psy

PSY 3335 Term Paper Directions

For your term paper you will be watching a workplace focused film, then applying content from this course to the content of the film. Please turn the paper in as a .docx or .pdf file on Blackboard (I will not grade .pages files, as Blackboard cannot open them). Papers will be checked for plagiarism using a tool on Blackboard.

Format

 Your paper must be 3-4 pages (double-spaced). 12-point Times New Roman font. o Title and reference pages do NOT count towards page count o This is both an upper and lower limit. You will be penalized for submitting less

than three pages and I will NOT read or grade content beyond the fourth substantive page.

 I expect the broad conventions of APA style to be followed (i.e., citation format, headers, etc.).

o I will not be penalizing minor formatting mistakes, but this is good practice at following arbitrary formatting guidelines, so try your best.

Content

 I have provided a list of questions about which you may apply content from the course to a film.

 For each question, your response should be about one page long (about 250-300 words).  I have provided more than three questions, because not all questions will be applicable to

all movies. You must select and answer three questions.  For film selection:

o Monsters Inc. is preapproved. You may use this film without checking in with me. o If you would like to use another film, you may. However, you must email me the

name of the film no later than Thursday, November 24th at 11:59PM.  This is so I can look up the film and make sure that it has work-related

content appropriate to the questions.

Prompts

1. Describe a job from the film in terms of the KSAOs needed for high performance. That is, what knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics are needed for exceptional performance.

2. Complete a mock task-oriented work analysis for a job in the film. Break a job down into the tasks that make up positions a worker has, what job those positions fit into, and what job family that job would be a part of.

3. What predictors would be useful when selecting individuals to hire for a job that a character holds? How do you think it would be best to measure this predictor? What issues would need to be addressed in terms of the reliability and validity of the measure. If you think multiple predictors would be appropriate, you may describe more than one.

4. What training and which training modalities would be most appropriate to a job in the film you selected? For example, would computer-based or non-computer-based approaches make the most sense? If computer-based, which type would be best? Why?

5. If employees are evaluated in the film you selected, are any of the performance evaluations affected by cognitive biases/errors (e.g., serial position errors, halo errors)? If so, describe the situation where the error occurred, what type of error it was, and why the error was the type you indicated.

6. What organizational norms are displayed by group members in the film? Describe a few of these. Also, describe whether the norm is a descriptive norm or an injunctive norm.

7. Describe how the scalar principle and functional principle apply to an organization in the film. That is, describe the chain of command present in the organization and describe how labor is divided between workers. Do you think the structure in the film could be made more effective by modifying the chain of command or division of labor?

8. Does any conflict occur amongst members of a team in the film? Identify the type of conflict (is it beneficial or competitive conflict? Additionally, is it task, process, or relationship conflict) and specify why the conflict is that type. Describe whether you think the conflict would typically lead to increased or decreased performance and why.

9. Was counterproductive work behavior present among characters in the film? If so, describe the behavior and what type of counterproductive behavior it is. Describe the likely long-term consequences of this behavior would be to the individual, their coworkers, and the organization.

10. Apply self-determination theory to one of the jobs in the film. How does the job provide for the three basic needs for intrinsic motivation (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness). Describe what the job provides in terms of satisfying each need or being deficient in providing for each need (Hint: it can also be a mix of both, with some needs being met and others not being met).