Industrial Organizational Psychology

(Proficiency Test)

1. People under stress do all of the following except:

A. abuse alcohol
B. become more cynical
C. increase productivity
D. miss work

2. Based on your text, newspaper advertisements typically ask the applicant

to respond in one of four ways. Which of the following is NOT one of the four
ways?

A. Apply in person
B. Contact a recruiter
C. Send a resume to a blind box
D. Send resume directly to the organization

3. Which of the following relaxation techniques is designed to calm the

emotions?

A. Time management
B. Progressive muscle relaxation
C. Meditation
D. Abdonimal breathing

4. Which of the following training methods has an employee perform several

different jobs within an organization?

A. Pass through programs

B. simulation
C. Job rotation
D. Apprentice training

5. People using the ________ zone are approximately 18 inches away from a
person.

A. personal distance
B. public distance
C. social distance
D. intimacy

6. The statistical method most commonly used in a salary equity study is:

A. chi-square
B. regression
C. nominal analysis
D. analysis of variance
7. The gathering, analyzing, and structuring of information about a job’s
components, characteristics, and requirementss is a process called:

A. surveying
B. task analysis
C. job analysis
D. job description

8. A researcher sent a survey containing 5 questions to a sample of 500

employees. The wording was easy to understand and the researcher offered a
financial incentive yet few employees returned the survey. What might be the
reason for this low response?

A. The easy to understand wording

B. The use of a financial incentive
C. The number of questions
D. None of the three is a reasonable explanation

9. When an organization determines where it wants to be when compared with

the compensation policies of other organizations, they are determining their:

A. external equity
B. rank order
C. market position
D. compensation structure

10. How many paragraphs does the typical cover letter contain?

A. Four
B. Five
C. Three
D. One

11. In which decade were the Hawthorne studies published.

A. 1960s
B. 1920s
C. 1980s
D. 1930s

12. According the Situational Leadership Theory, the most effective leader
behavior to use on staff who are unable and unwilling to do a job is:

A. supporting
B. coaching
C. delegating
D. directing
13. Some people claim to be “night people” and others claim to be “morning
people.” This is an issue most related to:

A. circadian rhythms
B. individual differences in employees
C. shift rotation
D. fixed shift work

14. If you were to develop a test to determine who would be most satisfied
with their jobs, you would probably develop a test that would identify people
with a high level of:

A. Type B personality
B. internal locus of control
C. introversion
D. social mistrust

15. Four bank tellers are working side-by-side. This arrangement will result in:

A. audience effects
B. social inhibition
C. social facilitation
D. coaction effects

16. Janet is perceived by her dining room manager, Sarah, as the best
waitress who ever worked for her. Naturally, Janet’s ratings on her
performance appraisal are all high. Tom, on the other hand, is an average
waiter; yet, after evaluating Janet, Sarah’s ratings of Tom are below average.
This type of rating error is referred to as:

A. contrast error
B. preference error
C. proximity error
D. halo error

17. Once task statements have been written, the next step is to:

A. rate the task statements

B. interview incumbents
C. determine essential KSAOs
D. select tests to tap KSAOs

18. A test asking questions about sexual orientation or belief in God might be
illegal due to:

A. tort law
B. low reliability
C. invasion of privacy
D. adverse impact
19. At what level of input and control should a new employee be placed?

A. Advisory
B. Ownership of own product
C. Participative
D. Following

20. Having trainees evaluate how much they learned from and enjoyed a
training program taps which of the following criteria?

A. Employee reactions
B. Employee learning
C. Content validity
D. Application of training

21. Gertrude is writing job descriptions and can’t decide whether she should
include “getting coffee for the boss” as a task. Her decision is related to the
issue of:

A. the DOT Code

B. formal vs. Informal requirements
C. the Peter Principle
D. level of specificity

22. The psychological and physical reaction to certain events or situations is

called.

A. stress
B. eustress
C. stressors
D. strain

23. If an employee was to produce a work product of a quality level above the
organization’s standards,it technically would be called ___________.

