5 - Organisational psychology Flashcards
Who is Mark Wiggins?
Scientist-practitioner at work Selection and Assessment Training (coaching, leadership) Mental health (wellbeing; related to the work context) Organisational change
What are some milestones for organisational psychology?
- World War I
Selection tests for militaries
Job fit, some people do some jobs better than others
Wasn’t very effective, shell shock/PTSD - Hawthorne Studies, 1930
Western Electric
Attempting to increase efficiency in manufacturing
Performance increased when examined
Work environment, motivation, leadership, productivity, safety
Psychological environment - Equal employment, 1960s
Fairness and equity
HR management. OrgPsy on the individual, HR focus on policy and procedures
Employee satisfaction
What are recent trends in organisational psychology?
Bullying and incivility; medical and military Resilience; military Emotional intelligence Ethics and morality Creativity Work/family balance Teams Technology
What is the role of organisational psychology?
Employment is a common activity, 95% of people have one
Career counselling, selection, training, onboarding, productivity, safety, engagement, technology, change, wellbeing, late career issues, retirement
Where do organisational psychologists work?
APHRA Registrars, AoPE Consultants (Internal/External) Human Resources Academia Military User Experience
Why is there an interest in error?
Causes destruction Motor vehicle collision Power generation and transmission Transport and aviation Connection between complex technology and humans, can be major outcomes from minor errors
What are the personal impacts of error?
Misdiagnosis in medical field
Rory Staunton, stomach flu and cut. Died of sepsis
Alex Braes, sore leg. Died of sepsis, ingrown toenail
Psychological factors
What is human error?
Action that fails some implicit or explicit criteria Perception, attention error Lapse, I didn’t see it... Didn’t see the car in front Decision, decision error Mistake, I thought it would... Can be very serious Should drive at 40, I thought I could handle 60 Action Slip, I hit the wrong... Pressing brake or accelerator
What is skill acquistion and error?
Three stages: Novice, intermediate, expert
Novice: Lapse
Intermediate: Mistake
Expert: Slips
What are some costs?
Financial costs
$61.8 bln employer, worker and community costs of work related injury and illness
Personal costs
Most fatalities in transportation and agriculture, then construction
What is the contribution to performance?
Psychologists are interested in the individual, but we operate in a system
Someone being in a system; not sure what to do?
Experience and system contributing to performance
What are the problems with systems?
Which lift to go to in a large building?
Bathroom tap, how do you turn it on?
Give directions
New IV drip and not intuitive method of use, how do you use it?
How do we understand the roles of systems?
- Levels of responsibility
- Safety factor map
Policies and procedures in an organisation
» Fire extinguishers, alarms, etc.
Risk control
» Training on how to evacuate out of a building
Local conditions
» Bushfire in the area. Evacuate the building into the bushfire
Individual
What are the errors resulting from system failures?
Errors have to occur on a regular basis
Sporadic: Most people have hit the target, one outlier (an individual difference)
Random: Not much that can be done
Systematic: Everyone’s missing the target
10% or more of people get it wrong, then it’s a systematic issue not an individual problem
How do we explore human error?
Expert-novice paradigm Eye tracker in aviation - Expert is more targeted, non-expert is more scattered (lapses) Transmission Power Control - Noive, competent, expert - Very different response
How do you make a judgement about what is happening?
Between perception and decision making Sense making Situation assessment Intuiative cognition Diagnosis Sizing up
What is in the information processing model?
Perception
Decision
Response
What is cue based processing?
Link between cues and story of interest
Lens Model, Brunswick
Operator and system. System generates features. Extent to which the mental model matches the features in the environement impacts probability of function. Increased match, increased probability of function
What are immediate consequences of error?
Casualty management/transportation
Injuries during recovery
Loss of infrastructure
What are short term consequences of error?
Recovery from injury Time spent in hospital Insurance costs Management of casualties Victim identification Psychological debriefing First responders, grief Social costs Loss of the person’s contribution
What are long term consequences of error?
Loss of confidence Workplace labour losses Quality of life costs Compensation costs Insurance premiums
Facing organisational issues uses a phase of:
- Mission
- Diagnosis
- Surveys
- Staff interviews
- Problem formulation
idenity symptoms, causes and theory
What is the role of theory?
Why people experience things, what influences behaviour, understanding processes and concepts
What are job demands and resource model?
Organisational wellbeing
Burnout: A syndrome of stress; characterised by excess exhaustion, detachment, cynicism, dimished self-efficacy
Engagement: Becoming particulary engrossed with work
Job demands: Work requiring significant attention and energy
Job resources: Things that are stimulating and help you handle your job demands
Job demands: Underainty and role conflict
Higher levels of burnout
More likely to report health problems, take leave, suffer injury, considering leaving, uncivility
