Introduction and History of Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Introduction and History of Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Why People work?

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TRIVIA

  Q: When Bill Gates formed his first company to sell a computerized traffic counting system to cities, was he: (a) 14; (b) 16; or (c) 18?    

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 A: He was 14. His company made $20,000 the first year, but business dropped off when customers found out how young he was.

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The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times.

It began in Britain, then subsequently spread throughout Western Europe, North America, Japan, and eventually the world.

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The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth.

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A. What is I-O Psy? Psychology is the science of human behavior I-O Psy is the science of human behavior at

work

TWO SIDES OF I/O Science Practice

Two major fields Industrial Psy (personnel psy)

enhance efficiency / productivity of organizations

through appropriate use of human resources or people

efficient job design, employee selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation and benefit, etc.

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Organizational Psy (Organizational Behavior )

understanding behavior and enhancing the well-being of employees

employee motivation, job attitudes, job stress, and supervisory practices, etc.

I-O topics may overlap

What are the objectives of I-O Psy?

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Dual objectives:

scientist-practitioner approachdevelop scientific psychological principles

at workapply the psychological principles to the

workplace

FIELDS OF I/O PSYCHOLOGY

Selection and Placement Training and Development Performance Appraisal Organization Development Quality of Worklife Ergonomics

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B. History of I-O Psy

Around 100 years Major events: Taylor (1911), Scientific Management - to

guide organizational practices E.g. Employees should be selected according to characteristics

that are related to job performance. Managers should study existing employees to find out what personal characteristics are important.

Refined over the years but are still considered valuable today

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Hawthorne studies (1920s)Focus on employee productivity and

organizational efficiency in factory plantEmployee abilities & design of jobs

Example: Lighting-level effects on performance Objective: Identify the optimal lighting level Method Finding Psychosocial factor - Hawthorne effect

Hawthorne Effect Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger

A positive change in behavior that occurs at the onset of an intervention followed by a gradual decline, often to the original level of the behavior prior to the intervention.

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Graphical Portrayal of a Hawthorne Effect

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Time

Performance

Onset of intervention

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World War I & IIArmy Alpha and Army Beta

mental ability test for placement mass testing

Training of the officers, improving morale, team development, and equipment design

Developed various assessment tools and performance models

Army Alpha Test Intelligence test for

selection and placement of military personnel

Army Beta Test Nonverbal

intelligence test to assess illiterate recruits

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World War II Army General Classification Test AGCT A test developed during World War II by I/O

psychologists for the selection and placement of military personnel.

Armed Services Vocational Apttiude Battery ASVAB

A test developed in the 1980s by I/O psychologist for the selection and placement of military personnel.

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W.L. Bryan- the precursor, scientific psychology

Time and Motion-to perform particular task

1910- legitimized the specialized area of Psychology

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Walter Dill Scott, applying psychology to advertising.

Application of personnel procedures in the army.

Increasing awareness and the credibility of industrial psychology.

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Frederick W. Taylor Scientific

management –redesigning work situation.

Principles .Science over rule of thumb

. Scientific selection and training

. Cooperation over individualism

. Equal division of work

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Lilian Moller Gilbreth,

human aspect s of time management.

Recognized the effects of stress and fatigue on workers

Human being is the most important element in industry.

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Hugo Munsterberg, applied his experimental methods to a variety of problems, including perception and attention.

Founder of industrial psychology

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C. I-O as a profession

Professional Societies:Academy of Management

(www.aom.pace.edu)Society for I-O Psy under the American

Psychological Association (www.siop.org)Division of I-O Psy under the Hong Kong

Psychological Society (www.hkps.org.hk/diop/index.htm)

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Why look for Reg. I-O Psychologists?Assure service quality Provide a formal channel to file complaint

against poor service standard

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Core Competencies: Personnel Selection, Placement and Assessment Performance Management and Appraisal Motivation, Leadership, Group and Work

behaviour Organizational Development and Change Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Behaviour Ergonomics and Human Factors Management/Staff Training and Development

1. IOP