I/O Psychology Rational Notes

1. The gathering, analyzing, and structuring of d. All three of these statements are true
information about a job’s components, characteristics, 8. Which of the following sections in a job description
and requirements is a process called: can affect a person's perceptions of the status and
a. task analysis – identifying tasks of the employees worth of a job?
b. job analysis a. Job title
c. surveying – asking about the areas they feel they need training b. Brief summary - describes nature and purpose of
d. job description – written result of the job analysis job
c. Work activities – tasks and activities
2. Job analysis can serve as a foundation for: d. Work context
a. selecting employees
b. training employees 9. Which of the following sections in a thorough job
c. evaluating employees’ performance description can be used in help wanted
d. all of these and more advertisements, internal job posting, and company
brochures?
3. The __________ is the process of determining the a. Job title – indicates true nature of the job
work activities and requirements, and the ____________ b. Brief summary
is the written result c. Work activities
a. job analysis / job description d. Work context
b. job description / job analysis
10. Which of the following is another name for a job
c. job evaluation / job description
competency?
d. job analysis / job evaluation
a. Work context
b. Job factors
4. Promoting people until they reach their highest level
c. Training requirements
of incompetence is called:
d. KSAOs
a. the Anderson Analog
b. the Peter Principle 11. Knowledge, skill, ability, and personality are types
c. personpower planning – determines worker mobility of:
d. none of these a. competencies
b. job factors
5. Shahidi Industries has a policy of promoting c. job functions
employees who perform well. Unfortunately, many d. compensable factors – responsibility and education
of the people promoted do not become effective requirements that differentiate the relative worth of
supervisors. Currently there is a crisis because most of jobs
the supervisors are getting poor performance reviews.
Shahidi Industries seems to be a good example of: 12. Which of the following sections in a thorough job
a. the Anderson Analog description contains what is commonly called
b. the Peter Principle job specifications?
c. personpower planning a. Brief summary
d. none of the above b. Performance standards
c. Work activities
6. Which of the following practical uses of job analysis d. Competencies
may discover lapses in organizational
13. According to the author, the section of a job
communication?
description which contains the knowledge, skills,
a. Training – facilitate the learning of work behavior
abilities, and other characteristics necessary to be
b. Personpower planning – determines worker mobility
successful on the job is labeled ______; the section
c. Organizational analysis
containing a list of tasks and activities in which the
d. Performance appraisal – evaluation of employee’s
worker is involved is labeled ________.
work
a. job competencies/ work context
b. job competencies / work activities
7. Which of the following is not true of job titles?
c. work context / work activities
a. Titles should describe the nature of a job
d. performance standards / work activities
b. Job titles can affect perceptions of job status
c. Titles provide workers with identity

Reference: Aamodt M.; Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Eighth Edition (2015)
 I/O Psychology Rational Notes

14. A job analysis is typically conducted by: c. truth about / performance

a. job incumbents d. truth about / tenure
b. supervisors realistic job previews – discussing to the applicants the good and
bad of the company
c. outside consultant
21. Interview questions such as, “Why should I hire
d. the human resource department
you” and “What college subjects do you like best”
15. If you have a small number of incumbents in a job
demonstrate which negative aspect of unstructured
(6 people), how many should you interview as part of
interviews?
your job analysis?
a. Lack of job relatedness
a. all 6
b. Contrast effects
b. 2
c. Primacy effects
c. 4
d. Recency effects
d. 1

22. Which of the following factors would suggest that

16. An organization has difficulty getting enough
making a favorable first impression is important?
qualified applicants from its existing employees to fill
a. Primacy effects
a vacant position. As a result, the organization seeks
b. Contrast effects – comparing a job candidate
qualified applicants from outside the organization. This
c. Negative information bias
best exemplifies:
d. Nonverbal cues
a. agency recruitment
b. internal recruitment
23. An applicant who looks around the interviewer's
c. external recruitment
office and pays close attention to such items as
d. personnel selection
pictures and plaques probably has a good
understanding of the role ________ plays in their
17. If a company has a high rate of promoting from
interview score.
within, which of the following may result?
a. interviewee appearance
a. High group cohesiveness
b. negative information bias
b. Diverse work force full of ideas
c. interviewer-interviewee similarity
c. Stale work force devoid of many ideas
d. lack of job relatedness
d. Decrease in benefits

