Question 1

To motivate his engineers, a plant manager learned which specific rewards were most salient to the engineers and then specified exactly what each engineer needed to accomplish in order to achieve these rewards. This plant manager was practicing which of the following?

Accepted Answer

The plant manager is using goal-setting by specifying what each engineer needs to accomplish to achieve the rewards, aligning with the principles of setting clear and specific goals to motivate performance.

Question 2

__________ is a process for increasing efficiency and effectiveness by specifying the desired outcomes toward which individuals, groups, departments, and organizations should work.

Accepted Answer

Goal-setting is a process aimed at improving performance by establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives (SMART goals) for individuals, groups, or organizations to work towards. This process is known for increasing efficiency and effectiveness by clearly defining the outcomes that should be achieved.

Question 3

Which of the following is not an attribute of effective goal-setting?

Accepted Answer

Effective goal-setting involves creating goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound. Broad goals are not effective because they can be too vague and not provide a clear direction or target.

Question 4

To use goal-setting effectively to motivate employees, managers can do all of the following except one. The exception is

Accepted Answer

Setting goals that are vague is not effective for motivating employees. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) to effectively guide and motivate employees' efforts towards achieving them. Vague goals do not provide a clear direction or benchmarks for performance, making it difficult for employees to understand what is expected of them or how to achieve success.

Question 5

An easy way to remember the goal setting five requirements is through the acronym

Accepted Answer

The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-oriented, and Time-related, which are widely recognized criteria for effective goal setting.

Question 6

__________ is based on the idea that people learn to repeat behaviors that are positively rewarded and avoid behaviors that are punished.

Accepted Answer

Reinforcement Theory is based on the principle that behaviors followed by positive outcomes are likely to be repeated, while behaviors followed by negative outcomes are less likely to be repeated. This theory emphasizes the role of rewards and punishments in shaping behavior.

Question 7

George "Buck Johnson believes that his employees will repeat those behaviors that are positively rewarded and avoid those behaviors that are punished. Thus, Buck feels that, as their manager, he can influence employee performance by reinforcing desired behaviors he sees as beneficial to the firm. Buck is espousing the general ideas of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Buck Johnson's belief aligns with reinforcement theory, which posits that behavior is a function of its consequences. This theory suggests that behaviors followed by positive consequences (rewards) are more likely to be repeated, while those followed by negative consequences (punishments) are less likely to be repeated.

Question 8

If the boss praises the efforts and outcomes of his advertising employees at the conclusion of each successful advertising campaign, this boss is said to be practicing

Accepted Answer

The boss is practicing positive reinforcement by rewarding employees with praise after a successful outcome, which encourages similar future behavior.

Question 9

Jack Hoffer, the CEO of Allstar Building Products, believes in administering rewards that are seen as positive consequences following a desired behavior. This approach to motivation is called

Accepted Answer

Jack Hoffer's approach to motivation, where rewards are given as positive consequences following a desired behavior, aligns with the concept of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement involves the addition of a rewarding stimulus following a desired behavior to increase the likelihood of that behavior being repeated in the future.

Question 10

Tyler Seilhan's uncle gives his niece a present or takes her and her friends skating or to play miniature golf for every report card that does not have any Cs, Ds, or Fs on it. Tyler's uncle is practicing the tenets of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Tyler's uncle is practicing positive reinforcement by rewarding his niece with a present or an enjoyable activity for achieving good grades, thereby encouraging the behavior to continue. Positive reinforcement involves adding a desirable stimulus after a behavior to increase the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.

Question 11

__________ is the withdrawal of the positive reward or reinforcing consequences for an undesirable behavior.

Accepted Answer

Extinction in behavioral psychology refers to the process where a behavior decreases because it is no longer reinforced or rewarded. Unlike punishment, which introduces a negative consequence in response to an undesirable behavior, extinction simply involves the removal of positive reinforcement.

Question 12

Suppose you work at Best Buy, and your boss complements you every time that you sell a single customer more than $ 1,500 worth of merchandise. It occurred to you recently that your boss has not complemented you in the past few weeks. Then you recall that, during that period, you have not had a single $1,500 sale. In this illustration, your boss is practicing a reinforcement technique referred to as

Accepted Answer

Extinction is the removal of a reinforcer that previously followed a behavior, leading to a decrease in the behavior. In this case, the boss's compliments (reinforcer) were removed after the employee stopped making $1,500 sales (behavior), leading to a decrease in the employee's $1,500 sales.

Question 13

Which two reinforcement strategies are designed to stop undesirable behavior?

Accepted Answer

Extinction and punishment are strategies used to stop undesirable behavior. Extinction involves removing the reinforcement that maintains the behavior, while punishment involves applying an adverse consequence to reduce the behavior.

Question 14

Suppose you scold one of your employees every time he is late for an appointment, and then stop scolding the employee when he starts arriving at appointments on time. This approach to motivation is referred to as

Accepted Answer

This approach is referred to as avoidance because the employee changes his behavior (arriving on time) to avoid the negative outcome (being scolded). This is a form of negative reinforcement where a behavior is strengthened because a negative condition is removed or avoided.

Question 15

__________ is the administration of negative consequences following undesirable behavior.

Accepted Answer

Punishment involves administering negative consequences following undesirable behavior to decrease the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future.

Question 16

Suppose you have an employee who is habitually late to work. After several verbal and written warnings, you decide to dock your employee's pay $25 each time he is late for work. This illustration is an example of a reinforcement strategy called

Accepted Answer

Punishment is a strategy used to reduce or eliminate an undesirable behavior by introducing a negative consequence after the behavior occurs. In this case, docking the employee's pay for being late is a form of punishment intended to decrease the frequency of the tardiness.

Question 17

According to our textbook, which of the following reinforcement strategies generates performance improvements without generating fear, suspicion, and revenge.

Accepted Answer

Positive reinforcement involves adding a rewarding stimulus following a desired behavior, which encourages the behavior to occur more frequently. Unlike punishment or avoidance strategies, positive reinforcement fosters a positive environment and encourages improvement without negative emotions like fear or revenge.

Question 18

One reason most people pay their taxes before April 15^th is to avoid the penalties and other negative ramifications that they know will follow if they are late. This is known in behavior modification terminology as

Accepted Answer

Avoidance in behavior modification refers to actions taken to prevent an unpleasant outcome, such as penalties for late tax payments. Paying taxes on time to avoid penalties is a classic example of avoidance behavior.

Question 19

Two types of schedules of reinforcement are interval and

Accepted Answer

Interval and ratio are the two primary types of schedules of reinforcement in behavioral psychology. Interval schedules are based on time intervals, while ratio schedules are based on the number of responses or behaviors performed.

Question 20

Mark Manson is responsible for a new employee, and he believes that the new employee will be more motivated if desired behavior is rewarded each time it occurs. This schedule of reinforcement is known as

Accepted Answer

Mark Manson's belief in rewarding desired behavior each time it occurs aligns with the fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. In a fixed-ratio schedule, a reward is given after a specific number of responses, making it consistent and predictable whenever the desired behavior is exhibited.

Quiz 14: Motivating Organizational Members