Dr. Paul Spector—Fall, 1999

Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:45P.M., Soc151

Office: BEH358

Voice: 974-0357

E-mail: spector@chuma.cas.usf.edu

Available on campus on Tuesday and Thursday, by e-mail and phone always.

Website: http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~spector

Industrial and Organizational or I/O psychology is concerned with various aspects of people in the workplace. It’s focus is on both issues of employee productivity and well-being. The two part name reflects the field’s dual nature, with the I part concerned with the human resource functions of analyzing jobs, and appraising, selecting, placing and training people. The O part is concerned with the psychology of work, including employee attitudes, behavior, emotions, health, motivation, and well-being, as well as the social aspects of the workplace. In this course we will survey the methods, practice, research, and theories of I/O psychology, one of the applied subfields of psychology. Both application and empirical findings will be emphasized throughout the course.

Objectives: The student who successfully completes this course should have gained knowledge about the major findings and principles of the field, as well as an understanding of what I/O psychologists do for organizations that employ them.

Required Reading: Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Research and Practice 2^nd ed. Spector

Grades will be determined by scores on three exams (worth 1/3 of the grade each), and by completing a written internet project (pass/fail). Not turning in an acceptable project will result in loss of one letter grade.

NO MAKE UP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN!!

WRITTEN PROJECTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED LATE!!

An extra job analysis project can be done to add up to 5 points to the final grade.

Grading Standards: A = 90 to 100; B = 80 to 89; C = 70 to 79; D = 60 to 69

Attendance: Although I don’t grade attendance, I strongly encourage you to attend every class. You will get far more out of your education if you become involved with the psychology major. One way to do this is by coming to class where you can meet other students and participate in class discussions. An education is not just a bunch of memorized facts that you can get from someone’s notes and a textbook.

Class Discussion. Part of our class time will be spent in discussion. I feel this is a valuable opportunity for those students who wish to become more involved with the material. I will often ask questions of the class, particularly about work experiences. I find that often the best examples of things are from students’ own experiences. I will also raise current issues, often from recent newspaper articles, that we can discuss. Feel free to ask questions, even if they go somewhat beyond the material at hand.

Extra Credit Project. The extra credit project (worth up to five points) is a job analysis. Grading will be determined by the quality and scope of the project, and in general you will get up to one point per page for the project.

The job analysis project involves analyzing one job, based on an interview with a single job incumbent (subject matter expert). The job must be one you have never done yourself. You must interview one person in the job. Ask them details about all the things involved in doing the job (tasks) and organize them into logical groupings. Also ask about the human attributes necessary to do the job (KSAOs), and include a list. This analysis should provide a picture about the job and people needed for the job. It begins with a paragraph overview describing the job, and then continues with the list of tasks and KSAOs. These lists should be in outline form, with subheads indicating major grouping names. For example, a professor job has the major categories of "conducting research" and "teaching". Teaching can be divided into "classroom delivery" and "preparation". Details about job analysis are in Chapter 3.

Internet Exercise (REQUIRED): . You are responsible for completing one of the internet projects on the website in written form, and your answer/report should take at least one single-spaced typed page. They represent a wide range of topics, so you can pick whichever one you wish. Some ask you to answer a question or write a short report. Others ask you to report data from a site, in which case you will likely have a table, but you must have text to explain it. This should include an introduction/overview of your purpose, a description of the method (i.e., nature of the information and where you got it), a description of the table, and some conclusions (Yes, this is the general form of a research report, but in an abbreviated format). Be sure to reference the site from which you got your information.

All projects are due by the date shown in the schedule. They can be submitted early, but cannot be submitted late, so I recommend you do them fairly soon.

WEBSITE SUPPORT (http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~spector)

My website contains course support resources, as well as information about the I/O field. Go to the course section from the main page, and click on INP4004. You will find a variety of things here to supplement the course and to help you learn the material.

Case links: There are links to the chapter 2-14 case people's organizations, which can give you additional background.

Course notes: Here are my notes, which what I use to make overheads and as lecture outlines. They include information that I may or may not cover in class. You are only responsible for what is actually covered in class or the textbook. Many students like to print them and take their in class notes right on mine. It also can be helpful to review them before class to give you an overview of what we will be discussing. These notes are not necessarily complete--sometimes I discuss other things in class or go beyond them, so be sure to review a classmate’s notes who attended class if you miss. Also be sure to pay attention to what we did and did not actually discuss.

Exercises: Here are internet exercises, at least one per chapter of your text. One of these is required--you choice.

I/O Careers: You will find answers to the two common questions about what an I/O job is actually like and how to get into graduate school. There is also an I/O FAQ.

Links: My links page is organized by category, with a brief description of each site. From here you can access sites that will give you I/O related information (e.g., Gallup Organization or U.S. Department of Labor), or you can visit I/O consulting firms to see what they do (e.g., Development Dimensions International or Personnel Decisions International).

Practice Exam: For each chapter there is a practice exam with answers. This covers only material in the book, but should be helpful in preparing for exams.

Syllabus: A copy of this syllabus is on the site, so you will always have access.

Students are allowed to tape lectures for their own use, but the selling of class materials or tapes of the class is prohibited.