Evolution Of Industrial and

Organizational Psychology

BHRM 31242
Industrial Psychology
 Department of Human Resource Management

Course Code : BHRM 31242

Course Title : Industrial Psychology
Academic Year : 2017/2018
Semester : First semester
Year : Third year
Lecturer/(s) : Ms. Michelle Silve /Ms. Niroshika Dooradarshani /Ms. Rushna Preena
Assignment Topic : Evolution of industrial and organizational psychology

Student Name / Number

Student Name Student Number
1. B.M.S.P. Balasooriysa BM/2017/034
2. S.D.A.N.Basnayaka BM/2017/039
3. D.M.G.H.S.Devasinghe BM/2017/071
4. E.M.G.Ekanayake BM/2017/104
5. M.D.K.Erandika BM/2017/106
6. S.M.R.K.Illangarathne BM/2017/163
7. S.M.N. Kavindi BM/2017/201
8. R.Nadaraja BM/2017/278
9. H.P.S.N.Pathirathna BM/2017/306
10. G.A.S.Veronica BM/2017/455

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to express our gratitude towards our dear lecturers, Ms. Michelle Silve /Ms.
Niroshika Dooradarshani /Ms. Rushna Preena for the immense knowledge, continuous support,
guidance, and motivation provided us to complete this assignment. This group assignment that
has been assign to us gave so many benefits to enhance our knowledge about sources of financial
management. Therefore, we would like to express our gratitude to our lectures for giving us this
opportunity and we would like to thank our lectures for teaching us with patience even we are
facing a different situation.

This assignment cannot be completed without the cooperation and dedicated effort from our
group members. We would like to expand our deepest gratitude to our friends, families and all
others who helped and guided us directly and indirectly for the completion of this assignment on
time.

CONTENT
1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………….

2. Early years (1900s) ………………………………………………………….….

3. World War I (1914 – 1918) …………………………………………………….

4. Between the wars (1919 – 1940) ….…………………………………………….

5. World War II (1941 – 1945) ……………………………………………………

6. Post-World War II

6.1 Toward specialization (1946 – 1963) ………………………………………

6.2 Government Intervention (1964 – 1993) ……………………………………

6.3 Information Age (1994 – present) ……………………………………….….

1. Introduction
Industrial and organizational psychology was born in the early 1900s. Industrial and
organizational psychology is a branch of psychology that concerned with application of
principles of psychology to workplace. I/O psychology is a useful aid to the efficient
management of people at work. The purpose of I/O psychology is to enhance the dignity and
performance of human beings and the organization by advancing the science and knowledge of
human behavior. The roots of I/O psychology trace back to finding of first psychological
laboratory by Wilhelm Wundt. He trained two psychologists, Hugo Munsterberg and James
McKeen Cattell who had a major influence on emergence of I/O psychology. Fedrick Taylor,
Lillian and Frank Gilbreth, Walter Dill Scott are some of the other pioneers who helped the
emergence of I/O psychology. These pioneers applied psychological concepts to design user-
friendly mechanisms which helped protect the health of workers and increase efficiency and
productivity. World War I was a historical time for I/O psychology. Testing and replacement of
army recruits happened in this era. This was the first-time psychological testing was applied in a
large scale to place individuals in jobs. During World War II psychologists established
assessment centers and concerned about worker morale and placed soldiers into roles where they
could work in fullest potential. I/O psychology was on its way to become what it is today.

2. Early 1900’s

The "founding" of Industrial Psychology is difficult to pinpoint, but most agree that it occurred
between 1900 and 1905. The early 1900s saw the merge of two forces: the application of
psychology and the improvement of efficiency by industrial engineers. Bryan's APA address was
published in 1904, and the term "Industrial Psychology" first appeared in it. Unexpectedly, it
only appeared in print as a typographical error.

When discussing industrial psychology, four major figures who have made significant
contributions to its development can be mentioned as follows. Walter Dill Scott, regarded as
one of the first founding fathers, delivered a speech to a group of advertising professionals at a
Northwestern University in 1901, outlining how psychology could be applied to advertising.
Scott had published two more books by 1911 (Influencing Men in Business and Increasing
Human Efficiency in Business), and he was the first to apply psychological principles to
workplace motivation and productivity. Another major figure in industrial psychology is
Fredrick Taylor. He was an American mechanical engineer who focused on redesigning work
to increase industrial efficiency. Taylor recognized the importance of redesigning the work
environment in order to achieve higher output for the company as well as higher wages for the
worker. Taylor's book The Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911, highlighted
four main principles. His writings were among the first to provide a reasonably comprehensive
management philosophy. Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, a husband-and-wife
team, were two of the most intriguing figures in the early years of industrial psychology. Frank
began his career as a contractor and then focused on developing technical aspects of worker
efficiency. After Frank's death in 1924, Lillian, the more educated of the two, continued her
consulting with industry as the Great Depression forced companies to find ways to reduce costs
and be more productive. She hosted managers from General Electric, Macy's, and many other
companies in her home to improve workplaces and worker experience. She was one of the first
productivity experts to identify and address fatigue and stress as productivity killers. Hugo
Munsterberg, generally considered the "Father of Industrial Psychology," was a pioneer in
applying psychological findings from laboratory experiments to practical issues. He was also the
first to advocate for government-funded research in industrial psychology. His book Psychology
and Industrial Efficiency, published in 1913, addressed issues such as personnel selection and
equipment design. Munsterberg's early I/O psychology was influential well into the 1950s.

