Your team owns an organizational development consulting firm, and has done well based upon referrals. You have recently been hired to consult at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, located in Pennsylvania. You have been told that recently the growth of the business has leveled off dramatically, and the board of directors are a bit concerned that if nothing is done, Dunder Mifflin might even lose money next month. You have traveled to Pennsylvania to observe and interview workers at Dunder Mifflin, and to your dismay, you have discovered that several members of the company have adopted poor work habits and you think some operant conditioning interventions may help.

Instructions:

For each individual, determine:

The type of operant conditioning that would be most beneficial $($see below$)$

Describe specifically how you would use that method

Determine if the reinforcement schedule should be continuous or some kind of interval.

Positive Reinforcement

Giving something pleasurable to retain or increase behavior

Negative Reinforcement $($avoidance$)$

This is not the same as punishment $--$ increases the probability that a desired behavior will occur by removing a negative consequence when a person performs the desired behavior. Example: Parents stop complaining about child$$s time management if the child starts doing better in school.

Extinction

Removing a consequence that is currently reinforcing an undesirable behavior in an effort to decrease the probability that the behavior will occur again in the future. Example: When John arrives late to work, Betty starts the meeting on his behalf. Betty stops doing this so John will arrive on time.

Punishment

Administering an undesirable consequence, but remember to punish the behavior, not the person