Industrial/Organizational Psychology - Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key IO psychology concepts from Pages 1-6 of the notes.

Industrial/Organizational (I-O) Psychology

The branch of psychology that studies human behavior in the workplace to improve organizational functioning and worker well-being.

Hawthorne Effect

Productivity increases occur when workers know they are being observed.

Hawthorne Studies

Early research showing social factors affect productivity and helping ignite the Human Relations Movement.

Army Alpha and Beta Tests (AAB)

WWI group tests used to rank soldiers and place people into jobs; Alpha for literate, Beta for illiterate.

Frank & Lillian Gilbreth

Pioneers of time-and-motion studies, Lillian emphasized human aspects of work and worker well-being. Inspired by the cheaper by the dozen.

Work-oriented vs. Worker-oriented job analysis

Work-oriented analyzes specific tasks; worker-oriented focuses on broad human behaviors and KSAOs.

KSAOs

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics; attributes used to describe job performance.

KSAO Example: Knowledge of arrest procedures

A knowledge component illustrating a KSAO example and its linked tasks.

Knowledge (in job analysis)

What a person needs to know to perform the job; information.

Skill (in job analysis)

What a person is able to do on the job.

Ability (in job analysis)

Aptitude or capability to perform or learn job tasks; largely innate.

Other Personal Characteristics

Additional job-relevant traits (e.g., attitudes, personality) not covered by K/S/A.

Critical Incidents Technique (CIT)

A job-analysis method based on notable examples of successful or unsuccessful performance.

Leniency Error

A rating bias where evaluators give overly favorable ratings.

Severity Error

A rating bias where evaluators give overly harsh ratings.

Central Tendency Error

Raters avoid extremes and place ratings near the middle.

Halo Effect

Overall impression biases ratings of specific traits.

Recency Effect

Recent performance disproportionately influences ratings.

Causal Attribution

Bias in judging causes of performance outcomes.

Actor-Observer Bias

Differences in attributing behavior to others vs. oneself.

O*NET

Online Occupational Information Network; replaced the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and is linked to Functional Job Analysis.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)

Old government job-title dictionary; replaced by O*NET.

Objective vs. Subjective Performance Criteria

Objective criteria are quantifiable; subjective criteria rely on human judgment.

Performance Appraisal

Formalized process of assessing an employee's job performance against established standards.

Criterion Deficiency

The degree to which a criterion fails to measure essential aspects of job performance.

Criterion Relevance

The degree to which the appraisal criterion relates to job success.

Criterion Contamination

Biases in appraisal that contaminate the measurement criteria.

Comparable Worth

Idea that jobs requiring similar KSAOs should be paid equally; linked to Job Evaluation.

Job Analysis

Systematic process for determining the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job.

Job Element Method

A job-analysis method using Subject Matter Experts to rate KSAOs.

Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

A standardized survey method for collecting job information.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Prohibits employment discrimination; leads to the EEOC and Uniform Guidelines (1978).

EEOC

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; enforces civil rights laws in employment.

Uniform Guidelines (1978)

Regulations guiding employment testing to prevent discrimination.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Prohibits discrimination based on disability in employment.

Functional Job Analysis (FJA)

A job-analysis method that rates jobs by Data, People, and Things.

Data, People, Things

The three dimensions used in FJA to describe how a job interacts with elements of data, people, and objects.

RIASEC (Holland Codes)

A six-type classification of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional.

Performance Appraisal Methods (Comparative)

Methods comparing employees: rankings, paired comparisons, and forced distributions.

Graphic Rating Scales

Raters assess performance on a fixed scale using numeric or verbal labels.

Behavioral Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

Rating scales anchored by specific job-relevant behaviors.

Behavioral Observation Scales (BOS)

Raters rate how often specified behaviors are observed.

Checklists (performance rating)

Raters check all behaviors that apply from a list.

Narratives

Open-ended descriptions of performance rather than numeric scores.

CIT in BARS development

Using Critical Incidents Technique to develop BARS ratings.

Theoretical Criterion

The ideal conceptual notion of what constitutes good performance.

Actual Criterion

The operational, measurable definition of performance.

DOT and O*NET transition

DOT was replaced by ONET; ONET is the current comprehensive occupational data source.