Industrial/Organizational Psychology (Psych 496/596) Fall 2001Instructor: John Edwards
Office: Moreland 212Phone: 737-1370 email: edwardjo@ucs.orst.edu
Office Hours:Tuesdays 1:30-3, Wednesdays 2-4, & by appointment
DateTopicReading

tue 9/24INTRODUCTIONCH 1

thu 9/26MEASUREMENTpp. 60-66; 94-100

tue 10/2JOB ANALYSISpp. 66-90

thu 10/4 SELECTIONpp. 100-131; CH 5

tue 10/9SELECTION 

thu 10/11SECTION TEST 1(Introduction through Job Analysis)

tue 10/16PERFORMANCE APPRAISALCH 7

thu 10/18TRAININGCH 6

tue 10/23WORK ATTITUDESpp. 274-275, 281-296

thu 10/25SECTION TEST 2 (Selection through Training)

tue 10/30WORK MOTIVATIONCH 11

thu 11/1LEADERSHIPCH 12

tue 11/6WORK GROUPSpp. 252-255, 258-266

thu 11/8SECTION TEST 3 (Work Attitudes through Leadership)

tue 11/13ORGANIZATIONSPP. 237-252, 256-258

thu 11/15ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTCH 13

tue 11/20WORK ENVIRONMENTCHs 15 & 10

thu 11/22NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING DAY

tue 11/27WORK ENVIRONMENTLast day to turn in paper

thu 11/29SECTION TEST 4

TEXT: Muchinsky, P. M. (2000).Psychology Applied to Work (6th Ed.).Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.

COURSE GOALS: Provide an overview of psychological research on human behavior in work settings and organizations.

COURSE FORMAT: The work of the course involves four section tests.Class meetings will involve lecture and discussion.Some material will be covered in class that is not covered in the assigned texts and vice/versa. 

GRADING:Each of the four tests is worth 40 points and the paper is worth 15.Because one test will be dropped (see below), final grade is based on 135 total possible points.[Graduate students only take two of the tests (they choose which ones) and they write a longer paper.See below.You should talk with me at some point about your specific topic.] 

Grade distributions will be based upon the performance of all the students in the class, excluding grad students (i.e., grades are curved).For each test, I add up the number of points you accumulated.I will then drop the lowest test score.From those totals, I’ll take the class average grade.This score will be the middle of the B- range (that is, a person whose point total is at or close to the class average will get a B- for the class).Grades above the class average will be equivalent to a B or better; grades below the class average will equivalent to a C+ or worse.(If you really want to know the details, I calculate the specific grade cutoffs by, first, taking the highest attained score in the class and making that the top of the A range.I subtract the class average grade from that highest score, divide that by 4.5 [since the A, A-, B+, B, and half of the B- categories should fit into that], and mark off grade categories using that number, starting at with the top attained score.)

THE TESTS:The tests will be both multiple choice and short answer.Each test will have approximately 35 multiple choice questions, one point each, with five points reserved for short answer questions.The material that will be covered on the test is noted on the syllabus.I will try to stick to this, but I reserve the right to make changes (which I will announce in class).As noted above, your lowest test score will be dropped.TESTS WILL NOT BE RESCHEDULED, regardless of excuse (this includes illness, jobs, family reunions, vacation, car breakdowns, other exams, interviews, etc.).If you have to miss a test, you get a 0 for it.That will constitute your low score, which will be dropped.If you have to miss more than one test, you are missing too much class and should drop the class.I strongly suggest that you not miss tests for trivial reasons, especially early in the term, since something more serious may come up later in the term and you will have already “burned” your one drop.

Note that there is no final exam in this class.

CLASS ATTENDANCE:Class attendance is the student's responsibility (i.e., not mine). Students are responsible for everything covered in class.This includes details about the tests.Therefore, I strongly advise class attendance. If you have to miss a class, be sure to get the notes from another class member (i.e., not from me).Please help each other out!

THE PAPERS: A paper is due in class no later than class time, Tuesday, Nov. 27.The paper is to be relatively brief in that there is a three page limit.DO NOT write more than three pages!On the other hand, be sure you adequately address the assignment.Meeting these two challenges will almost certainly require some planning and some revision on your part.Papers must be typed, double space, and readable(i.e., no microscopic type).Although I won't be formally grading your grammar, writing technique will be important in that it is your job to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively.

