EMPLOYEE TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 4 KEY TERMS STUDY GUIDE |
COMPLETE EXAM REVIEW 2026/2027
Learning - ✔✔Refers to a relatively permanent change in human capabilities that can include
knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, and competencies that are not the result of growth processes
Transfer of Training - ✔✔Refers to trainees effectively ad continually applying what they have learned in
training to their jobs
Generalization - ✔✔Refers to a trainee's ability to apply what they learned to on-the-job work
problems and situations that are similar but not necessarily identical to those problems and situations
encountered in the learning environment i.e, training program
Maintenance - ✔✔Refers to the process of trainees continuing to use what they learned over time.
Verbal Information - ✔✔Names or labels, facts, and bodies of knowledge which may include specialized
knowledge that employees need in their jobs
Intellectual Skills - ✔✔Concepts and rules, which are critical to solve problems, serve customers, and
create products
Motor Skills - ✔✔The coordination of physical movements
Attitudes - ✔✔A combination of beliefs and feels the predispose a person to behave a certain way.
Attitudes can include a cognitive component (beliefs), an affective component (feeling), and an
intentional component (the way a person intends to behave with regard to the focus of the attitude)
Cognitive Strategies - ✔✔Regulate the process of learning relating to the learner's decision regarding
what information to attend to (i.e., pay attention to), how to remember, and how to solve problems
Reinforcement Theory - ✔✔Emphasizes that people are motivated to perform or avoid certain
behaviors because of past outcomes that have resulted from those behaviors (Positive reinforcement,
the pleasurable outcome resulting from a behavior) (Negative reinforcement, the removal of an
unpleasant outcome)
Social Learning Theory - ✔✔Emphasizes that people learn by observing other persons whom they
believe are credible and knowledgeable
Self-efficacy - ✔✔A person's judgment about whether he or she can successfully learn knowledge and
skills
Verbal Persuasion - ✔✔Offering words of encouragement to convince others they can learn
Logical Verification - ✔✔Perceiving a relationship between a new task and a task already mastered
, Modeling - ✔✔Refers to having employees who already have mastered the learning outcomes
demonstrate them for the trainees (employees are likely to be motivated by the confidence and success
of their peers)
Past Accomplishments - ✔✔Allowing employees to build a history of successful accomplishments
Goal Setting Theory - ✔✔Assumes that behavior results from a person's conscious goals and intentions
Goal Orientation - ✔✔Refers to the goals held by a trainee in a learning situation which can include a
learning and performance orientation
Learning Orientation - ✔✔Relates to trying to increase ability or competence in a task
Performance Orientation - ✔✔Refers to learners who focus on task performance and how they
compare to others
Need - ✔✔A deficiency that a person is experiencing at any point in time (a need motivates a person to
behave in a manner that satisfies the deficiency)
Expectancy Theory - ✔✔Suggests that a person's behavior is based on 3 factors: expectancy,
instrumentality, and valence
Expectancies - ✔✔Beliefs about the link between trying to perform a behavior and actually performing
well
Instrumentality - ✔✔The belief that performing a given behavior (e.g. attending a training program) is
associated with a particular outcome (e.g., being able to better perform the job)
Valence - ✔✔The value that a person places on an outcome (e.g., how important it is to perform better
on the job)
Adult Learning Theory - ✔✔A specific theory of how adults learn
Andragogy - ✔✔The theory of adult learning. From the greek "man" Andra- meaning man
Information Processing Theory - ✔✔Information processing theories give more emphasis to the
internal processes that occur when training content is learned and retained (hearing a sound, a smell, a
touch, or picture)
Closed Skills - ✔✔Refers to training objectives that are linked to learning specific skills that are to
identically produced by the trainee on their job
Open Skills - ✔✔Linked to more general learning principles (e.g., customer service skills)
Theory of Identical Elements - ✔✔Proposes that transfer of training occurs when what is being learned
in the training session is identical to what the trainee has to perform on the job
Fidelity - ✔✔Refers to the extent to which the training environment is similar to the work environment
COMPLETE EXAM REVIEW 2026/2027
Learning - ✔✔Refers to a relatively permanent change in human capabilities that can include
knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, and competencies that are not the result of growth processes
Transfer of Training - ✔✔Refers to trainees effectively ad continually applying what they have learned in
training to their jobs
Generalization - ✔✔Refers to a trainee's ability to apply what they learned to on-the-job work
problems and situations that are similar but not necessarily identical to those problems and situations
encountered in the learning environment i.e, training program
Maintenance - ✔✔Refers to the process of trainees continuing to use what they learned over time.
