The General History Virtual Wing

Here you will find general information on the history of I-O psychology.

You can find an interactive timeline of I-O psychology history here. Another timeline appears here.

Many SIOP members have covered the history of I-O psychology in the courses they teach. The following course materials are available online and include interesting facts and photos:

• Dr. Patrick McCarthy's Brief Outline of the History of I/O Psychology
   
• Historical Background of I/O (University of Baltimore)
     
• History of I-O Psychology (Aligarh Muslim University)

SIOP Past President Leonard Ferguson wrote a history of I-O psychology that you can view here and here.

You can view a preview of Laura Koppes’ book on the history of I-O psychology at GoogleBooks. She has also written a chapter on I-O psychology history in The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Psychology. In addition, she published an article on early female I-O psychologists.

In 1997, a special issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology was devoted to the history of I-O psychology.

Many of SIOP’s awards have been named after pioneering figures in I-O psychology. The SIOP Awards page provides some brief background information on these figures.

Starting in 2013, the SIOP Historian has interviewed a major I-O psychology figure as part of the SIOP Living History Series. You can view these recordings on SIOP’s Official YouTube Channel:

• David P. Campbell
• Paul Thayer
• Frank Schmidt
• Edwin Locke and Gary Latham
• Sheldon Zedeck
• Benjamin Schneider
• Neal Schmitt
• Milt Hakel

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