Industrial Psychology

Study Industrial Psychology and learn about organisations, employee performance, motivation, staff selection and more. Professional development for supervisors, managers, personnel staff and more. Learn from our highly experienced tutors.

Course Code: BPS103
Fee Code: S2
Duration (approx) Duration (approx) 100 hours
Qualification Statement of Attainment
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Industrial Psychology training course by Distance Learning - understand more about organisations, employee performance, and motivation

Understand the psychology of organisations, how they work and the psychology of getting the best out of your staff and yourself.

 By understanding the thought processes that take place in the minds of people at work, a manager or supervisor can develop empathy for their staff, and apply this empathy to the way they manage the workplace. Learn about:

  • Workplace conditions

  • Effects of management

  • Motivation and incentives

  • Social effects

  • Psychological conditions

  • Recruitment and more

Understand how people think at work. Develop skills to be a better manager, supervisor or employer.

This course is suitable for -

This course is suitable for anyone working in organisations, employing and managing staff, recruiting and training staff.

Study to improve your job or career prospects. This is a great course for those already working and wanting to improve their knowledge and skills or for people wanting to start working in organisations.

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 (e.g. 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
    • Maslow's 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 (e.g. 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.

Aims

  • Discuss basic concepts that may be relevant to understanding industrial psychology.
  • Identify similarities and differences that occur in the way different employees perceive their workplace.
  • Discuss the effect of personality and temperament upon industrial psychology.
  • Identify applications for psychological testing in industrial management.
  • Discuss the psychology of management.
  • Identify ways that the work environment might impact upon the psychology of people in a workplace.
  • Explain how motivation influences work productivity.
  • Discuss the application of psychology to recruitment.
  • Explain the impact of social factors upon work productivity.
  • Discuss the significance of psychological disorders or abnormalities in a workplace.

How Do Workers Think?

 

The activity of thinking is a mental condition that arises when one is faced with a difficulty or a problem. There is another activity which is a close ally to this type of thinking: the type of thinking that does not necessarily involve a problem. Here the consciousness is allowed to wander into its own unconscious desires. This is called "day dreaming" and is usually a natural form of escape from some condition which is not welcomed by the consciousness, or to escape to a stimulus desired by the physical. This phenomenon does not require any real conscious thinking, and day dreams are of little practical value, with the exception of those cases where their recurrence can incite the dreamer to use extra effort to make the day dreams come to fruition. 

This is however divorced from the real activity of thinking, which we will now consider. Take one case of an electrical engineer who has to design an electrical installation. He will need to ponder such questions as-the type of materials available, space, the required light output, and the cost. He will consciously think of the job involved, bringing all of his past experience to bear on it. Similarly, a student who is faced with a problem, which is preventing or delaying the completion of an answer, must use his brains to seek a way around difficulties that hinder progress.

Considering the Worker

When a psychologist studies a patient, he does not consider present factors, such as environment alone. He must also take account of his patient's early environment and its effects on the present outlook of the patient. Such is also the case in Industrial psychology. If we wish to discover such things as "What makes a worker accident prone?" "Why is he a low producer?" and "Why does he cause so much wastage?" Then we must study the worker against his working background, both past and present.

The most important aspect is "accidents and their cause". This is extremely important, because there are serious production losses as well as damage and suffering to the injured.

Where accidents are a common occurrence, over a period of time there is a tendency for the work force to regard accidents as inevitable. This is a fatalistic attitude which must be overcome by the management. This can only be done by teaching the correct safety measures and insisting that they be carried out. In South Africa there is an act - The machinery and Occupational Safety Act, which was enacted in 1983. This act provides for safety representatives in each working place, safety committees and safety officers. it is beyond the scope of this course to go into detail regarding this act, because this falls within the realm of Labour Relations. The student, would however, be well advised to obtain a copy of this act from the Government Stationer.

The length of work periods is a deciding factor with regard to accidents. It has been shown in many experiments both in Europe and the United States of America that as a shift continues fatigue continues to increase. The optimum period for work of a monotonous nature is two hours. After such a length of time a rest period of a few minutes should be allowed. Where concentrated work is required to be carried out for a period of four hours or more it has been proved by experiment and observation that most accidents occur towards the middle and end of the work period, when both mental and physical fatigue begin to take their toll. It has been proved that music played during the work period can have a soothing effect and actually eliminate fatigue and boredom. The music should, however, be provided with a level diffusion so that one part of the workroom is not subjected to a cacophony of sound while workers in others parts of the workroom are unconsciously straining their ears to catch the theme.This course helps develop knowledge and skills for anyone involved in workplace situations, such as managers, supervisors, small business owners, union representatives, etc.

