Industrial/Organizational Psychology Flashcards
Name the branch of I/O psych that is concerned with
assessment, selection, placement, and training of new and
current employees.
Personnel Psychology
Performance assessments are conducted in organizations
most often to ______ and to _______, but they may also be
used to ________, ______, and ______.
make salary decisions provide feedback to employees help determine training needs make decisions about promotions validate selection procedures
Job analysis is a systematic method for collecting the
information needed to identify three things:
1) nature of the job
2) KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
characteristics) that people must have to do the job; and
3) the measures with which job performance can be
evaluated
The development of performance assessment techniques
usually begins with a ________.
Job analysis
The increase in decision-making accuracy an employer
achieves by using the predictor to make selection decisions is
called?
Incremental Validity
In terms of INCREMENTAL VALIDITY, which of the
following situations most supports the use of a new
predictor:
a. moderate base rate with many applications and few job
openings (low selection ratio)
b. low base rate with many applicants and few job openings
(low selection ratio)
c. moderate base rate with few applicants and many job
openings (high selection ratio)
d. low base rate with few applicants and many job openings
(high selection ratio)
a. a moderate base rate suggests that there is room for
improvement and, therefore, that a new predictor is likely to
increase decision-making accuracy. Also, the situation is
optimal when there is a low selection ratio.
b. INCORRECT. a low base rate suggests that something
else besides selection is the problem -e.g., company’s
standards is too low or too high or employees need training
in order to do the job satisfactorily.
Define incremental validity:
the degree to which a new selection technique will increase
decision-making accuracy. it depends on several factors
including the base rate (proportion of correct decisions
without the new technique) and the selection ratio (ratio of
applicants to job openings.
A transformational leader defines a goal to employees in a
way that imbues the goal with meaning and purpose. This is
referred to as:
a. priming
b. escalating commitment
c. framing
d. positioning
c. giving goals added mening is referred to as framing.
According to Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership
model, a “telling” leader will respond to an employee who is
low in both ability and motivation by:
a. recommending that the employee receive additional
training
b. having the employee participate in goal-setting
c. providing the employee with close supervision and
specific instructions
d. setting easy goals for the employee and providing external
incentives.
c. a telling leadership style is optimal for employees who are
low in both ability and motivation and provides close
supervision and specific instructions.
In an interview, a job applicant exhibits one or two very
positive characteristics. These characteristics influence how
the interviewer evaluates the applicant on the unrelated
characteristic so that her overall impression is very
favorable. This is an example the:
a. halo error
b. contrast effect
c. leniency bias
d. fundamental attribution bias
a. halo error
In an interview, several poor job applicants are interview and
then a mediocre applicant is interviewed and hired
immediately. This is an example of the:
a. halo error
b. contrast effect
c. leniency bias
d. fundamental attribution bias
b. a contrast effect occurs when the evaluation of an
applicant is affected by a previous applicant.
The tendency for a rater to rate everyone highly is known as the: a. halo error b. contrast effect c. leniency bias d. fundamental attribution bias
c. leniency bias
The tendency to attribute the behavior of others as
dispositional versus situational is known as the:
a. halo error
b. contrast effect
c. leniency bias
d. fundamental attribution bias
d. fundamental attribution bias
The best conclusion that can be drawn about biodata as a
selection technique is that:
a. it is the best predictor of organizational behavior for entry
level managers, middle-level managers, and nonmanagers
b. it is a very good predictor of some aspects of
organizational behavior, but additional research is needed to
clarify which aspects it is best for predicting.
c. it is a very good predictor of organizational behaivor only
when an applicant is appying for a job that is similar to
his/her previous jobs
d. it is a poor predictor for nonmanagers but an accurate
predictor of some aspects of organizational behavior for
managerial-level applicants.
b. the accuracy of biodate seems to depend on the criterion.
There is evidence that suggests that biodata is a very good
predictor of training success, but other predictors may be
better for actual job performance.
In the context of Holland’s theory of vocational choice, a
high degree of differentiation:
a. reflects an uncommon or unusual pattern of interests
b. reflects a common pattern of interests
c. increases the predictability of the person-environment
interaction
d. decreases the predictability of the person-environment
interaction
c. according to Holland, the importance of a good “fit”
between a person’s interrests and the characteristics of the
job is most important for those who are highly differentiated.
Holland used the term differentiation to describe the extent
to which a person has clearly defined interests. A person who
scores high on one of his interests scales and low on all other
scales is highly differentiated.
Name the six basic personality/work environment types of
Holland’s theory of vocational choice (RIASEC).
realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and
conventional.
