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Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology is the scientific study of working and the application of that science to workplace issues facing individuals, teams, and organizations. The scientific method is applied to investigate issues of critical relevance to individuals, businesses, and society.

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The Case for Using Working Memory in Practice

By Bryan D. Edwards, Ana M. Franco Watkins, Samuel T. McAbee, and Luis Faura

The reliance on cognitive ability (or general mental ability) for selection, placement, and training underlies one of the oldest and deepest research practices in the history of I-O psychology. It is generally accepted among I-O psychologists that cognitive ability is the strongest predictor of learning and task performance. However, many of our cognitive psychologist colleagues make a strong case that working memory capacity is the strongest predictor of learning and performance. Indeed, working memory training programs such as lumocity, cogmed, and jungle memory are quite popular. As such, the purpose of the present article is to span a bridge between both cognitive and I-O psychology as well as between science and practice by encouraging the use of working memory as a predictor for training and job performance.

In nearly 40 years of research, cognitive psychology has established that working memory is a strong predictor of human learning and task performance (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974; Daneman & Carpenter, 1980; Engle, 2002). Despite the link between working memory, learning, and performance in the cognitive psychology literature, working memory has been ignored in I-O psychology research and practice. However, there are several reasons to expect that individual differences in working memory capacity are relevant to learning and task performance in work settings. …continue reading in the recent issue of TIP!

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Looking at SIOP Membership Trends

Visitors to the SIOP membership table at this year’s annual conference in Orlando may have seen the latest membership maps prepared by Evan Sinar, a data visualization expert who is chief scientist and vice president at DDI and leads their Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research.

Full size renditions of the maps are available here.

The 2017 maps add numbers to the geographic representations, a modification from the maps Sinar prepared last year. Those maps....Read more

GAIOP Offering Workshops on Women in Leadership and Ethics
Continuing Education Credits Available SIOP and the Georgia Association for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (GAIOP) are pleased to invite you to Read more...

SIOP Conversation Series: A Conversation with Adam Grant
The SIOP Visibility Committee will be hosting a live, interactive webinar-style event 10:30-11am EDT July 26, 2017 (Add to Calendar), Read more...

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APA Awards Deadline Extended

The APA Board of Professional Affairs (BPA) has extended the nomination deadline for the 2018 Distinguished Professional Contribution/Student Awards and APF Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology to August 1, 2017.

Each of the awards includes a waiver of 2018 conference fees. ....Read more