- class notes from Work Psychology course
- all lectures included (except for guest lecture)
- in order to complete the exam successfully, besides reading these class notes, I recommend also reading the book
The Hawthorne Studies: In 1920, they already had vacation days and pension plans. They
looked at socio psychological aspects of human behavior. Workers work better if the manager
shows attention. Financial motives and social issues are equally important.
- The Hawthorne Effect: if management is concerned, employees work better
Work psychology: A branch of psychology that applies principles of psychology to the
workplace
Personnel Psychology (a person), Organizational Psychology (a team), Occupational Health
and Safety (procedures, protocols), Consumer Psychology (human behavior regarding buying
patterns), Ergonomics (how office should be designed), Coaching psychology (helping
people deal with work pressure, career choices)
Research in WP
● Scientist-Practitioner Model: acting as scientists when they conduct research and
implementation of these into the actual organizations as practitioners
● the goal: application of the Evidence based management
Why research based? Because common sense is flawed.
● confirmation bias
● anchoring bias: over-reliance on the first piece of info
● availability heuristic
● bandwagon effect: the probability of one person adopting a belief increases based on
the number of people who hold that believe. Form of groupthink. Reason why
meetings are unproductive.
● blind-spot bias: not recognizing cognitive biases.
● choice-supportive bias: when I choose something, I tend to feel positive about it.
● clustering illusion: see patterns in random events. A rulete example.
● conservatism bias: favouring prior evidence over new evidence or information
● barnum effect: vague descriptions → wooow, this is me!
,How do we do research?
● location matters
○ Laboratory: causal mechanisms, manipulation of IV and effect of DV.
Problem is external validity → is this also a case in the organizational setting?
○ Field research: natural setting. Problem is extraneous variables, therefore this
limits internal validity.
○ Real world: surveys. But people are bad at reporting. Problem:
trustworthiness
● Participants
○ students (only group work, but not remuneration) vs employees
○ size: Is it representative. Is it generalizable?
, Lecture 2
Differential psychology: explains the differences we observe between individuals in terms of
psychological determinants
→ INTELLIGENCE: ability to: reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend
complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experiences
● reflect broader and deeper capability for comprehending surroundings, catching-on,
making sense of things or figuring out
● Galton: hereditary genius, inherited
IQ: intelligence quotient. By: William Stern
● first IQ test by Binet to help French government identify schoolchildren who needed
extra academic assistance
Verbal: reading, hearing, speaking, writing, depating, discussion
Spatial/mechanical intelligence: drawing, building, design, mazes, looking at pictures,
imagining
→ Nowaways testes: combination of IQ, verbal and spatial
Catell's models of intelligence:
● Crystalized ability: ability to use learned knowledge (need when starting a job)
● Fluid: ability to solve new problems (pays role later on in a job)
G factor: strong overlap of performance on different tasks due to an underlying factor
● normal people: if you are good at one thing, you are more likely to be good at others
● autism: only skilled in one particular area
Does cognitive ability matter?
● Cognitive ability predicts performance in different jobs
● Meta-analysis (1984): correlation between general ca and performance of 0.5 for
complex jobs and 0.23 for low-complex
● Meta-analysis Europe (2003) - correlation between general and job performance and
training success of 0.54
● Schmidt & Hunter: acquisition of job knowledge
○ Organizational attainment: the level one rises to along with salary achieved
→ PERSONALITY: internal, stable (unchanged over time), consistent (apply across
different situations), different
● situations play role in altering personality
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
● people who made it were not scientists
● 4 dichotomous characteristics
● famous people are NT
Criticism
● poor validity & reliability
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