IO Psy unit I assessment 5 questions

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UNIT I STUDY GUIDE

Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Differentiate the activities and settings of I/O psychologists from other types of psychologists.

2. Analyze the history of the field of I/O psychology, including its role in World War I and II, the Hawthorne studies, and in developing procedures to eliminate discrimination.

3. Compare and contrast industrial psychology and organizational psychology.

4. Describe the current state of the field of I/O psychology in other countries.

5. Explain how I/O psychologists use research. 6. Explain how I/O psychologists attempt to increase reliability and validity. 7. Examine the research designs that I/O psychologists use, and the

benefits and drawbacks of each approach. 8. Identify the different types of statistics that I/O psychologists use.

Unit Lesson “To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness,” by John Dewey (Dewey, 1916). In modern societies, what people “do” is often related to their working lives, and therefore, it is not surprising that several fields have emerged to help improve working life for employees and organizations. The field of Industrial Organizational (I/O) psychology applies scientific principles to help organizations accomplish goals and people find fulfillment. Using research-based approaches, I/O psychologists help organizations, such as nonprofits, government agencies, corporations, sports teams, non-government organizations, and others to identify, hire, motivate, manage, train, evaluate, and reward people, while establishing positive cultures and achieving objectives. They help employees to get the most out of life, by helping them to find meaning in their jobs and improving their working conditions. In this course, we will explore the specific ways in which I/O psychologists accomplish these and other tasks. I/O has its roots in traditional psychology, as well as experimental psychology, management, and engineering. The United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (U.K.) have been at the forefront of the field, and it is gaining popularity in many other countries, as well, such as New Zealand and Australia (Carless, 2006). In the U.S., I/O psychology played a key role in well-known historical events, including both World Wars and the Civil Rights Movement. For example, after the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act passed, I/O psychologists helped to develop strategies for ensuring compliance, thereby contributing to equality in the workplace. Another example is the role of I/O psychology in World War I. The Army Alpha and Army Beta tests, which assessed mental ability, applied the principles of

Reading Assignment Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Research Methods in I/O Psychology

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) See information below.

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industrial psychology. Researchers could test new recruits in large quantities, and quickly sort them into the best roles. This system laid the foundation for later tests, such as the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) (Spector, 2012). U.S. military forces continue to invest in I/O psychology today, with many having established units, such as the U.S. Army Research Institute, which employ I/O psychologists. I/O psychology, as a field, emerged in response to societal needs. The “industrial” side emerged first. Industrial psychology is concerned with improving organizational productivity and performance through effective recruitment, selection, training, performance evaluation, and reward systems. Some I/O psychologists specializing in these areas design tools that organizations can use to enhance employee performance. For example, Dr. Ronald Allen, an I/O psychologist who works in a large telecommunications company, develops selection tools. He develops questions for job applications and interview questions to select the applicants who are most likely to stay with the company and who have the skills and motivation to succeed. He conducts studies to see whether his tools are working, comparing the performance of employees hired using his tools to those who were not, and he also looks at turnover rates to assess whether his tools are impacting the organization. Industrial psychology helps organizations to maximize performance through managing people well, whereas organizational psychology focuses on the needs of the employees. Organizational psychology focuses on the experience of people at work, covering topics such as organizational culture, motivation, leadership, and health and well-being in the workplace. Dr. Sheila Ranks work in a large, inner city hospital, where she works with Human Resources staff to help promote employee engagement across all departments of the hospital. For example, she assesses employee attitudes (such as their level of satisfaction with their unit and leaders), she plans and delivers workshops for managers and leaders, and hosts events to promote employee morale. Like Dr. Allen, she uses research to assess whether her tools and interventions have the desired effect of increasing employee satisfaction, commitment, and engagement. She does this by giving employee surveys and conducting focus group interviews with employees, as well as by evaluating the impact of her workshops and events. Whether a psychologist focuses more on industrial or organizational issues, they rely on research to conduct their activities (Spector, 2012). The Role of Research in I/O Psychology I/O psychologists work in a variety of fields and industries, and in many professional roles, but one thing that they share in common is research. Those at academic institutions typically conduct research as part of their job responsibilities. That is, they develop and test theories in laboratories or in the field to contribute to a large body of research-based literature. Consultants and I/O psychologists working in organizations apply this research to help organizations and employees. They may also conduct research to contribute to the literature, or they may simply apply research methods in order to develop tools and interventions to address organizational issues and problems (Spector, 2012). When you think of scientific research, images of microscopes, beakers, and molecules may come to mind. However, psychologists apply scientific principles, such as establishing a testable hypothesis and using careful procedures to explore issues related to the field of people at work. I/O psychologists use similar terminology and procedures as other social scientists. They work with variables, attributes, or characteristics of people or things that can vary (take on different