Find out more about this and other topics relating to industrial psychology by taking this course.

What This Course Could Do For You

The study of industrial, organisational or occupational psychology is applicable to all workplaces, since it is concerned with the health and well-being of employees and how this relates to productivity, it can be of value to business owners as much as psychologists who advise businesses on better practices.

This course covers a wide range of workplace issues so that graduates will be adept in their understanding of the influence of the physical environment, personality and motivation of employees, the value of psychological testing, and the behaviour of work groups.

This course is most likely to appeal to people in the following fields:

  • Occupational psychology

  • Personnel management

  • Business coaching

  • Business management

  • Team leadership

  • Business ownership

  • Entrepreneurship

  • Workplace training

 

ACS is an Organisational Member of the Association for Coaching (UK).
ACS is an Organisational Member of the Association for Coaching (UK).
ACS is a Member of the Complementary Medicine Association.
ACS is a Member of the Complementary Medicine Association.
Member of Study Gold Coast Education Network.
Member of Study Gold Coast Education Network.
ACS Global Partner - Affiliated with colleges in seven countries around the world.
ACS Global Partner - Affiliated with colleges in seven countries around the world.
Since 1999 ACS has been a recognised member of IARC (International Approval and Registration Centre). A non-profit quality management organisation servicing education.
Since 1999 ACS has been a recognised member of IARC (International Approval and Registration Centre). A non-profit quality management organisation servicing education.
 Principal John Mason is a member of the ANZMH. ACS Students are invited to join
Principal John Mason is a member of the ANZMH. ACS Students are invited to join

How can I start this course?

You can enrol at anytime and start the course when you are ready. Enrolments are accepted all year - students can commence study at any time. All study is self paced and ACS does not set assignment deadlines.

Please note that if a student is being assisted by someone else (e.g. an employer or government subsidy), the body offering the assistance may set deadlines. Students in such situations are advised to check with their sponsor prior to enrolling. The nominal duration of a course is approximately how long a course takes to complete. A course with a nominal duration of 100 hours is expected to take roughly 100 hours of study time to complete. However, this will vary from student to student. Short courses (eg. 100 hrs duration) should be completed within 12 months of enrolment. Certificates, Advanced Certificates and Awards (eg. over 500 hours duration) would normally be completed within 3 -5 years of enrolment. Additional fees may apply if a student requires an extended period to complete.
If a student cannot submit their assignments for 6 months to ACS, they should advise the school to avoid cancellation of their student
registration. Recommencement fees may apply.

Simply click on the ENROL OPTIONS button at the top of this screen and follow the prompts.

You can see the course price at the top of this page. Click 'enrolment options' to see any payment options available.

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We also have Afterpay that will allow you to pay for your course or payment plans in four instalments (if you are in Australia).


What do I need to know before I enrol?

There are no entry requirements that you need to meet to enrol in our courses, our courses are for everyone.
If you are under 18, we need written permission from your parent/ guardian for your enrolment to continue, we can arrange that after you have enrolled.

You don’t need to purchase any additional resources to complete our courses.

We aim to teach you the essentials without you having to purchase any specific computer program.
We recommend that you have access to a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, so that you can easily complete and submit your assignments.

You sure can. We are here to help you learn whatever your abilities.

Yes, if you are enrolling in a Certificate or Advanced Certificate, you might be eligible for credits if you have evidence of your previous studies or relevant experience. More information is here.

We recommend that you are able to browse websites, send emails and conduct online research. You will need to be able to type and submit your assignments.
If you have limited computer skills, we can make special arrangements for you.

This is possible, it depends on the institution. We recommend that if you would like to use our courses that you contact the institution first. Our Course Handbook is a good resource for this.

Our courses are written in English and we only have English speaking academic staff. If you can read and complete your assignments in English, our courses are ideal for you.

Our courses are designed to build knowledge, hands on skills and industry connections to help prepare you to work in the area, running your own business, professional development or as a base for further study.

This course has been designed to cover the fundamentals of the topic. It will take around 100 hours to complete, which includes your course reading, assignment work, research, practical tasks, watching videos and anything else that is contained in the course. Our short courses are a great way to do some professional development or to learn a new skill.

It’s up to you. The study hours listed in the course are a rough guide, however if you were to study a short course (100 hours) at 10 hours per week, you could finish the course in 10 weeks (just an example). Our courses are self-paced, so you can work through the courses in your own time. We recommend that you wait for your tutor to mark and return your assignment before your start your next one, so you get the benefits of their feedback.

The course consists of course notes, videos, set tasks for your practical work, online quizzes, an assignment for each lesson (that you receive feedback from your tutor from) and ends in an exam (which is optional, if would like to receive the formal award at the end), using our custom built Learning Management System - Login.Training.

