Intro/History/Research Methods

What is I/O Psychology

branch of psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace.

What do I/O psychologists do

apply psychological theories to explain and enhance the effectiveness of human behaviour in the workplace. "enhance the dignity and performance of human beings, and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human behaviour"

Main difference between I/O and business programs

I/O trying to solve problems with employees, not management. business solves management. they differ in perspective.

2 divisions of I/O

efficiency/productivity of organizations (I)

satisfaction/well-being of employees (O)

Common areas of concentration for I/O psychologists

selection and placement

training and development

organizational development

performance measurement

quality of work life

engineering psychology

3 important fields of I/O

personnel psychology

organizational psychology (employee behaviour)

human engineering (physical conditions and human factors)

Work setting of I/O psychologists

college (36%)

corporations (26%)

government (8%)

consulting (24%)

non profits (7%)

Vocational psychology

fitting individuals into different jobs, Carrier fit.

2 founders of I/O psychology

Hugo Munsterberg

James McKeen Cattell

Hugo Munsterberg

wrote the psychology of industrial efficiency

goal of improving worker efficiency

used tests to measure skills and match workers to jobs conducted research in the workplace

James McKeen Cattell

studied the importance of differences between individuals to predict behavior.

Walter Dill Scott

first to apply psychology to advertising, employee selection, and management.

wrote theory and practice of advertising

formed first industrial psychology consulting company

Walter Dill Scott & Walter Van Dyke Bingham

testing and placement of people in the army; army alpha and army beta tests of mental ability.

F.W. taylor

known for perspective on scientific management

Elton Mayo

employee behavior

interested in emotions and behaviour, might be reason of psychopathy behaviour in workplace.

Hawthorne Studies

studied the questions "the impact of various incentives on productivity"

Hawthorne effect

the change in behaviour that results from researchers paying attention to the workers.

why conduct research

answering questions and making decisions

research and everyday life

common sense is often wrong

Research Method to be used

experiments

quasi-experiments

archival research

surveys

meta-analysis

Quasi-Experiments

used when experiments are not practical or when manipulating a variable may not be ethical. IV not manipulated; subjects not randomly assigned to conditions. cannot determine cause-effect relationships.

How to increase response rates

notifying participants in advance that they will be receiving a survey

providing incentives

personalizing survey

saying it will be anonymous

sponsorships

in person

How to increase survey design

questions are easy to understand

simple language

avoid hypothetical situations

keep questions relatively short in length

sampling methods

random sampling

convenience

random assignment