The Effects of Progressively Thinning High-Preference Item Delivery on Responding in Employees

The use of mixed-preference reinforcer delivery (i.e., the random delivery of a set of items with varying degrees of preference for each individual) with employees has been found to produce moderate levels of responding in an analog setting; however, mixed reinforcer delivery may not conform to the recommendations made by some popular writers in organizational behavior management. The current investigation used a progressively thinning high-preference stimulus delivery procedure to investigate the use of mixed reinforcer delivery with 5 employees. Results indicated that most participants did not reliably complete work when the percent chance of earning a high-preference item dropped below 100%. These results do not support the use of varied reinforcers in applied settings.     

An Examination of Generalized-Conditioned Reinforcers in Stimulus Preference Assessments

Generalized-conditioned reinforcers (GCRs) are advocated for by practitioners when possible because of their ability to function as reinforcers across a wide array of motivative operations. In organizational behavior management 2 common GCRs are praise and money. Although many studies have demonstrated their usefulness, no prior study has compared relative preferences for GCRs (specifically money) and other potentially reinforcing items. A total of 24 direct care employees from a group home setting completed assessments for potential reinforcers. All participants in the current study identified items other than money as high-preference items, suggesting that some items may serve as alternatives to money in terms of preference.     

The Role of Effort in Shifting Preference for Feedback Stimuli

ABSTRACT

Researchers have examined preference for the format of delivery of feedback, however little research has examined strategies to increase feedback and praise desirability. The current study aimed to evaluate whether preference shifted for stimuli that signaled work and for manager-praise stimuli that were delivered after work. Moreover, we sought to understand if these preference shifts were greater when the work was higher-effort compared to lower-effort work tasks (a phenomenon described in the basic literature as within-trial contrast). The study took place in a simulated work environment. Sixteen university students clicked on a shape that produced the work task, completed a mock medical data-entry task, and received manager-praise on an FR1 and FR20 schedule. At the start of the study and following each contingency exposure trials, they completed a preference assessment for both the shapes and the manager-feedback stimuli. The primary dependent variable was the percentage of preference change for two categories of stimuli – shapes presented at the beginning of trials that signaled which condition participants were in and manager-praise stimuli presented at the end of trials. Preference for the shape stimuli for both high- and low-effort stimuli decreased indicating that stimuli that signal work may become less preferred. Preference for the manager-praise stimuli for both high- and low-effort stimuli increased suggesting that stimuli that follow work may become more preferred. Overall, these data suggest that the conditions under which managers deliver feedback and praise may influence preference for those stimuli.     

When Knowing You Are Doing Well Hinders Performance

Summary

The effect of two types of verbal consequences, rule-following feedback and task performance feedback, on rule-induced insensitivity to programmed schedules of reinforcement were examined. Rule-following feedback could be either accurate or non-contingently positive. The task involved moving a sign through a grid using telegraph keys operating on a multiple DRL 6/FR 18 schedule of reinforcement in the presence of an initially accurate rule. After acquisition, the multiple schedule was changed without notice to a FR 1/FI Yoked schedule. Accurate rule-following feedback plus feedback on task performance produced striking insensitivity to the DRL 6 to FR 1 schedule change, the opposite of what might be expected by a common sense analysis of task performance feedback, even after controlling for contact with the changed contingency. It is argued that findings such as these can only be understood by considering the mutual verbal relations evoked by the combinations of rules and feedback, rather than treating feedback as a simple consequential event or as a verbal consequence whose effects do not depend on the relations sustained with other events.     

A Comparison of the Effects of Incentive and Penalty Procedures on Work Performance: A Simulation

This study compared the effects of incentive and penalty on work performance. In Experiment 1, participants in the incentive group could earn 50 won (approximately 5 cents) for correctly completing each task and those in the penalty group could lose 50 won for incorrectly completing each task. The incentive and penalty did not exert differential impacts on work performance. In Experiment 2, participants were randomly assigned to one of six experimental groups: incentive, penalty, and no reward groups under two different consequence delivery schedules. Under the continuous condition, the payment was determined in the same way as in Experiment 1. Under the VR 5 condition, 250 won was either added or deducted based on a VR 5 schedule. The effects of the incentive and penalty were comparable under the continuous condition. However, the incentive was more effective than the penalty under the VR 5 condition.     

