Curriculum for Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
[Prerequisites] [Departmental Requirements] [I/O Program Requirements] [I/O Course Descriptions]
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Applicants need to have completed15 hours in undergraduate psychology, including introductory courses in statistics and industrial/organizational psychology. If you have not met this requirement, you are still eligible to apply to our I/O Master’s program and to be accepted unconditionally. In that instance, you would simply finish completing the prerequisite course(s) here while you are enrolled in our I/O program.
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To be admitted unconditionally, a student must obtain a score of 450 or above on the quantitative section of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) AND an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00. No other test will be accepted. Applicants who do not meet the above admission requirements may be considered for conditional admission, if there are special circumstances. Such exceptions are rare, and in fact, over the past several years no applicant who was below either of those two minimum scores has been admitted to the program.
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If admitted conditionally, attain a 3.25 GPA in the first 12 required classroom graduate hours.
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Complete a total of 46 semester hours including PSY 6280–Intermediate Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, PSY 6290–Advanced Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, and PSY 6640–Thesis Research with no more than 30% of the total degree hours dual-listed as undergraduate/graduate hours (i.e., 4000/5000 level)
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Complete a minimum of 33 hours in psychology. A candidate may elect a minor of 12 hours or more or two subspecialties of 6 hours each in any other academic area approved by the graduate advisor and department chair.
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Have each of the following or appropriate equivalent represented either in undergraduate background or in the graduate program. Courses from our program which meet these requirements are listed in parentheses. These requirements can be met at either the graduate or undergraduate level.
Group measurement/testing (PSY 4260/5260–Introduction to Psychological Testing or PSY 6050–Psychological Testing).
Abnormal psychology (PSY 3230/5230–Abnormal Psychology) or personality (PSY 3590–Personality, 6020–Theories of Personality, or PSY 6030–Current Topics in Personality).
Learning (PSY 4480/5480–Learning Theories) or cognition (PSY 4040–Introduction to Cognitive Psychology, PSY 4800/5800–Cognition: Thinking and Reasoning, or PSY 6190–Advanced Cognitive Psychology).
Social (PSY 2210–Psychology of Social Behavior) or developmental (PSY 2300–Developmental Psychology, PSY 4190–Child Psychology, PSY 4210/5210–Adolescent Psychology, PSY 4610/5610–Adult Psychology and Aging, PSY 6120–Developmental Psychology: Child, PSY 6130–Developmental Psychology: Adolescent, or PSY 6410–Development Across the Lifespan).
Physiological (PSY 4240/5240–Behavioral Neuroscience or PSY 4780/5780–Human Neuropsychology), sensation and perception (PSY 4030/5030–Psychology of Sensation and Perception), or research methods (PSY 3070/5070–Research Methods).
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Be evaluated by a committee composed of psychology faculty members.
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Meet with an I/O advisor and complete a Candidacy Form. File the Candidacy Form with the Graduate Office prior to the completion of 24 credit hours.
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Successfully complete a written comprehensive examination over course work and an oral presentation of the thesis.
Industrial/Organizational Program Requirements
Prerequisite/Co-requisite
Introductory course in I/O Psychology such as:
PSY 3320 Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Required
PSY 6070 Advanced Industrial
Organizational Training and Development
PSY 6090 Practicum: Industrial/Organizational Psychology
PSY 6300 Literature Review and Reading in Psychology:
Industrial/Organizational
PSY 6320 Performance Appraisal and Job Analysis
PSY 6330 Professional Issues in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
PSY 6420 Advanced Personnel Selection and Placement
PSY 6450 Advanced Organizational Psychology
PSY 6570 Psychological Research Methods in Human Resource Management
Two of the following four courses
PSY 5290 Wage and Salary
Administration
PSY 5370 Motivation and Work Attitudes
PSY 6360 Organizational Change and Development
PSY 6380 Work Group Effectiveness
Electives (not an
inclusive list; consult advisor)
PSY 5340 Human Factors Psychology
PSY 5350 Safety Psychology
PSY 5380 Group Dynamics
PSY 6370 Organizational Skills
Students may also choose electives from other programs at MTSU (e.g., the Business MBA program and Quantitative Psychology program) to satisfy graduation requirements. This provides students with added flexibility to pursue their interests.
I/O Course Descriptions
This list contains many of the courses in the I/O program. For a
complete list of courses offered to graduate students at MTSU, consult the
graduate catalog.
Course descriptions are taken directly from the graduate catalog.
5160 Laboratory in Human Factors Psychology. One hour credit.
5260 Introduction to Psychological Testing. Three credits. Modern practices in test construction, selection, and application to classroom and guidance situations. (Student required to participate as principal and subject in administration, scoring, profiling, and in making predictions based on test results.)
5290 Wage and Salary Administration. Three credits. Analysis of theory and practice in administering compensation. Practices and issues related to job analysis, job evaluation, wage and salary administration, incentive plans, and legal considerations.
5320 Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Three credits. Applications of psychology to business and industry: employee selection, performance appraisal, training, leadership, motivation, work environment, job design, safety, and work stress.
5340 Human Factors Psychology. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 3320/5320 or consent of instructor. The process of designing for human use. Considers individual differences, visual, auditory, and tactile displays, anthropometry, illumination, noise, humans in motion, and space and environmental studies.