24. Perhaps the best way to ensure that interviewers

18. Applicants are asked to _______, when an
base their decisions on relevant information is to:
organization either wants to quickly screen applicants
a. use trained professionals
or hear an applicants’ phone voice.
b. hold them accountable for bad decisions
a. Contact a recruiter
c. use the structured interview
b. Apply in person
d. interview in teams of three or more
c. Respond by calling
d. Send a resume
25. “Can you work weekends” and “Can you work
overtime without notice” are examples of which type
19. One of the concessionaires in Davao City offers its
of interview question?
employees a financial incentive for recommending
a. Disqualifier
applicants who are subsequently hired and remain on
b. Clarifier – clarify or get something from the resume
the job for a specific period of time. This BEST
c. Future-focused (situational) question
exemplifies:
d. Past-focused question - behavioral
a. internal recruitment
b. external recruitment
26. "Suppose that an angry customer started yelling at
c. employee referral
you in front of other customers. What would you do?"
d. situation-wanted ad
This type of interview question is an example of a:
a. disqualifier – when you cannot commit ahead
20. Realistic job previews involve telling potential
b. clarifier
applicants the ____ a job with an objective of
c. future-focused (situational) question
increasing _____.
d. past-focused question
a. positive aspects of / applications
b. positive aspects of / referrals

Reference: Aamodt M.; Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Eighth Edition (2015)
 I/O Psychology Rational Notes
27. Research has indicated that employees referred
by successful employees had ___________ than did
employees who had been referred by unsuccessful
employees.
A. Longer tenure
B. Shorter tenure – if referred by unsuccessful
employers
C. Lower motivation
D. Higher motivation
Motivation does not equate who is who
28. “General Manager: seeking position as General
Manager in Hotel Restaurant operation. Six years
experience in all aspects of hospitality industry.
Excellent references available upon request.
a. internal recruitment
b. external recruitment
c. situation-wanted ad
d. newspaper ad
29. Research associated with writing recruitment ads
has found that ads displaying the company emblem
and using creative illustrations attracted:
a. the greater number of applicants
b. the highest quality of applicants
c. the lowest quality of applicants
d. the lowest number of applicants
30. The organization does not wants its name in public,
or fears that people won’t apply if they knew the
name of the company, would probably:
a. use a blind box ad
b. advertise on the radio
c. use point of purchase recruiting
d. recruit at colleges and universities
31. Based on available research, which of the
following recruitment strategies may enhance moral
motivation?
a. job analysis
b. internal recruitment
c. external recruitment
d. use of electronic media
32. In a structure interview, if an applicant gets a point
for each part of an answer that taps a main point, she
is being scored using the ______ approach.
a. key issues
b. typical answers
c. criterion validity
d. Garcia and Perez
Reference: Aamodt M.; Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Eighth Edition (2015)
33. Applicants attempting to be interviewed
immediately after a poor applicant are demonstrating
their understanding of the ___________.
a. lack of job relatedness
b. contrast effect
c. Halo effect
d. Primacy effect
34. Which of the following is not part of a highly
structured interview?
a. job-related question
b. all applicants are asked the same questions.
c. use of intuition
d. a standardized scoring
35. Research associated with writing recruitment ads
has found that ads displaying the job description and
salary attracted:
a. the greater number of applicants
b. the highest quality of applicants
c. the lowest quality of applicants
d. the lowest number of applicants
36. Which of the following criteria is a subjective
measure of performance for a waitress?
a. number of positive comments received
b. average amount of money spent on a meal
c. number of days absent from work
d. a supervisor’s rating of dependability
37. Which of the following is the most important use of
performance evaluation results?
a. employee compensation
b. employee promotion
c. employee training and feedback
d. personnel research
38. Which of the following is the most common source
of performance appraisal ratings?
a. supervisor
b. subordinate
c. peer
d. customer
39. With the ___________ method, a predetermined
percentage of employees are places into one of five
categories.
a. paired comparison
b. forced distribution
c. rank order
d. behavioral anchored rating scale
40. Which of the following employee comparison
methods involve comparing each possible couple of
 I/O Psychology Rational Notes