The Interplay of Goals and Promises of Pay-for-Performance on Individual and Group Performance: An Operant Interpretation

ABSTRACT

Building upon the work of Fellner and Sulzer-Azaroff (1984), an operant model of goal setting is presented from which the effects of goals as well as monetary reinforcers can be examined and compared. The model is premised upon the assumption that the effectiveness of individual and group goals and financial reinforcers can be predicted following a detailed examination of an individual's reinforcement history, level of deprivation and satisfaction and the prevailing behavioral contingencies. The effectiveness of the two discriminative stimuli—goals and promises of pay-for-peformance—are discussed in relationship to operant principles.     

Effects of Accurate and Inaccurate Feedback on Work Performance: The Role of the Awareness of Inaccuracy

ABSTRACT

This study compared the effects of accurate (i.e., contingent) and inaccurate (i.e., non-contingent) feedback on work performance under two different work conditions. Under one work condition, participants could clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., visible condition). Under the other condition, they could not clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., non-visible condition). One hundred and twenty participants were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions (i.e., accurate/visible, inaccurate/visible, accurate/non-visible, and inaccurate/non-visible) and asked to perform a simulated work task. The results indicated that inaccurate feedback was as effective as accurate feedback under the non-visible condition, but inaccurate feedback was less effective than accurate feedback under the visible condition.     

Examining the Effects of Feedback Accuracy and Timing on Skill Acquisition

ABSTRACT

Feedback involves providing information about past performance and indicating how to improve future performance. Although the literature contains numerous examples of feedback as an effective method for improving performance across a range of organizational settings, much remains unknown about the specifics of how feedback acts to change behavior. This study evaluated the combined effects of feedback accuracy (100%, 80%, 20%) and timing (feedback following each trial or after a block of 25 trials) on skill acquisition in undergraduate students when presented with a computerized match-to-sample task that required participants to learn the names of shapes. Results reveal that feedback accuracy had a significantly greater effect on performance than the timing of the feedback.     

Notes from an Introspective Behaviorist

Abstract

Based on the three-contingency model of performance management, I make the following argument: (1) Often, we fail to behave as we should because the natural contingencies supporting appropriate behavior are ineffective; the natural contingencies involve outcomes for each individual response that are either too small, though of cumulative significance, or outcomes that are too improbable. The delay of the outcome is essentially irrelevant. The psychodynamic model of the cognitive motivational theorists provides a poor explanation for why we fail to behave as we should. (2) The performance-management contingencies in organizational behavior management (OBM) must usually involve deadline-induced aversive control, even when they are based on powerful reinforcers. Furthermore, such performance management succeeds only to the extent that the person's behavioral history, “Jewish mother,” has inculcated an appropriate value system. Wiegand and Geller's critique of the necessity of the use of aversive control fails to take into account the necessity of deadlines and the difference between instrumental and hedonic reinforcers; furthermore, it greatly over values the power of intrinsic reinforcement contingencies in OBM.     

Effects of Process and Human Performance Improvement Strategies

Abstract

Organizational performance is a function of many variables, two of which are work process factors and human performance factors. Our study compared the effects of changing a work process versus human performance improvement techniques and the combined effects of combing both techniques. A 2 (manual vs. electronic process) X 2 (with vs. without behavioral intervention) between-subjects design with stratified random assignment was employed. Forty-eight participants performed a word processing task where their minutes-in-possession and error rate were recorded. Results revealed a main effect for process type and a main effect for behavioral intervention. The largest effects were observed with the context of a combined intervention. The implications of using a combined approach and topics for future researchers are discussed.     

