Chapter 18 Applied Psychology

Industrial-Organizational Psychology (I-O)

• Applied psychology: Use of psychological principles and research methods to solve practical problems

• Industrial-organizational psychology (I-O): Focuses on psychology of people at work and in organizations– Typically work in:

• Testing and placement• Human relations at work

Table 18-1, p. 585

Management Theories

• Scientific management (Theory X): Approach to managing employees that emphasizes work efficiency

• Psychological efficiency: Maintaining good morale, labor relations, employee satisfaction, and similar aspects of work behavior– Happy workers are productive workers

Theory Y

• Emphasizes human relations at work; sees people as industrious, responsible, and interested in challenging work

Fig. 18-1, p. 590

Psychological Testing

• Vocational interest tests: Paper-and-pencil test that assesses a person’s interests and matches them to interests found in successful workers in various occupations– Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory is one

such example• Aptitude tests: Rate a person’s potential to

learn skills or tasks used in various occupations

Psychological Testing (cont)

• Multimedia computerized tests: Use computers to present realistic work situations– Police officers will run through various

“situations” where they have to decide whether or not to use force, for example

• Assessment centers: Do in-depth evaluations of potential employees; often set up within organizations

Situational Judgment Tests

• Present difficult but realistic work situations to potential employees in order to observe their skills and reactions

In-Basket Test

• Simulates decision making challenges that executives face– Basket full of memos is given to applicant,

and applicant must act appropriately as quickly as possible

Leaderless Group Discussion

• Test of leadership that simulates group decision making and problem solving

p. 587

Management Strategies

• Participative management (shared leadership): Employees at all levels are directly involved in decision making

• Management by objectives: Workers are given specific goals to meet so they can know if they are doing a good job

• Self-managed team: Group of employees who work together toward shared goals

• Quality circles: Voluntary employee discussion groups that look to improve quality and look for ways to solve business problems

Job Satisfaction

• Degree to which a person is comfortable and satisfied with his or her work

Job Enrichment

• Making a job more personally rewarding, interesting, or intrinsically motivating

Personnel Psychology

• Concerned with testing, selection, placement, and promotion of employees

Aptitude Tests

• Rate an individual’s potential to learn skills required by various occupations

Table 18-2, p. 592

Fig. 18-2, p. 592

Environmental Psychology

• Concerned with the relationship between environments and human behavior

• Interested in:

Physical Environments

• Natural or constructed

Social Environments

• Groups of people, such as at a dance, party, or business meeting

Behavioral Settings

• Smaller areas within an environment whose use is well defined (e.g., office, casino, classroom, or locker room)

Table 18-3, p. 594

Territoriality

• Territorial behavior: Any behavior that tends to define a space as one’s own or that protects it from intruders

• Territorial markers: Objects and other signals that indicate ownership or control of a particular area – Gates, pictures, plants, posters,

decorations– Check your psychology professor’s office

to find some examples of territorial markers

Crowding and Noise

• Crowding: Subjective feelings of being overstimulated by social inputs or loss of privacy– When crowding causes a loss of control

over one’s immediate social environment, stress can result

– John Calhoun’s “Horrible Mousery” (1962) is a good example of how overcrowding can affect mice

Attentional Overload

• Stressful condition that occurs when sensory stimulation, information, and social contacts make excessive demands on attention

Noise Pollution

• Stressful, annoying, and intrusive noise. Usually generated by machines (jackhammers, sirens, planes)

Ecological Footprint

• Amount of land and water required to replenish resources that a human population consumes

p. 598

Carbon Footprint

• Volume of greenhouse gasses individual consumption adds to the atmosphere

Tragedy of the Commons

• Social dilemmas where individuals, each acting in his or her self-interest, overuse a scarce resource

Architectural Psychology

• Study of the effects buildings have on behavior; buildings can be designed using psychological and behavioral principles– Making rooms with more space and more

light, having bathrooms in the middle of the hall; higher or lower ceilings

– Feng Shui

Fig. 18-3, p. 596

Fig. 18-4, p. 600

Teaching Styles

• Direction instruction: Factual information presented by lecture, demonstration, and rote practice

• Discovery learning: Teachers create conditions that encourage students to discover or construct knowledge for themselves

Psychology of Law

• Study of behavioral dimensions of legal system

Table 18-5, p. 603

Jury Behavior

• Jurors rarely can put aside biases, attitudes, and beliefs when making a decision

• Jurors are not very good at separating evidence from other information

• Final verdict is often influenced by inadmissible evidence

• Jurors cannot suspend judgment until all information is in; opinion often formed early in trial

Mock Jury

• Group that realistically simulates a courtroom jury

Scientific Jury Selection

• Social science principles are applied to jury selection process– Gather demographic information– Perform community survey to get

information about attitudes towards case– Look for authoritarian personality traits in

potential jurors• Tend to believe that punishment is

effective and more likely to vote to convict

– Look at nonverbal behavior

Death-Qualified Jury

• Jury composed of people who favor death penalty or are at least indifferent to it

Sports Psychology

• Study of behavioral dimensions of sports performance

• Task analysis: Breaking sports skills into subparts so that key elements can be identified and taught

• Motor skills: Series of actions molded into a smooth and efficient performance

More on Sports Psychology

• Mental practice: Imagining a skilled performance to help learning

• Peak performance: Physical, emotional, and mental states are harmonious and optimal

Table 18-6, p. 605

Fig. 18-5, p. 605

Human Factors Psychology (Ergonomics)

• Specialty concerned with making machines and work environments compatible with human perceptual and physical characteristics

Natural Design

• Human factors engineering that makes use of naturally understood perceptual signals

Fig. 18-5, p. 605

Usability Testing

• Empirical investigation of the ease with which users can learn to use a machine

Human-computer Interaction (HCI)

• Application of human factors to the design of computers and computer software

Satisficing

• Engaging in behavior that achieves a minimum result, rather than maximizing the outcome of that behavior