Deck 15: Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Question 1

Fikayo, an I/O psychologist, wants to measure a job candidate's personal characteristics. Fikayo is least likely to use

A)psychological tests.
B)job applicant interviews.
C)graphic rating forms.
D)assessment centers.

Answer 1

graphic rating forms.

Question 2

The attributes that are collectively known as KSAOs specifically include all of the following except

A)knowledge.
B)skills.
C)ability.
D)organization.

Answer 2

organization.

Question 3

Barry works for a company as a staff psychologist. His primary job description is to focus on increasing job performance and satisfaction among employees, as well as helping to evaluate the safety of the workplace. Barry is a(n)__________ psychologist.

A)applied
B)engineering
C)clinical experimental
D)industrial and organizational

Answer 3

industrial and organizational

Question 4

Innitech has hired Bob, a consultant, to complete a job analysis for the company's computer technician positions. To complete this task, Bob must specifically define the

A)manner in which the employee will be compensated.
B)relative position of the job in the company hierarchy.
C)financial impact of the job on the company.
D)tasks involved in the job and the qualities of the person needed to do the job.

Question 5

Miranda knows that Andrea has a very conscientious personality and that she is persistent and passionate. These personality traits would be regarded as ________ in a KSAO analysis.

A)knowledge
B)skills
C)abilities
D)other personal characteristics

Question 6

Acme Company needs assistance making hiring decisions. They would benefit most from the services of a(n)__________ psychologist.

A)engineering
B)industrial and organizational
C)occupational health
D)human factors

Question 7

Describing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other factors that are needed for a job's tasks to be successfully completed is the emphasis of the ______-oriented approach to conducting a job analysis.

A)aptitude
B)satisfaction
C)work
D)worker

Question 8

Executives at Wil-Mart are considering completing a job analysis for their store managers. Job analysis can help Wil-Mart do all of the following except

A)understand the attributes needed to perform a job successfully.
B)reduce the need for annual job performance appraisals.
C)determine the tasks associated with a particular job.
D)help organizations recognize the need to train employees.

Question 9

A manager at a clothing store needs to hire more sales associates, but is worried about hiring employees who might be inclined to steal. To ease her mind, the manager should administer __________ tests to job applicants.

A)intelligence
B)job-relevant knowledge
C)integrity
D)unstructured

Question 10

As part of a job analysis, an industrial and organizational psychologist describes the particular tasks involved in doing the job. The psychologist is using a(n)__________ approach to job analysis.

A)work-oriented
B)person-oriented
C)emotion-focused
D)problem-focused

Question 11

Dearth and Bevy is a consulting company that employs industrial and organizational psychologists. When conducting tests to measure the general abilities and skills of employees at their client companies, these consultants will most often use __________ tests because they are relatively inexpensive and easy to administer.

A)situational judgment
B)job-relevant knowledge
C)standard intelligence
D)integrity

Question 12

As a job applicant at Quahog Insurance, Lois must complete a situational judgment test. For the test, she views a video about various workplace scenarios and then must describe how she would respond if she was in that situation. According to the textbook, such tests are utilized

A)increasingly as a replacement for standard intelligence tests.
B)as supplements to cognitive and personality tests.
C)to test the applicant's level of job-relevant knowledge.
D)to predict a range of behaviors from absenteeism to organizational citizenship behaviors.

Question 13

Which statement is the most accurate reflection of how research has described the relationship between conscientiousness and job performance?

A)The higher your level of conscientiousness, the better your performance is likely to be.
B)There is an inverse relationship between conscientiousness levels and job performance.
C)Those with lower levels of conscientiousness outperformed people with both high and extreme levels of that trait.
D)Those with low or extreme levels of conscientiousness do not perform as well as those with high levels of that trait.

Question 14

Under what circumstance might an I/O psychologist use the Position Analysis Questionnaire ?

A)If they need to compare one job with another.
B)If they need to assess a job applicant's KSAOs.
C)If they want to determine a supervisor's leadership style.
D)If their goal is to increase employee motivation.

Question 15

One problem with the administration of integrity tests as part of the hiring process is that

A)it is relatively easy to give false or misleading responses.
B)they have been found to have almost no predictive validity.
C)they take a very long time to administer.
D)they are extremely expensive since they have to be given to all applicants.

Question 16

An individual would be most likely to access the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network to

A)find a job using its placement services.
B)find an employee who meets his criteria.
C)gain information on different careers.
D)research statistics on unemployment.

Question 17

Theo is an industrial and organizational psychologist. As a researcher in the field, Theo's main goals are likely to be all of the following except

A)promoting effective job performance.
B)improving the health and well-being of employees.
C)designing equipment to minimize injury.
D)improving the safety of employees.

