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Contemporary Organizational Behavior (Elsbach)
Topic Summary 3 Learning
1) What is the relationship between social, cognitive, and behavioral learning approaches?
A) These are the three approaches that comprise learning
B) These are different ways to conceptualize learning
C) These factors are interdependent
D) These factors are completely independent
2) You have just completed your first day of training by shadowing a senior employee at your
new job. Much of the day’s activities were centered on watching the employee run the cash
register while you watched and listened as they explained each process to you. After this
training, you feel confident that you will be able to run the register by yourself. Which learning
perspective includes your belief in your ability to perform something that you have observed,
such as your confidence in running the register on your own?
A) Behavioral
B) Cognitive
C) Imitation
D) Social
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3) Contemporary organizations rely on learning for all but which of the following processes?
A) Solving problems
B) Innovation
C) Acting on knowledge
4) Which approach to learning combines mental processes with behavioral changes to form a
more complete picture of learning?
A) Behavioral learning
B) Cognitive learning
C) Social learning
D) Experiential learning
5) When food spice company McCormick, Inc. enters new markets, they make an effort to learn
about the local culture from the native citizens. In addition to observing what food products the
natives prefer, they also learn about local business practices and suppliers. Which of the
following best describes McCormick’s practice of shaping their business practices and offerings
to best match local markets?
A) Action learning approach
B) Behavioral learning approach
C) Cognitive learning approach
D) Social learning approach
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6) You are taking a public speaking course and have just been given your first assignment. The
instructor gives an example of the presentation you have been assigned so that you can see what
you are expected to do before you prepare your presentation. What process is at work in this
situation?
A) Behavioral based learning
B) Imitation
C) Modeling
D) Repetition
7) Amelia has spent two full days training at her new job. Her manager worked with her the first
day and she watched and practiced on a register the second day with an experienced cashier. She
now feels confident that she is ready to run a register on her own. Amelia’s sense of self-
determination and confidence is known as ________.
A) Performance expectation
B) Training completion
C) Self-efficacy
D) Overconfidence
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8) Studying behavioral changes and mental processes are the key aspects of ________.
A) Behavioral learning
B) Cognitive learning
C) Social learning
9) How has the paradigm shift in the conception of learning changed the role of behavioral
changes in the learning process?
10) Your manager always carriers her clipboard with her to-do list and often to-do lists for other
people or departments. She makes the rounds once or twice a day talking to everyone about how
the projects or tasks will be finished. Which learning style does your manager demonstrate?
A) Creative learning style
B) Deciding learning style
C) Acting learning style
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11) Alan Wilson, CEO of food spice company McCormick, Inc. stated that “when someone
introduces you to their culture, one of the first things they do is to introduce you to their food”
because the food allows you to learn about the culture. What type of learning does this
illustrate?
A) Experiential learning
B) Social learning
C) Action learning
12) One of your teammates, Mary, seems to thrive on problem solving and really likes to be the
one who “solves” the problem for the team. Mary likely has a(n) ________ learning style.
A) Creating
B) Planning
C) Deciding
D) Acting
13) Individuals with the ________ learning style like to directly engage with people and
accomplish goals, but they may take action without considering alternatives first. These
individuals often specialize in careers like human resources, general management, teaching, and
sales.
A) Acting
B) Creating
C) Deciding
D) Planning
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14) Provide an example that illustrates each phase of the learning cycle for a single task.
15) At a training session, teams were asked to recall a recent problem they faced and examine
multiple aspects of that problem differently with guidance and coaching from the trainers.
Through this formal analysis, the teams considered how they could improve various aspects of
problem solving and coordination among themselves. Teams then practiced their new strategies
using a test problem and discussed how they could further improve their plans. What concept
does this activity illustrate?
A) Action learning
B) Cognitive complexity
C) Creating learning style
D) Social learning
16) A team using action learning to solve a problem will engage in which step last?
A) Refine the problem
B) Seek further clarification
C) Gather multiple perspectives
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17) Describe a benefit and a disadvantage of determining an individual’s role in a group project
based on their learning style.
18) Intelligence is ________ throughout life while learning is ________ throughout life.
A) Improved; diminished
B) A process that continues; relatively fixed
C) Relatively fixed; a process that continues
19) Employers understand that while a recent college graduate will have many skills obtained
through their formal study, they should not expect any graduates to have ________.
A) Learning flexibility
B) Cognitive complexity
C) Intelligence
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20) Adam is an entrepreneur and is always trying out new inventions and exploring new ideas.
He isn’t always successful, and when a project fails, he learns from the experience and uses what
he learns to continue developing and creating. Which orientation does Adam have?
A) Learning goal orientation
B) Performance goal orientation
C) Flexible goal orientation
D) Consistent goal orientation
21) Sam strives for high performance in her work and is focused on doing her assignment well.
Though she was offered a promotion, Sam declined the opportunity. A new position would
mean she would have to learn a lot of new tasks and skills, and it would take a while for her to
perform at the high level that she is striving for. She decided to stay in her current job rather
than take on the challenge of learning a new position. Which of the following best describes
Sam’s orientation?
A) Learning goal orientation
B) Performance goal orientation
C) Flexible goal orientation
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22) As children progress through grade levels at school, their ________ increases.
A) Intelligence
B) Cognitive complexity
C) Learning goal orientation
D) Performance goal orientation
23) Research has shown that intelligence accounts for about ________ of success in management
and leadership positions.
A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 95%
24) Many entrepreneurs accept failure as part of the development and refinement process of their
new idea, product, or process. They don’t see the failure as the end but rather a valuable part of
the learning process. They are also known for “thinking outside the box” to create innovative
processes or products. They take risks and challenges and ultimately learn from the development
process. Which of the following is most characteristic of entrepreneurs?
A) Learning goal orientation
B) Performance goal orientation
C) Cognitive complexity
D) Learning flexibility
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25) The two abilities developed by those increasing their cognitive complexity are ________ and
________.
A) Differentiation; integration
B) Micro; macro
C) Detail; big picture
26) Jim had a bad habit of arriving to work late. His boss Carlos, wanted Jim to arrive on time.
Carlos decided to have Jim make up the time he missed by working late. When Jim arrived on
time, he had 15 minutes added to his lunch hour. It didn’t take long for Jim to begin arriving on
time so that he could have extra time for lunch and not have to work late. Which of the
following best explains what happened in this situation?
A) Jim learned that arriving late had consequences
B) Jim experienced action learning
C) Jim wanted a promotion
D) Carlos changed Jim’s behavior through operant conditioning
27) The nature of work has changed and is now more complex and reliant on information than
ever before. Given this shift, a greater understanding of which of the following is more
important for organizations to succeed?
A) Teamwork
B) Learning
C) Intelligence