I/O Psychology

“Introduction”
Hardianto Iridiastadi, Ph.D.
 What Is I/O Psychology?
• Sample cases
– AT&T developed assessment centers to choose the best
managers
– Compaq Computer Corporation employees cope with
layoffs and reorganization
– GE developing system to provide job-performance
feedback to employees
– U.S. Army psychological tests to place recruits in the
appropriate jobs
– U.S. Postal Service develop procedures to reduce
assaults by employees
 What Is I/O Psychology?
• An I/O psychologist may
– Design forms for job applicants
– Design benefits, salary, training, and structure
of tasks for new employees
 What Is I/O Psychology?
• Psychology
– Science of human behavior, cognition, emotion,
and motivation.
– Study of thinking and behavior
– Branches
• Psychological science (experimental psychology)
• Applied psychology
– I/O psychology (aka occupational/work psychology)
– Clinical/counseling psychology (psychological disorders)
 What Is I/O Psychology?
• I/O psychology (Spector, 2006)
– Industrial (personnel)
• Older branch (original name)
• Management perspective of organizational efficiency
through appropriate use of human resources
• Concerned with job design, employee selection,
employee training, and performance appraisal
– Organizational
• Human relations in organizations
• Issues including attitudes, behavior, job stress,
supervisory practices
 What Is I/O Psychology?
• I/O psychology (Muchinsky, 2000)
– Selection and placement
– Training and development
– Performance management
– Organization development
– Quality of worklife
– Ergonomics
 Activities of I/O Psychology
• List of I/O psychologist tasks
– Nature of the job (job analysis)
– Survey on employee feelings/opinions
– Designing employee performance appraisal
system
– Designing employee selection system
– Design a training program
– Develop psychological tests
– Evaluate training (program) effectiveness
 History of I/O Psychology
• History
– Early focus on job performance and organizational
efficiency
– W.L. Bryan
• How telegraphers develop skill in sending/receiving Morse code
– Hugo Munsterberg
• Employee selection
• Psychological test
• Book – “Psychology and Industrial Efficiency” (1913)
– Walter Dill Scott
• Psychology in advertising
 History of I/O Psychology
• History
– Influence of F.W. Taylor
• Studied employee productivity
• Developed “scientific management”
• Some principles
– Analyze jobs so that tasks can be performed optimally
– Importance of employee characteristics related to job
performance
– Training for jobs
– Reward as a motivation means
 History of I/O Psychology
• History
– Influence of Frank and Lilian Gilbreth
• Engineer and psychologist
• Portrayed in “Cheaper by the dozen” movie
• Studied how people perform tasks
• Develop “time and motion study”
• Also served as the foundation to human factors
 History of I/O Psychology
• History
– Contribution of Robert Yerkes
• U.S. military – developing tests for mental ability
• Used to place recruits in suitable jobs
– Hawthorne studies
• At Western Electric Company
• Early focus on employee productivity, efficient job
design, and assessments of employee abilities
• Find the influence of “social aspects” of
organizational life on behavior and performance (O)