Question 18

Zoe is an industrial and organizational psychologist. She considers all of the following to be basic attributes necessary for doing jobs successfully except

A)skills.
B)knowledge.
C)ability.
D)training.

Question 19

When job analyses are used to guide hiring practices, they should contain enough detail to make it clear what skills and knowledge a particular job requires, and to show how the selection process is related to the job requirements. According to the textbook, the __________-oriented approach is most useful for this purpose.

A)personality
B)worker
C)job
D)task

Question 20

Due to increasing costs in hiring practices, your boss asks you to find out if any dimensions of personality have been positively linked to job performance. This finding may help in creating a future assessment for job applicants. After some research, you discover that __________ has been linked to job performance across many occupations.

A)openness
B)conscientiousness
C)extraversion
D)agreeableness

Question 21

Research has consistently shown that __________ interviews are far more effective in leading to good hiring decisions, mostly because they focus more on __________.

A)unstructured; job-related knowledge and skills
B)structured; the candidate's presentation style and appearance
C)unstructured; the candidate's presentation style and appearance
D)structured; job-related knowledge and skills

Question 22

After you apply for a job, the employer asks you to participate in an assessment center, which means that you will most likely

A)take a battery of psychological tests.
B)engage in exercises that simulate various aspects of a job.
C)participate in a series of job applicant interviews.
D)fill out graphic rating forms.

Question 23

Renni is designing a job performance appraisal for her company that assesses how well an employee is doing his or her job. From this basic theoretical criterion, Renni will most likely

A)determine which one actual criterion best matches the theoretical criterion.
B)utilize a global approach to establish an operational definition of performance.
C)recommend several actual criteria that will best measure an employee's performance.
D)utilize a facet approach to determine the most important aspects of performance.

Question 24

Donna Marie is constructing an employee performance appraisal and is consulting several manuals. She learns that one way to appraise an employee is based on the frequency of behaviors performed. Perplexed, she says to herself, "I can't use this. Not all jobs can be evaluated merely by counting things." This is a common limitation and criticism of __________ measures of job performance.

A)constructive
B)projective
C)objective
D)subjective

Question 25

Which of the following statements regarding the limitations of actual criteria is false ?

A)An actual criterion is usually incomplete.
B)Actual criteria tend to be harder to measure than theoretical criteria.
C)An actual criterion may be affected by factors other than an employee's performance.
D)The problems associated with using an actual criterion can be minimized by using several actual criteria.

Question 26

If Marius is going to use a subjective measure to assess how the members of his team are doing at their jobs, he would not want to use a

A)numerical rating an employee on dimensions of organization and dependability.
B)measure of the number of parts a manufacturing employee constructs.
C)rating of an employee's specific behaviors, such as "greeting customers with a smile."
D)self-report questionnaires completed by the employee him- or herself.

Question 27

Phil just received a written evaluation from his supervisor that provides feedback about various aspects of Phil's work. Phil just received a(n)

A)validity study.
B)job analysis.
C)assessment center.
D)job performance appraisal.

Question 28

Objective measures of job performance would include all of the following except the

A)number of days employees are absent from work.
B)number of complaints filed against employees.
C)total value of items sold per month by each employee.
D)scores employees receive on graphic rating forms.

Question 29

A university that asks professors to "promote student learning" has just established what industrial and organizational psychologists call a(n)__________ criterion.

A)actual
B)theoretical
C)objective
D)subjective

Question 30

April is participating in a job interview. The interviewer says, "Tell me about yourself." April is most likely participating in a(n)__________ interview.

A)convergent
B)divergent
C)unstructured
D)structured

Question 31

Tyra is participating in a job interview in which she is being asked a specific set of questions in a predetermined order. Rudy is participating in an interview in which he is being asked open-ended questions and engaging in informal conversation. Tyra is participating in a(n)__________ interview, and Rudy is participating in a(n)__________ interview.

A)unstructured; structured
B)structured; unstructured
C)subjective; projective
D)projective; subjective

Question 32

After a job applicant interview, Nada was concerned that the hiring manager's evaluation would reflect the manager's personal bias. Nada's concern is most likely valid if

A)the interview focused specifically on job-related skills.
B)the interview was unstructured.
C)the interview was structured.
D)she was not asked to take a personality test.

Question 33

Assessment centers have been shown to be highly effective in predicting employee performance. Employers should also know that assessment centers have all of the following drawbacks except

A)they are expensive.
B)they are time-consuming.
C)their effectiveness is less accurate if used in the second step of the selection process.
D)their results may only correlate with interview and test score results.