Investigating effort–reward imbalance and work–family conflict in relation to morningness–eveningness and shift work

Abstract

An increasingly older workforce and a growing emphasis on jobs involving interaction with computers have resulted in a need to more carefully examine the relationship between ageing and computer-based work. In this study, a sample of 394 subjects ranging in age from 20-75 years performed a computer task across a 3-day period. Three different types of computer-based jobs (data entry, information retrieval, and accounts balancing) performed at three large US companies were simulated. Age differences in the subjective experience of stress, workload, and bodily discomfort were evaluated. The results indicated that age effects for these measures varied according to task. The older subjects perceived greater workload for the more mentally challenging problem-solving oriented accounts balancing task (Which involved a graphical user interface) than the younger participants, even with increased exposure to the task. However, the older subjects generally experienced less stress than the younger subjects on an information retrieval task that involved a more socially interactive telephone component. A positive relationship between the frustration component of workload and the measure of stress was also found, suggesting an important link between the constructs of stress and workload. Overall, the outcomes of this study provide important insights into design interventions intended to accommodate older as well as younger persons in the workforce.     

The Effects of a Goal Setting Intervention on Productivity and Persistence in an Analogue Work Task

The authors of this study sought to quantify the beneficial effect of goal setting on work performance, and to characterize the persistence or deterioration of goal-directed behavior over time. Twenty-six participants completed a computer-based data entry task. Performance was measured during an initial baseline, a goal setting intervention that consisted of either a high, unattainable goal (high goal condition) or a low, attainable goal (low goal condition), followed by a return to baseline, and a second goal setting intervention (the alternate goal to the first goal). In the fifth condition, each participant was given the choice to work in either the high or low goal condition. Greater performance increases were reliably observed during the high goal condition than during the low goal condition, but patterns of persistence or deterioration varied across participants. The implications of the findings for the development and understanding of goal setting interventions in the workplace are explored.     

The Impact of Authority Relations and Feedback Delivery Method on Performance

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of technology has been changing feedback delivery methods in organizations. However, the effectiveness of feedback delivery methods can vary depending on social dynamics (e.g., authority relations) in the organization. The current study was designed to examine the impact of authority relations and feedback delivery methods on performance. A total of 120 participants were recruited to work on a simulated cell-phone assembly task and were exposed to one of the four feedback conditions: (a) authority figure with face-to-face feedback, (b) authority figure with e-mail feedback, (c) non-authority figure with face-to-face feedback, and (d) non-authority figure with e-mail feedback. Results showed that while both feedback delivery methods resulted in high performance with the presence of an authority figure, only face-to-face feedback resulted in high performance with a non-authority figure. Practical considerations for effective feedback delivery methods in relation to authority figures are also discussed.     

An Evaluation of Stimulus Preference Assessment Methodology in Organizational Behavior Management

The organizational behavior management literature has yielded few stimulus preference assessment methodologies for use with employees. The current investigation compared three preference assessments (ranking, survey, and multiple stimulus without replacement procedures) found in the organizational behavior management literature for their ability to predict reinforcers for direct care staff members’ behavior. In the first experiment all assessments were effective for predicting reinforcers, but the results were limited by a lack of control items in the assessment. In the second experiment the survey and ranking assessments both proved to be effective for identifying reinforcers and neutral or ineffective stimuli. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.     

Improving Program Outcome with Process-Based Performance Feedback

Abstract

Two studies, using an across participants multiple baseline design, assessed effects of different amounts of process and outcome performance feedback on instructor and child behavior in an early intervention program. Seven instructors, mostly university students, and one child with autism were observed over a 4 month period on measures of instructors' verbal instructions, prompts, and consequences, and correct child behavior. In Study 1, performance feedback contained verbal, written, and graphic information on instructor (process) and child (outcome) behavior, whereas in Study 2, only verbal process information was provided. Results show that both feedback procedures were equally effective in increasing correct instructor performance and correct child behavior. Conclusions are (a) that verbal process feedback alone was as effective as an extensive process plus outcome feedback, but easier to use and more efficient, and (b) that measures of performance error proved useful in detecting feedback effects on instructor behaviors that varied across time and program changes.     

