Ch 1: Introduction
1. The general public thinks of psychologists as "shrinks" -- concerned with helping people who are struggling with mental or emotional problems. So one would expect a psychologist working in business and industry to be concerned with workers experiencing mental problems. Given the description of I/O psychology in your text, how close is this popular conception of psychologists in the workplace to reality?

2. Examine the SIOP website and one other site from Table 1.5. After exploring to see what is offered, prepare a paragraph or two describing each site and its interest or value to a student like you.

3. Journal of Applied Psychology was the first research journal devoted specifically to I/O research. Your task is to browse the journal and locate three articles of interest: one from the first decade (1917-1926), one from the most recent decade, and one from somewhere in the middle (maybe check out the depression years, the WWII period, or the post-war time when the Baby Boomer generation came into being. For each article, provide the following:
   a) Topic of the article
   b) Why the author feels the topic is important (usually found in first paragraphs)
   c) The specific research question being addressed
   d) The method used to address the research question
   e) Primary findings (normally at the beginning of the discussion section)
If the article is not a research report, you will need to think of an alternative way to summarize it.
Finally, comment on any changes you detect in the interests of I/O researchers over the years.

If doing this task at UCSC, the procedure is:
Go to library.ucsc.edu and select "Article Databases" on the left.
Select "P" and then "PsycARTICLES"
(may need to log in with your library barcode if off campus)
Enter "psycarticles" in the search window and search.
Select PsycArticles when the search responds.
Enter "journal of applied psychology" in the search window at the left and "Journal Name" from the drop-down list on the right. Then on the next line enter "1" on the left and "Journal Volume" from the drop-down list.
Select "search"
You should see all articles in volume 1 listed. Click on "View Record" to see abstract or "Full-Text PDF" to see full article. Save if desired.
Go back and enter other volume numbers. There is a separate volume for each year; Volume 1 corresponds to 1917 (right after World War I ended) and Vol 94 has 2009 articles.

If doing this at HSU, the procedure is:
   At library.humboldt.edu click on "Articles & Databases" and then "psychology" and finally "PsycArticles."
   When the search page opens, click on "Browse contents" (link near the top) and select PsycArticles (bottom of list to the left)
   If you want an old issue, select "Last" (bottom right). E.g., locate June 1918 issue and select Table of Contents, then for the
       second article on Hugo Munsterberg select Ovid Full Text (to the right) to see what his contemporaries thought of him.
   
4. Do a bit of Google research on Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. Which of the two appears to have made the greater contribution to I/O psychology?

Ch 2: Research Methods in I/O Psychology
1. This chapter should be an easy review for most students. Prepare notes that differentiate between reliability and validity. Then clarify the differences between the various types of validity. Be ready to raise any questions you have during group discussion.

2. We all know what descriptive statistics are. Explain the purpose and logic behind inferential statistics. Do this in your own words.

3. Make notes that define and explain the purpose of the following. Google the terms if you are unclear regarding their meaning.
   a) Correlation
   b) Scatterplot
   c) Regression
   d) Multiple regression

4. After a given research question has been addressed by a number of studies, it is time for somebody to review the various research reports and provide a review that summarizes the findings and draws reasonable conclusions. Meta-analysis is the currently popular method for such a review. Find and summarize briefly one meta-analysis (locate using PsycArticles or PsycInfo).

Ch 3: Job Analysis
1. Check out the O*NET site at http://online.onetcenter.org/  Use the "Find Occupations" link to look up "graduate student" and one or two occupations of personal interest. Explore the skills and tasks associated with each occupation. Record your findings and reactions for discussion. (You might also select the "Skills Search" to see which occupations match your own skills.

2. Read the "I/O Psychology in Practice" case study at the end of the chapter. Prepare a response to the third question that follows (involving a potential discrimination suit).

3. Some people feel that job pay and compensation should be set using scientific methods, namely job evaluation and comparable worth studies. Other feel that it is better to rely on market forces coupled with anti-discrimination laws to determine how workers are paid. Which camp are you in on this question. Provide a rationale for your preference.

4. Make sure you understand the concept of job analysis. If time permits, you will do a brief interview-based job analysis of a peer in class (the first "Learning by Doing" task at the end of the chapter).

Ch 4: Performance Appraisal
1. Based on what you have read about measuring performance in this chapter, what do you think about the debate between narrative evaluations and course grades (for academic performance)? Which is more useful to you as a student? To graduate school admissions committees? What is more acceptable to students (and why might this be so)? Which is more likely to be biased?

