Psyc 404: Industrial/Organizational Psychology

PSYCHOLOGY 403: SOCIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS
A Review of INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
(Spring 2012)

Catalog Course Description: Exploration of psychological methods used to improve employee selection, training, and performance. Organizational issues such as job satisfaction and emotions, work stress, violence, team skills, job design, leadership and ergonomics. [Prereq: PSYC 104.]

Instructor: David Campbell

Office: 444 BSS

Phone: 826-3721

Office Hours: Wed 8:00-11:00 (drop-in visits usually OK on Wed afternoons & Thurs mornings)

E-mail: dec1@humboldt.edu

Web site: users.humboldt.edu/decampbell/psyc.htm

Text: (Be sure to purchase the correct edition. Copies will be available in the campus bookstore.)

Spector, P. E. (2012). Industrial and organizational behavior (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (ISBN-13: 978-0-470-94976-4 You must have your textbook at the beginning of the semester. Reading assignments and homework typically begin in the first week.

Course Goals:

To develop an appreciation of the many ways in which psychology can be applied to an understanding of attitudes and behavior in the workplace.
To understand how psychology is contributing to training in self-awareness, managing conflict, motivating others, improving group problem solving, and enhancing power & influence.
To develop improved interpersonal skills that support effective performance in organizations: active listening, accurate communication, effective persuasion, proficiency in leadership and teamwork.

Course Procedure:

            Students in upper-division courses are expected to take an active role in their learning. With that in mind, we will not use a strict lecture format. Instead, we will run this course with a mix of short lectures and group discussion. Accompanying each reading assignment you will have a set of homework questions intended to provoke thought, stimulate discussion, and review key points. You are expected to actively engage with your reading and come to class with your written responses to the homework questions prepared in advance.
    You can expect an experiential activity associated with most class meetings. These activities will address such topics as active listening, workplace ethics, group dynamics, conflict & negotion, and organizational change.
    Tests will consist of a midterm exam and a comprehensive final exam.
You will be involved in a research project or term paper. We will work out the details in class.

Course Grade:

Your course grade will be determined by weighting the assignments and activities as follows:

25% Homework (notes on the reading, other work as assigned) Home work must be submitted on your Moodle site by the beginning of class. Late homework submitted by Friday will get partial credit. The homework questions will appear on your Moodle site.
20% Midterm Exam
30% Final Exam
25% Term paper (a scholarly analysis on a topic approved by the instuctor, prepared in APA format and submitted to TurnItIn.com)

Student Responsibilities: Both students and instructor will approach this course in a constructive and mature manner. It is expected that you will give this course your full attention and maintain a positive attitude regarding your responsibilities. If you must miss a class or must turn in an assignment late, advise the instructor in advance (e-mail is convenient). But note that missed classes and late work will have consequences. Also, be sure to review the HSU policy on academic honesty . You need to be aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism (e.g., is it OK to turn in essentially the same paper in two classes with similar assignments, or is it OK to make use of quizzes provided by your roommate from the same class last semester?)

Note: There may be occasions when a class activity will involve eating or drinking food—e.g., cookies, popcorn, dairy products, or soft drinks. If there is a reason why you cannot participate in such activities, whether medical, religious, or cultural, be sure to tell the instructor so that appropriate accommodation can be made.

Extra Credit:

You can earn extra credit in this course by participating in one or two hours of research as a participant (subject). To sign up for experiments, you need to first create an account in the participation pool system. Instructions are available at http://www.humboldt.edu/psychology/pool/poolinfo.html

Topics and Assignments

You will find helpful review material and other resources at the publisher's website: http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&itemId=0470949767&bcsId=6644

Date Topics and Assignments

Jan 18 Orientation

Jan 25 Ch 1 – Overview of Industrial/Organizational Psychology (NOTE: Reading & homework must be completed prior to the start of class.) [Activity: Social contracts]

Feb 1 Ch 2 – Research methods in I/O Psychology [Activity: Ethical dilemmas]

Feb 8 Ch 3 – Job analysis [Activity: Active listening]

Feb 15 Ch 4 – Performance appraisal

Feb 22 Ch 5 – Assessment methods [Activity: Learning styles]

Feb 29 Ch 6 – Selecting employees [Activity: Systems approach]

March 7 Ch 7 – Training (Midterm Exam on Ch 1-7 in last hour of class)

March 14 Spring Break

March 21 Ch 8 - Theories of employee motivation [Activity: Conflict & negotiation, Part I]

March 28 Ch 9 – Feelings about work: Job attitudes and emotions

April 4 Ch 10 – Productive and counterproductive employee behavior [Activity: Ergonomics]

April 11 Ch 11 – Occupational health psychology [Activity: Conflict & negotiation, Part II]

April 18 Ch 12 – Work groups and work teams

April 25 Ch 13 – Leadership and power in organizations [Activity: Group dynamics]

May 2 Ch 14 – Organizational development and theory [Activity: Organizational change]

May 7-11 Final Exam (covers Ch 1-14), Term papers due at midnight Tuesday at Turnitin.com .

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: In order to receive credit for your term paper, you must submit it by our deadline to the Turnitin.com site (not Moodle and not direct email to the instructor). Well before the deadline, your should:
1. Go to www.turnitin.com and click on "New Users" to set up a user profile.
2. You will need our class ID (4980801) and our password (Criterion) to enroll in Psyc 403 S12.
3. If you already have a Turnitin account, then just click on the "enroll in a class" tab and provide our class ID and password.
4. When your paper is ready to submit, logon to Turnitin, select our course and the term paper assignment, then select "file upload" to select and submit your work. Turnitin accepts files in several formats including Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, RTF, PDF, PostScript, plain text, and HTML. (If none of these work, you can also use copy/paste to submit your work.)
5. You should be fine with the above information but note that Turnitin has a handy student guide (just click on the Help button after logging on).

Students with Disabilities: Persons who wish to request disability-related accommodations should contact the Student Disability Resource Center in House 71, 826-4678 (voice) or 826-5392 (TDD). Some accommodations may take up to several weeks to arrange. http://www.humboldt.edu/disability/sswd_advisory_committee/index.htm
Add/Drop policy: Students are responsible for knowing the University policy, procedures, and schedule for dropping or adding classes. Deadlines and other helplful information are on the Registrar's site at http://pine.humboldt.edu/registrar/students/
Emergency evacuation: Please review the evacuation plan for the classroom (posted on the orange signs) , and review http://www.humboldt.edu/emergencymgmtprogram/evacuation_procedures.php for information on campus Emergency Procedures. During an emergency, information can be found campus conditions at: 826-INFO or http://www.humboldt.edu/emergency
Academic honesty: Students are responsible for knowing policy regarding academic honesty: http://www.humboldt.edu/studentrights/academic_honesty.php
Attendance and disruptive behavior: Students are responsible for knowing policy regarding attendance and disruptive behavior: http://www.humboldt.edu/studentrights/attendance_behavior.php