Week 1 and 2 Flashcards
how did industrial psychology emerge
- I/O Psychology emerged in response to the industrial revolution in the 18th century in Britain and the prevailing faith in capitalism
- increase work efficancy and reduce fatigue
- the american psychological assoiciation formed in 1892 and I/O division formed 1945
Who were the innovators for industrial psychology
- Hugo Munsterberg: intersted in design of work
- Walter Dill Scott: studied salespeople and psychology of advertising
- Frederick W. Taylor: Believed that scientific principles could be applied to the study of work behaviour to help increase work efficiency and productivity
what did Frederick W. taylor do?
Taylor - scientific management and “time-and-motion studies”
- Broke jobs down scientifically into measurable component movements and recorded the time required to complete each movement
- This approach was suited for
jobs that involve manual labour
or that could be easily broken
down into components parts
how did industrial psych influnce world war 1
- At the outbreak of WWI, Yerkes (President of the American Psychological Association), and colleagues worked with the US Army to create intelligence tests for the placement of army recruits
- This led to the development
of the Army Alpha and Beta
intelligence tests and the first
mass intelligence testing
who and what was the Hawthorne Studies
- Elton Mayo
- physical work enviornment and productivity
- In one experiment, Mayo explored the impact of lighting on productivity of female workers assembling electrical relay devices
- Findings suggested that no matter what the illumination level, productivity increased. Even when the illumination level was decreased so that workers were barely able to see, productivity increased
- The influence of workers’ knowledge of being observed and their expectations were said to determine the increases in productivity
Human Relations Movement
which recognises the importance of social factors and morale in improving productivity
when was the journal of personnel psychology first published ?
- 1948
What are the positives of I/O Psychology
- I/O psychology has become a viable scientific discipline
- Scientific contributions of I/O psychology to the broader psychological literature are relatively unappreciated
- I/O psychology has made an important contribution to the practice of management
what are the challenges with I/O psych
Working people:
- Have limited time
- Can be hard to source
Organisations:
- May be unwilling to allow employees to participate on paid time
- May be unwilling to implement ideas just being “tested”
- Existing data may be poor quality
Scientifically:
- Concerns over cross-sectional self-report data
what are the opportunties with I/O psych
- Large existing data sets Can be linked with new data - More people work than, for example, have mental illness - Research and consultancy can integrate - Making a difference to people’s lives - Asking questions that, sorry, don’t apply to undergrad psych students. - Money and technology - Learning
why do I-O psychologists engage in research?
- to describe work behaviour
eg: training and development - to explain work behaviour
eg: performance appraisal - the predict work behaviour
eg: recruitment and selection
what is research methods?
“A set of procedures that allows us to investigate the hows and whys of human behaviour and to predict when certain behaviour will and will not occur”
what is the 10 step research cycle
1- Identification of Broad Problem Area 2- Preliminary Information Collection 3- Theoretical Framework 4- Hypotheses 5- Research Design 6- Sampling 7- Data Collection 8- Analysis and Interpretation 9- Refinement of Theory (for basic research) 10 -Implementation of Findings (for applied research)
what is step one in research methods?
Identification of Broad Problem Area
- Is there a need for further research in the literature (i.e., basic)?
- Is there a need for problem-solving in an organisation (i.e., applied)?
what is step two in research methods?
Preliminary Information Collection
- Goal is to learn as much as you can about the topic
- May collect primary data or secondary data
- Also need to conduct a literature review
what is step three in research methods?
Theoretical Framework - Often presented in the form of a schematic diagram - Essential elements include: Relevant variables - Relationships among variables - Direction of each relationship - Why relationships are hypothesised
define variable
A variable is an object, event, or process that can take on or change to different values or qualities, whereas as a constant is an object, event, or process that has only one fixed value (Evans, 1985)
what are the different types of variables
Independent (predictor)
Dependent (outcome)
Mediating (intervening)
Moderating (interactive)
Explain independant variables
- Potentially causes a change in the values of another variable
- Values of the IV are independent of other variables
- Can be either manipulated (i.e., conditions external to participants) or observed (i.e., characteristics associated with participants)
Explain dependant variables
Variable in which we expect to observe a change as a consequence of another variable
- Values of the DV are dependent on other variables
explain mediating variables
- Occurs between the time the IV operates to influence the DV
- Helps to explain the influence of the IV on the DV
explain moderating variables
- Third variable that has a contingent effect on the relationship between the IV and DV
- Modifies the expected relationship between the IV and DV
what is step four in research methods?
develop a hypotheses
- A prediction of how two or more variables are related to each other
- Based on the network of associations established in the theoretical framework
what is step five in research methods?
