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EPPP - Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Study Materials
89
Psychology
Post-Graduate
06/12/2011

Additional Psychology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Absolute Techniques (Critical Incident Technique, Bars)
Definition
Methods of subjective performance assessment that indicate a ratee's perfomance  in absolute terms (i.e., not in terms of other employees).  Includes the critical incident technique and BARS.
Term
Adverse Impact / 80% Rule
Definition
The result of discrimination against individuals of protected by Title VII and related legislation due to the use of an employment practice (e.g., selection or placement test).  When use of a selection or other employment proceedure results in higher rejection rates for legally protected individuals than for the majority group, adverse impact is said to exist.  The 80% rule can be used to determine if adverse impact is occuring.
Term
Americans with Disabilities Act
Definition
Legislation that requires companies with 25 or more employees to avoid using procedures that discriminate against people with physical or mental disabilities and, when a disabled person is able to perform the essential functions of a job, to consider the person qualified and make "reasonable accommodations".
Term
Big Five Personality Traits
Definition
Factor analyses have revealed five basic personality traits - neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness - have been studied extensively in recent years.  Of these, conscientiousness has been found to be the best predictor of job performance across different jobs, job settings, and criterion measures.
Term
Brainstorming
Definition
A method of generating creative ideas in which individuals or group members are encouraged to freely suggest any idea or thought without criticism, evaluation, or censorship.  Research suggests that individuals brainstorming alone do better that the same numer brainstorming together.
Term
Centralized and Decentralized Networds
Definition
Communication networks are categorized as centralized and decentralized.  Centralized networks are best for simple tasks.  Decentralized networks are better for complex tasks and are associated with greater overall satisfaction.
Term
Comparable Worth
Definition
The notion that jobs should be paid on the basis of their intrinsic worth in order to overcome salary injustices (e.g., differences in pay for traditionally "male" versus "female" jobs).
Term
Consideration and Initiating Structure
Definition
The Ohio State University studies found that the behavior of leaders can be described in terms of two independent dimensions - consideration (person-centered style) and initiating structure (task-oriented style).
Term
Contingency Theory
Definition
Feidler's theory of leadership effectiveness, which proposes that effectiveness is related to an interaction between the leader's style and the nature (favorableness) of the situation.  Low LPC leaders are often most effective in very unfavorable or very favorable situations; high LPC leaaders are better in moderately favorable situations.
Term
Criterion Contamination
Definition
A bias that occurs when a rater's knowledge of an individuals performance on a predictor affects how the rater rates him/her on the criterion, can artificially inflae the criterion-related validity coefficient.
Term
Critical Incidents
Definition
Specific Behaviors that are associated with outstanding and poor job performance. When incorporated into rating scales, can help reduce rater biases.
Term
Differential Validity and Unfairness
Definition
Differential validity exists when the validity coefficient of a predictor is significantly different for one subgroup than for another subgroup (e.g., lower for African American applicants than White applicants).  Unfairness refers to unfair hiring, placement, or related discrimination against a minority group that occurs when members of the minority group consistently score lower on a predictor but perform approximately the same on the criterion as members of the of the majority group.  Differential validity and unfairness are causes of adverse impact.
Term
Downsizing/Survivor Syndrom
Definition
Downsizing occurs when an organization attempts to reduce its costs by reducing the size of the work forse (most often middle management) and/or by eliminating entire divisions or businesses.  Workers who are not "downsized" may exhibit survivor syndrom, which is characterized by depression, guilt, anxiety, stress-related illnesses, and decreased job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Term
Equity Theory
Definition
Theory of motivation that proposes that an employee's motivation is related to her perception that her input/outcome ratio is similar to the input/outcome ratios of others in comparable jobs.  A perception of underpayment is associated with decreased satisfaction, motivation, and performance.
Term
Erg Theory (Aderfer)
Definition
Aderfer's modication of Maslow's theory, which distinguishes between three basic needs - existence, relatedness, and growth.
Term
Expectancy Theory
Definition
Motivational theory that regards job motivation as the result of three elements - expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.  Highest levels of motivation occur when an employee perceives that high job efforts results in high task success (high expectancy), that high success leads to the attainment of certain goals (high instrumentality) and that the outcomes are desireable (positive valence).
Term
Flexitime
Definition
An alternative work schedule that allows workers to choose the times they will begin and end work.  Associated with increased satisfaction and lower absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover.
Term
Force Field Analysis (Lewin)
Definition