2. Individual differences associated with race and ethnicity tend to be "hot-button" issues so here is a chance to address the such issues in a dispassionate and scholarly manner. Review the race differences on page 101 and sort out the different interpretations for these differences (in your own words, of course).

3. In a short discussion, offer your reactions to 360 degree feedback. How do you feel about peer ratings? Can self ratings be accurate or must they be slanted by self-serving bias? Would you prefer to let the boss (in our case, the professor) take care of performance assessment? You might consider criterion deficiency and contamination in your comments.

4. Table 4.9 provides a number of ways in which a performance-appraisal system can be made legally defensible. To the best of your knowledge, how many of these were part of the performance appraisal procedure you experienced in your last job? (If you've never worked or had your performance assessed, then try to critique this list).

5. Compare the performance appraisal you experienced at work with the appraisal process used at Wachovia Bank (end-of-chapter case). Alternatively, comment on the Wachovia case study making use of the questions at the end.

Ch 5: Assessment Methods for Selection and Placement
1. The research with tests of cognitive ability consistently indicates that they are among the best predictors of performance across a broad range of jobs. Yet students often express the belief that general intelligence tests are heavily biased and useless (i.e., not valid). Has the research reported in this chapter shifted your opinion regarding such tests? For more information, try a Google search for "predictive validity of cognitive ability tests" and see what comes up.

2. Prior to this course, you may have heard about "EQ" or emotional intelligence as an alternative type of intelligence. Based on your reading here, would you say it is a new kind of cognitive ability? Or would you say it is a hyped-up way of talking about already-established concepts involving intelligence, social skill, and personality?

3. How would you respond to the following questions:

   A. Have you ever taken anything home from work (e.g., office supplies like paper for private use, surplus food or merchandise)?
    B. In terms of dollars, about how much would your answer to the previous question amount to in a year? Choices: None, $1-20, $21-100, Over $100
    C. How much (in dollars) would you say the average worker takes home each year?
    D. How accurately does this statement describe you: "I like new experiences and excitement."
        Choices: Very true, Somewhat true, Neutral, Somewhat uncharacteristic, Not at all like me
    E. And this statement: "My close friends would say that I am a very emotional person."
        Choices: Very true, Somewhat true, Neutral, Somewhat uncharacteristic, Not at all like me

     The above questions are similar to those found on tests of honest and integrity. Assuming that you answered them accurately, how might you interpret your responses? Any comments on the value of such tests given what you have read in this chapter?

4. How appropriate is drug testing for job applicants (or even job incumbents) for your most recent job? Consider the perspective of the employer (liability and responsibility to provide a safe work place) as well as that of the worker (right to privacy, avoidance of false positives).

5. Medical training is lengthy and costly. Given this, medical schools certainly don't want to accept applicants who will not excel in the rigorous classwork and clinical training. Jot down some notes on what would be the KSAOs for medical student and reasonable tests for these KSAOs.

Ch 6: Selecting Employees
1. Referring to the last homework question for the previous chapter, describe the steps you would go through in checking the validity of the selection tests for training of physicians in medical school.

2. Compare hotjobs.yahoo.com and www.monster.com  In the "keywords" box, enter "psychology research" and see what comes up (you can leave the other boxes blank). Try some other jobs of interest and see which site provides the better service for students like you.

3. Suppose you are working in the human resources department at Patagonia. Your boss gives you a memo with figures on your new personnel test for selecting product design engineers. (Google this term if you don't know what it means.) The memo states that 50 whites and 25 Hispanics applied for the job; 8 whites and 3 Hispanics were hired. Your boss is asking you to determine a) is there evidence of possible discrimination here (adverse impact), and b) does this mean that continued use of the test is illegal? How would you respond to this memo?

Ch 7: Training
1. Consider the job training you received for a recent work experience. Provide a critique of this training based on the information you have covered in this chapter.

2. You probably thought that your days as a student will be essentially over after graduation from college. But the section on "Future Issues & Challenges" indicates that learning and the associated testing may follow you throughout your career. Discuss your reactions to the points made in this section.

3. E-learning seems to be the coming thing -- not just on campuses but in business and industry. You have probably taken hybrid courses using online resources, perhaps provided via a publisher's website or using a shell like WebCT and Moodle. Have you ever taken a course taught completely online (or do you know of anyone who has done so)? What would you say are the upside and downside of such instruction? How suited are you to web-based instruction?

