1 - Introduction to I/O Psychology

• In the 2000s, perhaps the greatest influence on I/O psychology is the rapid advances in technology. Many tests and surveys are now administered through computers and the Internet, employers recruit and screen applicants online, employees are being trained using e-learning and distance education, and managers are holding meetings in cyberspace rather than in person.
• 5 other changes during the 1980s and 1990s that had significant effects on I/O psychology

  • Massive organizational downsizing
  • Greater concern for diversity and gender issues
  • An aging workforce
  • Increased concern about the effects of stress
  • The increased emphasis on such organizational development interventions as total quality management
• By the mid-1980s, the courts became less strict, and a wider variety of selection instruments was developed and used. Examples of these instruments include cognitive ability tests, personality tests, biodata, and structured interviews.
• In the 1960s and 1970s, the courts were still interpreting the major civil rights acts of the early 1960s, with the result that I/O psychologists took a cautious approach in selecting employees.
• 4 major changes to I/O psychology in the 1980s and 1990s

  • Increased use of fairly sophisticated statistical techniques and methods of analysis
  • New interest in the application of cognitive psychology to industry
  • Increased interest in the effects of work on family life and leisure activities
  • Renewed interest in developing methods to select employees
• B.F. Skinner's (1971) Beyond Freedom and Dignity resulted in the increased use of behavior-modification techniques in organizations.
• The 1970s brought great strides in the understanding of many organizational psychology issues that involved employee satisfaction and motivation. The decade also saw the development of many theories about employee behavior in organizations. B. F. Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity resulted in the increased use of behavior-modification techniques in organizations.
• The 1960s were characterized by the passage of several major pieces of civil rights legislation. These laws focused the attention of HR professionals on developing fair selection techniques. As a result, the need for I/O psychologists greatly increased. These were also characterized by the use of sensitivity training and T-groups (laboratory training groups) for managers.
• Hawthorne effect


  Employees change their behavior and become more productive because they are being studied and receive attention from their managers
• Hawthorne studies


  Demonstrated that employee behavior was complex and that the interpersonal interactions between managers and employees played a tremendous role in employee behavior. They were initially designed to investigate such issues as the effects of lighting levels, work schedules, wages, temperature, and rest breaks on employee performance.
• I/O Psychologists outside the US

  • Switzerland: Jules Suter
  • Australia: Bernard Muscio
  • Germany: Franziska Baumgarten-Tramer, Walter Moede, William Stern, Otto Lipmann, Emil Kraepelin
  • France: Jean Marie Lahy
  • Canada: Edward Webster
  • Great Britain: Cyril Burt, Charles Myers, Sir Frederick Bartlett
• Cheaper by the Dozen


  Book and 1950 movie based on the Gilbreth couple, as they had 12 children, and the efficiency methods they used to raise their children while having busy careers
• Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth

  
  

  They were among the first, if not the first, scientists to improve productivity and reduce fatigue by studying the motions used by workers. He began his career as a contractor and became famous for developing improvements in bricklaying that reduced the number of motions needed to lay a brick from 18 to 4 ½. She, the much more educated of the two, received her Ph.D. from Brown University in 1915—a rare achievement for a woman at that time.
• Thomas A. Edison


  Inventor who understood the importance of selecting the right employees. In 1920, he created a 150-item knowledge test that he administered to over 900 applicants. The test and passing score were so difficult that only 5% of the applicants passed.
• Henry Gantt


  I/O psychologists, especially him, were responsible for increasing the efficiency with which cargo ships were built, repaired, and loaded.
• John B. Watson


  Better known as a pioneer in behaviorism, served as a major in the U.S. Army in World War I and developed perceptual and motor tests for potential pilots.
• Army Alpha and Army Beta tests


  • The former was used for recruits who could read and the latter for recruits who could not read. The more intelligent recruits were assigned to officer training, and the less intelligent to the infantry.
• I/O psychology made its first big impact during World War I, when the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests were created.
• 3 common terms for I/O Psychology prior to WWI

  • Economic psychology
  • Business psychology
  • Employment psychology
• Although various experts disagree about the precise beginning of I/O psychology, it is generally thought to have started either in 1903 when Walter Dill Scott wrote The Theory of Advertising, in which psychology was first applied to business; in 1910 when Hugo Munsterberg wrote Psychology and Industrial Efficiency, which was first published in English in 1913; or in 1911 when Walter Dill Scott wrote the book Increasing Human Efficiency in Business.
• Regardless of the official starting date, I/O psychology was born in the early 1900s.
• Human factors


  Major field that concentrates on workplace design, human-machine interaction, ergonomics, and physical fatigue and stress; frequently work with engineers and other technical professionals to make the workplace safer and more efficient
• Organizational psychology


  Major field that is concerned with the issues of leadership, job satisfaction, employee motivation, organizational communication, conflict management, organizational change, and group processes within an organization
• Personnel psychology


  Major field that involves such areas as analyzing jobs, recruiting applicants, selecting employees, determining salary levels, training employees, and evaluating employee performance
• 3 major fields of I/O Psychology

  • Personnel Psychology
  • Organizational Psychology
  • Human Factors/Ergonomics
• Two approaches in attaining the goal of I/O Psychology

  • Industrial approach
  • Organizational approach
• Industrial approach


  Focuses on determining the competencies needed to perform a job, staffing the organization with employees who have those competencies, and increasing those competencies through training
• Organizational approach


  Creates an organizational structure and culture that will motivate employees to perform well, give them with the necessary information to do their jobs, and provide working conditions that are safe and result in an enjoyable and satisfying work environment
• Industrial/organizational psychology


  A branch of psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace; its purpose is "to enhance the dignity and performance of human beings, and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human behavior"
• Why Conduct Research?

  1.      Answer questions and make decisions

  2.      Research and everyday life

  3.      Common sense is often wrong
• Conducting a Research:

  1. Idea or question
  2. Hypothesis
  3. Literature Review
  4. Location of the Study
  5. Research Method
  6. Data Collection
  7. Statistical Analysis
• Hypothesis


  an educated prediction about the answer to a question
• Theory 


  previous research or logic on which a hypothesis is based
• Journals


  consist of articles written by researchers directly reporting the results of a study
• Bridge publications


  designed to “bridge the gap” between academia and the applied world; usually written by professors about a topic of interest to practitioners
• Trade magazines


  contain articles usually written by professional writers who have developed expertise in a given field
• Magazines


  designed to entertain as well as inform
• Internet


  contains a wealth of information on just about every topic
• external validity or generalizability


  disadvantage of laboratory research
• internal validity/loss of control of extraneous variables and informed consent


  disadvantage of field research