Ch 3: Individual Differences Flashcards
All of the following are fundamental assumptions that I-O psychologists make when they apply the individual differences model except:
a. The attribute levels of various people in a group can be brought to the same level through training.
b. Different jobs require different attributes.
c. Adults have a variety of attributes, the levels of which remain relatively stable over time.
d. The attributes can be measured accurately.
a. The attribute levels of various people in a group can be brought to the same level through training.
Fleishman’s taxonomy of 52 abilities can be divided into the categories of cognitive abilities, perceptual-motor abilities, and
a. Problem solving abilities.
b. Emotional abilities.
c. Performance abilities.
d. Physical abilities.
d. Physical abilities.
Measures of “g” assess all of the following except:
a. Knowledge acquisition.
b. Perceptual ability.
c. Reasoning ability.
d. Problem-solving ability.
c. Reasoning ability.
As the complexity of a job ___________, the predictive value of general intelligence tests ___________.
a. increases; stays the same.
b. increases; decreases.
c. increases; increases.
d. decreases; stays the same.
c. increases; increases.
Which of the following is false concerning the Five Factor Model?
a. It gives a representation of how a person typically responds to people and events.
b. It describes the potential importance of personality variables in understanding job performance.
c. It is the result of both statistical analyses and a conceptual analysis.
d. It can be used to identify evidence of psychopathology.
d. It can be used to identify evidence of psychopathology.
Colleen and her colleagues have noticed that a particular employee has a very high level of integrity. The employee would be most expected to rank high on all of the following factors of the Five Factor Model except:
a. Extraversion
b. Emotional Stability
c. Agreeableness
d. Conscientiousness
a. Extraversion
Which of the following is false concerning faking on a personality test?
a. It may not be faking since personality is all about self-presentation.
b. There is currently no way to measure if someone is faking a personality test.
c. One perspective says there is not much to distinguish self-efficacy from faking.
d. Some people try to respond simply as the ideal candidate.
b. There is currently no way to measure if someone is faking a personality test.
Skills are
a. Practiced acts.
b. Innate abilities.
c. Always technically-based.
d. Not dependent on certain abilities
a. Practiced acts.
Caroline possesses a combination of skills, knowledge, abilities, and personality characteristics that allow him to complete his project management tasks. What are the sets of behaviors called that allow him to do his job well?
a. Proficiencies
b. Competencies
c. Behavioral categories
d. Individual difference characteristics
b. Competencies
A test battery is a
a. method of combining incongruent test results.
b. special tool used to administer a test.
c. test taken over a very long period of time (e.g., 2 years).
d. collection of tests rather than a single test.
d. collection of tests rather than a single test.
All of the following are true of speed tests except:
a. They have rigid and demanding time limits.
b. They may reduce the risk of legal challenges.
c. Most test takers are unable to finish them in the allotted time.
d. The emphasis on speed may introduce unfairness.
b. They may reduce the risk of legal challenges.
Which of the following is false concerning tests of psychomotor abilities?
a. They may involve complex tasks or simple actions.
b. They usually involve a task that requires dexterity.
c. They involve the coordinated movement of the limbs.
d. Ideally, they should be administered for all jobs.
d. Ideally, they should be administered for all jobs.
_____________ identify signs of psychopathology, while _____________ identify variations of normal personality.
a. Screen out tests; Screen in tests
b. Screen in tests; Screen out tests
c. Psychometric tests; Norm tests
d. Norm tests; Psychometric tests
a. Screen out tests; Screen in tests
All of the following are criticisms of individual assessment except:
a. It is not validated as rigorously as other traditional forms of assessment.
b. Too little emphasis is placed on personality attributes.
c. Assessment summaries may only be influenced by one or two parts of the process.
d. Many individual assessments invade the privacy of the candidate.
b. Too little emphasis is placed on personality attributes.
Sarah, in an interview for a Disc Jockey position, was asked to describe how she would respond to a dissatisfied client. She most likely experienced what type of interview?
a. Behavioral interview
b. Hypothetically-based interview
c. Situational interview
d. Unstructured interview
c. Situational interview
In a work sample test, the task assigned and the equipment used to complete the task:
a. Are very general so the test can be used for any position.
b. Will often lead to non-valid results.
c. Should only be somewhat relevant to the actual job.
d. Are designed to be realistic simulations of the actual job
d. Are designed to be realistic simulations of the actual job
Dominic has interviewed and given a paper and pencil test to a number of people applying for a job at his company. He notices that the validity of the paper and pencil test of general mental ability is moderate, and that the validity of the test combined with the interview is significantly higher. He might conclude that the value of the interview is:
a. negligible.
b. incremental.
c. observable.
d. nonexistent.
b. incremental.
Graphology:
a. assesses traits based on the characteristics of a person’s handwriting.
b. is the study of graphs.
c. is a valid predictor of job performance.
d. assesses personality through vocal intonations.
a. assesses traits based on the characteristics of a person’s handwriting.
