Introduction to industrial/organizational psychology

Transcription

1 Introduction to industrial/organizational psychology Chapter 1 Industrial/Organizational Psychology: A branch of psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace I/O psychologists enhance the dignity and performance of human beings, and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human behavior. Differences between I/O and MBA programs - I/O examines factors that affect the people in an organization as opposed to the broader aspects of running an organization (marketing, transportation, accounting) - Application of psychological principles is what best distinguishes I/O psychology from related field typically taught in business schools I/O psychology relies extensively on research, quantitative methods and testing techniques I/O psychologists act as scientists when they conduct research and as practitioners when they work with actual organizations. Goal: to increase productivity and well-being of employees Individual 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 the necessary information to do their jobs and provide working conditions that are safe and result in an enjoyable and satisfying work/life environment Personal Psychology: The field of study that concentrates on the selection and evaluation of employees (analyzing jobs, recruiting applicants, selecting employees, determining salary levels, training employees and evaluating employee performance). Organizational psychology: The field of study that investigates the behavior of employees within the context of an organization. Team building, restructuring and employee empowerment. Human Factors: A field of study concentrating on the interaction between humans and machines. They frequently work with engineers.

2 History of I/O psychology Army Alpha: an intelligence test developed during WW1 and used by the army for soldiers who can read Army Beta: an intelligence test developed during WW1 and used by the army for soldiers who cannot read. Hawthorne Studies: A series of studies, conducted at the Western Electric Plant in Hawthorne, Illinois, that have come to represent any change in behaviour when people react to a change in the environment. They were designed to investigate such issues as the effects of lighting levels, work schedules, wages, temperature and rest breaks on employee performance. Hawthrone Effect: when employees change their behaviour due solely to the fact that they are receiving attention or are being observed. Education: Bachelors, masters of PH D Masters degree takes between 1-2 years for completion Undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 and score of 1000 on Graduate Record Exam (GRE) GRE: Standardized admission test require by most psychology graduate schools Terminal Master s degree programs: Graduate programs that offer a master s degree but not Ph.D. Ph.D programs are best suited for students who eventually want to teach, do research or consult Doctoral Programs: 3.5 GPA and 1200 GRE Dissertation: A formal research paper required of most doctoral students in order to graduate. Hypothesis: An educated prediction about the answer to a research question Theory: A systematic set of assumptions regarding the cause and nature of behaviour. Pg 15 Literature Reviews Journals: A written collection of articles describing the methods and results of new research. Unbiased and accurate information on a topic. Trade Magazines: A collection of articles for those the in 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.

3 Location of the study Lab research External validity: The extent to which research result can be expected to hold true outside the specific setting in which they were obtained Generalizability: Like external validity, the extent to which research results hold true outside the specific setting in which they were obtained. Field Research (conducted in natural settings) What field research gains in external validity it loses in control of extraneous variable that are not of interest to the researcher (internal validity) Informed Consent: the formal process by which subjects give permission to be included in a study. In labs, this is not an issue as the participants are told the nature of the study In field gaining consent may be difficult as well as change the way people behave Institutional Reviews Boards: A committee designated to ensure the ethical treatment of research subjects They pay close attention to confidentiality. Type of research method used: Experiment: a type of research study in which the independent variable is manipulated by the experimenter. Random assignment of subjects to experimental and control conditions. Quasi-experiment: if either of the 2 above characteristic of an experiment is missing. Research method in which the experimenter either does not manipulate the independent variable or in which subjects are not randomly assigned to conditions. Independent variable: The manipulated variable in an experiment Dependent variable: the measure of behavior that is expected to change as a result of changes in the independent variable. Control Group: A group of employees who do not receive a particular type of training so that their performance can be compared with that of employees who do receive training. Archival research: research that involves the use of previously collected data. It is a cheap option but files are not always accurate and up-to-date. Surveys: Can be conducted by mail, personal interviews, phone, etc and the method depends on factors such as sample size, budget, available time and response rate. Response rates can be increased by the following:

4 Notifying participants of the upcoming survey Personalizing the survey through such means as an original signature or addressing the participant in a cover letter. Ensuring that survey response will be anonymous by using ID numbers Having a university sponsor the survey Distributing the survey in person rather than through the mail Meta-Analysis: Statistical method of reaching conclusions based on previous research. Effect size: used in meta-analysis, a statistic that indicates the amount of change caused by an experimental manipulation. Mean effect size: Used in meta-analysis, a statistic that is the average of the effect sizes for all studies included in the analysis. It indicates the effectiveness of some variable. Correlation coefficients (r): used as the effect size when researchers are interested in the relationship between 2 variables forming a correlation that indicates the magnitude and direction of a relationship. A difference score (d): used as the effect size when researchers are looking at the difference between 2 groups. It is used in meta-analysis and indicates how many standard deviations separate the mean score for the experimental group from the control group. <.40 are considered small are moderate >.80 are considered large Practical significance: the extent to which the results of a study have actual impact on human behaviour. Statistical Analysis: If our analysis indicates that the probability that our data resulted from chance is 5% or less, we consider our results to be statistically significant. Significance levels tell us the statistical significance of a study and effect sizes tell us the practical significance of a study.

5 Chapter 2: Job Analysis and evaluation