1
Test Bank
to accompany the Second Edition of
Frank J. Landy & Jeffrey M. Conte’s
Work in the 21 st
Century:
An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology
For each chapter in the Second Edition of Landy and Conte’s Work in the 21st Century: An Introduction to
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, this test bank contains multiple choice questions that can be
used in composing tests. Each chapter includes factual and applied questions as well as questions of a
more conceptual nature to facilitate critical thinking. Several questions address the same or similar
material, so instructors likely will want to choose one of the items for inclusion in a test. The correct
answer for each question is indicated by an “*” next to that response option. Questions or comments
regarding this test bank can be sent to Jeff Conte at .
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS I-O PSYCHOLOGY?
Module 1.1
1. According to the textbook, when people were asked the question: “If you were to get enough money
to live as comfortably as you would like for the rest of your life, would you continue to work or would
you stop working?” a majority people reported that
a. they would stop working.
b. they would continue working.*
c. they would find a new and more exciting job.
d. they would take a lot of time off, but eventually return to work.
2. Industrial-organizational psychologists are interested in all of the following except
a. how people’s work affects their home life.
b. how culture influences people’s perceptions of their working environments.
c. how personality characteristics influence work behavior.
d. how to best diagnose clinical disorders and offer therapy to employees.*
3. Which of the following does not describe a position that an I-O psychologist would typically have? a.
research scientist
b. consultant
c. professor
, 2
d. therapist*
4. Dr. Duran was asked by company X to develop a selection system for hiring new employees and to
revise the existing performance appraisal system. Dr. Duran was most likely asked to do this because
of her experience in
a. human factors psychology.
b. personnel psychology.*
c. clinical psychology.
d. organizational psychology.
5. An organizational psychologist would be most likely concerned with
a. helping people organize their schedules and daily planners.
b. studying the interaction between humans and technology.
c. understanding the emotional and motivational side of work.*
d. interviewing potential employees.
6. Which of the following psychologists is most likely concerned with how humans interact with
technology?
a. a personnel psychologist
b. a clinical psychologist
c. an organizational psychologist
d. a human factors psychologist*
7. Company Y has just designed a new checkout counter for a chain of supermarkets. This new
checkout counter will allow the employees to scan and bag groceries more efficiently. Development
of the new checkout counter was most likely done by a(n)
a. personnel psychologist.
b. organizational psychologist.
c. human resources director.
d. human factors psychologist.*
8. SIOP is Division 14 of the
a. American Psychological Association.*
b. American Psychological Society.
c. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist.
d. Western Psychological Association.
9. The division of the American Psychological Association that represents Industrial-Organizational
psychology is
a. Division 14.*
b. Division 3.
c. Division 10.
d. Division 17.
10. The SIOP website is a good place for aspiring I-O psychologists to examine. All of the following are
offered by the website except
a. JobNet — matching employers with applicants.
b. a list of SIOP publications.
, 3
c. online I-O psychology courses.*
d. TIP — the SIOP quarterly newsletter.
11. James McKeen Cattell had a major influence on the emergence of I-O psychology. He was among the
first to realize the importance of studying:
a. American organizations as representative of Japanese organizations.
b. differences among individuals as a way of predicting their behavior.*
c. how organizations treat their employees as related to employee performance.
d. individual beliefs in understanding the work-family relationship.
12. The purpose of the time and motion studies was to
a. increase efficiency.
b. increase productivity.
c. neither a nor b
d. both a and b*
13. The main distinction between the Army Alpha and the Army Beta is
a. the Army Alpha was administered to illiterate recruits, while the Army Beta was administered
to literate recruits.
b. the Army Alpha was administered to literate recruits, while the Army Beta was administered
to illiterate recruits.*
c. the Army Alpha was designed to measure how people responded to stress, while the Army
Beta measured people’s reaction times.
d. the Army Alpha was designed to measure people’s reaction times, while the Army Beta
measured people’s reactions to stress.
14. A major distinction between the Stanford-Binet and the Army Alpha test is
a. the Stanford-Binet was administered to one individual at a time, whereas the Army Alpha
could be administered to large groups.*
b. the Stanford-Binet could be administered to large groups of people whereas the Army Alpha
could only be administered to one individual at a time.
c. the Stanford-Binet was developed for assessing individuals’ emotional reactions to stress
whereas the Army Alpha tested intelligence.
d. the Stanford-Binet was developed for testing dexterity whereas the Army Alpha was
developed for assessing individuals’ emotional reactions to stress.
