OVERVIEWAtty. Harve B. Abella, Esq.Psy 11 5:30-6:30 MWF

Industrial vs Organizational Psychology• Industrial Psychology (personnel psychology):• Personnel selection--individual differences of employees• Prediction of job performance.• Covers job analysis

• distinguish what a successful worker from unsuccessful• and selection, training, performance appraisal.

• Job performance = company “bottom line”• Traditionally, correlational approach used for research

(motivation, interview test)

• Organizational Psychology (social life aspects applied to work):• Leadership• Not only job performance, but satisfaction, motivation, etc.• Traditionally experimental research method

I/O Psychology Work Areas

• Primary work areas for I/O work:• Selection• Develop, validate, and administer psychological tests to assess (measure) skills,

abilities and interests as aids in selection and placement and promotion.

• Training• Analyze: First thing I/O dude does, is try to understand nature of job--knowledge

& task requirements• Conduct training programs, and evaluate the effectiveness of training.

• Organizational Development• Analyze organizations’ culture/climate, develop interventions --> increase in

efficiency. E.g. user interface causing problems with productivity

Functions of an I/O Psychologist•Performance Appraisal• Develop rating scales, and other measures of

individua/organizational performance to improve employee performance.

•Quality of Work-life• Previously, human workers were not viewed as human• Develop surveys that assess employees’ satisfaction

with their jobs and commitment to the organization. Satisfaction: one of most common surveys.

Hawthorne Studies• A series of research studies that began in the late 1920s at the

Western Electric Company• Refocused the interests of I/O Psychologists on how work

behavior manifests itself in an organizational context

• Joint venture between Western Electric & several researchers from Harvard University

• NONE OF WHOM WERE INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS

• The original study attempted to find the relationship between lighting and efficiency

Hawthorne Studies• Worker’s job performance began to improve following the

start of the researchers’ intervention• Continued to improve because of the novelty of the situation• The novelty began to wear off, productivity returned to its

earlier level• This phenomenon of change in behavior as the novelty wears

off, is the Hawthorne Effect.

• Industrial Psychology was never the same again after the Hawthorne Studies

Hawthorne Studies• Early I/O psychologists studied worker productivity in the

factory

• What physical factors (e.g. lighting) govern worker productivity?

• 1924 study conducted at the Hawthorne factory of Western Electric failed to find that physical environment factors controlled productivity Rather, any changes made increased productivity

• • Conclusion: Mere observation of a worker is sufficient to change their behavior (termed the Hawthorne effect)

The Founding Fathers of I/O Psych

• 1. Walter Dill Scott (American Psychologist)

• 2. Hugo Munsterberg (German)

• 3. Frederick Taylor (American Engineer)

Walter Dill Scott

• Walter Dill Scott (American Psychologist)

• First to apply the principles of psychology to motivation and productivity in the workplace.

• Would later become instrumental in the application of personnel procedures within the army during World War I.

• Boosted Industrial Psychology

Hugo Munsterberg

• Father of industrial psychology• 1. Applied psychological method to practical industrial

problems.

• 2. Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913)

• * View of I/O psychology:• 1. People need to fit the organization -- training!• 2. Applied behavioral sciences should help organizations to

shape people to serve as replacement parts for organizational machines. Mechanistic.

Frederick Taylor

• Principles of Scientific Management (1911).• Science over intuition• The best workers should be selected and trained in the

established “one best method”• Management and workers should cooperatively share

responsibility for the design and conduct of work.• Motivation and monetary gain

• Motivation results from monetary gain.• E.g.: Showed that workers who handle heavy iron ingots were

more productive when allowed work rests. • Training when to work and when to rest raised productivity from

12.5 to 47.0 tons moved per day. • Company increase efficiency. Costs dropped from 9.2 to 3.9 cents

per ton.

WW2• Committee on Selection and Classification of Military

Personnel

• The army approached psychologists

• Develop a test to sort new recruits into 5 categories based on their ability to learn the duties and responsibilities of a soldier

• The Army General Classification Test is the best-known product of the World War II personnel research organization. Among other products were: mental alertness tests for the Women's Army Corps, aptitude tests for specialized training, performance tests, trade knowledge tests, the West Point Qualifying Examination, and warrant officer tests.

1946-1963• WW1 helped form I/O Psych.

• WW2 helped develop and refine it.

• Creation of Subspecialties• Industrial Psychology became splintered

• Engineering Psychology (ergonomics)• Mixture of experimental and industrial psychology• Also known as applied experimental psychology

• 1950s to 1960s explosive growth due to research done in affiliation with the defense industries

1946-1963• That part of industrial psychology which deals with personnel

selection, classification, and training became known as

• PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

The Future

• Growing importance of technology:• Technology-mediated communication• 1. Workers can work anywhere (from home, etc)• 2. Loss of direct human contact--impact on social

relationships, mental health, etc.

• Human-technology interaction• New jobs in maintenance of technology• Replace manufacturing operatives as “worker elite”

• Greater focus on decision-making and coordination of activities by humans• Because jobs are becoming more technologically complex

The Future

• Redefinition of “job”:• less emphasis on job as a fixed bundle of tasks• emphasis on constantly changing tasks• 1. Requires constant learning• 2. More higher-order thinking• 3. Less “8to 5”

• Changing nature of pay: • 1. *Tied less to position or tenure in organization• 2. Tied more to market value of person’s KSAOs (Knowledge,

Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics).