Applied Psychology
Chapter 17
Applied Psychology
• Applied psychology is the branch of
psychology that uses psychological
principles to solve practical problems in
everyday life
Industrial/Organizational (I/O)
Psychology
• Industrial/Organizational psychology
is the field which applies psychology
to the work-world
• It studies how individual behavior is
affected by the work environment,
coworkers, and organizational
practices
I/O Psychology is composed of
2 parts
• The Industrial aspect, AKA “Personnel Psychology”
involves:
– Human resource planning
– Job analysis
– Development of employee testing, selection
and placement programs
– Design of performance appraisal systems
– Design of job evaluation for equitable
compensation
– Integration of legal issues in personnel
policies
– Design and analysis of training and
development programs.
Job Analyses
• Job analyses are detailed
descriptions of the tasks and skills
that make up each job
Selection Procedures
• Selection procedures assess the suitability of job
candidates to help an employer determine who
to hire
• Tests of general mental abilities are mainly
paper-and-pencil tests
• Work samples are hands-on simulations of
some or all of a job’s tasks
• One type of test that is widely used is the “test of
integrity”
Biases in decision-making
• Negative information
• Stereotypes
• Heuristics/ mental shortcuts
– Confirmation bias
How do I/O Psychologists help people
avoid bias during interviews?
• Develop clear criteria through:
– Job Analysis
– Relevant structured and situational interview
questions
• Rater rating
– Practice
– Feedback
I/O’s second part is…
• Organizational Psychology is concerned with human
factors and working conditions
• How productivity and organizational behavior is
influenced by structural characteristics and quality of
work life issues
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Team dynamics
Employee attitudes
Job satisfaction
Leadership behavior
Job design
Conflict
Union-management relations
Organizational career development
Personality characteristics
Stress in the workplace.
Professional I/O Psychologists
practice in the areas of:
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Personnel research
Training and Development
Psychological Testing
Counseling and Consulting
Management Advisement
Personnel Policy Formation
Human Resource Planning
Organizational Development
Some Professional Job Titles in
I/O Psychology include
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Human Factors/Engineering Psychologists
Industrial/Organizational Psychologists
Director of Human Resources/Vice President of Personnel
Marketing Research Project Director
Team Leadership and Communication Trainer
Director of Organizational Development
Employee Relations Manager
Director of Training and Development/Management Development
Director of Psychological Services
Assessment Center Specialist for Overseas Development
Executive Consultant in Organization Planning and Development
I/O: Human Resources Psychology
• Human resources psychologists are
involved in a broad array of activities
related to employment
Salaries
• I/O Psychologists are the highest paid group of
psychologists
• The overall median 11-12-month salary for doctoral-level
industrial/organizational psychologists in 2001 was
$96,000. The top 10% reported income in excess of
$150,000. The mean income for those with master's
degrees was more than $71,000, with the top 10%
reporting more than $125,000.
• Compare this with the median salary for licensed
doctoral-level clinical psychologists was $72,000 in
2001.
Years of Experience- Median
Salary
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2 - 9 years 93,500
10 - 14 years 150,000
15 - 19 years 97,500
20 - 24 years 240,000
• Business/Industry
– 2 - 9 years 83,000
– 10 - 14 years 93,000
– 15 - 19 years 105,000
• Independent Consultant
– 25 - 29 years 125,000
Consumer Psychology
• APA Division 23 - Society for
Consumer Psychology
• Consumer Psychology is an application
of Industrial/Organizational Psychology
that works with companies in defining
consumer preferences in products,
services, packaging, and advertising.
Consumer psychologists perform market
research and evaluate customer
motivation and reaction.
Salary Range
• If you become a consumer psychologist, you can
expect to make roughly about $30,000 to
$40,000 (1999 data), depending on the exact
field you are working in. Many psychologists with
terminal master's degrees often work under the
direction of a doctoral psychologist. Also, there
are related jobs in organizational development,
advertising, survey research and data analysis,
to name a few.
Engineering Psychology
• APA Division 21 – Applied Experimental and Engineering
Psychology
• Engineering Psychology applies Industrial/Organizational
Psychology to the design of work environments to
ensure employee motivation and safety. The engineering
psychologist designs the layout of displays and controls,
equipment, instrument panels, and whole systems
technology to create the optimal person-machine
effectiveness.
Careers
• Human-Computer Interface Designer
• Cognitive and I/O Psychologists in the
Technology Industry
• Human Factors Expert
• Aviation Human Factors Psychologist
• Human Factors & Ergonomics:
Usernomics
Education and Training
• Most corporations offer systematic
training so employees can learn skills to
improve their job performance
• I/O psychologists typically break a
training program down into a series of
learning objectives
Performance Appraisal
• Performance appraisal is the process
by which a supervisor periodically
evaluates the job-relevant strengths
and weaknesses of a subordinate
Motivation of Job Performance
• Drive and Goal-Setting Theory
asserts that setting specific, clear,
attainable goals leads to better
performance
Expectancy Theory
• Expectancy theories say a worker’s effort to
perform goal-directed behaviors is determined
by expectations regarding the outcomes of
behavior
• Vroom’s expectancy theory suggests both
motivation and ability determine job performance
Equity Theory
• Equity theory asserts that workers feel that
what they do (input) should be balanced
by their compensation.
Motivation Management: 3 Approaches
• I/O psychologists have observed
three basic approaches to motivation
in the workplace:
• The paternalistic approach is the
notion that a company should take
care of its employees’ needs like a
protective father would
Motivation Management
• The behavioural approach assumes
people will work only if they receive
tangible rewards for a specific task
performance
• The participatory approach is based on the
belief that individuals who have a say in
decisions affecting their lives are
motivated to work harder
Job Satisfaction
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A satisfied worker is usually a highperforming worker who will remain in an
organization
Job satisfaction cluster in the work itself,
the perceived rewards of the work, the
quality of supervision, the support of coworkers, and the work setting
Leadership
• Leaders are people who influence other
people’s behavior toward the attainment of
agreed-upon goals
• Trait theories try to find characteristics that
make individuals good leaders
• Leadership behaviours refer to how a
leader interacts with other members of the
organization
Leadership Effectiveness
• Bass discusses transformational
leadership, leaders who provide
inspiration, intellectual stimulation,
and individual attention to followers
Human Factors
• Human factors, sometimes called
ergonomics, studies the relationship of
humans to machines, the workplace, and
other environments
Human Factors
• Efficiency and safety are two areas of
focus in human factors
• To create efficiency, human factors
researchers seek to develop personmachine interfaces that minimize
frustration and errors,
maximize output, and
are reliable
Behaviour-Based Safety
• Behavior-based safety refers to programs that focus on
changing the behavior of workers and companies to
prevent occupational injuries and illnesses
• A good safety culture within a company minimizes
shortcut and rule violations, and encourages
communication between workers and management
Psychology and Law
• The American Psychology-Law Society, Division 41 of
the APA
• Legal psychology is the field that conducts empirical
research on psychological issues important to the legal
system
• Forensic psychology focuses on legal issues in which
clinical psychologists can act as expert witnesses and
consultants
• Offered: University of British Columbia, Queen's
University and Simon Fraser University
Psychology and Law
• As researchers, psychologists look at
legal issues from a psychological
perspective
• Psychologists also serve as policy or
program evaluators, helping
governments and other institutions
determine whether various policies,
agencies, or programs actually work
Psychology and Law
• Psychologists also serve as policy or program
evaluators, helping governments and other institutions
determine whether various policies, agencies, or
programs actually work
• Psychologists often act as advocates, helping shape
policies
• Psychologists also serve as expert witnesses, brining
their knowledge to the courts
Interesting Subfields Within Forensic
Psychology
ClinicalForensic
Psychology
Developmental
Psychology
Social
Psychology
Very similar to clinical psychology.
Clients here are not only suffering from
some type of mental problem, but their
issues are of importance to legal
decision making as well.
Deals with juveniles, the elderly, and
the law. The focus is on policy
making rather than treatment of
those with mental problems.
Mostly concerned with concerned with
how jurors interact and arrive at a
group decision.
Interesting Subfields Within
Forensic Psychology
Cognitive
Psychology
CriminalInvestigative
Psychology
Is closely associated with the social
psychology subfield, but it looks more
into how people make decisions in
legal cases.
Deals with police psychology,
criminal profiling and psychological
autopsies. Experts may chose to
conduct research and/or work
closely in analyzing the minds of
criminal suspects.
Salary range
• The doctoral degree offers many opportunities for
forensic psychologists. The salary usually starts out at
between $35,000 and $40,000 annually (1999). With a
doctorate, one can go into independent practice. Private
practice areas might include counseling offenders, being
an expert witness for hire, conducting assessment,
conducting psychotherapy, and consulting on civil and
criminal issues.
Environmental Psychology
• Environmental psychology is the
study of how physical settings affect
human behavior and how people
change their environment
• Environmental psychologists often act
as consultants to governments,
schools, hospitals, churches, and
museums
Environmental Psychology
• A stressor is a stimulus that affects an
organism in a psychologically or
physically injurious way
• Stressors elicit such feelings as
anxiety, tension, and physiological
arousal
Temperature
• Temperature can be a stressor that
affects many behaviours
• Very hot or very cold temperatures
can cause behavioural effects ranging
from annoyance to inability to function
Noise
• Noise is a stressor that can overstimulate
people
• Noise often leads to poor work
performance and social functioning
Environmental Toxins
• Nearly any airborne substance, whether a
pollutant from a factory or natural pollen,
can trigger respiratory problems, resulting
in diminished work performance and
health consequences
• Airborne toxins can impair motor tasks
involving reaction time and affect longterm health
Crowding
• The number of people in an area can
have a profound impact on individual and
group behavior
• It is generally not the size of a space or
number of people that causes a feeling of
crowding
• Crowding is the perception that personal
space is too limited
Personal Space
• Personal space is the area around an
individual that they consider private
• Encroachment causes displeasure and
possible withdrawal
Salary Range
• Receiving a master's degree typically qualifies
candidates for entry-level positions. With this, one is able
to work for a firm, urban planning group, or do some
research. Salary in this area is $35,400-$68,000 (1999
data). If you chose to take a different route such as
design, the salary is around $49,900.