According to Lewin's force field analysis model of change, organizational change involves three stages - unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
Term
Formative and Summative Evaluation
Definition
Formative evaluations are conducted while a training program is being developed, and their results are used to make necessary modifications to the program.  A summative evaluation is conducted after a program has been implemented in order to assess its outcomes.
Term
Four-day Workweek
Definition
An alternative schedule that involves four 9- or 10- hours days.  Associated with increased worker satisfaction and lower absenteeism.
Term
Four levels of criteria (Kirkpatrick)
Definition
Distinguishes between four levels of criteria for evaluating the effects of a training program - reaction, learning, behavioral, and results.
Term
Frame-of-reference Training
Definition
A type of rater training that emphasizes the multidimensional nature of job performance and distinguishes between good and poor work-related behaviors.
Term
Goal-setting Theory
Definition
Theory of job motivation that proposes that individuals will be more willing to achieve goasl when they have explicitly accepted goasl and are committed to them.  Also proposes that assigning specific, moderately difficult goals and providing employees with feedback about their accomplishment of goals increases productivity.
Term
Group-goals and Rewards
Definition
For teams working on interdependent tasks, group goals are more effective than individual goals and a combination of the two may be no more effective than group goals alone.  Group rewards are categorized as either cooperative or competitive.  When interdependence is high, a cooperative reward system is most effective but, when interdependence is low, a competitive system leads to greater motivation and productivity.
Term
Group norms/Idiosyncrasy Credits
Definition
Norms are the standard rules of conduct that maintain uniformity of behavior among group members.  Idiosyncrasy credits are positive sentiments whin a group towards a member that allow him/her to occasionally deviate from group norms.  A person accumulates idiosyncrasy credits when he/she has a history of conforming to norms, has contributed in some special way to the group, or has served as the group leader.
Term
Group Polarization and Risky Shift Phenomenon
Definition
The tendency of groups to make more extreme decisions (either more conservative or more risky) than individual member would have made alone.  The tendency to make decisions in teh risky direction only is referred to as the risky shify phenomenon.
Term
Groupthink
Definition
A mode of group thniking in which group members' desires for unamity and cohesiveness override their ability to realistically appraise or determine alternative courses of action.  Can be alleviated by encouraging dissent, having someone play devil's advocate, and refraining from reaching a decision too quickly.
Term
Hawthorne Effect
Definition
Refers to an improvement in job performance resulting from participation in a research study (the novelty of the situation, increased attention, etc.)
Term
Holland (RAISEC, Differentiation)
Definition
Holland's theory emphasizes the importance of a good personality/work environment match and distinguishes between six personality types - realistic, artistic, investigative, social, enterprising, and conventional.  The personality-environment match is most accurate as a predictor of job-related outcomes when an invididual exhibits a high degree of differentiation - i.e., has clear interests as evidenced by a high score on one of Holland's six interests and low scores on all others.
Term
Identical Elements
Definition
Method used to increase trainsfer of training; involves maximizing the similarity between the learning and performance environments.
Term
Incremental Validity
Definition
The increase in decision-making accuracy resulting from the use of a new predictor.  Incremental validity is maximized when the selection ration is low and the base rate is moderate.
Term
Internal and external change agents
Definition
A change agent is an individual who is responsible for guiding the change effort.  An internal change agent is a member of the organization, is already familiar with the company's culture, norms, and power structure, and has a personal interest in the change effort.  An external change agent (consultant) is often able to see the situation more objectively and to bring in a new perspective, to be better received by the members of the organization because of his/her impartiality, is likely to have greater influence and status, and is willing to take more risks.
Term
Job Analysis versus Job Evaluation
Definition
Systematic process of determining how a job differs from other jobs in terms of required responsibilities, activities, and skills.  First step in the development of a predictor or criterion; also used for identifying training needs, developing a job description or job specification, and determining the causes of accidents.  Not to be confused with Job Evaluation, which is conducted for the purpose of setting wages and salaries.
Term
Job Burnout
Definition
Caused by accumulated stress associated with overwork. Its primary symptoms are a feeling of low personal accomplishment, cynicism, and emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion.  An early sign of burnout is a sudden increase in work effort and hours without an increase  in productivity.
Term
Job Characteristics Model
Definition
Describes a job in terms of five core dimensions that have an impact on three "critical psychological states" (meaningfulness, autonomy, and performance feedback) that, in turn, affect motivation, quality of work performance, satisfaction, absenteeism, and turnover.
Term
Job Enrichment and Job Enlargement
Definition

