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Industrial/Organizational Psychology Worksheet

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Industrial/Organizational Psychology Worksheet

The purpose of this assignment is to examine the fundamental concepts of the field of industrial/organizational psychology. Using the textbook, the University Library, the Internet, and/or other resources, answer the following questions. Your responses to each question will vary but overall should be 700- to 1,050-words in length.

1. Describe the evolution of the field of industrial/organizational psychology.
Industrial/Organizational psychology was invented in the twentieth century around the late 1800’s. I/O was introduced by two experimental psychologists who wanted to combine psychology to fixing problems within an organization. In the United States, the focus was on job performance and efficiency, and in the United Kingdom, the focus was on employee fatigue and health. In 1901, the first I/O Ph.D was awarded and in 1913, the first I/O textbook was published. Frederick Winslow Taylor was a huge influence to the field of I/O and wrote the Scientific Management, which stated: “Each job should be carefully analyzed so that the optimal way of doing tasks can be specified. Employees should be selected (hired) according to characteristics that are related to job performance. Managers should study existing employees to find out what personal characteristics are important. Employees should be carefully trained to do their job tasks. Employees should be rewarded for their productivity to encourage high levels of performance” (Chapter 1). WWI took advantage of I/O psychology. Psychologists offered their services in hopes of helping the army place recruits in the job for which they were best suited for. I/O expanded into today, as company regularly hire these psychologists to identify and solve problems within the companies. I/O psychology is used to improve company and employee work conditions and efficiency.

2. Explain why industrial/organizational psychology should be considered a science. Include an explanation of how descriptive and inferential statistics are used in I/O research. Industrial/organizational psychology can be considered a science because it is surrounded by a ton of research. The studies are conducted to find out why such employers have certain turnover rates or why there are on site accidents, for examples. Taking the research and its answers can help companies develop new training methods, classes, pay rates, etc; whatever they feel will help deescalate the problem and get rid of the issues. It is said that the results of the researches done within companies are published in scientific journals and presented. Descriptive statistics is data that describes data such as patterns. An example is taking a class of 60 students and seeing how many are boys. If 30 students are male, it can be said that 50% of the students are boys. That is descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics is taking a small sample of something large, and making inferences based on what you received. An example of inferential statistics is a teacher seeing how many of his students speak another language. If the teacher only samples 10 out of 22 students or so, and they speak another language, he may infer that majority of his students speak another language. Inferential statistics are just an assumed piece of information based off of some details. We cannot infer the exact amount but we can have a general idea.

3. Discuss the influence industrial/organization psychology has had on organizations. Provide examples. I/O psychology has helped companies understand how they are affecting their employees’ behavior. Companies have been able to better their training, employee motivation, and workplace performance. I/O psychology has also invented new ways for companies to select new recruits and hire based on their needs. Companies have been able to increase their employees’ well-being and production ability through these types of research. As far as from my own personal experience, my job has undergone surveys and types of research which questioned all employees about how we felt. Whether we felt our wage was fair, company policies were fair, if we felt favoritism was present, etc. Every time these surveys happen, changes are made within the company and the changes are made to issues that a lot of employees spoke up about. I think I/O has influenced organizations because now they know there is a way to find out what is lacking within their company or why there are employee turnovers. I also think this I think I/O psychology will continue to help companies grow overtime, as there is always so much to know and understand within a business. There is always room for improvement within organizations and keeping up with a consistent round of research is sure to keep the business flowing nicely. I personally think that I/O psychology should be mandatory for business, at least once a year, like an audit of some sort. It could definitely save a lot hassles that could occur in the future. I/O psychology has influenced organizations by letting organizations be more comfortable with reaching out to solve problems within themselves.

References
Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Research and Practice, 6e
Chapter 1: Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Research and Practice, 6e

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