Why People Dont Know About IO

1
Why People Dont Know About I/O

• Relatively Young Field
• Gained attention during WWI.
• Small field
• Professional society has about 5,500 members.
• Not typically taught in PSY 100.
• People know us by other names human resources,
  labor relations, etc...

2
What is Industrial Organizational Psychology?

• Definition Psychology applied to work.
• Major areas
• Selection
• Training Development.
• Worker attitudes and feelings.
• Interpersonal dynamics - teams.
• Labor relations - unions and bargaining.

3
Why is it good you decided to take this class?

• If you have ever had a job, you will be able to
  relate to the material.
• If you ever plan to have another job, you will be
  able to use what you learn.
• Field of HR and I/O Psychology are expanding
  rapidly.
• Many job opportunities.
• Well-paying jobs.

4
Overview History of IO

• Psychology
• The scientific study of thinking and behavior.
• Typical view is of the shrink and black
  couches.
• Clinical and Counseling are biggest areas.
• Large Field
• 85,000 members of American Psychological
  Association (APA).
• Broad Field
• 53 subdivisions of American Psychological
  Association.

5
Overview History of IO

• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• The development and application of scientific
  principles to the workplace.
• Where we fit within Psychology as a whole
• Division 14 of the APA.
• Society of Industrial and Organizational
  Psychology (SIOP).
• 3,400 professional members.
• 1,900 student members.
• Sets guidelines and holds annual conference.
• Web-site www.siop.org
• How do we differ from related fields, like human
  resources?
• Foundation of psychological principles.
• Focus on practice and research.

6
Scientist-practitioner Model

• Science
• Many IO Psychologists Focus on Research.
• University non-university settings.
• Goal is to advance the knowledge about people at
  work.
• Published in journals.
• Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel
  Psychology, etc
• Practice
• Apply knowledge to solve problems in the real
  world.
• Consultants - full-time and academics.
• Individuals working in Industry (e.g., Ford).

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Scientist-practitioner Model (cont.)

• Optimal Situation
• Scientists research human behavior in
  organizations and practitioners apply the
  knowledge gained.
• Reality
• A divide exists between research and practice.
• Causes
• Publish or perish academic system.
• Difficult to get real-world samples and apply
  research methods in applied settings.
• Practical constraints placed on IO Psychologists
  in the real world.
• Strong push to bring research and practice closer
  together.

8
I/O Psychology Fields

• Selection and Placement
• Hiring systems - interviews, tests, work samples,
  etc
• Placement - matching job and employee
  characteristics.
• Training and Development
• Identify knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)
  needed to do the job.
• Determine how to effectively and efficiently
  provide employees with those KSAs.
• Performance Appraisal
• Determine how to measure employee performance.
• Link appraisal with other organizational systems,
  such as training, pay, promotion, termination
  and/or downsizing, etc...

9
I/O Fields (cont.)

• Organizational Development (OD)
• Deal with issues within the organization.
• Help the organization transition to a desired
  state.
• Includes people, structures, technology, etc
• Quality of Work Life
• Examine factors that contribute to healthy and
  productive workforce
• May include job design to increase employee
  motivation, satisfaction, etc

10
Where I/O Psychologists Work

• Four Areas
• Universities (37)
• Consulting Firms (38)
• Industry (18)
• Government Non-profit (7)

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Requirements for being an IO Psychologist

• Some states require licensure or certification.
• Need a Doctoral Degree in Psychology.
• 2 years for M.A.
• 3 years for Ph.D.
• Usually done by means of an examination.
• Needed if you want to practice in those states.
• Currently debated - exam doesnt focus much on
  I/O, more on clinical and counseling psychology
• Level of education determines what you start-off
  doing and how much you will make (e.g., on
  average M.S. 68,000 Ph.D. 90,000).

12
History of I/O Psychology

• Emerged early in the 20th century.
• Concern was for economics of manufacturing. Goal
  was to improve efficiency and increase
  productivity.
• Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
• Industrial Engineers.
• Focused on human motion.
• Broke jobs down to their most basic elements.
• They called these basic motions therbligs.
• By 1910 industrial psychology was a legitimate
  specialty area of psychology.