employees and choosing which one of each is the c. graphic rating

better employee? d. forced choice rating
a. forced distribution
b. paired comparisons 47. Whereas supervisors see the ________ of an
c. rank order employees effort, peers often see the __________.
d. behavioral anchored rating scale a. actual behavior/end result
b. end result/actual behavior
41. The HR reminded supervisors that, when making c. physical part/mental part
performance appraisal, cite situations in which a d. mental part/physical part
particular attribute or behavior or competence has
been observed as concretely as possible. This is an 48. To get better customer feedback on employee
example of the use of _____________. performance, __________ are used.
a. the Labor Code standards a. secret shoppers
b. critical incidents b. consultants
c. competence-focused approach c. peer ratings
d. administrative hearing d. employee comparisons

42. Which of the following performance appraisal 49. When peer ratings are used, research has found
approached focus on employee’s attributed such as that high performers evaluate their peers ________ low
their dependability, assertiveness, and friendliness? performance.
a. competency focus a. the same as
b. goal focus b. more strictly than
c. task focus c. more leniently than
d. trait focus d. none of these would be true

43. What type of rating scale is depicted below? 50. Which of the following is true about evaluating
Job knowledge: Poor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Excellent employee performance?
Dependability: Poor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Excellent a. most performance appraisal
a. behavioral anchored rating scale b. most organizations have specific goals for their
b. behavioral observation scale appraisal systems
c. graphic rating scale c. 360-degree feedback is best used for
d. mixed standard scale developmental process
d. all three are true
44. When would the use of subordinate ratings of a
supervisor be least desirable? 51. Which of the following performance appraisal
a. there are only 1 or 2 subordinates approaches would have dimensions such as “prevent
b. the ratings are anonymous crimes from occurring” and “minimize citizen
c. the rating will not affect the raises complaints”?
d. the job is in the public sector a. competency focus
b. goal focus
45. Though commonly used, trait-focused performance c. task focus
appraisal instruments are not a good idea for several d. trait focus
reasons. Which of the following would be one of the
most important reasons? 52. The most common method of employee
a. they are hard to construct comparison is the ___________ method.
b. employees hate them a. paired comparison
c. they provide poor feedback b. forced distribution
d. all of these are major problems c. rank order
d. behavioral anchored rating scale
46. The most common type of rating scale is the _______
scale. 53. If managers allow their performance ratings of one
a. behavioral anchored rating employee to affect their performance ratings of
b. behavioral observation

Reference: Aamodt M.; Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Eighth Edition (2015)
 I/O Psychology Rational Notes

another employee, they have committed a _______ b. contrast

error. c. the recency effect
a. strictness d. infrequent observations
b. carry over
c. contrast 60. An employee’s ratings on the dimension of
d. proximity dependability are highly correlated with all of the
other performance appraisal dimensions. Which type
54. __________ ratings have been successful in of rating error may be occurring?
predicting future success of promoted employees a. central tendency error
but/and are __________ in organizations. b. strictness error
a. customer and subordinate/seldom used c. halo error
b. peer/seldom used d. proximity error
c. self-appraisal/seldom used
d. self-appraisal/often used 61. Amy works at a bank that is trying to get customers
to apply for vehicle loans. As hard as Amy tries, she is
55. Quality of work is usually measured in terms of unsuccessful because the bank’s loan rates are not
__________ which are defined as deviations from a very competitive. When evaluating Amy’s
standard. performance, her supervisor must consider the loan
a. errors rates as ___________.
b. relevant job behaviors a. modifier
c. attendance b. halo factor
d. all of those c. source of contamination
d. performance dimension
56. A rating scale that uses anchors such as always,
often, and seldom is an example of which type of 62. During the performance appraisal season, HR
rating scale? noticed that Supervisor A rated all his subordinates
a. employee comparison very satisfactorily while Supervisor B’s subordinated
b. frequency failed. We can say that Supervisor A’s ratings suffers
c. expectations from __________ while Supervisor B has ___________.
d. goal a. halo errors/horn errors
b. leniency error/strictness error
57. If an employee was to produce a work product of c. proximity error/recency error
quality level above the organization’s standards, it d. central tendency error/strictness error
technically would be called ___________.
a. an error 63. Progressive discipline is especially important if a
b. self-initiative __________ employee violates a company rule.
c. good work output a. senior
d. none of these b. new
c. private sector
58. Whereas trait-focused instruments concentrate on d. poor performing
who are employee __________, task-focused
instruments focus on what an employee___________. 64. Which of the following rating scales have been
a. does/is most criticized because of their susceptibility to rating
b. is/does errors such as halo and leniency?
c. feels/believes a. behavioral anchored rating scale
d. believes/feels b. behavioral observation scale
c. graphic rating scale
59. Bob has been model employee all year except for d. forced choice rating scale
the last two to three weeks, yet, Bob’s ratings on his
performance appraisal reflect his performance during 65. Self-appraisals of performance appear to be most
this last two-week period. This type of rating boss is accurate when the purpose of the self-appraisal is for
referred to as __________. ___________.
A. strictness error a. salary increase

