reinforcement after every nth response
    • Example: FR2 = every second response is reinforced
    • Lab example: FR5 = rat reinforced with food after each 5 bar-presses in a Skinner box.
    • Real-world example: FR10 = Used car dealer gets a $1000 bonus for each 10 cars sold on the lot.
  • Continuous ratio (CRF) schedules are a special form of a fixed ratio. In a continuous ratio schedule, reinforcement follows each and every response.
    • Lab example: each time a rat presses a bar it gets a pellet of food
    • Real world example: each time a dog defecates outside its owner gives it a treat
  • Fixed interval (FI) schedules deliver reinforcement for the first response after a fixed length of time since the last reinforcement, while premature responses are not reinforced.
    • Example: FI1" = reinforcement provided for the first response after 1 second
    • Lab example: FI15" = rat is reinforced for the first bar press after 15 seconds passes since the last reinforcement
    • Real world example: FI24 hour = calling a radio station is reinforced with a chance to win a prize, but the person can only sign up once per day
  • Variable ratio (VR) schedules deliver reinforcement after a random number of responses (based upon a predetermined average)
    • Example: VR3 = on average, every third response is reinforced
    • Lab example: VR10 = on average, a rat is reinforced for each 10 bar presses
    • Real world example: VR37 = a roulette player betting on specific numbers will win on average one every 37 tries (on a U.S. roulette wheel, this would be VR38)
  • Variable interval (VI) schedules deliver reinforcement for the first response after a random average length of time passes since the last reinforcement
    • Example: VI3" = reinforcement is provided for the first response after an average of 3 seconds since the last reinforcement.
    • Lab example: VI10" = a rat is reinforced for the first bar press after an average of 10 seconds passes since the last reinforcement
    • Real world example: a predator can expect to come across a prey on a variable interval schedule

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Online test based on Jung - Myers-Briggs typology (in class exercise)

Personality Test Center - IPIP NEO five factor model of personality (optional exercise of the big Five Model)