- Research paradigm
- Types of research designs
- Study setting
- Measurement
- Unit of analysis
- Time horizon
what is the research paradigm (quantitative vs qualitative)
Quantitative
- Concepts are assigned numerical values
- Small amount of data from large group of people
Qualitative
- Considers words rather than numbers
- Large amount of data from small group of people
what are the two types of research designs ?
1- experimental
- Establishes a definitive cause and effect relationship between two or more variables
- Random assignment
2- correlational
- Establishes the relationship between two or more variables
- The IV is measured rather than manipulated
what is experimental control in research
Eliminates influences that could make results less reliable or harder to interpret
what is statistical control in research
Statistical techniques used to control for the influence of certain variables
what are the types of study settings ?
- laboratory
- feild
what are the types of measures used in studies?
Unobtrusive e.g., official statistics, archival records Objective e.g., manipulation, observation Self-Report e.g., surveys, interviews
what is step six in research methods?
Sampling
- A distinction exists between the data set that is actually acquired through the process of observation (i.e., sample) and the vast collection of all potential observations (i.e., population)
- Thus, the sample is a subset or some part of a larger population
- The goal is to generalise the properties of the sample to the wider population
what are the two types of sampling
1- probability:
- Elements in the population have an equal probability of being selected in the sample
e.g., simple random sampling & stratified random sampling
2- non probability
- Elements in the population don’t have a predetermined probability of being selected in the sample
e.g., convenience, quota
what is generalisability in research
- Application of results from one study or sample to other participants or situations
- The more areas a study includes, the greater its generalisability
- Every time a compromise is made, the generalisability of results is reduced
what is the correlation coefficient ?
- Statistic or measure of association
- Reflects magnitude (numerical value) & direction (+ or –) of relationship between 2 variables
- Ranges from -1.00 and 1.00
- Positive correlation → As one variable increases, other variable also increases & vice versa
- Negative correlation → As one variable increases, other variable decreases & vice versa
what are other types of linear correlation statistics ?
- Pearson’s r: 2 continuous normally distributed variables (e.g., height and weight)
- Spearman’s rho: At least one ordinal or non-normal variable (e.g., height and “finish position” in a race)
- Kendall’s Tau: At least one ordinal or non-normal variable
- Point biserial: One variable is dichotomous (e.g., “cheat vs don’t cheat” and Machiavellianism)
what is a curvilinear relationship?
- If correlation coefficient is .00, one cannot conclude that there is no association between variables
- A curvilinear relationship might better describe the association
what are the properties of tests and measures?
Reliability
Validity
Fairness
how to test reliability
- Test-retest
- Alternate forms
- Inter-rater
- Internal consistency
- Split half
- Coefficient alpha
- KR20
what is alternative forms of reliability
Calculated by correlating measurements from a sample of individuals who complete 2 different forms of same test
what is internal consistency and reliability
Assesses how consistently items of a test measure a single construct
what is inter-rater reliability
- can calculate various statistical indicies to show level of agreement amoung raters
Types of validity
Face Construct Content Predictive Concurrent Convergent - Divergent Synthetic
what is construct related validity ?
- Investigators gather evidence to support decisions or inferences about psychological constructs
- Construct - concept or characteristic that a predictor is intended to measure; examples include intelligence, extraversion, and integrity
what is content related validity ?
E.g. Demonstrates that content of selection procedure represents adequate sample of important work behaviors & activities or worker KSAOs defined by job analysis
- I-O Psychologists can use incumbents/subject matter experts (SMEs) to gather content validity evidence
what is criterion related validity
Correlate a test score (predictor) with a performance measure; resulting correlation often called a validity coefficient
- predicitive validity design
- concurrent validity design