15. Jack works 12 hour shifts on an assembly line at an automotive plant. He finds his job boring,
monotonous, and physically difficult. He is extremely unhappy and resists any attempts his bosses
make to increase the productivity of the assembly line. Jack’s mental state could be best
characterized as
a. the Hawthorne effect.
b. revery obsession.*
c. the Cattell effect.
d. systematic desensitization.
16. The Hawthorne Studies led to the dramatic discovery that
a. boring work is directly related to a worker’s level of interest.
b. a worker’s family situation impacts their level of production.
c. higher productivity can only be achieved by varying worker conditions.
, 4
d. workers’ attitudes play a role in productivity.*
17. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against all of the following except
a. race.
b. disability.*
c. religion.
d. gender.
18. Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 deals with
a. employment discrimination.*
b. voting rights.
c. education.
d. housing.
19. Which section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 deals with employment discrimination? a. Title VI
b. Title VII*
c. Title IX
d. Title X
20. Frederick W. Taylor’s book on Scientific Management offered
a. the one best and most efficient way to perform various jobs.*
b. assessment centers to recruit and train spies for the U.S. government.
c. a standardization of airplane cockpits.
d. a systematic approach to understanding differences among subjects’ responses to external
stimuli.
21. The Time and Motion studies involved all the following except
a. developing more efficient movements that would reduce fatigue and increase productivity.
b. timing movements with a stopwatch.
c. breaking down every action into its constituent parts.
d. investigating employee attitudes about the length of the work week.*
22. “Protected groups,” as stated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, include
a. race, sexual orientation, color, political ideology.
b. race , age, color, sex, national origin.
c. race, color, religion, sex, national origin.*
d. race, color, disability status, sex, religion.
Module 1.2
23. Which of the following statements is false?
a. Work performance can be monitored electronically.
b. Personal computers and digitization now dominate the workplace.
c. There is little stability in many business sectors.
d. Increasingly less work is done by teams as opposed to individuals.*
24. David is a Fine Arts major who will be graduating in a year. He recently became interested in pursuing
a graduate degree in I-O psychology. David should do all of the following to improve his
“credentials” for admittance to a graduate program except
Test Bank
to accompany the Second Edition of
Frank J. Landy & Jeffrey M. Conte’s
Work in the 21 st
Century:
An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology
For each chapter in the Second Edition of Landy and Conte’s Work in the 21st Century: An Introduction to
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, this test bank contains multiple choice questions that can be
used in composing tests. Each chapter includes factual and applied questions as well as questions of a
more conceptual nature to facilitate critical thinking. Several questions address the same or similar
material, so instructors likely will want to choose one of the items for inclusion in a test. The correct
answer for each question is indicated by an “*” next to that response option. Questions or comments
regarding this test bank can be sent to Jeff Conte at .
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS I-O PSYCHOLOGY?
Module 1.1
1. According to the textbook, when people were asked the question: “If you were to get enough money
to live as comfortably as you would like for the rest of your life, would you continue to work or would
you stop working?” a majority people reported that
a. they would stop working.
b. they would continue working.*
c. they would find a new and more exciting job.
d. they would take a lot of time off, but eventually return to work.
2. Industrial-organizational psychologists are interested in all of the following except
a. how people’s work affects their home life.
b. how culture influences people’s perceptions of their working environments.
c. how personality characteristics influence work behavior.
d. how to best diagnose clinical disorders and offer therapy to employees.*
3. Which of the following does not describe a position that an I-O psychologist would typically have? a.
research scientist
b. consultant
c. professor
, 2
d. therapist*
4. Dr. Duran was asked by company X to develop a selection system for hiring new employees and to
revise the existing performance appraisal system. Dr. Duran was most likely asked to do this because
of her experience in
a. human factors psychology.
b. personnel psychology.*
c. clinical psychology.
d. organizational psychology.
5. An organizational psychologist would be most likely concerned with
a. helping people organize their schedules and daily planners.
b. studying the interaction between humans and technology.
c. understanding the emotional and motivational side of work.*
d. interviewing potential employees.
