Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 3: The Psychology of Learning in the course textbook.

Address two of the three scenarios (your choice) listed below. (Clearly use headings in your post to designate which options you are addressing.)

Option A: A recent psychology graduate named Kaylynn is currently seeking a career position with the local community college as a marketing director.

• How can her understanding of learning psychology support this position?
• How can she express these acquired skills most clearly in her interview?
• If you were Kaylynn, what knowledge or skills would you be sure to include? Please provide a rationalization.

Option B: The retail department store that Nikky, a psychology graduate, works for, is changing how they address customer service, and over the next several weeks the store will be requiring all sales personnel to attend training sessions. As a sales manager, Nikky has heard her employees make comments reflecting their frustration with this requirement; they believe they do an adequate job, so why change what they are currently doing?

• How can Nikky, based on what she knows about the psychology of learning, encourage the employees to be more open to learning the new procedures?
• What rationales does learning psychology offer us to explain why we may believe we do not need to learn new things?
• Again, based on this area of psychology, how might the attitude of the employees affect their ability to effectively learn, even if they were to attend?

Option C: Larry is the senior vice president of a lucrative manufacturing company. He recently hired a young man, Jackson, to work in the warehouse. After observing his work, Larry feels that, with some additional training, Jackson has a lot of potential to advance. But Jackson seems disinterested in advancing any of his skills and knowledge to achieve higher pay or stature in the company.

• Based on learning and motivation theories, if Jackson is required to attend training geared to advancement, without the desire himself, how effective might he be at accommodating the new information?
  • Identify and summarize a theory that supports your response.