Reference: Aamodt M.; Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Eighth Edition (2015)
 I/O Psychology Rational Notes

b. promotions 72. A problem associated with letters of

c. administrative purposes recommendation is the lack of agreement between
d. research two people who provide references for the same
person. This lack of agreement is related to the issue
66. Which of the following performance appraisal of:
evaluators is not common or well-regarded by a. reliability
managers? b. knowledge of the applicant
a. supervisor c. leniency
b. peer d. extraneous factors
c. subordinate
d. customer 73. Which of the following is NOT true regarding the
use of grade point average for employee selection?
67. The statement, “it’s not fair to pay a poor a. GPA predicts job performance
employee the same amount of money as an excellent b. GPA predicts best in the first years after graduation
employee” exemplifies the need for accurate c. GPA has low adverse impact
performance appraisals in: d. All three are true
a. determining salary increases
b. making promotion decisions 74. Most general ability tests place the many specific
c. employee training and feedback aptitudes into one of three main dimensions. The _____
d. training needs assessment dimension includes verbal, numerical, logic, and
general learning aptitudes.
68. A problem with ________ performance statements a. cognitive
is that an employee can do everything asked of him b. developmental
by an organization and still not get the desired results c. perceptual
due to factors outside of his control. d. psychomotor
a. trait-focused
b. results-focused 75. Color discrimination, glare sensitivity, and speech
c. behavior-focused recognition are examples of ____ abilities.
d. emotion-focused a. cognitive
b. developmental
69. The process of confirming the accuracy of c. perceptual
information provided by the applicant is called a: d. psychomotor
a. reference
b. reference check 76. Tests of ____ ability might contain measures of
c. letter of recommendation finger dexterity and manual dexterity aptitudes
d. trait evaluation a. cognitive
b. developmental
70. If an employer does not check an applicant's c. perceptual
references and the applicant molests a child after d. psychomotor
being hired, the employer could be charged with:
a. negligent reference 77. Jobs such as police officer, fire fighter, and
b. defamation lifeguard, which require physical strength and
c. tort reform stamina, often use _______tests.
d. negligent hiring a. physical ability
b. mental ability
71. In a reference check over the telephone, Bob says c. general aptitude
that his former employee Ted was a real jerk and d. job knowledge
couldn't be trusted. Ted might sue Bob for:
a. negligent hiring 78. Which of the following is the least useful predictor
b. libel of future performance?
c. negligent reference a. biodata
d. slander b. interest inventories
c. assessment centers

Reference: Aamodt M.; Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Eighth Edition (2015)
 I/O Psychology Rational Notes

d. potential for legal problems

79. Which of the following has both high validity and

low adverse impact?
a. cognitive ability test
b. integrity tests
c. education
d. personality inventories

80. Which of the following have the highest level of

adverse impact?
a. cognitive ability and GPA
b. cognitive ability and integrity tests
c. integrity tests and personal inventories
d. integrity tests and GPA

Reference: Aamodt M.; Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Eighth Edition (2015)