A. good worker output

B. an error
C. self initiative
D. none of these

24. An organization requires its manager to “get away” for a few days and
participate in a training program designed to increase their effectiveness as
managers. Following the training program, managers often feel the training
program was worthwhile; however, it is not uncommon for these managers to
return to their operations and perform their old habits while ignoring the
recently presented principles. This scenario is related to the issue of:

A. massed practice
B. transfer of training
C. distributed practice
D. feedback

25. To create a good atmosphere for change, it is important for an

organization to create:

A. a sense of the “good old days”

B. a way to hide the change from doubters
C. dissatisfaction with the current system
D. none of the three is a good idea

26. The use of _______ best distinguishes I/O psychology from related fields
taught in business colleges

A. consultants
B. statistics
C. intuition
D. psychology principles

27. Employees who are paid for learning specialized skills are participants in a
______ skill plan.

A. basic
B. horizontal
C. depth
D. vertical

28. Which of the following is not a component of a core self-evaluation?

A. Self-efficacy
B. Self-monitoring
C. Self-esteem
D. Locus of control

29. People who become leaders because they enjoy being in charge are high
in ______ motivation.

A. social normative
B. extrinsic
C. affective identify
D. noncalulative

30. Which of the following leadership styles is high in both person and task
orientation?

A. Impoverished
B. Country club
C. Theory X
D. Team
31. San Antonio, Texas, has a system in which the names of the top three
applicants for promotion are submitted to the Chief of Police who then selects
one of the three to be the new Captain. This system uses:

A. top down selection

B. a passing score
C. the rule of three
D. banding

32. The extent to which the rewards, salary, and benefits received by
employees are perceived to be consistent with their efforts and performance is
called ________ fit.

A. needs-supplies
B. demands-abilities
C. needs-abilities
D. person-organization

33. Tests of ________ determine if individuals have serious psychological

problems such as depression and bipolar disorder.

A. psychometrics
B. integrity
C. character
D. psychopathology

34. Rating a potential source of frustration on a scale of 1 to 10 is an example

of:

A. rampant diffusion
B. forecasting
C. perspective talking
D. residual stress

35. Punishments and rewards will work best if most absenteeism is caused
by:

A. personal problems
B. illness
C. unique events
D. decision-making

36. In _______, a neutral outside party listens to the arguments of both sides
in a conflict and then makes a decision that each side must accept.

A. Nonbinding arbitration
B. Binding arbitration
C. Nonbinding arbitration
D. Binding mediation
37. Feedback is most effective when it focuses on an employee’s ________
and the supervisor explains how the behavior impacts _________.

A. personality / the employee

B. personality / others
C. behavior / others
D. behavior / the employee

38. Lona gives her employees attention, smiles at them, and nods her head in
approval when they perform well. She is using _______ to motivate her
employees.

A. social learning
B. valence
C. social recognition
D. equity

39. Research has indicated that employees referred by successful employee

had _________ than did employees who had been referred by unsuccessful
employees.

A. shorter tenure
B. lower motivation
C. higher motivation
D. longer tenure

40. Which of the following tips is probably not conducive to effective listening?

A. Make eye contact with the speaker

B. Let the other person finish speaking
C. Judging what the speaker is saying
D. Removing distractions

41. Because many employees provide elder care, approximately _______ of

organizations provide company-sponsored elder care referral services and
____ provide a company-sponsored elder care facility, to help alleviate stress
to their employees.

A. 5% / 1%
B. 50% / 50%
C. 20% / 1%
D. 80% / 75%

42. Using ________ are perhaps the easiest method of person analysis.

A. surveys
B. performance appraisal scores
C. interviews
D. skill and knowledge tests
43. I/O psychology made its first major impact in:

A. the Antebellum Period

B. the Hawthorne Studies
C. World War I
D. World War II

44. If a disability keeps a person from performing the _________ of a job, the
person does not have to be hired or retained.

A. remote functions
B. essential functions
C. marginal functions
D. standard functions

45. Which of the following is NOT a factor that will affect I/O psychology in the
next decade?

A. Global warming
B. All 3 will affect I/O psychology
C. Increases in technology
D. Global economy

46. Discussing an employees’ strengths and weaknesses on the job is

characteristic of _________ to training.

A. a coaching approach
B. a role playing approach
C. a performance appraisal approach
D. none of these approach

47. A one-sided argument is better than a two sided argument when the
person being persuaded:

A. has no information about the idea

B. has no opinion about the idea
C. is positive and receptive about an idea
D. is negative and unaccepting of an idea

48. A job analysis is typically conducted by:

A. job incumbents
B. supervisors
C. outside consultant
D. the human resource department

49. A training program that has experienced workers temporarily assigned to

the assigned to the training department is called a(n) ________.

A. pass-through programs
B. apprenticeship programs
C. job enlargement programs
D. none of these is correct

50. ________ refers to the extent to which group members like and trust one
another.

A. Group homogeneity
B. Stability of membership
C. Group status
D. Group cohesiveness

51. After conducting a job evaluation we find that Bob is underpaid by $2,000
and Bill is overpaid by $2,000. We would probably:

A. give Bob a raise and leave Bill’s salary alone

B. give Bob a raise and lower Bill’s salary
C. redo the job evaluation
D. not do anything

52. With ________ employees are given more tasks to do at one time,
whereas _______ means that an employee performs the same number of
tasks at one particular time and then moves on to other tasks for a specified
time.