• Mostly what a doctoral degree will do for you is allow you
to open up your own consulting company. Average
salary for this is $65,000+ (1999 data). Other possible
employment sources are federal agencies, policy-making
organizations, urban and regional planning agencies, as
well as national, community, and workplace healthpromotion programs and environmental design
consulting firms.
Community Psychology: The
Career for Champions
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APA Division 27 - Society for Community Research
and Action: Division of Community Psychology
Community psychology seeks to reach out to society
by providing services such as community mental
health centers
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George Orford (1992, p. vii): "community psychology is
about understanding people within their social worlds
and using this understanding to improve people's wellbeing.“
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Community psychology uses qualitative and
quantitative research to address complex social
problems
Community Psychology
• A new paradigm: Helping is always
mutual, and successful helping means
your services will not be needed anymore.
• A key element of community psychology is
empowerment
• Empowerment involves helping people in
the community enhance their existing skills
and develop new ones
Community Psychology
• Prevention operates at three levels:
• Primary prevention means reducing the
risk of new cases of a disorder
• Secondary prevention involves identifying
mental health problems in their early
stages
• Tertiary prevention focuses on treatment of
full-flown psychological problems
What do they do?
• Community psychologists work with community
members and policy makers to address the
individual, social, political and environmental
factors that contribute to psychological wellbeing
within communities.
• Their role is to:
– Recognise people’s strengths and resources;
– Work to break down existing social barriers;
– Emphasise empowerment and collaboration, rather
than dictating ready-made solutions;
– Promote the sharing of skills and knowledge;
– Recognise that all research is value-based; and
What can they do?
• They have the knowledge and skills to:
– Conduct community-based research;
– Assess group and community needs;
– Conduct community consultation and policy development;
– Evaluate programs;
– Coordinate projects;
– Train staff;
– Provide counselling and advocacy;
– Facilitate groups;
– Develop and conduct health promotion and education programs;
and
– Manage or promote change in systems, organisations or
communities.
Educational Psychology
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Educational psychology is the systematic
application of psychological principles to
learning and teaching
Salaries in Educational
Psychology
• Doctoral-level respondents in educational
administration reported a median 11-12month salary of $90,000 in 2001 (APA).
• The overall 11-12-month salary for
licensed doctoral-level respondents
providing school psychology services was
$77,000 in 2001 (salaries vary widely
depending on the setting i.e. high school
vs university).
What do they do?
• An educational psychologist helps gather
information for teachers and parents when
students have academic or behavioral
problems. They assist by evaluating
students' thinking abilities and assessing
individual strengths and weaknesses.
Together, the parents, teachers, and
educational psychologist formulate plans
to help students learn more effectively.
And this too…
• Other career tracks within educational psychology
include being a school psychologist or a school
counselor.
– Works with students, teachers, parents, and
administrators to resolve students' learning and
behavior problems.
– Evaluate the effectiveness of academic programs,
behavior management procedures, and other
services provided in school setting.
– Help people to accommodate to change or to make
changes in their lifestyle (often using interviewing and
testing).
Sports Psychology
• Sports psychology is the systematic
application of psychological principles to
sports
American Psychological
Association Division
• American Psychological Association Division of
Exercise and Sport Psychology (APA Division
47)
• Careers:
– Private Psychology Practice
– Clinical/Counseling Psychologist in University
Counseling Center
– University Health Education Psychologist
– Sports Medicine Clinic Psychological Consultant
– University Substance Abuse Specialist
– Career Specialist
Sports Psychology
• Sports psychologists help improve
performance through mental strategies to
refine the practices of effective players or
help ineffective ones
• They try to enhance the sports experience
for young participants
• Sports psychologists provide assistance
with athletic injury rehabilitation
Salary Range
• Many jobs are available for those with
masters degrees in this subfield.
Nonetheless, people who want to utilize a
broad range of skills need a doctoral
degree for optimum success. To work
independently, one needs also need to be
licensed by the state where they work.
Typical 1999 pay is the $28-32,000
starting range.
WHAT IS A HEALTH SERVICE
PSYCHOLOGIST?
• Psychologists who specialize in health
services possess a unique combination of
scientific and professional training.
Through their expertise in assessment and
diagnosis, prevention and treatment
techniques, as well as in related research,
they offer a wide range of services
designed to promote emotional and
physical health in individuals, families,
groups, and organizations.