Verbal Information - ✔✔Names or labels, facts, and bodies of knowledge which may include specialized
knowledge that employees need in their jobs
Intellectual Skills - ✔✔Concepts and rules, which are critical to solve problems, serve customers, and
create products
Motor Skills - ✔✔The coordination of physical movements
Attitudes - ✔✔A combination of beliefs and feels the predispose a person to behave a certain way.
Attitudes can include a cognitive component (beliefs), an affective component (feeling), and an
intentional component (the way a person intends to behave with regard to the focus of the attitude)
Cognitive Strategies - ✔✔Regulate the process of learning relating to the learner's decision regarding
what information to attend to (i.e., pay attention to), how to remember, and how to solve problems
Reinforcement Theory - ✔✔Emphasizes that people are motivated to perform or avoid certain
behaviors because of past outcomes that have resulted from those behaviors (Positive reinforcement,
the pleasurable outcome resulting from a behavior) (Negative reinforcement, the removal of an
unpleasant outcome)
Social Learning Theory - ✔✔Emphasizes that people learn by observing other persons whom they
believe are credible and knowledgeable
Self-efficacy - ✔✔A person's judgment about whether he or she can successfully learn knowledge and
skills
Verbal Persuasion - ✔✔Offering words of encouragement to convince others they can learn
Logical Verification - ✔✔Perceiving a relationship between a new task and a task already mastered
, Modeling - ✔✔Refers to having employees who already have mastered the learning outcomes
demonstrate them for the trainees (employees are likely to be motivated by the confidence and success
of their peers)
Past Accomplishments - ✔✔Allowing employees to build a history of successful accomplishments
Goal Setting Theory - ✔✔Assumes that behavior results from a person's conscious goals and intentions
Goal Orientation - ✔✔Refers to the goals held by a trainee in a learning situation which can include a
learning and performance orientation
Learning Orientation - ✔✔Relates to trying to increase ability or competence in a task
Performance Orientation - ✔✔Refers to learners who focus on task performance and how they
compare to others
Need - ✔✔A deficiency that a person is experiencing at any point in time (a need motivates a person to
behave in a manner that satisfies the deficiency)
Expectancy Theory - ✔✔Suggests that a person's behavior is based on 3 factors: expectancy,
instrumentality, and valence
Expectancies - ✔✔Beliefs about the link between trying to perform a behavior and actually performing
well
Instrumentality - ✔✔The belief that performing a given behavior (e.g. attending a training program) is
associated with a particular outcome (e.g., being able to better perform the job)
Valence - ✔✔The value that a person places on an outcome (e.g., how important it is to perform better
on the job)
Adult Learning Theory - ✔✔A specific theory of how adults learn
Andragogy - ✔✔The theory of adult learning. From the greek "man" Andra- meaning man
Information Processing Theory - ✔✔Information processing theories give more emphasis to the
internal processes that occur when training content is learned and retained (hearing a sound, a smell, a
touch, or picture)
Closed Skills - ✔✔Refers to training objectives that are linked to learning specific skills that are to
identically produced by the trainee on their job
Open Skills - ✔✔Linked to more general learning principles (e.g., customer service skills)
Theory of Identical Elements - ✔✔Proposes that transfer of training occurs when what is being learned
in the training session is identical to what the trainee has to perform on the job
Fidelity - ✔✔Refers to the extent to which the training environment is similar to the work environment
