When Cliff Richards took over as the new department manager, he discovered that the existing staff were unusually inefficient and unproductive. Cliff learned that the previous manager had often criticized and chided staff members for every little mistake until many of the best people had left, and the rest felt demoralized.

Cliff resolved not to criticize or punish staff members unless it was absolutely necessary. Instead, he frequently complimented them whenever they did a good job. He set daily production goals for them, and every Friday afternoon he bought lunch for all staff members who had met their goals every day that week. Moreover, Cliff randomly conducted spot checks on what staff members were doing, and if he found them hard at work, he gave them small rewards such as extra break time.

Within just three months, productivity in Cliff$$s department nearly doubled. It became the most efficient department in the company.

How did Cliff take advantage of principles of operant conditioning to modify his staff$$s behavior?

Why did Cliff$$s predecessor$$s strategy of punishing undesirable behavior not work very well? Even if punishment and reinforcement strategies were equally effective at controlling behavior, why would reinforcement remain preferable?

How did Cliff make use of partial reinforcement schedules? What kinds of schedules did he use?

How could Cliff use his technique to train his staff to complete a complex new task that they had never done before?

How might Cliff make use of principles of cognitive learning theory to improve his staff$$s productivity even further?