CHAP 1

• Industrial/organizational psychology


  A branch of psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace
• Purpose of I/O psychology


  To enhance the dignity and performance of human beings, and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human behavior
• I/O psychology


  • Relies extensively on research, quantitative methods, and testing techniques
  • Psychologists are trained to use empirical data and statistics rather than intuition to make decisions
  • I/O psychologists are not clinical psychologists who happen to be in industry, and they do not conduct therapy for workers
• Major Fields of I/O Psychology


  • Personnel psychology
  • Organizational psychology
  • Human factors
• Personnel psychology


  The field of study that concentrates on the selection and evaluation of employees
• Personnel psychology


  1. Analyzing jobs

  2. Recruiting applicants

  3. Selecting employees

  4. Determining salary levels

  5. Training employees

  6. Evaluating employee performance
• Organizational psychology


  The field of study that investigates the behavior of employees within the context of an organization
• Areas studied in organizational psychology

  • Leadership
  • Job satisfaction
  • Employee motivation
  • Organizational communication
  • Conflict management
  • Organizational change
  • Group processes within an organization
• Human factors


  A field of study concentrating on the interaction between humans and machines
• Human factors


  1. Workplace design

  2. Human machine interaction

  3. Ergonomics

  4. Physical fatigue and stress
• Competences affect the people
• Important Events in I/O Psychology

  • Walter Scott-first to apply motivation/productivity, and instrumental in hiring soldiers. The theory of Advertising
  • Hugo Munsterberg-father of industrial psychology. Psychology and Industrial Efficiency
  • Fredric Taylor-commonsense, sconce over intuition, one best mentor, management and workers. Time-and-motion studies
  • Frank and Lillian Gilbreth- improve productivity, reduce fatigues
  • John Watson-pilots
  • Henry Gantt-boats
  • Army Alpha- An intelligence test developed during World War I and used by the army for soldiers who can read
  • Army Beta- An intelligence test developed during World War I and used by the army for soldiers who cannot read
  • Hawthorne studies- A series of studies, conducted at the Western Electric plant in Hawthome, Illinois, that have come to represent any change in behavior when people react to a change in the environment
  • Hawthorne effect- When employees changed their behavior due solely to the fact that they are receiving attention or are being observed
• Employee settings


  • Education
  • Private
  • Public
  • Consultant
• Academic settings


  • college/universities
  • consulting firms
• Practitioner settings


  • public-stability
  • private-pay
• More recent articles use such complex statistical techniques as path analysis, structural equation modeling, meta-analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)
• Simpler statistical techniques such as 1-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are also used
• Graduate Record Exam (GRE)


  A standardized admission test required by most psychology graduate schools
• Types of Graduate Programs

  • Terminal master's degree programs
  • Master's programs
  • Internship
  • Practicum
  • Doctoral programs
• Terminal master's degree programs


  Graduate programs that offer a master's degree but not a Ph.D.
• Master's programs


  Completion of most master's programs requires about 40 hours of graduate coursework
• Internship


  A situation in which a student works for an organization, either for pay or as a volunteer, to receive practical work experience
• Practicum


  A paid or unpaid position with an organization that gives a student practical work experience
• Doctoral programs


  Obtaining a Ph.D. is more difficult than obtaining a master's, with the typical doctoral program taking five years to complete
• Dissertation


  A formal research paper required of most doctoral students in order to graduate
• Why Conduct Research?


  • Answering Questions and Making Decisions
  • Research and Everyday Life
  • Common Sense Is Often Wrong
• Hypothesis


  An educated prediction about the answer to a research question
• Theory


  A systematic set of assumptions regarding the cause and nature of behavior
• Exploratory study without a hypothesis is a practice that is not uncommon but is generally frowned on by scientists
• If exploratory studies are used, follow-up studies should then be conducted to confirm the results of the exploratory study
• Types of Literature


  • Journals
  • Trade magazines
  • Magazines
• Journals


  A written collection of articles describing the methods and results of new research
• Trade magazines


  A collection of articles for those "in the biz," about related professional topics, seldom directly reporting the methods and results of new research
• Magazines


  An unscientific collection of articles about a wide range of topics
• Types of Research


  • Laboratory research
  • Field research
• Laboratory research


  Research conducted in a controlled setting
• Field research


  Research conducted in a natural setting as opposed to a laboratory
• External validity


  The extent to which research results can be expected to hold true outside the specific setting in which they were obtained
• Generalizability


  The extent to which research results hold true outside the specific setting in which they were obtained
• Informed consent


  The formal process by which subjects give permission to be included in a study