REINFORCEMENT
THEORY
Hello!
Akbota Daurenbekova (F1020090212)
Proshenjit Biswas (F1020090210)
Sisca Putri Uyani (F1020090220)
“ The way positive
reinforcement is carried out
is more important than the
amount ”
(B. F. Skinner)
What is the Reinforcement
Theory?
B.F Skinner’s work is built on the assumption that
behaviour is influenced by its consequences.
Reinforcement theory is the process of shaping behavior
by controlling consequences of the behavior.
Reinforcement theory proposes that you can change
someone's behaviour by using reinforcement,
punishment, and extinction. Rewards are used to
reinforce the behaviour you want and punishments are
used to prevent the behaviour you do not want.
Extinction is a means to stop someone from performing
a learned behaviour. The technical term for these
processes is called ‘operant conditioning’.
Definition:
The worker’s behavior due to
consequences in the environment.
Law of effect:
Theoretical basis for manipulating
consequences.
Behaviors having pleasant or positive
consequences are most likely to be repeated
and the behavior having unpleasant or
negative outcomes are less likely to be
repeated.
Principles governing reinforcement:
Law of contingent reinforcement:
The reward must be delivered only if the
desired behavior is exhibited.
Law of immediate reinforcement
• The reward must be given as soon as
possible after the desired behavior is
exhibited.
Reinforcement Theory Key
Concepts:
• Reinforcement Theory argues that the internal
needs of individuals can be ignored when you are
trying to motivate them to behave a certain way.
Why? Because it assumes that people learn to
change their behavior based on what happens to
them from exhibiting a certain behavior.
▪ According to Reinforcement Theory there are
four factors involved in influencing workplace
motivation:
I. Positive Reinforcement
II. Negative Reinforcement.
III. Punishment.
IV. Extinction.
Positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement occurs when the
consequence resulting in the behaviour you
are attempting to produce increases the
probability that the desired behaviour will
continue. If a salesperson performs well, that
salesperson may receive a bonus, which
reinforces the desire to make sales because of
the positive consequence of doing so.
Negative reinforcement
Negative reinforcement is a method that can be used to
help teach specific behaviors. With negative reinforcement,
something uncomfortable or otherwise unpleasant is taken
away in response to a stimulus. Over time, the target
behavior should increase with the expectation that the
unpleasant thing will be taken away.
For negative reinforcement to work, whatever is taken
away must be taken away immediately after the behavior
in question. The end result is to get whatever behavior is
happening to continue and even increase.
Punishment
Punishment occurs when you impose a negative consequence
to reduce an undesirable behaviour. While negative
reinforcement involves withholding a negative consequence to
encourage a desirable behaviour, punishment is imposing a
negative consequence to discourage an unwanted behaviour.
For example, getting your wages docked for being late to work
is a punishment that is imposed on late workers to discourage
workers from being late - an undesirable behaviour. However,
punishment is often used as a last resort in an attempt to
reshape the employee's behaviour because it can result in bad
consequences and create more pressure and stress for the
employee. Away immediately after the behavior in question.
The end result is to get whatever behavior is happening to
continue and even increase.
Extinction
Extinction is a means to stop someone's learned
behaviour. You attempt to extinguish a behaviour by
withholding the positive reinforcement that encouraged
the behaviour. For example, let's say that you manage a
production facility that had a hard time keeping up with
orders for the past few months. You used overtime pay as
a positive reinforcement to bring workers in on weekends
and to delay holidays. Now that you have the orders
under control, you stop approving overtime. Workers no
longer come in on the weekends to work. Their learned
behaviour has been extinguished.
Strengths
• When faced with a difficult ▪ While striving to complete ▪ People with high efficacy are
task, people who have high a challenging task or more likely to set higher
self-efficacy will face the difficult goal, individuals goals for themselves and be
challenge as something to with high self-efficacy more committed to the goal,
be learned and mastered. may face failures or which encourages the
Their interest and setbacks, but they will not strengthening of self-
motivation in mastering the give up. Where people efficacy.
task will drive them to with low self-efficacy may ▪ This theory focuses on a
succeed in their difficult, decide the task is multi-dimensional reason for
yet approachable goal. This impossible, people with behavior rather than one
can be seen within the high self-efficacy strive to single factor.
academic domain due develop a higher amount
particularly to the theory of knowledge and increase ▪ It is helpful in understanding
focusing on task and their effort in order to motivation and performance
situational specific overcome their failures and in various kinds of tasks and
instances. setbacks. situations.
Weaknesses
» High self-efficacy can sometimes » Verbal and tangible rewards can
lead to an individual applying less have both positive and negative
effort to a particular task. This is effects on self-efficacy,
because high self-efficacy can depending on the context and
lead to overconfidence in one's environment in which the
aptitude, which creates a false reward or praise is delivered.
sense of ability. The result is that
they think they know more about
the task than they really do and
fail to apply the needed effort.
How to Apply this Theory to the
Workplace?
As a manager, it is important to select the appropriate type of
‘Operant Conditioning’ to ensure you get the desired results
and to avoid conflict. This will depend on a number of factors
including but not limited to - the behaviour you want to
encourage/discourage, the organizational culture, your
personal management style and the circumstances under which
the behaviour is being displayed.
Next slides are some example scenarios that may help you
to influence positive behaviours:
Positive Reinforcement
Reinforcement
√ This may be used to good effect when there is a workplace change
Examples:
on the horizon (e.g. a new system is being implemented or a new
Manager is joining the business.) Fear of the unknown may produce
an unwanted behaviour in favour of the change which may be
helped by introducing positive reinforcement. In this case, positive
reinforcement could be introduced in team meetings/briefings,
informal brew chats or individually via one to ones.
√ Also useful where behaviour/performance/attitude to work has
recently started to improve and you want the individual to sustain
the desired behaviour and/or outputs. Positive reinforcement could
include a simple thank you & well done chat, a hand-written card,
or a small gift (making sure you explain the specific reason/s behind
your appreciation) to ensure it can be sustained.
Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Examples:
√ Can be used to encourage employee completion of reports in
a timely manner rather than face the consequences of being
‘named and shamed’ and chased in public for non-
completion. Also useful as a tool to ensure that annual leave
requests are submitted within x days’ notice, on the basis that
otherwise their leave will automatically be turned down for
example.
Reinforcement
Punishment
Examples:
√ When an individual repeatedly and consciously chooses to
ignore a new procedure that you have implemented, despite
them being spoken to by you about this informally on several
occasions, then sometimes there is no other alternative than to
formally discipline that individual as a consequence of their
negative behaviour. If this is the case, ensure that you follow
your organizations formal policies and procedures..
Reinforcement
Extinction
Examples:
√ Overcoming changes to current routine that have resulted in a
positive reinforced behaviour can sometimes be helped with
the extinction method. For example, you no longer want your
employees to promote a free service that you were
incentivizing staff for doing so as you’re oversubscribed – so
you stop the incentives to signal that this behaviour is no
longer required.
ANY
QUESTION ??
Thank You for listening
to us.