4. The end-of-chapter case study presents an interesting example of work involving executive coaching. Provide responses to the questions at the end of this case.

Ch 8: Theories of Employee Motivation
1. After reading through the theories of work motivation in this chapter, think about your own work habits. Which theories of motivation best explain your own behavior on the job of student (and in your non-student job if you have one)?

2. Bandura's self-efficacy theory is currently popular in motivation research so you'll want to read this section carefully. Some theorists believe that people should be encouraged to think they can succeed on a task. This will set up a self-fulfilling prophecy effect and performance will be enhanced. The Galatea effect and the self-esteem movement worked on this philosophy. But others believe that self-evaluation should be reality based. They note that most Americans believe they are well above average on positive traits. For example, American students think they are good at math and science but international studies put us near the bottom of tested nations (whereas Japanese students say they are not good at math yet perform at a very high level). So which is better -- lead students (and workers) to believe they can do anything they want or encourage a more realistic assessment based on the capabilities they have demonstrated to date?

3. Read through the case study the the end of the chapter. Provide some reactions and a brief critique of the research summarized here.

4. Your homework notes can be used for tests in this course. Prepare a summary of the rationale and degree of support for each of the theories of motivation in this chapter.

Ch 9: Feelings About Work: Job Attitudes and Emotions
1. How satisfied are you with your work experiences? Were you surprised to find that most U.S. workers are satisfied with their work? Note that news media stories often highlight examples of worker feelings of stress and dissatisfaction.

2. Review the Staw et al. study (Research in Detail box). What does this suggest for your future job satisfaction? Do you have reason to believe that you will be an exception to the rule?

3. The author reports a puzzling finding on gender and job satisfaction: Women are satisfied with lower pay and responsibility (than men). How might we explain this?

4. Have you ever had a job in which there were emotional display rules? Discuss your feelings regarding the value of such rules (to the organization) and their acceptability (to the worker). Be ready to share your experiences on this matter in class. (If you have never had a job with such rules, you can still discuss what you think about the rules and respond from your experience as a customer or client.)

Ch 10: Productive and Counterproductive Employee Behavior
1. Your author discusses how environmental conditions can influence performance and provides a taste of the research in human factors (also called ergonomics and human engineering). The study and design of work settings and tools to enhance performance and safety has been an active research specialty since WWII. To get a feel of how human factors thinking can be applied to everyday life, spend some time exploring the Bad Human Factors Designs site. Which ones did you find most interesting and relevant?

2. This chapter is perfect for setting up the exchange of stories and experiences illustrating concepts from the reading. Describe one or two of your own experiences involving organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). What happened and what were the consequences? Then shift over to the dark side and describe one or two experiences involving counterproductive behavior(CWB). Again, what happened and what were the consequences?

3. According to the research, one fourth of U.S. workers have falsified receipts for reimbursement and over half have taken home company property for personal use. Retailers lose more from employee theft than from shoplifters. Someday you will probably be in a position of responsibility within an organization and will have the employer's perspective. Thinking ahead to this time, what solutions might you support to address the problem of employee dishonesty and theft?

4. The end-of-chapter case study presents an example of a Ph.D. graduate's first job assignment. Your reactions to how she handled her task?

Ch 11: Occupational Health Psychology
1. Work-related accidents cost us $140 billion each year. Can you provide examples of work safety programs from your own work experience? (These could range from safety posters on the bulletin board to incentive programs involving your compensation). You can think broadly here. Signs in restaurant restroom reminding employees to wash carefully are aimed at safety and health. Campus announcements warning of rape attempts also fit this category.

2. Related to the question above, can you provide examples of resistance to work safety programs? (This could refer to employees who don't cooperate with safety procedures or to supervisors who emphasize productivity over safety.)

3. Note any experiences you have had with shift work. What would be your preferences with regard to day/swing/graveyard shifts? Separately, how would you respond if offered a work schedule made up of 4 ten-hour days or 3 12-hours days per week (instead of the traditional 5 eight-hour days)?

4. Review the causes of high stress at work. Can you think of any ways to reduce the stress from machine pacing, low control, and high workload? Or would you contend that some workers simply have to learn to live with it as part of the job?

