Ability And Learning

Ability refers to an individuals capacity

to perform the various tasks in a
job.
It is a current assessment of what
one can do. An individual’s overall
abilities are essentially made up of
two sets of factors:-

1. Intellectual abilities

2. Physical abilities
 Dimensions of
Intellectual Ability

••Number
Numberaptitude
aptitude
••Verbal
Verbalcomprehension
comprehension
••Perceptual
Perceptualspeed
speed
••Inductive
Inductivereasoning
reasoning
••Deductive
Deductivereasoning
reasoning
••Spatial
Spatialvisualization
visualization
••Memory
Memory
 Intellectual abilities
Dimensions Descriptions Job example
Number Aptitude Ability to do seedy and Accountant
accurate arithmetic
Verbal comprehension Ability to understand what is Manager
read or heard
Perceptual speed Ability to identify visual Fire investigator
similarities & differences
quickly.
Inductive reasoning Ability to identify logical Market researcher
sequence in a problem
Deductive reasoning Ability to use logic Supervisor

Spatial visualization Ability to imagine hoe an Interior decorator

object would look if its
position in space were
changed
Memory Ability to retain and recall Doctor
 Physical Abilities
It is the capacity to do tasks demanding
stamina, dexterity, strength, and
similar characteristics.
Strength factor
• Dynamic strength
• Trunk strength
• Static strength
• Explosive
Nine Physical Abilities
Strength Factors
1. Dynamic strength
2. Trunk strength
3. Static strength
4. Explosive strength Flexibility Factors
5. Extent flexibility
6. Dynamic flexibility
Other Factors
7. Body coordination
8. Balance
9. Stamina
E X H I B I T 2–2
 The Ability-Job Fit

The main concern of OB is with

explaining and predicting the behaviour
of people at work.
we all know that jobs make
different demands on people and that
people differ in the abilities they
possess.
Therefore, employee
performance is enhanced when there is
a high ability-job fit.
The Ability-Job Fit

Ability-Job
Employee’s Job’s Ability
Abilities Fit Requirements
The specific intellectual or physical
abilities required for adequate job
performance depend on the ability
requirements of the job.
For example airline
pilot needs strong spatial-visualization
abilities; beach lifeguards need spatial-
visualization and body co-ordination.
Directing
attention to only the employee’s abilities
or only the ability requirements of the
job ignores the fact that employee
performance depends on the interaction
of the two.
What predictions can we make when the fit
is poor?
If the employees lack the
abilities, they are likely to fail. If you are
hired as a word processor and you cannot
meet the job’s basic keyboard typing
requirements, your performance is going
to be poor irrespective of your positive
attitude or your high level of motivation.
When the ability-job fit is
because the employee has abilities that
far exceed the requirements of the job,
the predictions would be totally different.
In this situation the job performance is likely
to be adequate, but there will be
organizational inefficiencies and possible
decline in the job satisfaction.
Given that
pay tends to reflect the highest skill level
that employees possess, if an employee’s
ability far exceed those necessary to do
the job, management will be paying more
than it needs to.
Abilities significant above
those required can also reduce the
employee’s job satisfaction when the
employee’s desire to use his or her
abilities is particularly strong and is
frustrated by the limitations of the job.
 Learning
Learning is any relatively permanent change
in behaviour that occurs as a result of
experience. The various components
that deserve clarification are:-
1. It involves change.
2. Change can be good or bad for the
organization.
3. Change must be relatively permanent.
4. Learning takes place when there is a
change in actions i.e. behaviour.
5. Some form of experience is necessary
for learning.
 The Learning Process

Shaping
Shaping

Environment Law
Law of
of Effect
Effect Environment

Modeling
Modeling
 Theories Of Learning
• Classical Conditioning

• Operant Conditioning

• Social Learning

• Cognitive Learning
 Classical Conditioning
• Given by Ivan Pavlov who was a
physiologist.
• He conducted an experiment on dog to
measure the relation between the
amount of food presented and the
amount of salivation.
• According to this theory a cause-and-
effect relationship is established
between one stimulus and a response.
• It tells us that we tend form a relation
between various stimulus's.
 UCS UCR
(Meat) (salivation)

CS + UCS UCR
(Bell) (Meat) (Salivation)

CS CR
(Bell) (Salivation)
 Factors Influencing Classical
Conditioning
• The number of paring of the conditioned
stimulus and the unconditional stimulus.
Greater the number of paring stronger
is the response.
• Intensity of the UCS.
• The time gap between CS and UCS.
• Conditioning will take place only when
CS is followed by UCS.
 Limitations
• Humans are more complex than dogs

• Behavioral environment in the

organizational is complex in nature

• Human decision making being complex

in nature makes it possible to override
simple conditioning.
 Operant Conditioning
• This theory was given by B.F.Skinner after
conducting exp on a cat, pigeon etc
• It argues that behaviour is a function of its
consequences.
• People learn to behave to get some thing
they want or some thing they don’t want.
• Operant behaviour means voluntary or
learned behaviour.
• The tendency to repeat such behaviour is
influenced by the reinforcement or lack of it.
• Therefore it is also known as reinforcement
theory.
• It is also called instrumental
conditioning because the subject is
instrumental in bringing abut the
consequence.

• The behaviour that results in positive

rewards tends to be repeated and that
with negative result not to be repeated.

• Thus behaviour can be controlled by

manipulating its consequences.
 Cognitive Learning Theory
• Cognition refers to individual’s ideas,
thoughts, knowledge, interpretation and
understanding about the individuals and
environment.
• Cognition focuses on an unobservable
change in mental knowledge.
• Cognitive learning is learning achieved
by thinking about the perceived
relationship between events and
individual goals and expectations.
 Assumptions Of Cognitive Theory
• Some learning processes may be unique to
human beings.
• Cognitive processes are the focus of study.
• Individuals are actively involved in the
learning process.
• Learning involves the formation of mental
associations that are not necessarily reflected
in overt behaviour changes.
• Learning is a process of relating new
information to previously learned information.
• Knowledge is organized.
 Social Learning Theory
• It focuses on the learning that occurs
within a social context.
• It considers how people learn from one
another, involving such concepts as
observational learning. Imitation and
modeling.
• According to Bandura, modeling is done
by observing others behaviour through
reinforcement, environment and the
interactions with the world and society.
 Principles Of Social Learning
Theory
• People can learn by observing the
behaviors of others and the outcomes
of those behaviors.
• Learning can occur without a change in
behavior.
• The consequences of behavior play a
role in learning.
• Cognition plays a role in learning.
 Four Process While Modeling
1. Attention process (recognize and pay
attention)

2. Retention process (how well he

remembers the model)

3. Motor reproduction process (watching

must be converted to doing)

4. Reinforcement process (positive

incentives)
 Attentional Recognize

Retention Remember

Motor Do
Reproduction

Reinforcement Get rewarded

Thank You