LEARNING, PERCEPTION

& ATTRIBUTION
BY: MARIELA IVY OFFEMARIA-DILAO
MM-MPA
 WHAT IS LEARNING?
• Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to
direct and indirect experiences (education, training, practice, experience
etc.) which are relatively important.
• Learning involves change
• It is the process of creating, retaining and transferring knowledge within
an organization.
• Organizational learning happens as a function of experience within an
organization and allows it to stay competitive in an ever changing
environment.
• Individuals knowledge only facilitates learning within the organization if
it is transferred. Some individuals withhold it and exit the organization.
FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING:
1. Motivation- the encouragement & support one gets to
complete a task.
2. Practice- In order to complete a task it is important to
practice what was learnt.
3. Environment- we learn from our surroundings especially to
the people around us.
4. Mental Group.- It describes our thingking by the group of
people we hang out with.
THEORIES OF LEARNING:
1. Classical Conditioning Theory
- Was proposed by a Russian Physiologist Ivan Pavlov.
- According to this theory, behavior is learnt by a repetitive association
between the response and the stimulus.
- It is based on the assumption that learning is developed through the
interactions with the environment.
- It is comprised of four elements:
a. Unconditional Stimulus (US)-which invariably causes to react in a
way.
b. Unconditioned Response (UR)-takes place when the US is presented
c. Conditioned Stimulus (CS)-the object that does not bring about the
desired response.
d. Conditioned response (CR)-a particular behavior that an
organism learns to produce, when the CS is presented.
THEORIES OF LEARNING:
2. Operant Conditioning Theory
- Is given by B.F Skinner who believed that behavior is voluntary and is
determined, maintained and controlled by its consequences.
- It states that people are likely to emit responses that are rewarded and
will not emit any responses that are neither followed by a reward nor
punishment.
- It is also called as an Instrumental Conditioning, which means learning is
developed through the rewards and punishments given for a particular
behavior.
- There are three elements in this theory:
a. Stimulus situation (the event or object)
b. Behavioral response to the situation and
c. consequence of a response.
THEORIES OF LEARNING:
3. Social Learning Theory
- proposed by Albert Bandura
- The key assumptions on this theory are as follows:
• Learning is not exactly behavioral, instead it is a cognitive process that takes place in a
social context.
• Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing the outcomes of the
behavior (known as vicarious reinforcement).
• Learning includes observation, extraction of information from those observations, and
making decisions regarding the performance of the behavior (known as observational
learning or modeling). Thus, learning can occur beyond an observable change in
behavior.
• Reinforcement plays an important role in learning but is not completely responsible for
learning.
• The learner is not a passive receiver of information. Understanding, environment, and
behavior all mutually influence each other.
THEORIES OF LEARNING:
4. Cognitive Learning Theory
- main contributor is Edward Tolman
- According to him, individuals not only responds to stimuli but also
acts on beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, feelings and strive towards
goals.
- it is based on the cognitive model of human behavior which
emphasizes on the free will and positive aspects of human behavior.
THEORIES OF LEARNING:
5. Reinforcement Theory of Motivation
- Proposed by B.F Skinner and his associates
- Behavior is the function of its consequences, which means an
individual develops a behavior after performing certain actions.
- It is based on “Law of Effects” concepts, an individual is likely to
repeat those actions having the positive consequences and will avoid
those behaviors that results in unpleasant outcomes.
- It lay emphasis on the environmental factors that shapes the
behavior.
PERCEPTION
• It is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli to
meaningful information. It is the process of interpreting
something that we see or hear in our mind and use it later to
judge and give a verdict on a situation, person, group etc.
• It is simply defined as how a person sees the world around
them and how they interpret that information. It's a
subconscious thing that the mind does and is contingent on
your ability to pay attention to your surroundings and your
existing knowledge.
PERCEPTION
• Why is perception important in the study of Organizational
Behavior? Simply because people’s behavior is based on their
perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as
it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important.
• Perception
often helps shape a person's personality and how
they act in certain situations. These can affect how they
respond to certain things-like stressful situations-their
performance at tasks, and even their creativity.
PERCEPTION
• Perception vs. Reality-It's safe to say that not everyone in a
group of people are guaranteed to perceive something in the
exact same way, but they all tend to have some similar views
that are based in reality. Strangely enough some people's
perception is rather off on certain subjects or situations, and
not in a way that is suggestive of some kind of neurological
condition either. In the workplace, this difference between
perception and reality can be problematic if it interferes with a
person's work. Things like a person's job satisfaction,
communication with others, relationships with their peers, and
what tasks or responsibilities they have be affected.
PERCEPTUAL PROCESS:
Perceptual process are the different stages of perception we go through. The
different stages are:

1.Receiving
Receiving is the first and most important stage in the process of
perception. It is the initial stage in which a person collects all
information and receives the information through the sense organs.

2.Selecting
Here a person doesn’t receive the data randomly but selectively. A
person selects some information out of all in accordance with his
interest or needs. The selection of data is dominated by various external and
internal factors.
PERCEPTUAL PROCESS:
3. Organizing
Receiving is the first and most important stage in the
process of perception. It is the initial stage in which a person
collects all information and receives the information through
the sense organs.

