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Needs Assessment (Needs Analysis)
Consists of 4 elements
1. An organization analysis to identify organizational goals and determine if training is needed to achieve these goals
2. a task (job) analysis to identify what must be done to perform the job successfully
3. a person analysis to determine which employees require training and what knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to acquire
4. a demographic analysis to identify the training needs to different groups of workers (e.g., older versus younger workers)
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Principles of Effective Training - Provide Feedback
Immediate and ongoing feedback to participants about their learning is essential for effective training. Feedback is most effective when it is provided as soon as possible after the target behavior is performed.
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Principles of Effective Training - Foster Overlearning
Promotes automaticity (the ability to perform a behavior or recall information quickly with little or no conscious attention) and occurs when an individual practices a new skill or studies material beyond the point of mastery.
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Principles of Effective Training - Provide Frequent Opportunities for Active Practice
because active learning is more effective than passive reading or listening, frequent opportunities to apply information or practice skills should be provided during training.
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Principles of Effective Training - Provide Opportunities for Distributed Practice
Practice is most effective when it is distributed (spaced) over time rather than massed at one time, and this is especially true for tasks involving motor skills or memorization.
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Principles of Effective Training - Choose the Appropriate Learning Focus
Whole learning involves presenting and practicing the entire task at once, while part learning involves initially presenting and practicing parts of the task and subsequently combining the parts.
Whole learning is most effective for tasks that are low in complexity but high in organization, while part learning is most effective for tasks that are highly complex but low in organization.
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Principles of Effective Training - Promote Transfer of Training
A training program should result in positive transfer (improvements in actual on-the-job performance), which occurs when the following conditions are met:
1. the degree of similarity between aspects of the learning and performance environments is maximized (i.e., identical elements are provided)
2. general rules and principles are taught in addition to specific skills
3. training includes exposure to a variety of examples and other relevant stimuli
4. the skills acquired in training are subsequently reinforced and support on the job.
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Methods of training - On-the-job techniques
most widely used
advantages are they permit active participation and ongoing feedback, they have obvious job relevance, and they provide maximum opportunities for transfer of training
Ex: internships, apprenticeships, mentoring, Job rotation, cross-training
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Methods of training - On-the-job techniques - Job Rotation and Cross-Training
involves having trainees perform several jobs over time and is ordinarily used to train managers, while cross training entails teaching workers tasks and activities that are performed in several similar job
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Methods of training - Off-the-job techniques
provide more opportunities to focus on and practice specific job elements, to provide supplemental information, and to use professional trainers, and they have sufficient flexibility to tolerate learning errors.
Disadvantages - low trainee motivation, restricted transfer of training, and higher costs due to time off the job.
Include lectures, conferences, computer-assisted instruction, vestibule training, and behavioral modeling
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Methods of training - Off-the-job techniques - Vestibule Training
Makes use of a physical replication or simulation of the work environment and is useful when the on-the-job training would be too costly or dangerous
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Methods of training - Off-the-job techniques - Behavioral Modeling
Based on Bandura's social-cognitive theory, which proposes that learning is facilitated when a person observes a skilled worker perform the target behavior and is then provided with opportunities to practice the behaviors
most effective when using guided mastery - modeling of the appropriate skills by the trainer, guided skill mastery (role-playing in a simulated work environment with feedback), and self-directed application of newly acquired skills on-the-job
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Evaluation of Training Programs - Evaluation Criteria - Reaction
evaluated participants' reactions to the program (e.g., satisfaction with the training experience) and are not necessarily linked to a job performance
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Evaluation of Training Programs - Evaluation Criteria - Learning
evaluate how much participants actually learned from the training program
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Evaluation of Training Programs - Evaluation Criteria - Behavioral
assess participants' change in performance when they return to the job
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Evaluation of Training Programs - Evaluation Criteria - Results
Assess the value of the training program in terms of an organization's goals (financial or non-financial)
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Evaluation of Training Programs - Utility Analysis
Used in organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of training programs as well as other programs and procedures. It involves using a mathematical equation to derive an estimate of institutional gain or loss, typically in financial terms
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Evaluation of Training Programs - Formative and Summative Evaluation
Formative - conducted while a training program is being developed, and its results are used to make necessary modifications to the program before implemented
Summative - conducted after a program has been implemented in order to asses its outcomes and may include determining how much trainees have learned and the program's cost effectiveness.
