I/O Psychology Flashcards
Job Analysis
Used to obtain info about the nature & requirements of a job; KSAO’s (Knowledge, skills, attitudes, & other characteristics) used to devel. criterion measures & predictors.
Conducted to ID the essential characteristics of a job, & may be 1st step in a job evaluation.
Provides info. to:
- facilitates workforce training & planning programs
- Assist w/decisions about job redesign
- Help ID causes of accidents & other safety related probs.
Methods for Conducting a Job Analysis
Info. about a job can be obtaineda few ways including:
- Observing EE’s perform the job
- Review company records
- Interview EE’s. sups. & others familiar w/the job
- Having EE’s keep a job diary
Methods include:
- Job-oriented techniques: Focus on work activities/tasks & conditions of work.
-
Worker-oriented techniques: Focus on KSAO’s reqired for the job.
- Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
A systematic process of determining how a job differs from other jobs in terms of required responsibilities, activities, & skills.
The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
A frequently used structured job analysis questionnaire w/194 questions that provides info on 6 dimensions of worker activity divided into:
- info. input
- mental processes,
- work output,
- relationships with other persons,
- job context,
- Interpersonal activities
A quantitative worker-oriented method of collectin data for purposes of job analysis.
More helpful for desining training prog. & deriving criterion measures that provide useful EE feedback.
Job Evaluation
Job evaluation may begin with a job analysis but is conducted for the purpose of setting wages and salaries.
Primary purpose of a(n) Job Evaluation is to obtain detailed info. about job requirements in order to facilitate decisions related to compensation.
ID compensable factors & assigning a dollar values to them, such as:
- Skill & ED req.
- Consequences of error
- Degree of autonomy & responsibility
- Establish Comparable Worth
Determine the relative worth of jobs in order to set wages & salaries.
Comparable Worth
(aka pay equity) Refers to the principle that jobs that require the same education, experience, skills, & other qualifications should pay the same wage/salary regardless of the employee’s age, gender, race/ethnicity, etc.
Criterion Measures
Measure of job performance used to provide EE’s w/performance feedback & help make decisions about salary increases & bonuses, training needs, promotions & termination.
Types:
- Objective (direct) Measures: Include quantitative measures of production & certain types of personnel data (Not avalible for many jobs & may not provide a complete pict. of an EE’s perf.)
-
Subjective Measures: Rely on judgement of the rater. More useful for eval. complex contributors to job perf. such as motivation, leadership skills & decision making ability.
-
Absolute measures
- Critical Incidents
- Forced Choice
- Graphic Rating Scale
- BARS
-
Relative measures
- Paired comparison
- Forced distribution
-
Absolute measures
Ultimate (Conceptual) Criterion
In devel. of job perf. measure it is a measure of perf. that is theoretical & can not actually be measured.
- A construct that can not be measured directly but instead is measured indirectly.
- Ex: Ultimate Criterion = “Effective EE”
- Actual Criterion = Dollar amt. of sales in a 3 mo. period
Subjective Criterion Measures
Rely on judgement of the rater. More useful for eval. complex contributors to job perf. such as motivation, leadership skills & decision making ability.
-
Absolute measures: Subjective perf. assess that indicates a ratee’s perf. in absolute terms. Involve rating an EE w/out considering the perf. of other EE’s & often takes the form of a graphic, likert type scale.
- Critical Incident Technique (CIT)
- BARS
-
Relative measures (techniques): Involve comparing EE’s to each other on various aspects of job perf., & help reduce rater biases; less useful than absolute measures for EE feedback. Includes:
- Paired comparison
- Forced distribution
Relative Techniques; Types of Criterion Measures
Relative measures (techniques): Involve comparing EE’s to each other on various aspects of job perf., & help reduce rater biases; less useful than absolute measures for EE feedback. Includes:
- Paired comparison: The rater compares each EE to every other EE performing the same job. →Disadvantage is that it is time consuming as the number of EE’s increases.
- Forced distribution: The rater categorizes EE’s in terms of pre-defined normal distribution. →Disadvantage is that it produces misleading info when perf. is not actually normally distributed.
Rater Bias
4 Types of rater bias that limit validity & relaiability of rating scales:
- Leniency Bias: Occurs when a rater consistently assigns high ratings to all ee’s, regardless of how they actually do on the job.
- Strictness BIas: Occurs when a rater consistently assigns low ratings to all ee’s, even when they are good workers.
- Central Tendency Bias: Occurs when a rater consistently assigns average ratings to all ee’s.
