CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Definitions and History

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CHAPTER 1 Introduction Definitions and History

• Introduction to Industrial/Organizational
  Psychology by Ronald Riggio

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What is Industrial/Organizational Psychology?

• Psychology is the study of behavior and mental
  processes.
• Industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology is the
  specialty area within psychology that is
  concerned with
• The study of behavior in work settings.
• The application of psychology principles to
  change work behavior.

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The Science and Practice of Industrial/Organizatio
nal Psychology

• I/O psychology has two objectives
• To conduct research in an effort to increase our
  knowledge and understanding of human work
  behavior.
• To apply that knowledge to improve work behavior,
  the work environment, and the psychological
  conditions of the worker.

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The Roots and Early History of Industrial/Organiza
tional Psychology

• Around the turn of the 20th century, Frederick
  Taylor, an engineer, believed that scientific
  principles could be applied to the study of work
  behavior.
• Scientific management, a movement started by
  Taylor, was a method of using scientific
  principles to improve the efficiency and
  productivity of jobs.

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The Roots and Early History of Industrial/Organiza
tional Psychology

• Taylor developed time-and-motion studies ?
  procedures in which work tasks are broken down
  into simple component movements timed to develop
  a more efficient method for performing the tasks.

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The Roots and Early History of Industrial/Organiza
tional Psychology

• During World War I, Robert Yerkes worked with the
  U.S. Army to develop intelligence tests for army
  recruits.
• The Army Alpha and Beta tests represented the
  first mass testing efforts.

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The Great Depression Years and World War II

• Because of the economic depression during the
  1930s, fewer opportunities existed for industrial
  psychologists.
• However, a group of Harvard psychologists
  conducted studies at the Western Electric
  Company in Hawthorne, Illinois.

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The Great Depression Years and World War II

• Elton Mayo and his colleagues examined the
  effects of the physical environment on worker
  productivity.
• In one particular study, they examined the effect
  of lighting on worker productivity.
• Results of the study found that productivity
  increased regardless of level of lighting.

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The Great Depression Years and World War II

• The Hawthorne effect refers to changes in
  behavior occurring as a function of participants
  knowledge that they are being observed and their
  expectations concerning their role as research
  participants.

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The Great Depression Years and World War II

• The human relations movement was a movement based
  on the studies of Elton Mayo that emphasizes the
  importance of social factors in influencing work
  performance.
• Worker morale

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The Great Depression Years and World War II

• World War II contributed greatly to the growth of
  I/O psychology.
• State-of-the-art machinery lead to a need for
  human factors psychologists.
• The Army General Classification Test was
  developed.

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Industrial/Organizational Psychology Today and in
the Future

• Four Trends
• First trend The changing nature of work
• Organizational downsizing refers to the strategy
  of reducing an organizations workforce to
  improve organizational efficiency and/or
  competitiveness.
• Second trend Expanding focus on human resources
• Competition for highly-skilled workers
• Growing number of low-skilled workers in the
  service industry

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Industrial/Organizational Psychology Today and in
the Future

• Third trend Increasing diversity in the
  workforce
• Workforce is becoming more diverse
• Women make up two thirds of all entering workers
  in the labor market.
• Ethnic minority group members make up one third
  of all entering workers.

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Industrial/Organizational Psychology Today and in
the Future

• Fourth trend Increasing globalization of
  business
• More businesses are focusing on the global
  economy.
• Potential issues for worker training