Course Description: The primary goal of this course is to establish a foundation of knowledge for the understanding of industrial/organizational psychology. In order to achieve this goal, the course objectives are offered as guidelines for evaluation of the progress of the student in the course.
Students will learn about the following:
History and Research Methods of I/O – How are psychologists trained? And what do they do?
Job Analysis – Descriptions and specifications, and job evaluation.
Criterion Measurement – Distinctions among performance criteria. Objective vs Subjective Criteria, and contextual performance.
Performance Management – the role of I/O psychology in performance management. And the importance of the social-psychological context.
Predictors – Exploring various testing formats to include computer adaptive testing, and the paper-and-pencil performance tests.
Selection Decisions and Personnel Law – Recruitment and selection the best candidate for the job. Also, legal issues in industrial psychology.
Training and Development – First to assess the training needs, then learning way to best deliver that training. Training on sexual harassment and workplace diversity management.
Motivation – We will learn about the theoretical perspective of motivation and the applicational of motivational theories to organizational problems.
Job Attitudes – attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Job satisfaction, measurement and dimensions.
Stress and Worker Well-Being – identifying stressors and strains…to include work-family conflict, child-care benefits and assistance, psychological effects of job loss, and workplace violence.
Group Processes and Work Teams – understanding group dynamics and working in teams. How social influence affect decision making.
Leadership – Various leadership theories and what it takes to be an effective leader.
Organizational Theory and Development – classical organizational theory, models of organizational change, and organizational development interventions.