Our courses are designed for adults to gain professional development and skills to further their careers and start businesses.

Our custom online learning portal allows you to conduct your learning online. There may be practical tasks that you can do offline. You have the option of downloading your course notes or print them to read later.

There is also the option to pay an additional fee for printed course notes and or USB (availability limited to location and deliverability).

Yes, if you don’t have access to the internet, you can receive the course as paper notes or on a USB stick for an additional fee. We can also make alternative arrangements for you to send your assignments to us.

We offer printed notes for an additional fee. Also, you can request your course notes on a USB stick for an additional fee.

Yes, your tutor is here to help you. Simply post any questions you have in your login.training portal or contact the office and we can pass on a message to your tutor.

We are more learning focussed, rather than assessment focussed. You have online quizzes to test your learning, written assignments and can complete an exam at the end of the course (if you want to receive your certificate). You will not receive a pass/ fail on your course work. If you need to add more details on your assignment, we will ask you to resubmit and direct you where you need to focus. If you need help, you can ask your tutor for advice in the student room.

Each module (short course) is completed with one exam.

Exams are optional, however you must sit an exam if you would like to receive a formal award. You will need to find someone who can supervise that you are sitting the exams under exams conditions. There is an additional cost of $60 incl. GST for each exam.
More information is here

There are practical components built into the course that have been designed to be achieved by anyone, anywhere. If you are unable to complete a task for any reason, you can ask your tutor for an alternative.

When you complete the course work and the exam and you will be able receive your course certificate- a Statement of Attainment. Otherwise, you can receive a Letter of Completion.

You can bundle the short courses to create your own customised learning bundle, Certificates or Advanced Certificates. More information is on this page.

Yes, our courses are built to be applicable for people living anywhere in any situation. We provide the fundamentals, and each student can apply their own unique flair for their own interests, region and circumstances with the one-on-one guidance of a tutor. There is also a bit of student directed research involved.

Employers value candidates with industry skills, knowledge, practical skills and formal learning. Our courses arm you with all of these things to help prepare you for a job or start your own business. The longer you study the more you will learn.

ACS has an arrangement with OAMPS (formerly AMP) who can arrange Professional Indemnity from Australian and New Zealand graduates across all disciplines. Ph: 1800 222 012 or email acs@oamps.com.au.


Who are ACS Distance Education?

ACS Distance Education have been educating people for over 40 years.

We are established and safe- we have been in education for over 40 years.
We are focused on developing innovative courses that are relevant to you now and what you will need to know in the future.
We are focused on helping you learn and make the most of your experience.
You can enrol at any time, you can work on your course when it suits you and at your own pace.
We are connected to many industry bodies and our staff participate in continuous improvement and learning activities to ensure that we are ahead of what learning is needed for the future.

Our courses are not accredited by the Australian Government. However many of our courses are recognised and held in high regard by many industry bodies.

Our courses are written by our staff, who all have many years experience and have qualifications in their speciality area. We have lots of academic staff who write and update our courses regularly.


How do I enrol my staff/ sponsored students?

Yes, you can do a request for a bulk enrolment and request an invoice on our Invoice Request Form

We can prepare an invoice, quote or proforma invoice. Simply complete your details on our Invoice Request form

We can arrange bulk discounts for your course enrolment, please get in touch with us to discuss your needs.

Yes, we have many students who are in locked facilities, such as prisons or hospitals. We can cater by also offering paper notes at an additional cost.


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Course Contributors

The following academics were involved in the development and/or updating of this course.

Jacinda Cole (Psychologist)

Psychologist, Educator, Author, Psychotherapist.
B.Sc., Psych.Cert., M. Psych. Cert.Garden Design, MACA
Jacinda has over 25 years of experience in psychology, in both Australia and England. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and a Masters in Psychology (Clinical) and also trained in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the London Centre for Psychotherapy. She has co-authored several psychology text books and many courses including diploma and degree level courses in psychology and counselling. Jacinda has worked for ACS for over 10 years.

Kate Gibson

Kate has 12 years experience as a marketing advisor and experience as a project manager. Kate has traveled and worked in a variety of locations including London, New Zealand and Australia. Kate has a B.Soc.Sc, Post-Grad. Dip. Org Behaviour (HR).

Tracey Jones (Psychologist)

B.Sc. (Psych), M.Soc.Sc., Dip.Social Work, P.G.Dip Learning Disability, Cert Editing, Cert Creative Writing, PGCE.
Member British Psychological Society, Member Assoc. for Coaching, Member British Learning Assoc.
25 years industry experience in writing, editing, education, psychology, and business. Tracey has several books and hundreds of articles published; in both fiction and non fiction.

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