The grading for the paper will roughly follow this simple scale:You get 15 points if you turn the paper in on time and address the topic in an understandable, appropriate way.You get 10 points if you turn the paper in on time and attempt to address the topic but your explanation is inadequate, in the sense that you profoundly misinterpret a major theory or apply course concepts in a trivial way (see below).Also, you will also get this grade (at best) if you do not cite appropriately (see below).You get 5 points if you turn in the paper on time but don't do the assignment appropriately (i.e., you don't attempt to use industrial psychology in any meaningful way, or you don't do what is asked in the assignment).You get 0 if you turn nothing in.In addition, you lose 5 points per 24-hour period the paper is late, starting at the beginning of class the day it is due (i.e., if you turn it in at 9:00am on Wednesday, November 28 you lose 5 points, if you turn it in at 4:30pm on Wednesday you lose 10 points, etc.).I encourage you to turn them in early to avoid losing points due to printer problems, flat tires, illness, etc.YOU SHOULD TREAT THE NOV. 27TH DEADLINE AS A “LAST-RESORT” DAY, NOT A TARGET DATE.TURN IT IN BEFORE THEN!



Paper topic and some helpful material

PAPER TOPIC: A fast-food chain noticed a considerable drop in the number of customers at restaurants located near competing restaurants.The company conducted a series of marketing studies to determine the reason for the decline.The results of these studies indicated that customers perceived the chain as having the least friendly employees and that customers preferred to patronize friendlier establishments.You are in charge of fixing this.Using course material, describe how you might go about fixing the problem.

Grad students only: Rather than the above, you are to write a paper describing how the principles of industrial psychology might be useful in your particular field or area.I will give you some leeway on this in deciding what you want to focus on with regards to your field.It can be a speculative paper, but it must be essentially based on material from this course.You get 15 pages for this.You might want to talk to me for additional guidance.

HOW TO WRITE THE PAPER (adapted in part from class materials for Psychology 367.01, Ohio State University):Papers should be written in a "short essay" format.That is, these papers are not exercises in creative writing, but are exercises in clearly communicating ideas and arguments.Your ideas should be presented in a clear enough manner for a typical college student to understand them.This means that you must DEFINE YOUR TERMS and DESCRIBE THE THEORIES you use in your papers, because the average college student won't be familiar with the material presented in this class.In other words, explain fully what you have learned from class.

Writing brief essays is challenging.Try to write as efficiently as possible.You want to be clear, but at the same time don't waste space by using unnecessary words to make a point or by talking about something that isn't relevant to your argument.Doing so will prevent you from making important arguments or describing something more fully in another section of the paper, and thereby hurt your grade.Similarly, you don’t want to attempt to rehash every detail that was discussed in class.Instead, focus on those things relevant to your topic.The best way to accomplish these things is to write a draft and then revise it repeatedly, editing it until it is concisely and clearly written.

One purpose of the paper assignments is for your instructor to see how well you understand material from lecture and readings and how well you can apply that material.Therefore, the information from class and from the book represents the "building blocks" that you should use in constructing your paper.In other words, BUILD YOUR PAPER AROUND COURSE MATERIAL!Use the paper to demonstrate that you have understood the lectures, read the text, and can effectively apply the material to a problem.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES.One mistake that students often make in writing psychology papers is to cite their personal experience as evidence for some idea or argument.Psychology is a science, so you want to draw on the theories and research associated with this science.Avoid using your intuition or personal experiences as "proof". 

WRITE IN YOUR OWN WORDS.Don't copy material from books, even relatively small amounts of material.Don't plagiarize.You will get in loads of trouble.I will address this more fully in class.In the rare instance where you want to quote a source, put the quoted material in quotation marks and cite (i.e., tell where you got it from).However, generally speaking, try to avoid direct quotes. Use of lengthy quotes, even if properly punctuated & cited, will hurt your grade. I want to see what YOU know - I already know that book authors know their stuff.Generally, I will simply ignore the material in lengthy quotes, meaning that I will treat your paper as though it did not contain the material in the quotes.For this paper, you don’t need to cite ideas from your book or lecture, but you do need to cite ideas that you have gotten from sources other than these, using APA style.

OUT-OF-CLASS SOURCES.You can use material other than the book or lecture from this class if you wish.However, a mistake that students sometimes make is to draw on material that is not related to the subject matter of the course.Such sources can include "pop" or self-help psychology books, tv documentaries, or books from other fields such as political science, business-related books for the general public, women studies, etc.Although such material may have its uses in understanding or explaining behavior and thought, the purpose of the class (and therefore the papers) is to cover the ideas and research traditionally associated with industrial/organizational psychology.Therefore, stick to that material when writing your papers.If you use material from sources other than the book and lecture from this class, be sure it is "industrial psychology".If you aren't sure, ask me.

FORMAT.Papers must be typed and double-spaced.Try to keep your fonts at 10 point or bigger so I can keep my eyesight as I grow older.Please allow one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides of each page so I can write comments if necessary.