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Founding Fathers

• Walter Dill Scott
• Applied psychology to the field of advertising.
• Expanded to business in general and was also
  active in personnel selection during WWI.
• Respected as scientist-practitioner.
• Hugo Munsterberg
• Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913)
• Selecting workers, designing work situations, and
  using psychology in sales.
• Performed many studies - trolley car operator
  (lab simulation).
• Showed that economic gains could be obtained by
  applying the ideas and methods of psychology to
  problems in business and industry.

14
Founding Fathers (cont.)

• Fredrick Taylor
• Scientific Management
• Scientific design of work for efficiency.
• Selecting and training workers toward new work
  methods.
• Time and motion studies.
• Bethlehem Steel experiments.
• Showed that workers could handle much more pig
  iron if the work was designed in an efficient
  manner and included rest breaks.
• Probably more written about Taylor than anyone
  else.
• Controversial due to his view of workers and the
  perception that he exploited workers to benefit
  management.
• Actually helped employees make more money.

15
World War I (1917-1918)

• Push by Robert Yerkes
• American Psychological Association President
• Argued that psychology could be greatly utilized
  in the war effort.
• Most proposals not accepted, those that were
  focused mainly on the assessment of recruits.
• Army Alpha and Beta
• Alpha - general intelligence test.
• Beta - version for recruits who were illiterate.
• Low usage due to the end of the war.
• Increased recognition and authority for I/O
  Psychology.
• Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP) (1917).

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Between Wars (1919 - 1940)

• Civilian Test Use
• Use of tests in business, school systems, and
  other organizations for screening and
  classifying.
• Hawthorne Experiments (1924)
• Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company.
• Series of experiments with lighting and
  performance.
• Workers performance improved regardless of
  manipulation because they were trying to impress
  the experimenters.
• Hawthorne Effect A positive change in behavior
  that occurs at the onset of an intervention
  followed by a gradual decline.

17
World War II (1941-1945)

• Army approached psychologists, and the
  psychologists were better prepared.
• Designed the Army General Classification Test
  (AGCT)
• 12 million soldiers classified into military jobs
  based on this test.
• Also designed training for officers.
• The new specialization of engineering psychology
  was used to design aircraft equipment. Precursor
  for what we know today as ergonomics.
• Simultaneous increase in use of testing in
  civilian sector.
• Focused on special war issues, such as reducing
  absenteeism.
• General cross-over in areas such as selection,
  training, and machine design.

18
Post-War Period

• Increased specialization
• New subspecialties such as engineering
  psychology.
• Broader focus
• More attention to organizational issues.
• Combinations of areas industrial psychology,
  engineering, social psychology, and sociology.
• Not just selection and training anymore.
• Government Intervention
• Civil Rights Act - designed to reduce unfair
  discrimination against minorities.
• Title VII focused on discrimination in
  employment.
• Cannot hire based on race, gender, religion,
  color, and national origin.

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Post-war Period (cont.)

• Government Intervention (cont.)
• Uniform guidelines (1978).
• Companies must show that their selection system
  does not discriminate against any minority group.
• Civil Rights Act (1991)
• President Bush signs an updated version of the
  Civil Rights Act.
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990)
• Extended protection to individuals with
  disabilities.
• Outlines hiring procedures and other issues such
  as accommodations and accessibility.

20
Post-war Period (cont.)

• Still Testing Military Recruits
• Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
  (ASVAB) Test developed in 1980s by I/O
  psychologists to select and place military
  personnel.
• This test is currently being revised.

21
I/O Psychology Today

• Cross-cultural psychology
• Diverse workforce.
• Multinational companies.
• The role of technology in the workplace.
• More complex jobs.
• Virtual jobs, teams, and organizations.
• Current issues.
• Mergers and acquisitions.
• Downsizing.
• Baby-boomers and aging workforce.
• Global competition.