A. job enlargement / job enrichment

B. job enlargement / job rotation
C. job enrichment / job rotation
D. job rotation / job enlargement

53. An employee who inquires about his/her level of pay compared to other
employees within the same organization in addressing the issue of
__________.

A. external equity
B. comparable worth
C. merit
D. internal equity

54. According to a meta-analysis by Griffeth and his colleagues (2000),

absenteeism and turnover are:

A. moderately correlated (r = .21)

B. highly correlated (r = .76)
C. almost perfectly correlated (r = .95)
D. not really related (r = .03)

55. Because it is not uncommon for applicants to engage in resume fraud,

references and letters of recommendation are used to:
A. confirm details on a resume
B. check for discipline problems
C. discover new applicant information
D. check for outside interests and habits

56. Whatever the method used, a simulation exercise can only be effective if it
_________.

A. produces job related behaviors

B. has a high level of face validity
C. is designed by a trained professional
D. simulates actual job conditions

57. The first step in an outplacement program should probably be:

A. career assessment
B. financial counseling
C. emotional counseling
D. help in learning interview skills

58. Which of the following contain articles usually written by professional

writers who have little expertise in a given field?

A. Magazines and journals

B. Journals
C. Magazines
D. None of these is correct

59. Lilly is working on a group project with three other students. The project is
going great so Lilly decides to reduce her effort. The theory that best explains
her social loafing is:

A. distraction
B. sucker-effect
C. individual dominance
D. free-rider

60. Maria is under a great deal of stress. What vitamin supplement would we
recommend for her?

A. Vitamin B
B. Vitamin C
C. Vitamin A
D. Vitamin E

61. If an employee is to be terminated, when is the best time to inform the

employee?

A. Monday afternoon
B. Friday morning
C. Friday afternoon
D. The day doesn’t really matter

62. The _______ are (is) used to determine the amount of money that an
organization would save if it used a particular test in place of the test it
currently uses to select employees.

A. Expectancy charts
B. Taylor-Russell Table
C. Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser formula
D. Lawshe tables

63. Most incidents of workplace violence are the result of:

A. another crime being committed

B. angry employees who were fired
C. jilted lovers
D. violence against law enforcement personnel

64. Role _______ is when our work expectations and what we think we should
be doing don’t match the work we actually have to do.

A. ambiguity
B. conflict
C. overload
D. synchronization

65. A leader with a ______ style of leadership would function best in a climate
of ignorance.

A. information
B. magnetic
C. position
D. affiliation

66. A difficult worker obsessed with completing a task quickly is classified as a

_______, whereas one who dominates conversations and does not listen to
other’s ideas is a

A. know-it-all / tank
B. sniper / know it all
C. tank / sniper
D. tank / know-it-all

67. Which of the following assessment center techniques allows the applicant
to demonstrate such attributes as creatively, decision making, and ability to
work with others?

A. In-basket technique
B. Out-basket technique
C. Simulations
D. Business games

68. People who like to make decisions and take charge run into problems
when they are hired by an organization that is team oriented. This trouble is
probably the results of?

A. a lack of person-organization fit

B. role ambiguity
C. role synchronization
D. role overload

69. Which of the following statement probably refers to a problem associated

with an “open door” policy rather than serial communication?

A. The physical distance reduced accuracy

B. Potential for excessive communication
C. Message content is often modified
D. Bad news is seldom relayed

70. There is a ______ correlation between how well employees liked a training
program and how much they learned.

A. moderate (r = .40)
B. large (r = .80)
C. small (r = .02)
D. almost perfect (r = .94)

71. ________ is the extent to which a score from a test is stable and free from
error.

A. Psychometrics
B. Validity
C. Reliability
D. Stratification

72. Which of the following incentive plans is not a group incentive plan?

A. Gainsharing
B. Profit sharing
C. Merit pay
D. stock options

73. Tests that are designed to measure how much someone already knows
rather than how much someone is capable of knowing are referred to as:

A. interest inventory
B. knowledge tests
C. aptitude tests
D. personality tests
74. Which job satisfaction scale asks employees to rate the importance of a
facet as well as their level of satisfaction with the facet?

A. Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire

B. Nagy Job Satisfaction Scale
C. Job in General Scale
D. Job Descriptive Index

75. Which of the following have the highest level of adverse impact?

A. Integrity tests and GPA

B. Integrity tests and personality inventories
C. Cognitive ability and integrity tests
D. Cognitive ability and GPA

76. Which of the following sections in a job description can affect a person’s
perceptions of the status and worth of a job?