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Training program development begins with a _________, which includes organization, task (job), ___________, and demographic analysis.
needs assessment
person
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When developing training programs, it is important to keep in mind that learning is maximized when it promotes __________ (which leads to automaticity); emphasized __________ practice; provides opportunities for ________ practice (rather than massed practiced); and promotes transfer of training by providing _________, which are similarities in the learning and performance environments.
overlearning
active
distributed
identical elements
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Job _______ is an on-the-job technique that involves having the trainee perform several jobs over time, while ________ is an off-the-job technique that makes use of simulated work conditions. Bandura recommends the use of ________, which consists of three components - modeling, skill mastery, and self-direct application
rotation
vestibule training
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Kirkpatrick distinguishes between four levels of criteria that can be used to evaluate training programs - _________, learning, behavior, and results.
reaction
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_________ analysis involves using a mathematical equation to evaluate a training program in terms of its return on investment
Utility
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The evaluation of a training program can also be described in terms of ________ evaluations, which are conducted while the program is being developed, and _________ evaluations, which are conducted after the program has been implemented.
formative
summative
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In an organization, a formative evaluation is conducted:
A.prior to developing a training program to determine what it should include.
B.during the development of a training program to identify ways to improve it.
C.to evaluate the outcomes of an existing training program on employees' job performance.
D.to determine whether a training program has had a substantial impact on organizational goals.
B
In the evaluation literature, a distinction is made between formative and summative evaluation. As its name suggests, a formative evaluation is conducted while a training program or other intervention is being "formed" (developed) and is used to determine if it needs to be modified in order to meet its goals.
Answer A: This sounds more like a needs analysis.
Answer C: A summative evaluation is conducted after a program or intervention has been developed and delivered to evaluate its effectiveness.
Answer D: Results criteria assess the impact of a training program on organizational goal
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A psychologist relying on Bandura's social cognitive theory would most likely recommend which of the following training approaches?
A.Train-then-place
B.Programmed instruction
C.Job rotation
D.Behavioral modeling
D
Bandura proposed that people learn by watching others and, consequently, would agree that behavioral modeling is a useful training strategy.
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As an organizational psychologist, you would conduct a needs analysis in order to:
A.evaluate the organizational outcomes of a training program.
B.determine if employee training would resolve a company's production problems.
C.determine if an employment procedure is having an adverse impact.
D.compare the incremental validity of two or more selection procedures.
B
An initial goal of needs analysis is to determine whether or not production problems are actually due to deficiencies on the part of workers and, therefore, whether or not training would be an effective solution to those problems.
Answer A: Results criteria may be used to evaluate the organizational outcomes of a training program.
Answer C: Adverse impact occurs when the use of an employment procedure discriminates against members of a legally protected group. There are multiple methods to determine whether an employment procedure is having an adverse impact, such as the 80% rule, differential validity, and unfairness.
Answer D: Incremental validity refers to the increase in decision-making accuracy an employer will achieve by using a certain predictor to make selection decisions. A predictor's incremental validity (decision-making accuracy) is affected by its validity coefficient, the selection ratio, and the base rate.
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Vestibule training is useful:
A.when errors that might occur during on-the-job training would be too costly or dangerous.
B.for training newly hired employees who lack basic educational skills.
C.for determining which job best fits a job applicant's abilities.
D.when employees are being considered for promotion into managerial-level positions.
A
Vestibule training is an off-the-job technique that uses a physical simulation of the job environment and equipment and is useful when on-the-job training would be too costly or dangerous.
Answer B: A needs assessment may be utilized to determine the educational skills newly hired workers need to acquire.
Answer C: Worker-oriented methods of job analysis provide information about the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics ("KSAOs") that a worker needs to perform the job successfully. The KSAOs can be used to determine which job best fits a job applicant's abilities.
Answer D: Assessment centers are useful when employees are being considered for promotion into managerial-level positions.
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An organizational psychologist will most likely apply the concept of "identical elements" originally proposed by Thorndike and Woodworth (1901) to which of the following?
A.Job redesign
B.Employee selection
C.Criterion development
D.Employee training
D
According to Thorndike and Woodworth (1901), transfer of training is maximized when there are identical elements (similarities) in the learning and performance settings. Research on Thorndike and Woodworth's theory has supported the importance of providing identical elements for transfer of training.
Answer A: Job enrichment and job enlargement are both types of job redesign. Job enrichment gives an employee more higher-level tasks, while job enlargement increases the number and variety of tasks.
Answer B: Employee selection procedures are typically used in the hiring, placement, training, and promotion of employees.
Answer C: In Industrial Organizational Psychology, job analysis is typically used for criterion development. A job analysis is a systematic method for collecting the information needed to describe job requirements.
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