The focus for this week is on Industrial-Organizational Psychology and the use of assessments. As you will note from the introduction to this week's material, I/O psychology focuses on behavior in the workplace, and some specific areas include organizational systems, personnel and human resources.
Discussion 1
Learning Outcomes
This week students will:
Evaluate test results to determine the psychological capabilities of job applicants.
Justify test result interpretations using scholarly research.
Evaluate industrial and organizational assessment instruments.
Critique analyses along the dimensions of completeness, accuracy, and professional credibility.
Introduction
Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology is a diverse and complex field, which focuses on behavior in the workplace. I-O psychologists apply psychological principles and research finding to areas such as employee professional development and training, human resources, assessment, sales and marketing, and organizational development. It is common for research in I-O psychology to be concerned with talent selection, improving workplace productivity, and testing products. I-O psychologists can be found in the business section as well as in research and academic positions. This week you will analyze computer generated personality testament results to make judgments about the implications of the results on hypothetical candidates' abilities to perform important job duties. The interactive assignment this week will allow you to compare to assessment measures commonly used in I-O psychology.
Some Additional Guidance.
This week, we move into another area of the field: Industrial Organizational Psychology. For those of you who are not familiar with I/O Psychology, the focus of this domain is application of psychology in the work setting. Areas of emphasis include how organizations operate as systems...human resources...personnel...and related concepts. What you will find in the I/O arena is that assessments play an important role in making decisions in these areas. For instance, you will find as you review the material that personality assessments and tests of cognitive ability, among others, have found prominent places in the field. The overview of the material this week refers to the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), and I highly recommend that you consult the website and, in particular, the three links to the sections on the types of tests, the role of individual psychological assessment, and employment testing:
SIOP--Types of Employment Tests
SIOP--Individual Psychological Assessment
SIOP--Employment Testing
In general, you will want to follow the same types of processes we have been discussing to this point, including determining why an assessment is needed, selecting the correct assessment for the identified purpose, and conducting yourself in an ethical manner so you can complete a valid and ethical assessment, obtain useful data, and then convey that data to the client (which, in this case, may be an organization or business). In this way, information from assessments can be used to help organizations determine if employees are a good fit for particular jobs or groups, and cognitive assessments can be used to determine if an individual has the aptitude or ability required for specific roles. As you look into the different tests that may be used, I think you will see how they fit.
Along with the links above, I am updating some resources into Doc Sharing that you may also find helpful. I have four other articles that I have identified, but I am having to wait for them to arrive from inter-library loan. I will let you know when they arrive and I have them uploaded.
Cucina, J. M. (2014). Early technology-enhanced assessments. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52(2), 100-107.
Cucina, J. M. (2015). Early pre-industrial-organizational psychology employment tests: part I. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52(3), 50-58.
Cucina, J. M. (2015). Early pre-industrial-organizational psychology employment tests: part II. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52(4), 58-67.
Gilberson, T., & Miklos, S. (2012). Cognitive ability testing in executive assessments. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 50(2), 130-133.
Martinson, B. C., Thrush, C. R., & Crain, A. L. (2013). Development and validation of the survey of organizational research climate (SORC). Science and Engineering Ethics, 19(3), 813-834. doi:10.1007/s11948-012-9410-7.
Discussion 2
Learning Outcomes
This week students will:
Evaluate test results to determine the psychological capabilities of job applicants.
Justify test result interpretations using scholarly research.
Evaluate industrial and organizational assessment instruments.
Critique analyses along the dimensions of completeness, accuracy, and professional credibility.
Introduction
Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology is a diverse and complex field, which focuses on behavior in the workplace. I-O psychologists apply psychological principles and research finding to areas such as employee professional development and training, human resources, assessment, sales and marketing, and organizational development. It is common for research in I-O psychology to be concerned with talent selection, improving workplace productivity, and testing products. I-O psychologists can be found in the business section as well as in research and academic positions. This week you will analyze computer generated personality testament results to make judgments about the implications of the results on hypothetical candidates' abilities to perform important job duties. The interactive assignment this week will allow you to compare to assessment measures commonly used in I-O psychology.
Some Additional Guidance
This week, we move into another area of the field: Industrial Organizational Psychology. For those of you who are not familiar with I/O Psychology, the focus of this domain is application of psychology in the work setting. Areas of emphasis include how organizations operate as systems...human resources...personnel...and related concepts. What you will find in the I/O arena is that assessments play an important role in making decisions in these areas. For instance, you will find as you review the material that personality assessments and tests of cognitive ability, among others, have found prominent places in the field. The overview of the material this week refers to the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), and I highly recommend that you consult the website and, in particular, the three links to the sections on the types of tests, the role of individual psychological assessment, and employment testing:
SIOP--Types of Employment Tests
SIOP--Individual Psychological Assessment
SIOP--Employment Testing
In general, you will want to follow the same types of processes we have been discussing to this point, including determining why an assessment is needed, selecting the correct assessment for the identified purpose, and conducting yourself in an ethical manner so you can complete a valid and ethical assessment, obtain useful data, and then convey that data to the client (which, in this case, may be an organization or business).
Cucina, J. M. (2014). Early technology-enhanced assessments. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52(2), 100-107.
Cucina, J. M. (2015). Early pre-industrial-organizational psychology employment tests: part I. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52(3), 50-58.
Cucina, J. M. (2015). Early pre-industrial-organizational psychology employment tests: part II. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52(4), 58-67.
Gilberson, T., & Miklos, S. (2012). Cognitive ability testing in executive assessments. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 50(2), 130-133.
Martinson, B. C., Thrush, C. R., & Crain, A. L. (2013). Development and validation of the survey of organizational research climate (SORC). Science and Engineering Ethics, 19(3), 813-834. doi:10.1007/s11948-012-9410-7.
In addition to the text, locate a minimum of two appropriate scholarly and/or peer-reviewed sources to aid you in the analysis of the psychometric properties of the instruments based on published data.