Industrial Psychology Assignment

Assignment Topics:       Carefully explain how the

                                  following can assist in the

                                  understanding of the focus

                                  of industrial Psychology

·       Criterion and Learning of

Industrial Psychology

·       Work Environment

·       Influences of employees

Behaviour

·       Job Analysis and Job

Evaluation

·       Attitude measurement

·       Motivation

Definition of Industrial Psychology

Psychology is the study of man with the aid of scientific methodology.   Industrial Psychology is simply the application or extension of Psychological facts and principles to the problems concerning human beings operating within the context of business and industry.

A. Criterion and Leaning of Industrial Psychology

Industrial Psychology can be effective as a science only and only if it has a criterion.  That is, the magnitude of the contribution of industrial psychology is completely determined by the adequacy of the criterion measures involved.  Despite the fact that much work on the problem of criterion has been done in the measurement of human performance and job effectiveness, the problems and needs still exist in developing criteria in areas such as advertising, effectiveness, consumer behaviour, leadership, job satisfaction. Etc. 

Criterion is a measurement of goodness of work.  That is , criterion is an evaluative standard, which can be used to measure a person’s performance, attitudes, motives, etc.  Criterion is also that which is to be predicted. 

LEANING

Leaning is relatively permanent change in the repertoire of behaviour occurring as a result of experience.  Learning can only be said to occur when a person shows different behaviour, for instance, when he can prove the knowledge of new facts or do something he was not able to do before. 

Changes in behaviour due solely to ageing or injury person had found ways of adapting himself to his disability, this new behaviour would then have been learned.

Our knowledge of the psychology of learning is drawn partly from experiments with animals and humans, and partly from general observations of the human learning process.  

Using the results of animal experiments and making due allowance for the differences between humans and animals, a great deal has been learned about the principles of human learning.  In fact learning is generally viewed as, any relatively long-lasting alteration in performance consequence on specific experience.  There are two standard paradigms for the study of learning: Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning.

B.    WORK ENVIRONMENT

The problem of increasing production and also making work more pleasant has been approached through the introduction of changes in the working environment, there is a difference between this approach and that in which increased efficiency is attained though time and motion studies.  Despite the fact that such studies most often lead to environmental changes, the said changes are normally related to the job, such as changing the height of a tool or the size of a work area.  That is, time and motion studies usually result not only in environmental changes but also in changes in an integral part of the job or task being performed.

Approaches such as increasing efficiency through refined selection and techniques do not accommodate environmental factors, related to job.  Changes related to noise as it affects work as well as changes in connection with the illumination, ventilation and temperature of the work environment, have been introduced in varying claims of success.

The introduction of music in the office or factory was also acknowledged in the content of environmental change for increased productivity.  Increased in production has also been associated with claims such as, the use of various colour schemes, primarily a factory walls, benches, machines and in rest rooms.

C.    INFLUENCES OF EMPLOYEES BEHAVIOUR

Various influences on the behaviour of people at work have been concern of most managers.  These can be summarised under the following headings.

a.          Physique, making the individual more suitable for some jobs than for others

b.          Intelligence, which also affects suitability for jobs and the capacity for learning

c.          Personality, which includes the important factors of perception, motivation, and social adjustment.

d.          Physical working conditions, which should make the immediate job environment suitable to the employee and minimise fatigue and accidents.

e.          The working group, imposing its own standards of conduct and output on the individual but offering some advantages in return

f.            Style of leadership, which to be effective should take account of the nature of the process and the type of employee.

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