I have to agree with John Gunkler's post (LO20131) where John said, in part,
>"There is no area of psychology for which there exists more, and more
>carefully created and tested, empirical evidence ("hard science") than for
>the proposition that behavior is shaped by its consequences."
My own little niche in the world of scientific research (long ago) plotted
the reinforcing pathways in the brains of pigeons -- what is called
positive electrical stimulation of the brain. I could stimulate small
areas of the brain and have the pigeons respond to all sorts of differing
and differential kinds of schedules of reinforcement. Their behavior was
very closely controlled by the delivery pattern. There is no question
that the stimulation was rewarding or whether the behavior was under
control.
The work in humans with other reinforcers is also clear and extremely
well-studied. Behavior IS controlled by the consequences.
The other spin is that one's thinking and history can influence the nature
of the reward - what is positive for one may not be for another. This is
where a lot of the reinforcement theory breaks down when it comes to
business -- not all rewards are equal to all people. There are also
issues of groups versus individuals and all sorts of other influences.
(Thank goodness).
But rewards do influence performance and people do things because of them.
--For the FUN of It!
Scott Simmerman, Ph.D. Performance Management Company - 800-659-1466 mailto:SquareWheels@compuserve.com
A great source for FREE tools and information on team development: <www.SquareWheels.com>
"Don't Just DO Something, Stand There."
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>