Association for Behavior Analysis International

Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Management study many of the same phenomena despite developing from disparate scientific paradigms. Industrial/Organizational Psychology relies on cognitive and social psychology to understand and predict organizational phenomena using statistical analyses, while Organizational Behavior Management contextualizes behavior into contingencies to design interventions on these same phenomena (Bucklin, Alvero, Dickinson, Austin & Jackson, 2000). Successful post-intervention behavior change validates behavioral analysis. This study proposes a framework for translating eleven conventional I/O Psychology constructs, ranging from diversity & inclusion (West, Tjosvold, & Smith, 2003) to self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), into effective behavioral interventions. The framework consists of several steps: (1) identify a construct of business relevance, (2) pinpoint behaviors that capture the essence of the construct, (3) analyze related contingencies, and (4) develop a contingency design for intervention. Practitioners of both fields can benefit from this translational process to implement more effective interventions: Industrial/Organizational Psychologists benefit by applying behavior analysis and Organizational Behavior Management practitioners benefit by leveraging covert psychological processes. The researchers offer a scientific critique of this translational process to encourage continuous improvement of knowledge sharing between the fields of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Management.

Performance feedback consists of providing information about past performance and indicating how to improve future performance. Feedback is one of the most frequently used procedures for changing behavior within organizational settings. However, despite its successful application across a variety of organizational settings, much remains unknown about how it acts to change behavior and increase performance. Previous research involving computerized work tasks has shown that inaccurate feedback can delay or impede skill acquisition. Such studies typically only assess the detrimental effects of inaccurate feedback when acquiring new skills; very little is known about how inaccurate feedback affects skills that have been mastered. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of varying feedback accuracies following skill mastery in undergraduate students when completing a computerized match-to-sample task. Participants initially completed 250 trials with 100% accurate feedback before completing an additional 250 trials with varying levels of feedback accuracy (i.e., 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, and 20%). Data show that the mean number of correct responses per condition during the additional 250 trials decrease as the proportion of trials with inaccurate feedback increases.

This study examined the effects of feedback accuracy on 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). The independent variable consisted of three feedback conditions: accurate feedback, tripled inaccurate feedback, and one-third inaccurate feedback. Both the tripled and one-third inaccurate feedback were generated based on the actual performance from the previous sessions (i.e., inaccurate but partially contingent) and delivered at the beginning of the next sessions. One hundred sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to the six experimental conditions and asked to perform a simulated work task. The effects of the accurate and tripled feedback on performance were comparable but they were higher than the effect of the one-third inaccurate feedback under the visible work condition. Under the invisible work condition, however, the three feedback conditions did not produce differential impacts on performance.

This study compared the effects of accurate feedback, non-contingent exaggerated feedback, and no feedback conditions on performance under two different work conditions. Participants under on work condition could clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., visible condition), but those under the other work condition could not clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., invisible condition). The non-contingent exaggerated feedback was generated by (1) yoking the feedback to the performance of the participants in the accurate feedback conditions and (2) multiplying the yoked feedback by two. One hundred sixty-nine participants were randomly assigned to the six experimental conditions and asked to perform a simulated work task. The accurate and exaggerated feedback conditions produced higher levels of performance than the no feedback condition under both work conditions. The exaggerated and accurate feedback produced similar levels of performance under the invisible work condition. Under the visible work condition, however, the exaggerated feedback was less effective than the accurate feedback.

Staff working in residential treatment programs are often assigned trainings to complete to help them perform their jobs more effectively. When staff do not complete trainings employers frequently provide corrective feedback to them. However, such feedback may not have the desired effect of increasing staff participation. In the current study, staff were provided verbal and written feedback during baseline if they did not complete their assigned trainings by agency due dates. During the intervention phase, staff were offered incentives for completing quarterly trainings before a specified deadline. Once staff completed the assigned training, they were entered into a randomized drawing for gift cards to popular locations. Staff could earn more entries into the drawing for completing training earlier in the quarter. The results indicated that incentives increased the number of staff that completed the quarterly trainings. The implications of using incentives in a human service organization is discussed.