UCR PSYCH 142 Exam 1

I/O Psychology

The branch of psychology applying behavioral principles to workplace behavior.

Dual Focus of I/O Psychology

Efficiency & productivity of organizations and the health & well-being of employees.

Hawthorne Effect

People improve performance when they know they're being observed.

Six Subfields of I/O Psychology

Selection & placement, training & development, performance appraisal, organizational development, quality of work life, ergonomics.

Global I/O Trend

Expansion worldwide with focus on leadership, motivation, job stress, and career development.

Modern I/O Challenges

Change management, war for talent, diversity, globalization, employee well-being.

Job Analysis

Systematic study of job tasks and the human qualities required to perform them.

Job Description

Document listing duties, tasks, and responsibilities of a job.

Job Specification

Outlines required KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics).

Job Evaluation

Determines job's value to the organization, used for pay decisions.

KSAO

Knowledge, Skill, Ability, and Other personal characteristics needed for a job.

Knowledge

Information required to perform tasks.

Skill

Learned proficiency to perform tasks.

Ability

Innate capacity to perform tasks.

Other Characteristics

Personality, interests, or credentials relevant to a job.

Purposes of Job Analysis

Career development, HR planning, legal defense, performance appraisal, selection, and training.

Sources of Job Information

Analyst, subject matter expert (SME), supervisor, records, O*NET database.

Critical Incident Technique

Collects examples of effective or ineffective job behavior.

Functional Job Analysis (FJA)

Analyzes jobs in terms of interaction with data, people, and things.

Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

Structured survey of job elements in six categories.

Job Element Method (JEM)

Focuses on identifying essential KSAOs for a job.

Recruitment

Process of attracting a pool of qualified applicants.

Formal Recruitment

Uses ads, agencies, recruiters, internet, job fairs.

Informal Recruitment

Uses referrals, walk-ins, and networking.

Screening

Review of applications, resumes, and tests to narrow candidates.

Reliability

Consistency of a test or measurement over time and items.

Validity

Accuracy of a test in measuring or predicting what it intends to.

Content Validity

Extent test measures relevant job content.

Criterion Validity

Extent test predicts job performance.

Construct Validity

Extent test measures the intended psychological trait.

Resume Fraud

Inaccurate or false information on resumes.

References

Often unreliable; tend to be overly positive.

Predictors in Selection Systems

Tools that are reliable, valid, legally defensible, and cost-effective.

Personnel Screening Methods

Biodata, cognitive, mechanical, sensory, skill, personality, integrity, assessment centers, drug testing, interviews.

Structured Interview

Uses standardized questions and scoring, more valid and fair.

Unstructured Interview

Informal and inconsistent, less reliable.

Selection

Choosing applicants best qualified for the job.

Placement

Assigning workers to positions best fitting their KSAOs.

Adverse Impact

Unintentional discrimination affecting protected groups.

Affirmative Action

Efforts to increase employment of underrepresented groups.

Performance Appraisal

Assessment of employee performance compared to company standards.

Objective Methods

Quantifiable metrics such as sales or output.

Subjective Methods

Supervisor or peer judgments of performance.

Comparative Methods

Rank order, paired comparison, or forced distribution approaches.

Individual Methods

Checklists, narratives, rating scales, BARS, and BOS.

BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales)

Rates performance using specific behavioral examples.

BOS (Behavioral Observation Scales)

Rates frequency of observed behaviors.

Common Rating Errors

Leniency, severity, halo, horns, primacy, recency, bias.

Effective Appraisal Interviews

Include employee input, focus on behavior, set mutual goals, apply consistent standards.

Legal Appraisal Systems

Must be job-related, standardized, documented, and use trained raters.

Employee Training

Planned effort to teach job-related behaviors and skills.

Areas of Training

Orientation, retraining, career development, team, international, and retirement training.

Adult Learning Theory (Andragogy)

Adults are self-directed, experienced, problem-focused, and motivated by relevance.

Implications for Training Design

Use experience, problem-centered learning, collaboration, immediate application.

Steps of Training Program

1. Needs assessment 2. Establish objectives 3. Develop/test materials 4. Implement 5. Evaluate.

Needs Assessment Types

Organizational, task, person, and demographic analyses.

Training Objectives

Performance (what), conditions (how), criterion (how well).

On-Site Training

On-the-job, apprenticeship, vestibule, job rotation.

Off-Site Training

Lectures, simulations, audiovisual, programmed or computer-assisted instruction.

Special Management Training

Case studies, role playing, games, action learning, mentoring, coaching.

Training Implementation Factors

Trainee readiness, expectations, climate, manager support.

Training Evaluation Criteria

Reaction, learning, behavior, results (ROI).

Equal Employment Opportunity in Training

Programs must avoid discrimination; diversity training often ineffective if poorly designed.