Name: Kalyani Kumar Registration No.

: 65/20994
Paper No. I
Organisational Behaviour
Response Sheet No. 2
Question No. 1

Q.1. Define learning. Compare and contrast conditioned and instrumental learning. Give an
example of how a particular behaviour is learned and modified in organization.

Ans:
Learning is change in behavior through education and training, practice and experience. This
simple definition needs to be supplemented with the following important components of
learning:
Learning involves change, although the change may be for good or bad from an
organizations point of view.
Not all changes reflect learning. To constitute learning, change should be fairly
permanent.
Learning is reflected in behaviour. A change in an individuals thought process,
attitude, not accompanied by behaviour is not learning. To clarify, learning needs to
result into behaviour potentiality and not necessarily behaviour itself.
The change in behaviour should occur as a result of experience, practice or training.
The practice or experience must be reinforced in order for learning to occur. If
reinforcement does not accompany the practice or experience, the behaviour will
eventually disappear.
Learning occurs throughout ones life.
In the words of E R Hilgard, Learning can be defined as relatively permanent change in
behaviour that occurs as a result of prior experience.

Classical Conditioning:
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist who won a Nobel Prize for his early experiments on the
subject, proposed this theory. He conducted his experiment on a dog. He presented the dog
with a piece of meat; the dog exhibited a noticeable increase in salivation. When he
withheld the presentation of the meat and merely rang a bell, the god has no salivation.
Then Pavlov proceeded to link the meat and the ringing of the bell. After repeatedly hearing
the ringing of 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
were offered.
Key concepts:
Salivation in response to food is a natural, unlearned response and hence is called
the unconditioned reflex.
The food, because it elicited the unconditioned response, is called the
unconditioned stimulus.
The bell is conditioned stimulus.
Salivation in response to the bell alone is called conditioned response.

Instrumental Conditioning:
B. F. Skinners Instrumental or Operant conditioning argues that behaviour is a function of its
consequences. Behaviour is likely to be repeated if the consequences are favourable.
Behaviour is not likely to be repeated if the consequences are unfavourable. Thus the
relationship between the behaviour and the consequences is the essence of operant
conditioning.

Both the theories of learning are based on behaviour and indicate a stimulus and a response
however they are different to each other.
Name: Kalyani Kumar Registration No.: 65/20994
Paper No. I
Organisational Behaviour
Response Sheet No. 2
Question No. 1

Difference between Classical & Instrumental Conditioning:
Classical Conditioning Instrumental Conditioning
A stimulus is used to elicit a specific
response.
A stimulus is only a cue. The response is
spontaneously / proactively emitted by the
subject.
Responses are fixed to stimulus (no choice). Responses are variable in types and degrees
(choice).
Conditioned stimulus is a stimulus such as a
sound, an object or a person.
Conditioned stimulus is a situation such as
an office, a social setting or a specific set of
circumstances.
The emphasis is on involuntary responses. Emphasis is on voluntary responses.
The unconditioned stimulus acts as a reward. The reward is only presented if the subject
elicits the desired response.
Stimulus leads to response. The response is instrumental in obtaining the
reward.
Reinforcement is not received by choice of
the individual.
The individuals response is instrumental in
securing reinforcement by operating on the
environment.

Case-study:
Our organization was introducing a Fire Drill as part of Emergency Evacuation Procedure. An
Emergency Response Team was put in place to facilitate the Fire Drill. The first time that the
Fire Drill was executed, the Emergency Evacuation Officer used the internal announcement
system to communicate the strategy. All employees were instructed to take the stairs and
head towards the Assembly Point of the building. The next time the employees heard the
announcement system being switched on and even before the instructions were announced,
they started walking away from their workstations towards the staircase. This is a classic
case of conditioned response.

Let me provide a case of Instrumental conditioning. A few of the business units had reported
most employees coming in late to work, post 9:30 am consistently. It would become
damaging to the culture of the organization if the behaviour was not addressed
immediately. The head of department along-with the HR head started to walk on the floor at
9:30 am everyday and awarded anyone who was at their desks at 9:30. In a few days, the
number of employees coming in at 9:30 am increased drastically. In a few weeks, the issue
was resolved. The spot awards are still a part of the system to ensure reinforcement.

Conclusion:
To conclude, learning processes clearly influence the day-to-day interactions among people
in an organization. Almost everything that we do in organizations to others has reinforcing
consequences for them.