Question 34

Elias is establishing theoretical criteria for a set of job performance appraisals he will be conducting. Elias should be aware of the limitations of theoretical criteria. For instance, theoretical criteria

A)tend to be subjectively construed by the person conducting the appraisal.
B)provide vague outcomes that do not indicate how the behavior will be measured.
C)are not as useful when appraising work teams as compared to appraising individuals.
D)have not yet been verified statistically with validation studies.

Question 35

Which type of assessment task might be used to determine how well a potential employee can prioritize tasks when there are many different needs that all compete for immediate attention?

A)An integrity test
B)The in-basket test
C)An unstructured interview
D)A 360-degree assessment

Question 36

Which of the following is the best example of an actual criterion for a student's performance in college?

A)Outstanding academic record
B)Involvement in campus activities
C)Grade-point average
D)Participating in class

Question 37

An employer asks a job candidate to engage in an exercise in which the candidate is to play the role of a manager who must discipline a problem employee. The employer is using a(n)

A)personality test.
B)assessment center.
C)job applicant interview.
D)job performance appraisal.

Question 38

Kinetic, Inc. is an assessment center that was recently built in a nearby business park. Curious about its purpose, you look up the company's website and learn that the main purpose of this assessment center is to

A)determine an individual's suitability for a particular job.
B)market open positions to an appropriate target group of applicants.
C)determine the best way to move employees from one task to another.
D)create an "organizational constitution" of expected behaviors.

Question 39

Elaine is preparing for a structured interview for a chiropractic solutions company, The Lumbar Yard. Elaine can expect all of the following of her interview except

A)being asked a set of specific questions in a particular order.
B)having her responses rated on a set of dimensions by the interviewer.
C)completing a set of exercises designed to determine her suitability for the position.
D)answering questions that focus on job-related knowledge and skills.

Question 40

Which of the following is not an objective measure of a donut baker's job performance?

A)The number of complaints received about donuts produced during the baker's shift
B)The number of donuts produced during the baker's shift
C)The number of donuts not sold at the end of the day
D)The supervisor's rating of the baker's time management

Question 41

A few times each month, Thurmond needs to hire a front-line factory employee for his local company. If these are low-level positions that require few skills, Thurmond would be best to recruit based on

A)a state-wide newspaper advertisement.
B)private head-hunting firms.
C)postings to Monster.com.
D)walk-in applications.

Question 42

Your good friend is a human resources manager. As someone who is opening your own company in the next few months, you ask him what he thinks is the best recruitment strategy. Your friend responds that the best recruitment plan

A)is newspaper advertising.
B)depends on the difficulty in attracting high-quality applicants and on the importance of the position.
C)is to post the job on a website.
D)depends on the availability of assessment centers.

Question 43

Barry Benson has developed an honest assessment that he believes will predict successful performance of tellers hired at his bank. If he wants to ensure his assessment actually predicts what it is supposed to, he could have it scrutinized with a

A)validity study.
B)behavior-focused review.
C)objective measure.
D)structured interview.

Question 44

The first step in effective recruitment for a position is to

A)conduct an analysis of how many people are needed in each position now and in the future.
B)determine the right employee-to-customer ratio for efficient operation.
C)calculate the intensity of demand for employees in various occupations.
D)utilize assessment centers to determine what KSAOs are in highest demand.

Question 45

Assistant Professor Dr. Ayers is being evaluated for promotion. The Dean of her department notes that last semester three of her four classes did not have maximum enrollment, and as such he assesses that she is not effective enough as a teacher to be promoted to Associate Professor. As it turns out, the number of students in her classes was reduced because the classes were in the middle of the workday, when fewer students register for courses. This demonstrates that a problem with ________ measures of job performance is that sometimes factors are outside of the employee's control.

A)constructive
B)projective
C)objective
D)subjective

Question 46

A supervisor is rating an employee's performance on each of several general dimensions, using a scale from 1 to 10. In other words, the supervisor is filling out a

A)graphic rating form.
B)behavior-focused rating form.
C)validity study.
D)job analysis.

Question 47

A psychologist is trying to determine the usefulness of a particular assessment method for predicting an employee's actual job performance. The psychologist is conducting a(n)

A)KASO assessment.
B)assessment prediction survey.
C)unstructured interview.
D)validity study.

Question 48

David Brent, manager at Wernam-Hogg, is using employee appraisal forms when conducting employee reviews. These forms consist of a list of behaviors such as "contributes during meetings" and "keeps co-workers informed of progress." Such behaviors are known as

A)performance-level criteria.
B)critical incidents.
C)actual criteria.
D)objective measures.

