Industrial Psychology

Learn about Occupational Psychology by Distance Education

• Study the psychology of the workplace
• Apply what you learn to be a better supervisor, manager or business operator
• Improve your skills, advance your career, improve your staff management

Develop an understanding of how the psychological state of employees in the workplace, affects both their work, and their overall well being.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Free Will versus Determinism, Developmental and Interactive Expressions of Behaviour, NATURE versus NURTURE, Influence of Environment on Learning Behaviour, Modelling and Conformity, Conditioning involves Certain Environmental Factors which Encourage Learning to Take Place, Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Reinforcement & Punishment
2. Understanding the Employees Thinking
   • Sensation and perception, thinking and day dreaming, the Gestalt approach, unconscious and conscious psychic elements. explaining behaviour, knowledge of brain processes, personal interpretation of a given situation, instinct. Terminology including: Mating, Curiosity, Maternal, Acquiring, Repulsion, Constructiveness, Rivalry, Laughter, Fighting, Walking, Swallowing, Play, Imitation, Sleep, Modesty, Domineering, Religion, Self Asserting, Sneezing, Thirst, Cleanliness, Workmanship, Parenting, Food seeking, Flight, Collecting, Sympathy.
3. Personality & Temperament
   • Mature & immature temperaments (eg. Sanguine, Melancholic, Choleric, Phlegmatic), emotional types, fear, intelligence, knowledge, deviation, etc
4. Psychological Testing
   • The Application Form; Psychological Test; The Interview; Intelligence Tests; Laws of Learning; Devising Tests; Selecting Appropriate Tests.
5. Management & Managers
   • Qualities of Managers, Understanding morale, discipline, training, etc
6. The Work Environment
   • Noise, Space, Light, Temperature, Speed of Work, etc. Accidents, Breakages, Fatigue etc.
7. Motivation and Incentives
   • Maslows model of self actualisation, Security, Money, Ambition, Companionship, Social reinforcement, Labour wastage, etc
8. Recruitment
   • Ways of seeking applicants, types of interview, ways of selecting staff.
9. Social Considerations
   • Group Behaviour, Conformity, Industrial Groups, THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT
10. Abnormalities and Disorders
    • Psychosis Neurosis Personality Disorders, Variance, Partial Disability (eg. arm.leg injuries; epilepsy, digestive disorders etc), The Psycho Neurotic.

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

What Makes a Good Manager

Managers deal with a large variety of psychological problems. The characteristics of civilised people include a capacity to discipline themselves; but some people don't properly master this.

It is necessary therefore that direction and discipline be given only by those who are capable of giving these two essentials.
Controls exerted by a person, externally by a manager, work in such a manner that they check any tendency for people to become over contented, to settle in a rut, or to take unconsidered action. It can thus be seen that managers are essential in any form of organisation.

The temperamental qualities which a manager should possess in order to carry out his duties are:

• Energy
• Forcefulness
• Enterprise
• Perseverance
• Self confidence
• Appearance
• Imagination
• Foresight
• Planning & organising ability
• Willingness to receive new ideas and ability to encourage them
• Ability to criticise
• Ability to coordinate
• Ability to see things in perspective
• Ability to persuade an carry into execution
• Ability to overcome prejudice and conservatism
• Ability to delegate
• Ability to supervise
• Be tolerant and sympathetic
• Sense of justice
• Self control
• Absence of bullying or any excessive love of power
• Ability to maintain morale, respect and confidence
• Ability to select, train and develop others

EXAMPLE OF A SET TASK

Discuss the following questions with one or two friends, and make notes of the answers you consider.

1. Discuss the environmental circumstances that you feel have affected your life.
   
2. In your opinion, to what extent are mental characteristics inherited?
   
3. 'In certain conditions, a committee may pass a resolution for which no member of the committee will hold themself responsible'. What is your interpretation of the meaning of the previous statement.
   
4. "The environment can give or withhold the requisite stimuli for the development of mental abilities". Discuss this statement.

Interview at least four people. Two of these should have a management role in a business or similar organisation. Two should be involved in a non-managerial position. Ask each of them such questions as:

• The role of morale and discipline in their workplace.
• Do they feel that they have good morale and discipline in their workplaces? Why do they think this?
• Who do they feel should be responsible for ensuring suitable levels of morale and discipline in their workplace (e.g. management, workplace groups, all employees, etc.)?
• How is morale and discipline maintained in their workplace?