5. Consider the section on work-family conflict. If you intend to have children, this will be a personal issue (especially if your have a tendency towards negative emotions). Is there anything you can do with your current planning to mitigate this issue in the future?

6. The case study at the end of the chapter describes a survey of the Outward Bound program to help reduce injuries in the outdoor adventure industry. (Check out the Outward Bound site for more information.) What are your thoughts after reviewing this case? (Prompt: We sometimes hear the charge that insurance companies are trying to rip us off, raising our fees and adding to their profits. We are less likely to hear that they are trying to keep us safe and control the increase in rates.)

Ch 12: Work Groups and Work Teams
1. Do you have any personal experiences with work teams? Any training in teamwork?

2. Student often are put into teams to work on class projects. And teams are commonly used to get work done in extracurricular student organizations. As most instructors can tell you, group work for class assignments is often unpopular. Most students would prefer to do their assignments alone, despite the potential gains from working with others. What are your feelings about pursuing class projects in teams? Any ideas for how to make such work more attractive to students? Another thought: even if working with others can be a hassle, where else are you expected to develop the teamwork skills needed for your career after graduation?

3. The case study at the end of the chapter appears to involve the weakest research design with the weakest criteria for assessment. How could this new psychologist have done her task differently in order to get a stronger test of training effectiveness?

Ch 13: Leadership and Power in Organizations
1. Think of a legitimate leader (boss) in your work experience. Which of the five Raven and French bases of power did he/she draw upon most? With what effect?

2. Power can be abused. Have you even had a supervisor who was a real jerk? Abusive, insensitive, and intimidating? Did you or anyone ever try to confront this tyrant? If not, explore the reasons for letting the bully get away with this behavior.

3. One type of power abuse is sexual harassment. Your author reports research indicating that 58% of women have felt harassed at work. Your experiences?

4. Some teachers emphasize clearly-structured tasks and assignments (you know exactly what is expected of you and how your work will be graded). These teachers often couple the structure with high standards and carefully-defined objectives. Other teachers are looser on organization but excel in charisma and inspiration (transformational leaders). From your own experience in school, see if you can identify examples of each type of instructor. Which was most effective from your perspective as a student? Which would you be more likely to emulate if you were to ultimately become a teacher yourself?

5. Browse the "women in management" books at a site like Amazon.com and you will find such titles as: Girl's guide to being a boss (Without being a bitch), 21 Ways women in management shoot themselves in the foot, Anger workbook for women: How to keep your anger from undermining your self-esteem, your emotional balance, and your relationships, Hardball for women: Winning at the game of success. Top management is still largely a man's world, infused with terminology and metaphors of competition, warfare, and contact sports. This sets up a dilemma. Should women who aspire to reach the top adopt a more masculine approach, learn baseball trivia, and take golf lessons? Or should they remain true to themselves and seek a way to make their organizations adapt to a feminine perspective? Maybe the organizations of the future will be better off with a less competitive, "male-oriented" style of strategic management. Of course, you might argue here that this whole gender difference thing is all a myth and the Men are from Mars/Women are from Venus concept is merely a fiction to sell books. But then there is that meta-analysis showing that female managers are less autocratic and more participatory in style when compared with their male counterparts.

6. For an example of abuse of power in the workplace, read the Helen Green story at Times Online or BBC News or simply Google "Helen Green discrimination." What are some of your reactions? Should she have handled herself differently in the face of these office bullies? Could the supervisor have prevented such social misbehavior? Might the handling of this case reveal an application of the "women are fragile" stereotype?

Ch 14: Organizational Development and Theory
1. An organizational development (OD) program is appropriate when an organization is so "sick" that it needs a total overhaul (reorganization, retraining, etc.). In other words, a holistic treatment is applied (as opposed to a piecemeal approach with limited adjustments). Have you worked for an organization that was a candidate for OD? Would you predict resistance from the employees in the face of a major change in how the work was to be done?

2. The sociotechnical approach is applicable to the future of existing organizations. Telecommuting is not only possible but increasingly common in work today. What are some of the pros and cons of telecommuting (Google for ideas if necessary)? Do you see this as part of your future? Discuss briefly.

3. Read the end-of-chapter case involving employees left after a series of layoffs. Could you see yourself working as a change agent in Australia?

4. Skim (or read carefully if interested) the appendix on graduate school. There is some excellent advice here. Provide some reactions. To what extent is graduate study a part of your future?