4. Interpreting
Forming an idea about a particular object depending upon
the need or interest. Interpretation means that the information
we have sensed and organized, is finally given a meaning by
turning it into something that can be categorized.
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION:
1. On the Perceiver
• Attitudes
• Motives-a persons most urgent needs and desires at any given time.
• Experience-past experiences and what we expect to see.
• Expectations-people see what they expect to see. It is related with the
state of anticipation of particular behavior from a person.
• Interest- the focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our
interests. Because our individual interests differ considerably,
what one person notices in a situation can differ from what
others perceive.
• Current Psychological State
• Beliefs
• Cultural Upbringing
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION:
2. On the Perceived
• Physical Appearance
• Communication (Verbal and Non-verbal)
• Proximity-As a result of physical or time proximity, we often put together
objects or events that are unrelated.
• Similarity- People, objects or events that are similar to each other also
tend to be grouped together. The greater the similarity, the
greater the probability we will tend to perceive them as a
group.
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION:
2. On the Situation
The interaction between the perceiver and the target takes
place, has an influence on the perceiver’s impression of the target.
The context in which we see objects or events is very important.
The surrounding environment and the elements present in it influence
our perception while perceiving a particular situation or event, its
physical, social and organizational setting can also influence the
perception.
Location of a given event is also very important factor in
determining the behavior.
Organizational setting also affects the behavior of the people.
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION:
ATTRIBUTION THEORY
• The theory was first brought forth by psychologist Fritz Heider in the 1950s
and stated that people had a desire to explain the reasoning behind their
actions and the actions of others. It was expanded upon over the years by
fellow psychologists Bernard Weiner and Harold Kelley, both of whom
looked at the factors in a person's life that can impact their perception and
their validity.
• Attribution theory aids in perceptual interpretation by focusing on how
people attempt to:
• a) Understand the causes of a certain event
• b) Assess responsibility for the outcomes of the event
• c) Evaluate the personal qualities of the people involved in the event.
ATTRIBUTION
Attribution is what happens when a person takes the
information they perceived and determines a reason as to what
happened. What you attribute things like success to depends on
your own perception and behaviors, which may be wrong due to
being unrealistic or having the incorrect information for the
situation. Things like bias and misconceptions can cloud that
reasoning, which can interfere with a person's proficiency in the
workplace and may contribute to issues with diversity.
ATTRIBUTION THEORY (WEINER)
Weiner developed a theoretical framework that has become very
influential in social psychology today. Attribution theory assumes that people try
to determine why people do what they do, that is, interpret causes to an event or
behavior. A three-stage process underlies an attribution:
1. behavior must be observed/perceived
2. behavior must be determined to be intentional
3. behavior attributed to internal or external causes
Weiner’s attribution theory is mainly about achievement. According to
him, the most important factors affecting attributions are ability, effort, task
difficulty, and luck. Attributions are classified along three causal dimensions:
1. locus of control (two poles: internal vs. external)
2. stability (do causes change over time or not?)
3. controllability (causes one can control such as skills vs. causes one
cannot control such as luck, others’ actions, etc.)
ATTRIBUTIONAL BIAS/ERRORS
1. Fundamental Attribution Error
A tendency to underestimate the effects of external or
situational causes of behavior and to overestimate the effects of
internal or personal causes. Attributing success to the influence
of situational factors. Attributing failure to the influence of
personal factors.
2. Self-Serving Bias
A tendency for individuals to attribute success on an event
or project to his or her own actions while attributing failure to
others. It applies to the evaluation of our own behavior.
Attributing success to the influence of personal factors.
Attributing failure to the influence of situational factors.
ATTRIBUTIONAL BIAS/ERRORS
3. Cultural Bias
Culture bias is when someone makes an assumption
about the behavior of a person based on their cultural practices
and beliefs.
4. Actor/Observer Difference
People tend to attribute other people's behaviors to their
dispositional factors while attributing own actions to situational
factors. In the same situation, people's attribution can differ
depending on their role as actor or observer. When we observe
other people, we tend to focus on the person, whereas when we
are actors, our attention is focused towards situational factors.
ATTRIBUTIONAL BIAS/ERRORS
5. Dispositional Attributions
Dispositional attribution is a tendency to attribute people's
behaviors to their dispositions; that is, to their personality,
character, and ability..
6. Defensive Attribution Hypothesis
Is a social psychological term referring to a set of beliefs
held by an individual with the function of defending themselves
from concern that they will be the cause or victim of a mishap.
Commonly, defensive attributions are made when individuals
witness or learn of a mishap happening to another person. .
 SHORTCUTS USED IN FORMING
IMPRESSION OF OTHERS
People tend to follow a number of shortcut methods when
observing others and making judgment of others activities. These
techniques are to some extent valuable and allow us to make
accurate perceptions rapidly and provide valid data for making
predictions.
There are five types of errors or short-cut methods which are
frequently used by the individuals. They are:
1. Selective Perception- It is the tendency to observe people selectively and
accordingly interpret based on their interest, background, experience and
attitudes.
 SHORTCUTS USED IN FORMING
IMPRESSION OF OTHERS
2. Projection- It is the tendency to assign one’s own personal attributes to
others. When managers engage in projection, they compromise their ability to
respond to individual differences. They tend to see people as more homogeneous
than they really are.
3. Stereotyping- It is the tendency to judge people based on the perception
of the group to which he belongs. We tend to attribute favorable or unfavorable
characteristics to the individual based on upon widely held generalization about
the group.
4. Halo Effect- It is the tendency to draw a general overall impression
about an individual based on single striking characteristics.
5. Contrast Effect- It is the tendency to evaluate a person’s characteristics
by just comparing with other people who happened to acquire higher or lower
position on the same characteristics.
THANK YOU!!