Job Enrichment is a method of job redesign in which the job is made more challenging and rewarding in order to increase job motivation and satisfaction.

 

Not to be confused with job enlargement, which involves increasing the number and variety of tasks included in a job without increasing the worker's autonomy, responsibility, etc.

Term
Job Satisfaction (age, pay, performance, turnover)
Definition
High Levels of satisfaction are associated with certain worker and job characteristics: e.g., older employees, higher-level employees, and employees whose jobs allow them to use their skills and abilities tend to be most satisfied.  The relationship between pay and satisfaction is complex and seems to be related more to the perception that one is being paid fairly than to the actual amount of pay.  In terms of consequences, the correlation between satisfaction and performance is generally considered to be positive but low (although a recent meta-analysis reports a correlation of .30).  The strongest relationship is between satisfaction and turover (r=-.40)
Term
Krumboltz (Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Based on social learning theory - proposes that a person's career path is determined by an interaction between genetic endowment, environmental conditions, learning experiences, and task approach skills.
Term
Leaderless Group Discussion
Definition
A type of management development training that presents four to eight participants with problems that they must solve in a specified period of time.  No individual is designated as the leader; instead, particiapnts are given the opportunity to demonstrate leadership, communication, decision-making, and interpersonal skills in a relatively unstructured setting.
Term
Levels of Organizational Culture (Schein)
Definition
According to Schein, organizational culture can be described in terms of three basic levels - artifacts, espoused values and beliefs and basic underlying assumptions.
Term
Mediation and Arbitration
Definition
Mediation is a third-party intervention in which the mediator cannot dictate an agreement between disputants but helps clarify the issues, facilitates communication, and offers alternatives and a recommended solution.  An arbitrator has more authority than a mediator.
Term
Methods of Job Training (Job Rotation, Behaviroal Modeling, Vestibule Training)
Definition
Training in organizations can be on-the-job or off-the-job.  Job rotation is an example of the formerl behavioral modeling and vestibule training are examples of the latter.
Term
Models of Individual Decision-Making (Simon)
Definition
According to the rational-economic model, decision makers attempt to maximize benefits by systemmatically searching for the best sulution.  In contrast, the bouded reality (administrative) model proposes that rational decision making is limited by internal and external constraints so that decision makers often satisfice rather than optomize (i.e., consider solutions until a fairly good one is encountered and then stop searching due to limited time and resources).
Term
Multiple Regression and Multiple Cutoff
Definition
Methods of combinging predictor scores.  Multiple regression is compensatory, multiple cutoff is noncompensatory.
Term
National Culture (Hofstede)
Definition
According to Hofstede, the culture of nations can be described in terms of five dimensions - power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and long-term orientation.
Term
Need for Achievement
Definition
Employees with a high nACH usually choose tasks of moderate difficulty and risk, apparently because success on these tasks depends more on effort than on uncontrollable factors.  These employees also prefer frequent, concrete feedback, and, although their motivation does not depend on money, they view monitary rewards as a source of feedback and recognition.
Term
Need Hierarchy Theory (Maslow)
Definition
Maslow's theory of modication, which proposes that five basic needs are arranged in a hierarchical order such that a need higher in the heirarchy doesn't serve as a source of motivation until all lower needs have been fulfilled.  Has not been well supported by the research.
Term
Needs Assessment
Definition
Systematic process of determining job performance requirements and employee performance deficits to identify training needs and the content of training programs.  Inlcudes organizational, task, person, and demographic analyses.
Term
Normative (Decision-making) Model
Definition
theory of leadership that focuses on decision-making strategies and proposes that the best strategy (autocratic, consultative, group) depends on the nature of the situation.  Provides a decision tree to help leaders choose the best strategy.
Term
Organizational Commitment
Definition
Refers to the strength of an employee's identification with the organization.  Although comittment seems to have minimal effects on productivity, a high degree of affective commitment is related to higher levels of motivation and satisfaction, lower rates of absenteeism, and turnover, and a greater willingness to make sacrifices for the company.
Term
Organizational Development
Definition
