Industrial Organizational Psychology
Midterm Exam Questions and Answers
I/O Psych - ANSWER-The branch of psychology that is concerned with the study of
behavior in work settings and the application of psychology principles to change work
behavior.
Hawthorne Effect - ANSWER-Changes in behavior occurring as a function of
participants' knowledge that they are being observed and their expectations concerning
their role as research participants.
Job Satisfaction - ANSWER-The positive and negative feelings and attitudes about
one's job.
Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) - ANSWER-A questionnaire that measures core job
characteristics.
Job Descriptive Index (JDI) - ANSWER-A self-report job satisfaction rating scale
measuring five job facets.
Job Enlargement - ANSWER-The expansion of a job to include additional, more varied
work tasks.
Skill Based Pay - ANSWER-A system of compensation in which workers are paid based
in their knowledge and skills rather than on their positions in the organization.
Gainsharing - ANSWER-A compensation system based on effective group
performance.
Self-Report Technique - ANSWER-Measurement methods relying on research
participants' reports of their own behavior or attitudes.
Compensable Factors - ANSWER-The job elements that are used to determine
appropriate compensation for a job.
Comparable Worth - ANSWER-The notion that jobs that require equivalent KSAOs
should be compensated equally.
Glass Ceiling - ANSWER-Limitations placed on women and minorities preventing them
from advancing into top-level positions in organizations.
, Criterion - ANSWER-Measures of job success typically related to performance.
Predictors - ANSWER-Variables about applicants that are related to the criteria.
Employee Recruitment - ANSWER-The process by which companies attract qualified
applicants.
Employee Screening - ANSWER-The process of reviewing information about job
applicants used to elect workers.
Employee Selection - ANSWER-The process of choosing applicants for employment.
Protected Groups - ANSWER-Groups including women and certain ethnic and racial
minorities that have been identified as previous targets of employment discrimination.
Affirmative Action - ANSWER-The voluntary development of policies that try to ensure
that jobs are made available to qualified individuals regardless of sex, age, or ethnic
background.
Performance Appraisals - ANSWER-The formalized means of assessing worker
performance in comparison to certain established organizational standards.
Performance Criteria - ANSWER-Measures used to determine successful and
unsuccessful job performance.
Criterion Relevance - ANSWER-The extent to which the means of appraising
performance are pertinent to job success.
Criterion Contamination - ANSWER-The extent to which performance appraisals
contain elements that detract from the accurate assessment of job effectiveness.
Criterion Deficiency - ANSWER-The degree to which a criterion falls short of measuring
job performance.
Criterion Usefulness - ANSWER-The extent to which a performance criterion is usable
in appraising a particular job.
Leniency Error - ANSWER-The tendency to give all workers very positive performance
appraisals.
Severity Error - ANSWER-The tendency to give all workers very negative performance
appraisals.
Halo Effect - ANSWER-An overall positive evaluation of a worker based on one known
positive characteristic or action.
Midterm Exam Questions and Answers
I/O Psych - ANSWER-The branch of psychology that is concerned with the study of
behavior in work settings and the application of psychology principles to change work
behavior.
Hawthorne Effect - ANSWER-Changes in behavior occurring as a function of
participants' knowledge that they are being observed and their expectations concerning
their role as research participants.
Job Satisfaction - ANSWER-The positive and negative feelings and attitudes about
one's job.
Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) - ANSWER-A questionnaire that measures core job
characteristics.
Job Descriptive Index (JDI) - ANSWER-A self-report job satisfaction rating scale
measuring five job facets.
Job Enlargement - ANSWER-The expansion of a job to include additional, more varied
work tasks.
Skill Based Pay - ANSWER-A system of compensation in which workers are paid based
in their knowledge and skills rather than on their positions in the organization.
Gainsharing - ANSWER-A compensation system based on effective group
performance.
Self-Report Technique - ANSWER-Measurement methods relying on research
participants' reports of their own behavior or attitudes.
Compensable Factors - ANSWER-The job elements that are used to determine
appropriate compensation for a job.
Comparable Worth - ANSWER-The notion that jobs that require equivalent KSAOs
should be compensated equally.
Glass Ceiling - ANSWER-Limitations placed on women and minorities preventing them
from advancing into top-level positions in organizations.
, Criterion - ANSWER-Measures of job success typically related to performance.
Predictors - ANSWER-Variables about applicants that are related to the criteria.
Employee Recruitment - ANSWER-The process by which companies attract qualified
applicants.
Employee Screening - ANSWER-The process of reviewing information about job
applicants used to elect workers.
Employee Selection - ANSWER-The process of choosing applicants for employment.
Protected Groups - ANSWER-Groups including women and certain ethnic and racial
minorities that have been identified as previous targets of employment discrimination.
Affirmative Action - ANSWER-The voluntary development of policies that try to ensure
that jobs are made available to qualified individuals regardless of sex, age, or ethnic
background.
Performance Appraisals - ANSWER-The formalized means of assessing worker
performance in comparison to certain established organizational standards.
Performance Criteria - ANSWER-Measures used to determine successful and
unsuccessful job performance.
Criterion Relevance - ANSWER-The extent to which the means of appraising
performance are pertinent to job success.
Criterion Contamination - ANSWER-The extent to which performance appraisals
contain elements that detract from the accurate assessment of job effectiveness.
Criterion Deficiency - ANSWER-The degree to which a criterion falls short of measuring
job performance.
Criterion Usefulness - ANSWER-The extent to which a performance criterion is usable
in appraising a particular job.
Leniency Error - ANSWER-The tendency to give all workers very positive performance
appraisals.
Severity Error - ANSWER-The tendency to give all workers very negative performance
appraisals.
Halo Effect - ANSWER-An overall positive evaluation of a worker based on one known
positive characteristic or action.