5350 Safety Psychology. Three credits. Basic theories of accident causation, safety research literature, methods of accident prevention, and industrial hygiene.
5370 Motivation and Work Attitudes. Three credits. Understanding and application of motivation theories, particularly in the workplace. Emotions; work attitudes, such as job satisfaction; organizational commitment and organizational culture; effects on performance; measurement.
5380 Group Dynamics. Three credits. Functioning of groups. Includes development of group structure, group conflict, cohesion, social influence, leadership, group productivity, group decision making, and growth groups.
6040 Topics in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Three credits. Focus on practical aspects of functioning as a professional in the field. Current issues, recent developments, and less-traditional relevant areas.
6050 Psychological Testing. Three
credits. Prerequisite: PSY 3020 or equivalent. Modern practices in test
construction, selection, and application; legal guidelines, reliability, and
validity. Intelligence, abilities, interests, attitudes, values, and
personality testing. Students required to participate as examiners and
subjects in administering, scoring, profiling, and in making predictions based
on test results.
6070 Advanced Industrial Organizational Training and Development. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 3020 or equivalent. Theory and methodology used in the training and development of human resources in organizations: needs assessment, program development, program evaluation, and legal and special issues in training and development.
6090 Practicum: Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Three credits. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Supervised experience in industry, business, or government using psychological principles at a professional, applied level.
6210 Advanced Psychometrics. Three credits. Prerequisites: PSY 6050 and 6280 or equivalents. Classical test theory and item response theory. Model, assumptions, and problems of classical test theory. Mathematical model, parameter estimation, and adaptive testing procedures using item response theory. Both theories will be utilized for test construction.
6280 Intermediate Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 3020 or equivalent and satisfactory score on screening examination. Review of basic statistics; various correlation coefficients; multiple and partial correlation; simple and multiple regression. Laboratory included.
6290 Advanced Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 6280. Scientific quantification, research design, and statistical analysis from the perspective of analysis of variance: one-way, factorial, repeated measures, and mixed designs. Laboratory included.
6300 Literature Review and Reading in Psychology: Industrial/Organizational. One to three credits. Supervised literature review and/or readings on a topic of current importance in psychology. Topics and requirements obtained from individual faculty members. Specific courses may be repeated to a total of 6 credits.
6310 Independent Research in
Psychology: Industrial/Organizational. One to three credits per semester; may
be taken more than once. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Individualized empirical research and library research approved by the
instructor.
Note: 1-3 credits applicable to degree
6320 Performance Appraisal and Job Analysis. Three credits. Prerequisites: PSY 6280 or permission of instructor. Analysis of theory and practice in job analysis and performance appraisal, including legal aspects, a survey of techniques available, current research, cognitive aspects, and reliability and validity issues.
6330 Professional Issues in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. One credit. Survey of issues related to professional ethics, relevant legislation, professional affiliations, professional identity, and professional responsibilities.
6360 Organizational Change and Development. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 6450 or permission of instructor. Analysis of theory and practice of organizational change and development, process of change, organizational development (OD) interventions, and evaluation and research of OD effectiveness.
6370 Organizational Skills. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 6450 or permission of instructor. Analysis of a variety of interpersonal situations which impact organizational effectiveness and climate. Development of skills: conflict resolution, interviewing, performance feedback, effective meetings, giving recognition, discipline.
6380 Work Group Effectiveness.
Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 5380, 6450, or permission of instructor.
Analysis of factors leading to effective work groups. Topics covered include
task effects on performance, group composition, leadership, group processes,
and team building.
6420 Advanced Personnel Selection and Placement. Three credits. Prerequisites: PSY 5260 or 6050 and preferably PSY 6280. Legal and research aspects of personnel selection. Methods used for selection, including assessment centers, work samples, and psychological testing.
6450 Advanced Organizational Psychology. Three credits. Review of theory and empirical research in organizational psychology. Students will apply theory and research findings to understand and explain work behavior at the individual, group, and organizational levels and will use this knowledge to solve organizational problems.
6460 Factor Analysis and Related Methods. Three credits. Prerequisites: PSY 6280 and 6290 or equivalents. Surveys each of the major factor analysis techniques and related latent trait theory with main focus on application. Nature, power, procedure, computer programming, interpretation, and limitations of each technique.
6560 Computer-Based Statistical Packages. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 3020 or equivalent. History, principles, and skills of data analysis, using major statistical packages. Commands in both DATA and PROC steps. Other features including various functions, graphics, full screen process (FSP), and interactive matrix language (IML).
6570 Psychological Research Methods in Human Resource Management. Three credits. Prerequisite: PSY 6280 or permission of instructor. Theory and appropriate methodology for conducting research relevant to human resource practices in organizations. Applied psychometric theory and quasi-experimental design.
6620 Independent Study: Industrial/Organizational Psychology. One to three credits. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Individualized library or empirical research project approved by instructor. A maximum of three credits will apply to a masters degree.
6640 Thesis Research. One to six
credits. Selection of a research problem, review of pertinent literature,
collection and analysis of data, and composition of thesis. Once enrolled,
student should register for at least one credit hour of master's research each
semester until completion. S/U grading.