Question 49

Larice knows that her employee, Bonnie, is a very good mother and takes excellent care of her children. When it comes time to assess her work performance, she ignores the many mistakes that Bonnie has made at work and gives her a stellar evaluation. Larice has fallen prey to

A)an anchoring fallacy.
B)the halo effect.
C)the leniency error.
D)a critical incident.

Question 50

Employers tend to use behavior-focused rating forms for performance reviews because

A)They rely on methods tested at assessment centers.
B)They have been statistically verified through validation studies.
C)Their focus on specific incidents produces fewer errors and biases.
D)They are more likely to produce positive leader-member exchanges.

Question 51

Sue is a supervisor who has a tendency to rate all of her employees as "very good" or "excellent" on the dimensions found on her graphic rating form. She just does not feel comfortable being too critical of employees, even if their work is substandard. Sue is exhibiting the

A)leniency error.
B)self-serving bias.
C)halo error.
D)actor-observer bias.

Question 52

Graphic rating forms are __________ susceptible to a supervisor's errors and biases as compared to behavior-focused rating forms.

A)more
B)less
C)equally
D)more or less

Question 53

If an employer is using critical incidents to evaluate employee performance at a restaurant, all of the following would be examples except

A)"listens patiently to customer complaints."
B)"asks how customers are doing before taking their order."
C)"returns to table after food is served to check on customers."
D)"friendly customer service."

Question 54

H.E. Pennypacker recently picked up a copy of "Recruiting for Dummies." He thumbs through the chapter on attracting job candidates and discovers that all of the following are common methods for attracting job candidates except

A)actively recruiting workers with good reputations from rival companies.
B)newspaper advertisements.
C)posting jobs on recruitment websites.
D)interviewing graduating seniors on college campuses.

Question 55

All of the following are the most common methods for identifying and recruiting job candidates except

A)college campus career fairs.
B)newspaper advertisements.
C)collecting information from current employees about potential candidates.
D)assessment centers.

Question 56

Mr. McDuffy does not like the idea that his grades could hold his students back. As a result, he makes sure to give all students As or Bs, even if they don't deserve it. "If they aren't really skilled, they will find out in college," he rationalizes. Mr. McDuffy is making the ________ error.

A)halo
B)soft side
C)leniency
D)projective

Question 57

A supervisor who wants to measure the performance of his current employees will probably not use

A)graphic rating forms.
B)objective measures.
C)behavior-focused rating forms.
D)assessment centers.

Question 58

Your boss calls you into her office. "I will be reviewing your performance next week based on what we call critical incidents. These are comprised of specific outcomes important to you job." In other words, your boss will be utilizing a(n)

A)graphic rating form.
B)behavior-focused rating form.
C)objective measure.
D)global measure.

Question 59

Ray Stokes is a supervisor in a local factory. When Ray appraises his employees' performance, he often exhibits the halo effect. In other words, Ray

A)rates all the employees in an organization as "satisfactory" or better.
B)gives an employee the same rating on nearly all dimensions.
C)ignores an employee's critical incidents.
D)uses objective measures only when they are to the benefit of the employees.

Question 60

Your boss, Mr. Grinch, barges into your office and exclaims, "I want you to complete a validity study and get back to me with the results right away!" Confused, you shrug and confess you have no idea what that means. Mr. Grinch sighs, "Oh come on! Everyone knows that a validity study determines whether

A)an employee is right for a particular position."
B)an occupation will experience growth in demand."
C)an assessment method predicts an employee's actual job performance."
D)a manager has erred in rating an employee's performance."

Question 61

J. Peterman cannot decide whether his copy editors should attend a one-day training session or several short sessions over the next five weeks. In other words, Mr. Peterman is figuring out the __________ of training.

A)feedback
B)general principles
C)critical incidents
D)sequencing

Question 62

Phil Morris is an I/O psychologist hired to determine if a healthy living seminar delivers the outcomes the creators intended. Phil asks attendees to answer a bank of questions prior to the seminar. Afterward, an alternate version of the questions is given to see what learning has taken place. Phil is assessing

A)overlearning.
B)trainee learning criteria.
C)sequencing of training.
D)facet outcomes.

Question 63

If an employer wanted to evaluate an employee training session using trainee learning criteria, that employer would most likely

A)examine whether the trainees' productivity increases.
B)commission experimental research on its training program.
C)ask the trainees to fill out questionnaires about whether they enjoyed the training session.
D)test each trainee's knowledge and skill in the areas covered by the training material.