Refers to a variety of techniques and strategies aimed at the planned chage of an organization using behavioral science principles and theories.
Term
Organizational Justice
Definition
Workers' evaluations of organizational policies and procedures are often based on their perceived fairness (justice).  Three types of justice are distinguished - procedural, distributive, and interactional.
Term
Overlearning
Definition
Practicing or studing beyond the point of mastery - associated with enhanced recall.
Term
Path-Goal Theory
Definition
Theory of leadershop that proposes that the best leadership style (directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-oriented) depends on certain characteristics of the worker and the work and helps employees see how achieving organizational goals will help them attain individual goals.
Term
Person-organization Fit
Definition
Person-organization (P-O) fit refers to the degree to which a person's values and beliefs match those of the organization's culture.  A good fit is associated with a number of benefits.
Term
Predictors - General Mental Ability Tests
Definition
Considered to be the best predictor of Job performance across different jobs and job settings
Term
Predictors - Biodata
Definition
Also good predictors of job performance, especially when items are empirically derived.
Term
Predictors - Interviews
Definition
Most common predictor in organizations but generally have low levels of reliability and validity.
Term
Predictors - Work Samples
Definition
Work samples require the individual (e.g., job applicant) to perform a task or operation actually required by the job.
Term
Predictors - Assessment Center
Definition
Used to evaluate and train applicants and current employees at the management or adminsitrative level and incorporate a variety of techniques (e.g., interview, objective tests, and situational tests).
Term
Productivity and Cohesiveness
Definition
In groups, high cohesiveness is associated with greater consistency in productivity, but whether this results in high or low performance depends on the nature of the norms.  In contrast, when cohesiveness is low, group norms have less impact so that, regardless of the norms, group productivity is usually in the moderate range.
Term
Process Consultation
Definition
An organizational development technique in which a consultation helps members of the organization perceive, understand, and identify ways of improving the processes that are undermining their interactions and the organization's effectiveness.
Term
Quality Circles
Definition
Consists of a small voluntary group of employees who work together on a particular job and meet regularly to discuss job-related problems and solutions.  Representative of teh quality circle then present their solutions to management.
Term
Rater Bias
Definition
Contaminating factors in the rating process related to the way that the rater makes ratings.  Includes the central tendency bias, the leniency/strictness bias, and the halo effect.  Overall best way to reduce rater biases is to provide raters with adequate training, especially training that helps them observe and distinguish between different levels of performance (e.g., frame-of reference training).
Term
Realistic Job Preview
Definition
Method of providing accurate informatin about the job and the organization to job applicants - primary goal is to reduce turnover by reducing disillusionment and increasing satisfaction.
Term
Relative techniques (paired comparison, forced distribution)
Definition
Measures of job performance that compare an employee's performance to that of other employees. 
Term
Scientific Management
Definition
As described by Taylor, scientific management involves (a) scientifically analyzing jobs into their component parts and then standardizing those parts; (b) scientifically selecting, training, and placing workers in jobs for which they are mentally and physically suited; (c) fostering cooperation between supervisors and workers to minimize deviation from scientific methods of work; and (d) having managers and workers assume responsibility for their own share of their work.
Term
Self-managed work teams
Definition
Autonomous work groups whose members are trained in teh skills needed to effectively perform the group task.  Their function is to make hiring, budget, and other decisions that were previously made by managers.
Term
Situational Leadership
Definition
Hersey and Blanchard's model of leadership, which proposes that the best leadership style depends on the job maturity of the workers, which is a function of ability and willingness to assume responsibility.  Distinquishes between four leader styles - telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
Term
Social Cognitive Theory
Definition
Bandura's theory of motivation that emphasizes the self-regulation of behavior and proposes that self-regulation involves four processes- goal-setting, self-observation, self-evaluation, and self-reaction.
Term
Social Facilitation and inhibition
Definition

social facilitation refers to the increase in learning and performance that occurs in the presence of others.  Most likely to occur when the task is simple or well-learned.