- Halo Bias: Occurs when the rater judges all aspects of an ee’s perf. on the basis of a single aspect of perf.
Leniency Bias
Type of rater bias that occurs when a rater consistently assigns high ratings on each dimension of performance to all employees, regardless of how they actually do on the job.
Can be alleviated by using relative rating scales such as the forced distribution scale that categorizes ee’s in terms of a predefined normal distribution.
Central Tendency Bias
Occurs when a rater consistently assigns average ratings to all ee’s.
Halo Bias
Occurs when the rater judges all aspects of an ee’s perf. on the basis of a single aspect of perf.
Methods for Reducing Rater Bias
Best way is to provide raters w/adequate training, especially training that helps them observe & distinguish btwn levels of performance such as:
- Critical Incident Technique (CIT)
- Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)
- Frame-of-reference Training
Critical Incident Technique (CIT)
Involves using a checklist of critical incidents (descriptions of successful & unsuccessful job behaviors) to rate each employee’s job performance.
The Supervisor observes EE’s & records behaviors. Then used to provide EE’s w/feedback about perf. or complied into a checklist.
When incorportated into rating scales, can help reduce rater biases.
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)
A graphic rating scale that requires the rater to choose the one behavior for each dimension of job performance that best describes the employee.
Incorporates critical incidents which improves graphic rating scales by using anchor points on the scale w/descriptions of specific behaviors representing poor to excellent perf.
Distinguishing charateristic is that it is devel. as a multi-step process that involves a team of sups, managers & other ppl familiar w/the job.
- Advantage*: Involvement of managers/sups. may increase motivation & accuracy when they use the scales
- Disadvantage*: Requires substantial time & effort to develop.
Frame-of-Reference Training
A type of rater training that emphasizes the multidimensional nature of job performance & focuses on the ability to distinguish between good & poor work-related behaviors. (Training focues on helping raters become good observers of behavior)
Helps ensure that the raters have the same idea about what constitutes succesful & unsuccesful job perf.
It is useful for eliminating rater biases.
Criterion Deficiency
The degree to which an actual criterion does NOT measure all aspects of the ultimate (conceptual) criterion & is one of the factors that limits criterion relevance.
A criterion measure can have high relaiability, but low validity (It can give consistent results but measures only some aspects of the ultimate criterion).
Criterion Deficiency = Low Validity
Criterion Contamination:
A bias that occurs when a rater’s knowledge of an Indivs. perf. on a predictor affects how the rater rates him/her on the criterion; criterion measure assesses factors other than those it was designed to measure.
Ex: contamination is occurring when a rater’s knowledge of a ratee‘s performance on a predictor affects how the rater rates the ratee on the criterion. It can artificially inflate the criterion-related validity coefficient.
Identifying & Validating Predictors
- Conduct a Job Analysis: Determine what knowledge, skills, attitudes & other characterisitics (KSO’s) the job requires. This info. indicates the type of predictors that would be useful & best criterion measures to eval. job perf.
- _Select/Devel. the Predictor & Criterion Measures _
- _Obtain & correlate Scores on the Predictor & Criterion: _ Admin. to a similar sample of ppl & correlate the 2 sets of scores on the test w/scores on the criterion to determine a criterion related coefficient.
- Check for Adverse Impact: Determine if the predictor unfairly discriminates against members of a legally protected grp.
- Evaluate Incremental Validity: Determine if use of the predictor increases decision-making accuracy.
- Cross-Validate: Admin. the predictor & criterion to a new sample.
Adverse Impact
Occurs when use of a selection test or other employment procedure results in substantially higher rejection rates for members of a legally protected (minority) group than for the majority group; adverse impact is said to exist.
The result of dicrimination against indiv. protected by Title VII & related legislation due to the use of an employment practice.
Methods to ID adverse impact:
- 80% Rule
- Differential Validity
- Unfairness
80% Rule
The 80% rule can be used to determine if adverse impact is occurring.
EEOC methods define when using this rule, the hiring rate for the majority group is multiplied by 80% to determine the min. hiring rate for the minority group.
Ex: If the hiring rate is 70% for men & 40% for women, then .70 x .80 = .56
- This means the min. hiring rate for women is 56% which is less than the actual rate of 40% & indicates the selection test is having an adverse impact on women.
Differential Validity
Differential validity exists when the validity coefficient of a predictor is significantly different for one subgroup than for another subgroup (e.g.. lower for African American job applicants than for White applicants) & results in a larger proportion of 1 grp being hired.
