CH. 4 Learning and Transfer of Training

Cognitive Theory of Transfer

Likelihood of transfer depends on the trainees' ability to retrieve learned capabilities •Meaningful materials •Coding what was learned •Encourage trainees to consider potential applications of the training content to their jobs. •Application assignment: work problems or situations in which trainees are asked to apply training content to solve them.

Open Skills

Linked to more general learning principles

Reinforcement Theory

People are motivated to perform or avoid certain behaviors due to past outcomes related to those behaviors. •The trainer needs to identify what outcomes the learner finds most positive and negative. •Trainers then need to link these outcomes to learners acquiring knowledge, skills, or changing behaviors. •Trainers can withhold or provide job-related, personal, and career-related benefits to learners who master program content.

Maintenance

Process of trainees continuing to use what they learned over time

Generalization

Trainee's ability to apply what they learned to on-the job work problems

Transfer of Training

Trainees effectively and continually applying what they learnedin training (knowledge, skills, behaviors, cognitive strategies) on their jobs. (should be planned beforetraining even though it sounds like something that would be done after)

Overlearning

Trainees need to continue to practice even if they have been able to perform the objective several times

Closed Skills

Training objectives that are linked to learning specific skills that are to be identically produced by the trainee on their job

Self-Management

A person's attempt to control certain aspects of decision-making and behavior •Training programs should prepare employees to self-manage their use of new skills and behaviors on the job

Learning

A relatively permanent change in human capabilities that is not a result of growth processes

Punishment

Decreasing the frequency of a behavior by introducing an adverse consequence immediately after the behavior

Extinction

Decreasing the frequency of a behavior by removing the consequence that is reinforcing it

Overall Task Complexity

Degree to which a task requires a number of distinct behaviors, the number of choices involved in performing the task, and the degree of uncertainty in performing the task

Physical Requirements

Degree to which the task requires the person to use or demonstrate physical skills and abilities to perform and complete the task

Mental Requirements

Degree to which the task requires the subject to use or demonstrate mental skills or cognitive skills or abilities to perform the task

Learning Orientation

Desire to develop the self by acquiring new skills, mastering new situations and improving one's competence

Goal Orientation

Dispositions toward developing or demonstrating ability in achievement situations (VandeWalle, 1997) •Learners with a high learning orientation will direct greater attention to the task and learn for the sake of learning in comparison to learners with a performance orientation. •Learners with a performance orientation will direct more attention to performing well and less effort to learning.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing the frequency of a behavior by following the behavior with a pleasure consequence

Negative Reinforcement

Increasing the frequency of a behavior by removing something un-pleasurable after the behavior is performed

Performance Orientation

learners who focus on task performance and how they compare to others.

Intermittent Reinforcement

•A desired behavior is reinforced often enough to make the behavior worth repeating but not every time it is demonstrated. •Multiple frequencies.

Andragogy: The theory of adult learning

•Adults want to know why they are learning something. •Adults need to be self-directed. •Adults bring work-related experiences to situation. •Adults will utilize a problem-centered approach to learning. •Adults are motivated to learn by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors.

Information Processing Theory highlights how external events influence learning:

•Changes in the intensity/frequency of the stimulus •Informing the learner of the objectives to establish an expectation •Enhancing perceptual features of the material (stimulus), drawing the attention of the learner to certain features •Verbal instructions, pictures, diagrams, and maps suggesting ways to code the training content so that it can be stored in memory •Meaningful learning context (examples, problems) creating cues that facilitate coding •Demonstration or verbal instructions helping to organize the learner's response as well as facilitating the selection of the correct response

Expectancy Theory

•Expectancies -the link between trying to perform a behavior and actually performing well. •Instrumentality -a belief that performing a given behavior is associated with a particular outcome. •Valence -the value that a person places on an outcome.

Need Theory in Training and Development

•Individual is motivated to act in a manner that will satisfy some deficiency he/she is experiencing. •Trainers should identify training needs and communicate how the training content will fulfill those needs. •Allowing employees to choose training programs will best match training to their needs.

Massed vs. Spaced practice

•Massed Practice: Individuals practice a task continuously, without resting •Spaced Practice: Individuals are given rest intervals within practice sessions

Need Theory

•Need -a deficiency that a person is experiencing at any point in time. •Helps to explain the value that a person places on certain outcomes. •Maslow's and Alderfer's need theories focused on physiological needs, relatedness needs, and growth needs.

Social Learning Theory

•People learn by observing other individuals (models) who they believe to be knowledgeable and credible on a given subject. •Learning new skills or behavior comes from: •directly experiencing the consequences of using a behavior or skill, or •the process of observing others and seeing the consequences of their behavior.

Pre-practice conditions

•Provide information about the process or strategy •Encourage trainees to develop a strategy (metacognition) to reflect on their own learning process •Help trainees set challenging learning goals •Create realistic expectations •Communicate performance expectations

Transfer design for near transfer

•The program should teach specific concepts and procedures. •Trainees should be given an explanation as to any differences between training tasks and work tasks. •Trainees should be encouraged to focus only on important differences between training tasks and work tasks rather than unimportant differences. •Behaviors or skills that trainees learn in the program should contribute to effective performance.

Theory of Identical Elements

•Transfer of training occurs when what is being learned in the training session is identical to what the trainee has to perform on the job.

Learning Outcomes

•Verbal information •Intellectual skills •Motor skills •Attitudes •Cognitive strategies

Goals should be:

-SPECIFIC: Do-Your-Best vs. 10% increase in sales in three months •What, How, Where, When, and with Whom -DIFFICULT: Challenging •Focus and direct attention •Energize the person to work harder •Difficulty increases persistence •Force people to be more effective and efficient

Continuous Reinforcement

A desired behavior is reinforced each time it is demonstrated (e.g., compliments).

Goal Setting Theory

Behavior results from a person's conscious goals and intentions.

Stimulus Generalization Approach

Construct training so that the most important features or general principles are emphasized. •Identify the range of work situations in which these general principles can be applied. •Key behaviors: a set of behaviors that can be applied successfully in a wide variety of situations.

Motivational Force =

Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence

Error Management Training

Giving trainees opportunities to make errors during training and to learn from them

Information Processing Theory

It gives more attention to the internal processes that occur when training content is learned and retained.

•Obstacles in the work environment that inhibit transfer

•Work conditions:Trainee has difficulty using new knowledge, skills, or behavior (e.g., Time pressure, Inadequate equipment) •Lack of peer support:Peers do not support use of new knowledge, skills, or behavior (e.g., unwilling to provide feedback) •Lack of management support:Managers do not reinforce training or provide opportunities to use new knowledge, skills, or behavior (e.g., do not accept ideas or suggestions)

Goals influence a person's behavior by:

•directing energy and attention. •sustaining effort over time. •motivating the person to develop strategies for goal attainment.

Learning is best facilitated when:

•trainees believe they can master the knowledge or skill •when learning is linked to outcomes such as improved job performance or a pay raise, and •when the trainees value the outcomes they perceive

A person's self-efficacy can be increased using several methods:

•verbal persuasion •logical verification •observation of others (modeling) •past accomplishments