CSS Psychology Applied Psychology Syllabus

Applied Psychology syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Applied Psychology in CSS Psychology, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Organizational and Industrial Psychology

   9 topics

   • Leadership Styles
   • Decision Making
   • Work Motivation
   • Organizational Culture
   • Stress and Conflict at Work and Its Management
   • Organizational Socialization
   • Job-Related Attitudes
   • Workplace Issues
   • Human-Computer Interaction
2. 2

   Forensic Psychology

   4 topics

   • Psychology and Law
   • Investigation and Confession
   • Eyewitness Testimony
   • Working with Offenders

Applied Psychology flashcards for CSS Psychology

22 of 61 cards from the Applied Psychology deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In Lewin's classic study of leadership styles, what three styles were identified, and which one produced the highest quality work and satisfaction?

   Lewin identified Autocratic (authoritarian), Democratic (participative), and Laissez-faire (delegative) styles. The Democratic style generally produced the highest quality work, originality, and member satisfaction.

2. Distinguish between Transactional and Transformational leadership.

   Transactional leadership works through exchanges/rewards and contingent reinforcement to meet current expectations. Transformational leadership inspires followers to transcend self-interest through idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass).

3. What are the 'Four I's' of Transformational leadership according to Bass?

   Idealized Influence (charisma/role model), Inspirational Motivation (vision), Intellectual Stimulation (challenging assumptions), and Individualized Consideration (mentoring each follower).

4. In Fiedler's Contingency Model, what two leader orientations are measured by the LPC scale, and what does it predict?

   The Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale identifies task-oriented (low LPC) versus relationship-oriented (high LPC) leaders. Effectiveness depends on situational favorableness (leader-member relations, task structure, position power): task-oriented leaders excel in very favorable or very unfavorable situations; relationship-oriented leaders excel in moderately favorable ones.

5. What does the Path-Goal Theory of leadership (House) propose, and name its four leader behaviors.

   It proposes the leader's job is to clear the path to followers' goals and increase their motivation/satisfaction. The four behaviors are Directive, Supportive, Participative, and Achievement-oriented leadership.

6. What does the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership model say leadership style should be based on?

   It says style should match follower maturity/readiness, moving through Telling (S1), Selling (S2), Participating (S3), and Delegating (S4) as follower competence and commitment increase.

7. In the Vroom-Yetton-Jago model, what decision dimension does it help leaders choose?

   It helps leaders choose the appropriate level of subordinate participation in decision making, ranging from Autocratic (AI, AII) to Consultative (CI, CII) to Group/Joint (GII) decisions, based on decision quality and acceptance requirements.

8. Define 'decision making' in organizational psychology and name its two broad approaches.

   Decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action among alternatives. The two broad approaches are the Rational (normative) model and the Bounded Rationality / behavioral model.

9. What are the typical steps of the rational decision-making model?

   1) Identify/define the problem, 2) Identify decision criteria, 3) Weight the criteria, 4) Generate alternatives, 5) Evaluate alternatives, 6) Select the best alternative, 7) Implement, 8) Evaluate the outcome.

10. What is 'bounded rationality' and who proposed it?

    Proposed by Herbert Simon, bounded rationality holds that decision makers are limited by available information, cognitive limits, and time, so they 'satisfice' (choose the first satisfactory option) rather than maximize/optimize.

11. Differentiate 'satisficing' from 'maximizing' in decision making.

    Satisficing means accepting an option that is good enough to meet a minimum threshold. Maximizing means searching for and selecting the single best (optimal) option among all alternatives.

12. Name three common cognitive biases or heuristics that distort decision making.

    Availability heuristic (judging by ease of recall), Representativeness heuristic (judging by resemblance to a prototype), and Anchoring/adjustment (over-relying on an initial value). Others include confirmation bias, overconfidence, and escalation of commitment.

13. What is 'groupthink' (Janis), and name two of its symptoms.

    Groupthink is a mode of thinking in highly cohesive groups where the drive for consensus overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives. Symptoms include illusion of invulnerability, pressure on dissenters, self-censorship, illusion of unanimity, and stereotyping out-groups.

14. What is 'escalation of commitment' in decision making?

    It is the tendency to continue investing additional resources in a failing course of action to justify prior decisions (the sunk-cost fallacy), rather than cutting losses.

15. Define work motivation and distinguish intrinsic from extrinsic motivation.

    Work motivation is the set of forces that energize, direct, and sustain effort toward work goals. Intrinsic motivation comes from the work itself (interest, mastery, enjoyment); extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards (pay, praise, promotion).

16. List the five levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs from lowest to highest.

    1) Physiological, 2) Safety/Security, 3) Social/Love/Belonging, 4) Esteem, 5) Self-actualization.

17. In Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, what is the difference between hygiene factors and motivators?

    Hygiene factors (pay, supervision, company policy, working conditions) cause dissatisfaction when poor but do not motivate. Motivators (achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, advancement) produce satisfaction and motivation.

18. What are the three needs in McClelland's Acquired Needs Theory?

    Need for Achievement (nAch), Need for Affiliation (nAff), and Need for Power (nPow).

19. State the core equation of Vroom's Expectancy Theory of motivation.

    Motivational Force = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence. Expectancy = effort leads to performance; Instrumentality = performance leads to outcomes; Valence = value placed on outcomes. If any factor is zero, motivation is zero.

20. What does Adams' Equity Theory propose about motivation?

    It proposes people compare their input/output ratio to that of relevant others; perceived inequity (under- or over-reward) creates tension that motivates them to restore equity by changing inputs, outputs, the referent, or by leaving.

21. What are the key principles of Locke and Latham's Goal-Setting Theory?

    Specific and difficult (challenging) goals lead to higher performance than vague or easy ones, provided there is goal commitment, feedback, and task knowledge/ability. Mechanisms: direction, effort, persistence, and strategy development.

22. In Deci and Ryan's Self-Determination Theory, what three innate psychological needs drive intrinsic motivation?

    Autonomy (sense of control), Competence (sense of mastery), and Relatedness (sense of connection to others).

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