Question 64

After his "Let's Get Motivated" training seminar, Chip Smiley distributes questionnaires to his attendees to obtain evaluations of his program. This is an example of __________ evaluation criteria.

A)structured learning
B)trainee learning
C)performance-level
D)training-level

Question 65

At an executive meeting, several managers are discussing the issue of transfer of training. Transfer of training typically refers to the ease with which knowledge and skills are transferred from

A)one employee to another.
B)a training program to the workplace.
C)one workplace scenario to another.
D)massed training to distributed training sessions.

Question 66

Maggie reads through a manual about employer practices and law. She looks up in the middle of her reading and says, "Hey, I just learned something new. This book states that an employer is not prohibited from discriminating on the basis of a job candidate's

A)age."
B)ethnicity."
C)gender."
D)political affiliation."

Question 67

Manny is going to develop an assessment protocol to assess the training needs of his employees. H would want to include all but which of the following?

A)Looking at job analysis reports
B)Determining the need for future assessment centers
C)Giving employees a chance to describe the training they desire
D)Analyzing the goals of the organization

Question 68

During a training session, Dawn had to act out a scenario in which she responded to an angry customer complaint. After the scenario, the training director pointed out a few constructive suggestions in which she could improve her technique. This is an example of

A)a facet critique.
B)feedback.
C)overlearning.
D)leniency error.

Question 69

The managers of Honex Corporation create a series of activities that will help employees see how the methods learned at the monthly training program can be applied when they return to their work stations. In other words, the managers want to promote the program's

A)transfer of training.
B)task-oriented focus.
C)feedback assessment.
D)critical incidents.

Question 70

The AwesomeSauce applesauce company hires 20 new employees to work on their production line. All employees are going to start work on Wednesday, and they are required to attend a 5-hour training on Tuesday to learn about the machines they will be using. This type of training that happens in a very short, intense amount of time is called ________ training.

A)360
B)distributed
C)overlearning
D)massed

Question 71

Executives at MacDowell's restaurant have asked human resources to evaluate the effectiveness of the company's training program. The human resources team is least likely to use __________ criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of its training program.

A)experimental
B)training-level
C)trainee-learning
D)performance-level

Question 72

Judith wants to know whether her organization's employee training program leads to actual improvements in how well workers do their jobs. In other words, Judith is interested in __________ criteria.

A)performance-level
B)trainee learning
C)behavior-focused
D)training-level

Question 73

At Hartford Hospital, the medical staff undergo continuous training to ensure that they are not only highly competent but can also work cohesively without much thought. This _________ is critical to saving the lives of patients when the emergency room fills up.

A)overlearning
B)global approach
C)massed practice
D)formal reasoning

Question 74

Kerry is conducting an employee training program for all sales representatives at Phalanx Corporation. Kerry should encourage all of the following goals or principles in his training program except

A)overlearning.
B)feedback.
C)massed training.
D)transfer of training.

Question 75

At her new employee training, Melissa not only learns specific techniques for working with her clients, but she also receives an overview of why it's important to foster long-term clients. Melissa feels she has benefited from the big picture presentation, otherwise known as

A)massed distribution.
B)existence, relatedness, and growth dimensions.
C)training in general principles.
D)organizational citizenship behaviors.

Question 76

If a company wishes to use performance-level criteria to evaluate their training program, the managers would be interested in

A)employee feedback following the training.
B)comparing their employees' increase in knowledge with those of a control group.
C)observing an increase in the quality of service employees provide.
D)measuring their employees' learning immediately following the training.

Question 77

All of the following are guidelines of the "Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures" except

A)personnel decisions must be based solely on job-related criteria.
B)only test scores that have been validated as good predictors of job performance should be used.
C)employees' KSAOs should match those previously established by the job analysis.
D)an organization's demographics should reflect the ethnic and gender makeup of the organization's local population.

Question 78

Bonnie is researching various training methods to determine which would be best to establish for her company. She discovers that __________ training is associated with greater learning and retention than __________ training.

A)objective; subjective
B)subjective; objective
C)massed; distributed
D)distributed; massed

Question 79

Immediately after an employee training session, an employer asks the trainees to fill out questionnaires indicating how much they liked the training and how valuable it was for them. The employer is using ________ criteria.

A)performance-level
B)trainee learning
C)training-level
D)experimental

Question 80

One aspect of a training needs assessment is a personal development plan. These plans are useful to evaluate

A)performance goals to be reviewed at the next annual review.
B)how to best cultivate relationship-motivated leaders.
C)a person's strengths and weaknesses.
D)methods for improving or maintaining job satisfaction.