Charismatic leadership and task feedback: A laboratory study of their effects on self-efficacy and task performance

This article examines the interactive effects of two different leadership styles (charismatic and noncharismatic) and three types of task feedback (internal, external, and no feedback) on individuals' self-efficacy and performance quality over four trials of a manufacturing task. Ninety-nine graduate students manufactured electrical wiring harnesses under the direction of either a charismatic or noncharismatic leader (an experimental confederate). Participants exposed to the charismatic leader had similar task performance regardless of task feedback condition, while participants exposed to the noncharismatic leader differed in their task performance depending on whether or not they received task feedback. Self-efficacy mediated the effect of task feedback and its interaction with charismatic leadership on performance. Explanations and implications of the results are discussed.     

The Effects of a Combined Task Clarification,Goal Setting,Feedback, and Performance Contingent Consequence Intervention Package on Telephone Customer Service in a Medical Clinic Environment

Abstract

Appointment coordinators at a mid-western medical clinic were to provide exceptional telephone customer service. This included using a standard greeting, speaking in an appropriate tone of voice during the conversation, and using a standard closing to end the call. An analysis suggested performance deficiencies resulted from weak antecedents, poor knowledge and skills, and weak performance contingencies. An intervention package consisting of task clarification, goal setting, feedback, and performance contingent consequences was designed to improve customer service behaviors of four participating appointment coordinators. An ABAB reversal design was used, and overall performances of all four participants increased during intervention phases. This study indicates that a multi-component intervention may be an effective strategy to increase telephone customer service behavior in medical clinic settings.     

Stockpiling supplies for disaster response: an experimental analysis of prepositioning biases

Abstract

Several relief organisations preposition supplies in preparation for disaster response. We show how the structure of prepositioning decisions resemble newsvendor decisions and how common newsvendor biases could affect prepositioning performance. To explore prepositioning biases, we run a behavioural experiment of a prepositioning problem with 20 practitioners from the humanitarian sector. Their task was to choose prepositioning quantities under different cost conditions and for supplies with different degrees of criticality. Results show that participants pull orders away from optimum (pull-to-centre) and follow the prior beneficiary demand realisation (demand chasing) regardless of cost and criticality conditions. However, the estimation of behavioural models reveals patterns hidden in averages, showing that participants weigh undersupply costs more for urgent supplies and urgency moderates demand chasing. A follow-up validation experiment manipulates the salience of urgent supplies by bundling them with non-urgent supplies in a portfolio. Results show that the portfolio strengthens these patterns, increasing the availability of urgent supplies. We offer practice implications of these findings for prepositioning activities and theory implications for inventory experiments in general.     

The Interaction Effects of Frequency and Specificity of Feedback on Work Performance

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the interaction effect between specificity (specific vs. global) and frequency of feedback (frequent vs. infrequent) on the quality of work performance. Eighty participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of the four groups: specific and frequent feedback, global and frequent feedback, specific and infrequent feedback, and global and infrequent feedback. A 2 × 2 factorial design was adopted. Participants were asked to work on a simulated order-fulfilling task and attended 24 sessions. The dependent variable was the error rate of the completed tasks. The results showed that more frequent feedback was more effective and specific feedback was more effective than global feedback in improving the quality of performance. Furthermore, an interactive effect between feedback frequency and specificity was found. Specific feedback was more effective than global feedback when the feedback was infrequent, but global feedback was comparable to specific feedback when it was frequent.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Education,Feedback, & Task Clarification to Increase Workplace Physical Activity

ABSTRACT

Modern office workers spend the majority of their work days in sedentary positions. The risk of preventable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and various cancers increase with increased sedentary time. Thus, targeting office worker health by increasing physical activity is imperative to improve long-term risk factors. This study measured physical activity in the workplace using a commercially-available accelerometer and evaluated the extent to which feedback, and feedback and task clarification increased workplace physical activity relative to a recommended guideline to move every 30-minutes. Results indicated that feedback increased workplace physical activity to varying degrees for 4/8 participants. A social validity questionnaire indicated that workplace variables (e.g., type of task, meetings, deadlines) prevented physical activity. These variables will need to be addressed in future studies.