 

Social inhibition refers to the decrease in learning and performance that occurs in the presence of others.  Mostly likely to occur when the task is new or complex.

Term
Social Loafing
Definition
Tendency of an individual to work less when acting as a member of a team than when working alone.  Can be alleviated by ensuring that the individual's contribution is identified and rewarded.
Term
Stages in Group Development
Definition
Tuckman and Jensen distinguish between five stages of group development - dorming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
Term
Strategies for overcoming resistance to change
Definition
As defined by Chin and Benne, strategies for overcoming resistance to change can be classified in terms of three basic rypes = rational-emerical, normative-educative, and power-coercive
Term
Stress (Machine-Paced Tasks)
Definition
The jobs most likely to lead to stress related problems are those that give workers very little control over their tasks or work conditions - e.g., machine-paced tasks.
Term
Super (Self-concept, career maturity, life career rainbow).
Definition
According to Super's life-space, life-span theory, the selection of a job involves finding a match between a job and one's self-concept (which reflects one's values, personality, interests, etc.).  The theory also emphasizes the importance of career maturity, which is the ability to cope with the developmental tasks of one's life stage.  The life-career rainbow relates an individual's major life roles to the five life stanges and is useful for helping a career counselee recognize the impact of current and future roles and stages on career planning.
Term
Survey Feedback
Definition
An OD intervention that focuses on identifying employee attitudes and perceptions
Term
Taylor-Russell Tables (selection ratio, base rate)
Definition
Used to estimate a predictor's incremental validity when the validity coefficient, selection ratio, and base rate are known.  The selection ratio is the ratio of numbers of jobs to job applicants - the base rate is the proportion of successful decisions without the new predictor
Term
Theory X and Theory Y
Definition
According to McGregor, Theory X managers believe that employees dislike work and avoid it whenever possible and, as a result, must be directed and controlled.  In contrast, Theory Y managers view work as being "as natural as play" and assume that employees are capable of self-control and self-direction.
Term
Tiedman and O'Hara (Ego Identity Development)
Definition
Views career identity development as an aspect of ego identity development
Term
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Definition
Management theory that emphasizes customer service, employee involvement (especially teamwork), and continuing improvement.
Term
Transformational and Transactional Leaders
Definition
Influential leaders who are characterized by their ability to recognize the need for change, create a vision for change (including defining the need for change in a way that is meaningful for followers), and effectively executing the change.  Often contrated with Transactional leaders who tend to maintain the status quo and rely on rewards and punishments to motivate behavior.
Term
Two-factor theory (Herzberg)
Definition
Herzber's theory of motivation and satisfcation that places satisfaction and dissatisfaction on two separate continua.  Motivator factors (increased autonomy, responsibility, control, etc) contribute to satisfaction and motivation when they are present; hygiene factors (pay, pleasant working conditions) contribue to dissatisfaction when they are absent.  The bais for job enrichment.
Term
Types of group tasks
Definition
Tasks performed by groups can be classified in terms of four types - additive, compensative, disjunctive, and conjunctive.
Term
Work-Family Conflict
Definition
Conflict caused by incompatable work and family role demands.
Term
Work Shifts
Definition
Of the three fixed shifts, the graveyard shift is associated with the most problems.  However, these may be alleviated if the worker voluntarily chooses the graveyard shift. The rotating shift is associated with more problems than the fixed shifts (e.g., higher accident rates, lower productivity).
Term
Yerkes-Dodson Law
Definition
Predicts that the highest levels of learning and performance are associated with moderate levels of arousal, especially when moderate arousal is coupled with moderate task difficulty.
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