Equity theory predicts that the husband will feel best about
his marriage if:
a. he and his wife give and receive the same amount in their
relationship
b. he perceives that he and his wife give and receive the
same amount in their relationship
c. in terms of their relationship, he perceives that his
give/receive ratio is the ssame as the give/receive ratio of his
wife.
d. in term sof their relationship, he perceives that his
give/receive ratio is the same as the give/receive ratio of his
wife.
d. according to equity theory, a person compares his/her
input/outcome ratio to that of others. If he/she perceives the
ratios to be similar, this has positive effects on satisfaction and
motivation.
The shortage of mentors for women and members of
culturally-diverse groups at the managerial level is likely to
be of most concern for an advocate of:
a. social learning theory
b. contingency management theory
c. need hierarchy theory
d. LPC theory
a. According to social leaerning theory, people learn from
observing and interacting with others. Therefore, not having
a “model” who is of the same gender or cultural background
would be of concern to advocates of this theory.
The use of rewards and punishments to elicit desired behavior is know as: a. social learning theory b. contingency management theory c. need hierarchy theory d. LPC theory
b. contingency management
Research on the application of goal-setting theory to groups
(versus individuals) suggests that:
a. individual goals are more effective than group goals
b. individual plus gropu goals are more effective than group
goals plus performance feedback
c. performance feedback plus group goals is more effective
than either of these alone
d. performance plus group goals is no more effective than
either of these along.
c. the research has found that a combination of specific goals
with performance feedback is the optimal situation for both
groups and individuals.
“Group polarization” occurs when:
a. group members are split in their solution to a problem
b. group members make riskier decisions as a group than
they would have as individuals
c. group members make more extreme decisions (riskier or
conservative) as a group then they would have as individuals
d. group members are encouraged to think alike and all
dissent is discouraged.
c
Research investigating the relationship between interest test
scores and future occupational choice suggests that these
tests have the highest predictive validity for:
a. lower-class people
b. middle-class people
c. upper-class people
d. lower-and upper-class people
b. middle class people tend to have the greatest latitude when it comes to choosing an occupation and, therefore, are most likely to choose jobs that coincide with their interests.
An examinee whose highest score on Holland’s occupational
themes is on the realistic scale would probably be least
interested in pursuing a career as a:
a. farmer
b. bookkeeper
c. technical writer
d. social worker
d. social work is appropriate for people who score highest on
the social theme, which is most dissimiilar from the realistic
theme.
An assumption underlying the notion of “groupthink” is that:
a. pressures toward uniformity limit task effectiveness
b. increasing cohesiveness results in more extreme decisions
c. excessive pressures toward conformity produce reactance
d. lack of familiarity with task demands leads to maintenance
of the status quo
a. Groupthink is characterized by a decrease in willingness to
consider divergent points of view, resulting in inappropriate
decisions and actions (although not necessarily more extreme
ones).
Research examining the role of raters’ expectations on their
ratings has found that, when ratees are equal in actual level
of performance:
a. raters assign lower ratings to ratees who perform worse
than they expected than to ratees whose performance
matches their expectations
b. raters assign lower ratings to ratees who perform better
than they expected than to ratees whose performance
matches their expectation
c. raters assign lower ratings to ratees who perform worse
or better than they expected than to ratees whose
performance matches their expectations
d. raters assign higher rating to ratees who perform better
than they expected and lower ratings to ratees who perform
worse than they expected than to ratees whose performance
matches their expectation.
c. apparently raters do not like to be wrong: they tend to
assign lower ratings regardless of whether the ratee did
worse or better than expected.
Research on equity theory suggests that:
a. underpayment shoud be avoided but overpayment should
be encouraged
b. underpayment and overpayment should both be avoided
c. negative valence should be avoided but positive valence
should be encouraged
d. negative valence and positive valence should both be
avoided.
b. Although overpayment can produce an increase in
productivity, the increase is only temporary. Overpayment
sets up an inequitable situation that can have adverse effects
on the performance of others.
Valence is associated with expectancy theory.
Research on job satisfaction suggests that it:
a. is a relatively stable trait and is minimally affected by job
changes
b. is relatively stable within the same job but unstable when
measured across different jobs
c. is relatively unstable and varies over time both within the
same job and accross different jobs.
d. may be stable or unstable within and across jobs
depending on the characteristics of the particular worker.
a. It appears that job satisfaction is directly related to the
tendency toward positive or negative affect, which is a stable
characteristic. People with negative affect tend to be
dissatisfied with work; pepole with positive affect tend to be
satisfied.
The rational-economic model of decision-making views decision-makers as attempting to make: a. "satisficing" decisions b. "bounded" decisions c. representative decisions d. optimal decisions
d. the rational-economic model assumes that
decision-makers will consider all possible alternatives and
choose the optimal one.