Potential cause of Adverse Impact
Method for responding to adverse impact: When it’s due to differential validity, use a diff. predictor that’s equally valid for both grps
Unfairness
Refers to unfair hiring, placement, or related discrimination against a minority grp that occurs when members of the minority group consistently score lower on a predictor but perform approximately the same on the criterion as members of the majority group. (EEOC)
Potential cause of Adverse Impact bc members of the grp obtaining lower predictor scores will be hired less often.
Method for responding to adverse impact: When it’s due to unfairness, use a different predictors cutoff scores for members of different grps.
Incremental Validity (Selection Ratio, Base Rate)
Incremental validity refers to the increase in decision-making accuracy resulting from the use of a new predictor.
Selection ratio: the ratio of number of jobs to job applicants.
Base rate: the percent of EE’s who are performing satisfactorilly w/out the new predictor.
It is maximized when the predictor‘s validity coefficient is high, the selection ratio is low, and the base rate is moderate.
In terms of incremental validity, which situation supports the use of a new predictor?
Moderated base rate w/many applicants & few job openings.
Moderated base rate suggests that there’s room for improvment & a new predictor will likely increase decision making accuracy.
The situation is optimal when there are many applicants to choose from (a low selection ratio).
The degree to which a new selection technique will increase decision-making accuracy depends on several factors including:
- Base rate* - proportion of correct decisions w/out the new technique &
- Selection Ratio* - ratio of applicants to job openings.
Taylor-Russell Tables
Can be used to estimate the percent of new hires that will be successful as EE’s given various combos of validity coefficients, selection ratios & base rates are known.
When the selection ratio is low (.10), the base rate moderate (near .50) & a predictor w/a low validity coefficient can improve decision making accuracy.
Combining Predictors
What are the three types?
Multiple Regression: A compensatory method in which good perf. on one predictor can offset poor perf. on another predictor; areas of weakness.
Multiple Cutoff: A non-compensatory method that requires that a min. score on each predictor be obtained before an applicant is considered for selection.
Multiple Hurdles: A non-compensatory method that involves adminstering predictors one at a time in a pre-determined order, w/each predictor being admin. only if the applicant has passed the previous one.
Predictors Used in Organizations
Include:
- Cognitive Ability Tests/Gen. Mental Ability Tests
- Biographical Information/Biodata
- Biographical Information Banks
- Interviews
- Work Samples
- Trainability Tests
- Assessment Centers
- In-basket Test
- Leaderless Group Discussion
- Interest Tests
- Personality Tests
- Big 5 Traits
Cognitive Ability Tests
(Gen. Mental Ability Tests)
Considered to be the best predictor of job perf. across different jobs & job settings.
These tests consistently produce the highest validity coefficents increase as the objectivity of the criterion measure increases
Biographical Information (Biodata)
Another good predictor of performance, training sucess & especially turnover when Items are empirically derived.
Validity is greatest when items have been found to correlate highly w/job perf.
- Biographical Information Banks: Contains multiple choice questions that ask for info. on work Hx, family background, economic Hx & health found to correlate w/job perf. but may not seem relevant to the applicant; lack “face validity”.
Interviews
The most common predictor in an organization but generally have low levels of reliability & validity (.14 to .23).
Validity coefficents are largest when interviews are empirically derived & structured & includes questions that accuratley predict job perf. & same questions asked of all applicants.
More useful when used in conjunction w/a gen. cog. abilities test & other selection techniques.
Work (Job) Samples
Require the indiv. (job applicant) to perform a task or operation actually required by the job.
Have good validity but are not avalible for all jobs & can be costly to develop & use
Can be included as part of a realistic job preview.
- Trainability Tests: incorporate a structured period of learning & eval. to determine if applicants are likely to benefit from training or prevent unrealistic job expectations & reduce turnover
Assessment Centers
Used to select, promote, eval. & train applicants & current EE’s at the management or administrative level & incorporate a variety of techniques such as:
- Interviews
- Tests
- Situational exercises:
- In-basket Test: Requires candidates to respond to memos, reports, & phone calls they are likely to encounter on the job.
- Leaderless Group Discussion: Involves assigning a group of candidates a problem or issue to discuss & eval grp training & decision making skills.
Leaderless Group Discussion
A type of management development training that presents 4-8 participants w/probs. they must solve in a specified period of time.
No indiv. is designated as the leader, instead participants are given the opportunity to demonstrate leadership, communication, decision making & interpersonal skills in a relatively unstructured setting.
