Industrial/Organizational Psychology

1. Hugo Munsterberg – “Father” of Industrial Psychology In 1911, cautioned managers to be concerned with “all the questions of the mind … “ First to encourage government funded research in industrial psych. In 1913, published Psychology and Industrial Efficiency

 Persons need to fit organizations  Behavioral science can help organizations shape better-fitting employees  New employees can serve as “replacement parts” for the organizational machine

2. Frederick W. Taylor – First “Efficiency Expert” Argued for redesign of workplace to achieve higher productivity Conducted first time and motion studies of worker behavior In 1911, published The Principles of Scientific Management

 Work methods should be designed scientifically to maximize efficiency  The best workers should be selected, then trained in the best work methods Showed iron workers more productive if given rest periods: *Productivity increased almost 4-fold *Production cost dropped by more than 50%

1. Inhumane exploitation of workers to increase profits 2. Increased unemployment because fewer workers needed to do same amount of work First World War Ends Complaints!

3. Robert Yerkes – “Father” of group testing In 1917, proposed ways of screening army recruits for mental deficiency and assigning to specific army jobs Created Army Alpha and Army Beta pencil- and-paper intelligence tests

 1917 – Journal of Applied Psychology first published  1921 – James McKeen Cattell founds The Psychological Corporation to promote usefulness of psychology to industry  1924 – Hawthorne Studies conducted to identify factors increasing productivity  1933 – Elton Mayo demonstrates importance of employee attitudes and employer sensitivity

 1932 – Morris Viteles publishes Industrial Psychology, first use of that phrase in print  1939 – Kurt Lewin publishes first empirical study of effects of leadership style  – I/O psychologists help army develop General Classification Test for draftees OSS (precursor to CIA) develops stress and other assessment tests for candidates to be agents

 1945 – Kurt Lewin forms Research Center for Group Dynamics at MIT (later moved to U. of Michigan)  1946 – I/O psychologists form Division 14 of APA  1950’s – Skinner initiates discussion of behaviorism applied to the workplace  1960’s – David McClelland (and others) propose various theories of achievement motivation

 1970’s – Skinner (in Beyond Freedom and Dignity) advocates b. mod. strategies to motivate persons in organizations Porter and Lawler propose expectancy model of motivation in the workplace  1980’s to present – Explosion of I/O research and application

“The general practice specialty of professional psychology with a focus on scientifically based solutions to human problems in work and other organizational settings.”

 Core undergraduate education in 1. Biological bases of behavior 2. Cognitive-affective bases of behavior 3. Social bases of behavior 4. Individual differences 5. Research methods 6. Psychological/behavioral measurement 7. Statistical methods

 Advanced (graduate) education in 1. Ethical/legal issues in the practice of I/O psychology 2. Consulting and business skills 3. Attitude theory 4. Career development 5. Consumer behavior 6. Health/stress effects on individuals in organizations 7. Human factors and performance (a la Taylor) 8. Individual/group/organizational assessment methods 9. Job/task analysis 10. Job evaluation 11. Work motivation and compensation 12. Leadership and management theory 13. Organizational theory 14. Training theory and program design/evaluation

 Job/task analyses  Development/validation of organizational policies/procedures  Analyses of employee morale, job satisfaction, and organizational environment  Leadership and team development  Management consultation and coaching  Human resource planning and policy analyses  Expert testimony in employer/employee disputes, such as sexual harassment cases