Episode 11: Leading Through Operant Conditioning and Evolutionary Psychology with Dr. Max Krasnow

The Management Theory Toolbox

Key Discussion Points:

• Understanding Mechanisms for Institutional Change: How different mechanisms influence behavior and the importance of choosing the right one to avoid unintended results.
• Broad Definition of Learning: Learning extends beyond knowledge acquisition to include changes in behavior based on experiences.
• Operant Conditioning: Explanation of consequence-based learning, where behaviors are influenced by rewards or punishments.
• Behaviorism and Its Applications: Insights into B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism and its real-world applications, including in animal studies and human behavioral modification.
• Evolutionary Perspective: Discussion on how evolutionary psychology provides a broader understanding of learning mechanisms beyond operant conditioning.
• Failures of Operant Conditioning: Examples where operant conditioning fails to explain human behavior and the importance of alternative mechanisms like social learning.
• Gene-Culture Coevolution: How human genetic evolution interacts with cultural practices, illustrated by the evolution of lactose tolerance.
• Practical Implications for Leaders and Managers: The necessity of understanding multiple social mechanisms to effectively manage and influence behavior in organizational settings.

Additional Resources from Dr. Max Krasnow:

• Lab Website: Evolutionary Psychology Lab
• Key Publications:
  • Mehr, S. A., Krasnow, M. M., Bryant, G. A., Hagen, E. A. (preprint). Origins of music in credible signaling.
  • Krasnow, M. M., Delton, A. W. (preprint). Is it modeling the world or hacking the model?
  • Eisenbruch, A., Krasnow, M. M. (preprint). Why warmth matters more than competence: New evolutionary models. Link to preprint
  • Howard, R. M., Spokes, A. C., Mehr, S. A., Krasnow, M. M. (preprint). Welfare tradeoff psychology is present in children and adults. Link to preprint
  • Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., York, H. W., Glowacki, L., Krasnow, M. M. (2018). Form and function in human song. Current Biology, 28(3) 356-368.

Upcoming Episodes:

• Next Episode: Diving deeper into operant conditioning with a focus on positive and negative reinforcement.

Call to Action:

• Feedback Mechanism Exercise: Sketch out feedback mechanisms in your work environment that produce positive or negative consequences and consider their broader impact beyond simple conditioning.

Max Krasnow [Guest], received his Ph.D in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in the area of Developmental and Evolutionary Psychology. His primary line of research focuses on the evolutionary origins and computational design of the mechanisms underlying human cooperation and social behavior. One line of this research, appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has explored how facets of the ancestral information landscape—that the future of any interaction is uncertain—conspire with distinctive features of the hominin social niche to select for organisms that are more generous, trusting and cooperative than an otherwise rational analysis would predict. In related work, he has shown in a series of behavioral experiments how these and other fundamental components of human social behavior, like our concern for the treatment of others and our punitive sentiments towards bad actors, show intricate design to support the cultivation of mutually beneficial cooperative relationships and to improve their terms when they begin to function poorly.

Chapters

1. Understanding Operant Conditioning in Behaviorism (00:00:00)

2. Evolutionary Psychology vs. Operant Conditioning (00:08:11)

3. Evolutionary Pressures in Workplace Dynamics (00:26:36)

4. Feedback Mechanisms and Learning in Management (00:33:11)