Interest Tests
Use is based on the premise that applicants whose interest profiles resemble those successful EE’s will perform best on the job
they are susceptible to faking & are better predictors of job choice, satisfaction & persistence than of job success
Personality Tests
Useful as a predictor when they measure traits that have been found to predict job performance
- Big 5 Personality Traits
Big Five Personality Traits
Factor analyses have identified 5 basic personality traits:
- Neurotlcism,
- Extraversion,
- Openness to experience,
- Agreeableness, and
- Conscientiousness.
Conscientiousness has been found to be the best predictor of job performance across different jobs, job settings, and criterion measures.
Realistic Job Preview
Method of providing accurate info. about the job & the org. to job applicants
Primary goal is to reduce turnover by reducing disillusionment & increasing satisfaction.
Needs Assessment
Systematic process of determining job perf. requirements & EE’s perf. deficits to ID objectives, content & training needs & the format of training programs. Includes 4 components:
- Organization analysis - Used to clarify organizational goals & determine if training is needed to meet those goals.
- Job Analysis - Conducted to ID what knowledge & skills are needed to perform the job successfully.
- Person Analysis - Conducted to determine which EE’s would benefit from training & what kind of training they would need.
- Demographic Analyses - ID train needs of diff. grps of workers (Ex: young vs. old)
Overlearning
Practicing or studying beyond the point of mastery; associated w/enhanced recall.
Overtraining
(sport psychology) Refers to physical & psychological stress resulting from excessive athletic training.
Methods of Training
Training in organizations can be:
On-the-Job Training: Has obvious job relevance & max. transfer-of training.
- Cross Training
- Job Rotation
Off-the-Job Training: Provides opportunities for supplemental training to practice specific aspects of the job & can tolerate traininf errors & accidents.
- Behavioral Modeling
- Vestibule Training
Cross Training
(On-the-job Training Technique) Involves training workers to perform different tasks & activities.
Associated w/several benefits such as enchancing morale of EE’s by adding variety to their jobs, increased value to org., helps org. save costs by improving flexibiility, & increasing EE interests & motivation.
Eliminate the need to hire temporary workers.
Job Rotation
(On-the-job Training Technique) Used to train managers by having them learn the jobs of all EE’s they will be supervising.
This method requires the trainee to perform each job for an extended period of time & assumes all the roles & responsibilities required by the jobs.
Behavioral Modeling
(Off-the-Job Training Technique) Involves having trainees observe a skilled worker perform the job & practice what they have observed.
Vestibule Training
(Off-the-Job Training Technique) Makes use of a physical replication or simulation & is useful when on-the-job training would be too costly or dangerous.
Ex: Pilot Training
Utility Analysis
(York)USed in orgs. to eval. the cost effectivness of training prog. & procedures involved using a mathmatical equation to get and est. of the programs financial return on investment (ROI).
Equation to calc. utility of train prog:
$U = T x N x d x SD - N x C
$U = Utility measured in terms of dollar value
T = # of yrs. duration of training progs. effects on perf.
N = # of ppl. trained
d = Effect size of the training prog.
SD = Standard Deviation of job perf. in dollars
C = Per person cost of training
(T x d x C = Part of formula used to calc. utility)
Formative & Summative Evaluation
*Formative evaluations* are conducted while a training program is being “formed” (developed), & their results are used to make necessary modifications to the program to meet goals.
*Summative evaluations* is conducted after a program has been implemented in order to assess its impact (outcomes).
Kirkpatrick’s Model of Summative Evaluation
Distinguishes btwn 4 levels of criteria to eval./assess. the impact of a training program:
- Reaction Criteria: Eval. trainee’s satisfaction w/the prog. & contain post-training survey/interview.
- Learning Criteria: Assess how much trainees learned from the prog. & contain written exams & compare test scores from before & after the prog.
- Behavioral Criteria: The extent to which training improved the trainees on the job perf. (eval. trans-of-training). Obtain info. by watching the trainee perform the job after the prog. for extended periods of time.
- Results Criteria: Provides info on the extent to which the prog. contributes to achievement of the orgs. goals. Quality ratings of productivity & services measure cost & turnover reductions, increase in overall productivity & increase profits. →Most important, difficult & time consuming to devel. & analyze; rarely used to eval a train prog.