6. Which of the following psychologists is most likely concerned with how humans interact with
technology?
a. a personnel psychologist
b. a clinical psychologist
c. an organizational psychologist
d. a human factors psychologist*
7. Company Y has just designed a new checkout counter for a chain of supermarkets. This new
checkout counter will allow the employees to scan and bag groceries more efficiently. Development
of the new checkout counter was most likely done by a(n)
a. personnel psychologist.
b. organizational psychologist.
c. human resources director.
d. human factors psychologist.*
8. SIOP is Division 14 of the
a. American Psychological Association.*
b. American Psychological Society.
c. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist.
d. Western Psychological Association.
9. The division of the American Psychological Association that represents Industrial-Organizational
psychology is
a. Division 14.*
b. Division 3.
c. Division 10.
d. Division 17.
10. The SIOP website is a good place for aspiring I-O psychologists to examine. All of the following are
offered by the website except
a. JobNet — matching employers with applicants.
b. a list of SIOP publications.
, 3
c. online I-O psychology courses.*
d. TIP — the SIOP quarterly newsletter.
11. James McKeen Cattell had a major influence on the emergence of I-O psychology. He was among the
first to realize the importance of studying:
a. American organizations as representative of Japanese organizations.
b. differences among individuals as a way of predicting their behavior.*
c. how organizations treat their employees as related to employee performance.
d. individual beliefs in understanding the work-family relationship.
12. The purpose of the time and motion studies was to
a. increase efficiency.
b. increase productivity.
c. neither a nor b
d. both a and b*
13. The main distinction between the Army Alpha and the Army Beta is
a. the Army Alpha was administered to illiterate recruits, while the Army Beta was administered
to literate recruits.
b. the Army Alpha was administered to literate recruits, while the Army Beta was administered
to illiterate recruits.*
c. the Army Alpha was designed to measure how people responded to stress, while the Army
Beta measured people’s reaction times.
d. the Army Alpha was designed to measure people’s reaction times, while the Army Beta
measured people’s reactions to stress.
14. A major distinction between the Stanford-Binet and the Army Alpha test is
a. the Stanford-Binet was administered to one individual at a time, whereas the Army Alpha
could be administered to large groups.*
b. the Stanford-Binet could be administered to large groups of people whereas the Army Alpha
could only be administered to one individual at a time.
c. the Stanford-Binet was developed for assessing individuals’ emotional reactions to stress
whereas the Army Alpha tested intelligence.
d. the Stanford-Binet was developed for testing dexterity whereas the Army Alpha was
developed for assessing individuals’ emotional reactions to stress.
15. Jack works 12 hour shifts on an assembly line at an automotive plant. He finds his job boring,
monotonous, and physically difficult. He is extremely unhappy and resists any attempts his bosses
make to increase the productivity of the assembly line. Jack’s mental state could be best
characterized as
a. the Hawthorne effect.
b. revery obsession.*
c. the Cattell effect.
d. systematic desensitization.
16. The Hawthorne Studies led to the dramatic discovery that
a. boring work is directly related to a worker’s level of interest.
b. a worker’s family situation impacts their level of production.
c. higher productivity can only be achieved by varying worker conditions.
, 4
d. workers’ attitudes play a role in productivity.*
17. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against all of the following except
a. race.
b. disability.*
c. religion.
d. gender.
18. Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 deals with
a. employment discrimination.*
b. voting rights.
c. education.
d. housing.
19. Which section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 deals with employment discrimination? a. Title VI
b. Title VII*
c. Title IX
d. Title X
20. Frederick W. Taylor’s book on Scientific Management offered
a. the one best and most efficient way to perform various jobs.*
b. assessment centers to recruit and train spies for the U.S. government.
c. a standardization of airplane cockpits.
d. a systematic approach to understanding differences among subjects’ responses to external
stimuli.
21. The Time and Motion studies involved all the following except
a. developing more efficient movements that would reduce fatigue and increase productivity.
b. timing movements with a stopwatch.
c. breaking down every action into its constituent parts.
d. investigating employee attitudes about the length of the work week.*
22. “Protected groups,” as stated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, include
a. race, sexual orientation, color, political ideology.
b. race , age, color, sex, national origin.
c. race, color, religion, sex, national origin.*
d. race, color, disability status, sex, religion.
Module 1.2
23. Which of the following statements is false?
a. Work performance can be monitored electronically.
b. Personal computers and digitization now dominate the workplace.
c. There is little stability in many business sectors.
d. Increasingly less work is done by teams as opposed to individuals.*
24. David is a Fine Arts major who will be graduating in a year. He recently became interested in pursuing
a graduate degree in I-O psychology. David should do all of the following to improve his
“credentials” for admittance to a graduate program except