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values), such as people’s abilities, attitudes, behaviors, and job performance. Some variables are independent of others, and the researcher controls these variables (e.g., changing the temperature of the room) or accounts for them in some way (e.g., measuring intelligence and assigning a score to each participant). Other variables are considered dependent variables, because they are expected to change, depending on the independent variable. For example, one could conduct a study exploring whether years of experience (independent variable) would increase work productivity (dependent variable) (Spector, 2012). One of the first and most well-known experimental studies in I/O psychology is the Hawthorne study. The researchers conducted a series of studies exploring ways to increase productivity. For example, in one study, they tested hypotheses regarding how lighting (independent variable) would impact employee productivity (dependent variable), using a sample from the Western Electric Company. To test this, they kept everything else the same and adjusted the lighting and then measured subsequent productivity. They did the same to test the impact of different independent variables, over the course of five years. What they found was that employees appeared to increase productivity when anything changed. This likely led to a conclusion that the act of observing and trying to improve conditions for employees motivated them to be more productive (Gautschi, 1989). This is one example of a study conducted directly at an organization, called a field study. Other studies are conducted in laboratories. Within universities, I/O psychologists test theories in laboratory studies in which they are able to exercise more control over the research setting. For example, to test whether giving different types of feedback would improve training results, a research laboratory at George Mason University set up a research study. They included a control group, which received no feedback after each performance trial, and an experimental group, which received scripted feedback by a researcher after each performance trial. Participants in the study performed several rounds, with some groups receiving feedback on how to improve their performance, and others receiving no feedback on their performance. Everything else about the groups was equal, allowing the researchers to test the hypothesis of whether feedback would improve performance in the task at hand by comparing performance levels across these two groups (Zaccaro et al., 2009). Most of the major university programs teaching I/O psychology to graduate students contain one or more research laboratories on campus, devoted to gaining and sharing a better understanding of workplace issues. Validity and Reliability The quality of the research design, which is the basic structure of a scientific study, will determine whether the results of the study can be trusted and applied back to real organizations. Researchers take steps to ensure that the results of the study can be considered valid and reliable. For example, if they use a survey to measure employee satisfaction, then the questions on the survey should appear to measure employee satisfaction, assess all aspects of employee satisfaction, be related to other variables in a logical way (e.g., satisfaction should relate to job commitment), and scores should reflect the employees’ actual satisfaction. For the same survey to be reliable it should be able to measure satisfaction consistently. If employee job satisfaction remains the same over the course of six months, then their scores should be the same when assessed six months later. With reliable and valid measures, I/O psychologists are able to conduct studies that produce useful results and findings that those in the field can apply confidently (Spector, 2012).

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Different designs have strengths and weaknesses. For example, an experimental design in which a researcher tests the impact of an independent variable on a dependent variable allows the researcher to control other factors, isolating the impact of the independent variable. This allows the researcher to say, with some certainty, that the independent variable causes changes in the dependent variable. All variables in studies must be measured in some way, and measurement is the process of assigning a number to characteristics of people or things. These numbers result in a research dataset to which the researcher can apply statistical techniques (Spector, 2012). Statistical Techniques Compared to other fields within psychology, I/O psychologists devote a lot of attention to statistics. Graduate courses in I/O psychology often teach full courses on statistical techniques, such as regression and meta-analysis. Statistics allow the psychologist to see how strongly different variables relate to one another, and in what ways. For example, correlations give a simple indication of whether two variable relate to one another, and whether they increase or decrease together. Often, researchers will publish their research findings in a journal article, which details the theory behind the research, defines the hypotheses, describes the research design and methods, provides support for the validity and reliability of the study findings, and interprets the results. You can access some of the top journals online, such as the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology. Each research study contributes to a greater knowledge base on I/O psychology. Researchers typically focus on a specific topic and setting, and it is necessary to replicate study findings in a variety of settings before drawing too many conclusions. When a topic receives a lot of attention, researchers can apply other, more advanced statistics, including meta-analyses, to get a more accurate understanding of the situation. For example, a popular debate in I/O psychology is whether leaders are born or made. Many research studies have attempted to explore this issue. Several meta-analyses have helped to summarize the research in this area, suggesting certain personality traits that often accompany individuals who emerge as leaders, as well as many skills associated with effective leadership are trainable, (Zaccaro, 2007). High quality research approaches and sophisticated statistics allow I/O psychologists to study organizational issues in order to develop sound tools and interventions to improve organizations. Become an I/O Psychologist To become an I/O psychologist in the United States, one typically completes advanced academic training, through a graduate program. While there are many graduate programs offering Ph.D. degrees, it is common to enter the workforce after earning a Master’s degree in I/O psychology. A graduate program will typically involve completing advanced coursework on topics such as personnel testing, employee motivation, training design and evaluation, organizational culture, job analysis, performance appraisal, and other topics. You might complete courses in advance research methods and statistics. Students typically conduct research as part of their training, and those completing a Ph.D. would initiate and complete their own research study on a topic that is of interest to them. Often, either as part of their academic requirements or for career development, graduate students will engage in a supervised internship while completing their degree. In this course, you will be introduced to a variety of topics in I/O psychology. You can also check out the resources available through

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the professional society, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychologist, which has both an international organization and local chapters throughout the United States.

References Carless, S. (2006). Industrial and organizational psychology training in Australia

and New Zealand. Australian Psychologist, 41(2), 120-129. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York, NY: The MacMillan

Company. Gautschi, T. F. (1989). The Hawthorne studies: A workplace classic. Design

News, 45(20), 180. Spector, P. E. (2012). Industrial and organizational behavior: Research and

practice (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American

Psychologist, 62(1), 6-16. Zaccaro, S. J. (2009). Leader and team adaptation: The influence and

development of key attributes and processes. United States Army Research Institute.

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) Visit the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology website. http://www.siop.org/tip/backissues/tipapr02/24fox.aspx Non-Graded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions contact your instructor for further guidance and information.