motivational analysis of organizations

THE LEARNING-MODEL INSTRUMENT INTERPRETATION SHEET
The cognitive-affective axis or continuum represents the range of ways in which
people learn. Cognitive learning includes learning that is structured around either rote
storing of knowledge or intellectual abilities and skills, or both. Affective learning
includes learning from experience, from feelings about the experience, and from one’s
own emotions.
The concrete-abstract axis or continuum represents the range of ways in which
people experience life. When people experience life abstractly, they detach themselves
from the immediacy of the situation and theorize about it. If they experience life
concretely, they respond to the situation directly with little subsequent contemplation.
The two axes divide the model into four parts or domains. Most people experience
life and learn from it in all four domains but have a preference for a particular domain.
Liberal-arts education has typically concentrated on abstract learning (domains I and II),
whereas vocational and on-the-job training usually takes place in the lower quadrants,
particularly domain III.
Occupations representative of the four styles include the following: domain I,
philosopher or chief executive officer; domain II, poet or journalist; domain III, architect
or engineer; and domain IV, psychologist or personnel counselor.
Managerial jobs require an ability to learn in all four domains, and a manager’s
development depends on his or her ability to learn both cognitively and affectively.
Thus, management education and development demand the opportunity for the
participants to learn how to learn in each domain.
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 19, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 69