Case study #1
1.How did cliff take advantages of principles of operant conditioning to modify his staff's behavior?
Cliff realized that to increase productivity and morale he needed to use more positive reinforcement. The previous manager was very hard on his staff, this simple change would make the staff to respond positively towards Cliff, therefore productivity would increased.

2.Why did cliffs predecessor's strategy of punishing undesirable behavior not work very well? Cliff’s predecessor strategy of punishing undesirable behavior did not work very well because putting someone down over and over again does not boost confidence. They probably want to do better,but it is harder to want to get the job done because they are so used to the demeaning behavior and not knowing how the boss will react to a job well done. They probably think he will find something wrong anyways. That’s why positive reinforcement works better in most situations

Even if punishment and reinforcement strategies were equally effective at controlling behavior, why would reinforcement remain preferable?
It didn’t work because it was not what he was used to doing or what he was known for; he was more at ease with reinforcements over punishment because there were positive connotations to this method. Reinforcement works best because it bring about the positive and show how and why it is rewarded, while punishment only focuses on the negative and therefore results in demoralization.

3. How did cliff make use of partial reinforcement schedules?
Partial or intermittent reinforcement schedule is when the behavior is reinforced some but not all the time. Learning occurs more rapidly under a continuous reinforcement schedule, however, behavior lasts longer after reinforcement stops when it is learned under a partial reinforcement schedule. Partial reinforcement