A. job title
B. brief summary
C. work activities
D. work context

77. When employees feel stressed and take a “mental health day,” they:

A. actually have an increase in stress

B. have no decrease in stress
C. have a short-term decrease in stress
D. have a long-term decrease in stress

78. A researcher concludes that the greater an employee’s job satisfaction,

the fewer days of work he misses. This is an example of a:

A. positive correlation
B. insignificant correlation
C. negative correlation
D. bivariate correlation

79. Janice sends all of her new employees to a self-esteem workshop. She
must believe in _________.

A. consistency theory
B. equity theory
C. expectancy theory
D. social learning theory

80. Which of the affirmative action strategies would involve an employer

changing the company policy or the way an organization is decorated?
A. Identification of discriminatory practices
B. Recruitment of minority applicants
C. Recruiting through employee referrals
D. Preferential hiring and promotion of minorities

81. Fred’s parent tell him to try his best in college. Fred’s first semester GPA is
1.8 and his parents are mad. What was wrong with the goal set for Fred?

A. It was not general enough

B. It was not specific
C. It was too high
D. Fred did not help set the goal

82. A revised version of the Position Analysis Questionnaire which is used by

a job analyst rather than a job incumbent is the:

A. Job Components Inventory

B. Jo Structure Profile
C. Job Element Inventory
D. AET

83. You would like to hire employees who will not miss work. Your best bet
would be to hire applicants who score high on the personality dimension of:

A. extroversion
B. conscientiousness
C. neuroticism
D. agreeableness

84. The statement “It’s not fair to pay a poor employee the same amount of
money as an excellent employee” exemplifies the need for accurate
performance appraisal in:

A. training needs assessment

B. determining salary increases
C. making promotion decisions
D. employee training and feedback

85. _________ is the systematic acquisition of skills, rules, concepts, or

attitudes that result in improved performance.

A. Training
B. Stress management
C. Motivation
D. Job analysis

86. The resume that most takes advantage of such principles as primacy,
priming, and short-term memory limits is the _________ resume.

A. chronological
B. premordal
C. psychological
D. functional

87. Compared to Ph.D.’s master’s level graduates are less often employed by:

A. the public sector

B. consulting firms
C. universities
D. the private industry

88. If an employment practice results in adverse impact, the employer needs

to demonstrate that the employment practice is _________ or exempt from
adverse impact.

A. really not as bad as the statistics assert

B. job related
C. a historical practice
D. reliable

89. To compute a band, one needs the:

A. standard error
B. validity
C. F ratio
D. mean

90. The Civil Rights Act has also been interpreted by the courts to cover such
issues as sexual harassment, age harassment, and race harassment. These
issues are related to the organization’s:

A. hiring practices
B. atmosphere
C. structure
D. policies

91. The extent to which tests or test items sample what they are supposed to
measure is related to the measure’s ________ validity.

A. criterion
B. content
C. concurrent
D. construct

92. I/O Psychology is a branch of psychology that _______ in the workplace.

A. applies the principles of psychology

B. provides therapy to employees
C. treats psychological disorders
D. all of these equally define I/O psychology
93. Poorly substantiated information is known as:

A. rumor
B. probability
C. gossip
D. noise

94. Which of the following factors would suggest that making a favorable first
impression is important?

A. Nonverbal cues
B. Negative information bias
C. Primacy effects
D. Contrast effects

95. A ______ implies that each person in the population has an equal chance
of being selected.

A. random sample
B. convenience assignment
C. random assignment
D. convenience sample

96. Job _____ refers to giving an employee more tasks to do at one time; job
_______ refers to giving an employee the same number of tasks to perform at
any one time but different tasks from time to time; job _______ refers to giving
employees more responsibility for performing their jobs.

A. enrichment / rotation / enlargement

B. enlargement / rotation / enrichment
C. rotation / enlargement / enrichment
D. enrichment / enlargement / rotation

97. Andrea conducted interviews of employees who quit their jobs with her
company. She found that the biggest reason employees were leaving is that
they couldn’t handle the stress associated with conflict with other employees.
To reduce future turnover. Andrea should develop:

A. a mediation program
B. more opportunities for advancement
C. a realistic job preview
D. a test of person-organization fit

98. Which of the following performance appraisal approaches focus on

employees’ attributes such as their dependability, assertiveness, and
friendliness?

A. Goal focus
B. Competency focus
C. Task focus
D. Trait focus

99. A _______ listener is the most likely to pay attention to nonverbal cues.

A. inclusive
B. empathic
C. leisure
D. technical

100. During flextime working hours, _____ refer(s) to the total number of
potential hours available for work each day?

A. core hours
B. bandwidth
C. flexitour hours
D. flexible hours