3. World War I (1914-1918)

Industrial psychology made its major impact during World War I. Due to the large number of
soldiers who had to be allocated to various units within the armed forces, Industrial
psychologists were employed to test recruits and then place them in suitable positions. During
the World War I, Robert Yerkes, president of the American psychological association, was the
most influential in getting psychology into the war and many other psychologists worked with
the U.S. Army to generate intelligence tests for the placement of Army recruits. They proposed
ways of screening recruits for mental deficiency and assigning selected recruits to army jobs and
also investigated soldier motivation, morale, psychological problems of physical incapacity
which called as “shell shock”, and discipline. The Army Alpha test was conducted for the
recruits who could read and Beta test was conducted for the non-literate recruits. These
represented the first mass testing efforts and set the stage for future testing efforts. Even now,
employee testing and selection is an important part of Industrial psychology.

Walter Dill Scott conducted a research on best placement of soldiers in Army and classified,
placed enlistees, conducted performance evaluation for recruits, developed job duties and
qualifications for over five hundred jobs. However, the final authorization for the testing
program came in August 1918, only 3 months before the Armistice was signed, thus the
intelligence tests weren’t as utilized as much as Yerkes had hoped. In 1917 journal of applied
psychology began its publication. The participation of the U.S.A in World War I in April 1917
caused the involvement in the military effort of psychologists working in this area. Scott and
Bingham organized a group under the Adjutant General’s Office with the intension to develop
selection methods for recruits. They created a list of work-related needs for the Army, principally
a job-description system, a performance ratings and professional skill tests for recruits.

5. World War II (1941 – 1946)

Industrial psychologists were much more prepared for second world war. Walter Bingham was a
key person chairing an advisory committee during the war. Industrial psychologists had
improved many of their techniques of employee selection and placement by this time. Army
hired I/O psychologists to select and classify recruits. Successful I/O contributions included
development of Army General Classification Test, a group test that separate new recruits into
categories for military duties based on test scores. It used to classify an estimated 12 million
soldiers into military jobs. The Office of Strategic Service (OSS) was formed to train military
intelligence personnel. Team of psychologists constantly examined how officers perform under
stress. This approach eventually led to the establishment of Assessment Centers. Personal
psychology was also evident in this period where women had to be tested, selected and trained to
do all the factory works. In 1945 Kurt Lewin developed a research center for group dynamics to
perform experiments in group behavior. American Psychological Association (APA) division 14
founded in 1946 opening new doors to applied psychology. During this period, business and
industry realized that many of the military's testing, selecting, training, and other processes could
be applied to everyday companies.

6. Post-World War II

6.1 Toward Specialization (1946-1963)

Considering the period toward specialization, number of Graduate programs in relation to
Industrial Psychology popped up. Simply, legitimate area of practice, schools and terminology
evolved. During this period psychology initiated to associate more with the couple of business
and management. The late 40s and early 50s can be concerned probably the very best years of
Industrial Psychology’s. Unfortunately, there were some down sides to this era relatively in the
late 50s and into the 1960s. Subsequently, Industrial Psychology started to split into triplet of
areas as personnel psychology, organizational psychology and human engineering
psychology. Moreover, Industrial Psychology also came under spreading attack and criticism for
many reasons like industrial psychology being dominated by fads and fashion, industrial
psychology began to take a back seat to the demands of business which insisted on a managerial
emphasis and many techniques were outdated, and only relevant to blue-collar workers.

6.2 Government Intervention (1964-1993)

This particular period can be categorized as more chaotic by the social upheaval then the chaos
within the field, Industrial Psychology, nonetheless, faced numerous ups and downs. The Civil
Rights Act of 1964 had significant impacts on different areas like employment, hiring, selection,
and work discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) gave
birth to a formal government committee to oversee all the related selection procedures. This
would be the very first among a number of governmental laws that serve to interfere in Industrial
Psychology methods. Thus, the psychologists catered couple of masters, first is the field of I/O
and the second is the government. During 1973, the term "Organizational" was summed to
Industrial and I/O Psychology was initially stated. In 1978, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee
Selection Procedures moreover dictated to I/O psychologists how testing/hiring/selection
procedures would be implemented. Business and Industry started "borrowing" most of the
concepts developed by I/O psychologists and applied them into their Business and Management
programs. Lately, psychology achieved more and involved in interfering the government policy
on all sorts of employment-related law and regulations.

6.3 Information Age(1994-Present)

Considering this era higher demands for organizations and employees rose up. More over huge
technological advancements could be observed and complex computer-generated statistical
analyses became very common. Application off cognitive psychology for industrial psychology
specially for the performance appraisal could be observed during this period. Furthermore,
increased attention on selection methods like selecting the right person for the right job became
more important as to what is happening in the present.

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