Psych310 Final Exam

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Tereasa Janese Bryant & Stratton College PSYCH310 Intro to Organizational Psychology Final Exam Dr. Sandra DiPasquale December 6, 2012 1) Define Organizational Psychology and discuss two ways psychological research and theory is used to support workplace activities. Industrial organizational psychology is the branch of psychology that applies psychological theories and principles to organizations. Often referred to as I/O psychology, this field focuses on increasing workplace productivity and related issues such as the physical and mental well-being of employees. Industrial organizational psychologists perform a wide variety of tasks, including studying worker attitudes and behavior, evaluating companies, and conducting…show more content…
The organizational side of psychology is more focused on understanding how organizations affect individual behavior. Organizational structures, social norms, management styles, and role expectations are all factors that can influence how people behave within an organization. By understanding such factors, I/O psychologists hope to improve individual performance and health while at the same time benefiting the organization as a whole. Two ways psychological research and theory is used to support workplace activities are; the experimental method and the correlation method. The experimental method can be applied in an actual work, in which case it is known as a field experiment. This method is designed to give the researcher a very high degree of control over the research setting. The experimental method uses variables called the independent variable and dependent variable, the independent variable is manipulated by the researcher, and the dependent variable is acted on by the independent variable. Quasi-experiments are quite common in I/O psychology, this follows the experimental method. These are commonly used to compare departments or organizations on some variables of…show more content…
There are two basic types of organizational structures: the flat, or horizontal, type; and the tall, or vertical, type. The traditional have defined rolls for their members, they are very rule driven, and are stable and resistant to change. Jobs and lines of status and authority tend to be clearly defined. Nontraditional structures are characterized by less formalized work roles and procedures. As a result they tend to be more flexible and adaptable. Chain of command and span of control are also traditional organizational structures. Another dimension is the chain of command is the number of authority levels in a particular organization. The span of control is the number of workers who must report to a single supervisor. Based on these dimensions chain of command and span of control, traditional organizations are often described as being either “tall” or “flat” in structure. Organizations can also be structured by either functions or divisions. Functional structure divides the organization into departments based on the functions or tasks performed. Divisional structure is based on types of products or customers, each division may perform the same range of functions, but those functions only serve the goals of the particular
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