Super’s Life-Space, Life-Span Theory
(Devel. Approach) Proposes the ideal situation is for an indiv. to choose a job that has a good match btwn an indivs. self-concept (indiv. values, beliefs, interests & personality charateristics) & characteristics of the job this leads to greater job satisfaction, stability & success.
Career devel. occurs over the life-span during 5 stages:
- Growth (0-14 yrs)
- Exploration (14-25 yrs) →<em>Primary Task</em>: Specify, crystalize & implement career choice
- _Establishment (25-45 yrs) _ →Primary Task: Stabilization & advancement
- Maintenance (45-65 yrs) →Primary Task: Secure occupational position & remain competitive by obtaining training
- Disengagement (65+ yrs)
Career Maturity: The extent to which a person successfully completes the devel. tasks of his/her current life stage.
Super’s Life Career Rainbow
An indiv. adopts 9 life roles at differemt times during his/her life - e.g. student, spouse & worker that impact self-concept.
The Life Career Rainbow helps the CT think about the impact of thier current & future 5 life stages & 9 roles on career planning
Holland (RIASEC, Differentiation)
Holland’s career theory emphasizes the importance of matching the person’s charateristics to the charateristics of the job.
Focuses on the personality/work environment match & distinguishes between 6 personality/environment types that describe the person & job charateristics (“RlASEC”-position of 6 themes depicted by a hexagon & rel. btwn them):
- Realistic (machines, comp. network, athletic, work outdoors)
- Investigative (science, medicine, math, research)
- Artistic (art, self-expression, communication, culture)
- Social (ppl, team work, helping, community service)
- Enterprising (business, politics, leadership, entreprenuership)
- Conventional (organization, data manage, accounting, investing, info.systems)
→ The farther apart the more dissimilar
Differentiation: A personality-environment match is most accurate as a predictor of job outcomes when the indiv. exhibits a high degree of differentiation — i.e., has clear interests as evidenced by a high score on one of Holland’s 6 types & low scores on all others.
→An indiv. that obtains the highest score on the realistic & investigative themes will more easily find a satisfying job than a person w/high scores on social & Realistic themes
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/brainscape-prod/system/cm/030/586/884/a_image_thumb.gif?1659404816)
Tiedeman & O’Hara Career-Decision-Making Model
(Ego Identity Development)
(Influenced by the work of Erikson/Piaget/Bruner/Allport)
Views career ID devel. as an aspect of ego ID devel. & involves the repetative process of differentiation & integration.
Process can occur simultaneously & movement thru the stages may be reversible but the primary focus of career counseling is to help ppl become consciously aware of factors that lead to decision at each stage & are better able to make choices based on full knowledge of themselves & relevant external factors.
2 Phases:
Anticipation Phase has 4 Stages:
- Exploration
- Crystalization
- Choice
- Specification
The Indiv. explores different career possibilities & eventually makes a career choice.
Implementation & Adjustment Phase has 3 Stages:
- Induction
- Reformation
- Integration
The indiv. enters the work situation & eventually becomes an established member of the work force & achieves a balance btwn demands of work & his/her own needs.
Krumboltz Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making (SLTCMD)
Proposes that career decisions are based on what the indiv. has learned from interactions w/other ppl & places an emphasis on social learning (i.e. Modeling & other aspects of the social env.) An indiv. career decisions are influenced by 4 factors:
- Genetic endowment & special abilities
- Env. conditions & events
- Learning Experiences including both instrumental (learn from reward & punishment) & associative (learn from classical conditioning)
- Task Approach Skills that are the result of an interaction w/other 3 factors.
Approach does NOT focus on matching and indivs. charateristics to job charateristics but on promoting continual learning & self-devel. that helps the indiv. to respond to changes in work requirements.
→Career belief inventory used to ID irrational illogical beliefss that affect and indiv. career related decisions.
Brousseau & Driver Decision Dynamics Career Model
Emphasizes a person’s career concept, which refers to how the person envisions his/her ideal career path.
Distinguishes btwn 4 career concepts that vary on 3 dimensions:
- Linear Career Concept: Indiv. views their career as involving a progressive upward movement in terms of authority & responsibility.
- Expert Career Concept: Indiv. views their career as involving a lifelong committment to an occupational specialtiy & focuses on devel. knowledge & skills in that specialty.
- Spiral Career Concept: Indiv. envisions their career as involving periodic moves across occupational specialties or disciplines.
- Transitory Career Concept: Indiv. considers the ideal career as involving frequent job changes often to unrelated fields.
3 Dimensions:
- Frequency of job change
- Direction of job change
- Type of change in job content