The outcomes most commonly predicted by drug tests are:
a. Poor performance and apathy.
b. Voluntary terminations and aggression.
c. Absenteeism and involuntary terminations.
d. Absenteeism and poor performance.
c. Absenteeism and involuntary terminations.
Dissimilarities between or among two or more people.
Individual differences
Instrument designed to measure a subject’s ability to reason, plan, and solve problems; an intelligence test.
Mental test
Scientific study of differences between or among two or more people.
Differential psychology
The ability to learn and adapt to an environment; often used to refer to general intellectual capacity, as opposed to cognitive ability or mental ability, which often refer to more specific abilities such as memory or reasoning.
Intelligence
Capacity to reason, plan, and solve problems; cognitive ability.
Mental ability
Standard of measurement; a scale.
Metric
Practice of measuring a characteristic such as mental ability, placing it on a scale or metric.
Psychometrics
Instrument designed to measure the ability to reason, learn, and solve problems.
Intelligence test
Psychologist trained in measuring characteristics such as mental ability.
Psychometrician
Capacity to reason, plan, and solve problems; mental ability.
Cognitive ability
Abbreviation for general mental ability.
“g”
The nonspecific capacity to reason, learn, and solve problems in any of a wide variety of ways and circumstances.
General mental ability
Tendency to understand and predict the behavior of workers simply by examining “g.”
g-ocentric model
Bodily powers such as muscular strength, flexibility, and stamina.
Physical abilities
An individual’s behavioral and emotional characteristics, generally found to be stable over time and in a variety of circumstances; an individual’s habitual way of responding.
Personality
Preferences or likings for broad ranges of activities.
Interests
A collection of specific and interrelated facts and information about a particular topical area.
Knowledge
An effect or feeling, often experienced and displayed in reaction to an event or thought and accompanied by physiological changes in various systems of the body.
Emotion
An orderly, scientific system of classification.
Taxonomy
Physical attributes that combine the senses (e.g., seeing, hearing, smell) and motion (e.g., coordination, dexterity).
Perceptual-motor abilities
The conscious, subjective aspect of emotion.
Affect
Abbreviation for intelligence quotient.
IQ
Measure of intelligence obtained by giving a subject a standardized IQ test. The score is obtained by multiplying by 100 the ratio of the subject’s mental age to chronological age.
Intelligence quotient
Statistical method for combining and analyzing the results from many studies to draw a general conclusion about relationships among variables.
Meta-analysis
Phenomenon in which new generations appear to be smarter than their parents by a gain of 15 points in average intelligence test score per generation; named after the political scientist who did extensive research on the topic.
Flynn effect
Physical ability to supply muscles with oxygenated blood through the cardiovascular system; also known as cardiovascular strength or aerobic strength or endurance.
Stamina
Physical functions of vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell, and kinesthetic feedback (e.g., noticing changes in body position).
Sensory abilities
Physical functions of movement, associated with coordination, dexterity, and reaction time; also called motor or sensorimotor abilities.
Psychomotor abilities
A taxonomy of five personality factors; the Five-Factor Model (FFM).
Big Five
A taxonomy of five personality factors, composed of conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.
Five-Factor Model (FFM)
Quality of having positive intentions and carrying them out with care.
Conscientiousness
Five-Factor Model:
- Conscientiousness Responsible, prudent, persistent, planful, achievement-oriented
- Extraversion Sociable, assertive, talkative, ambitious, energetic
- Agreeableness Good-natured, cooperative, trusting, likable, friendly
- Emotional stability Secure, calm, poised, relaxed
- Openness to experience Curious, imaginative, independent, creative
The way that an individual behaves, handles emotions, and accomplishes tasks in a work setting; a combination of Big Five factors.
Functional personality at work
Likable, easy to get along with, friendly.
Agreeableness
Displaying little emotion; showing the same emotional response in various situations.
Emotional stability
Quality of being honest, reliable, and ethical.
Integrity
A facet of conscientiousness consisting of hard work, persistence, and the desire to do good work.
Achievement
A facet of conscientiousness consisting of being disciplined, well organized, respectful of laws and regulations, honest, trustworthy, and accepting of authority.
Dependability
Practiced acts, such as shooting a basketball, using a computer keyboard, or persuading someone to buy something.
Skills
A nontechnical term that includes negotiating skills, communication skills, and conflict resolution skills.
People skills
Collection of electronic databases, based on well-developed taxonomies, that has updated and replaced the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).
Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
Action-oriented, goal-directed knowledge, acquired without direct help from others; colloquially called street smarts.
Tacit knowledge
Familiarity with a procedure or process; knowing “how.”
Procedural knowledge
Understanding what is required to perform a task; knowing information about a job or job task.
Declarative knowledge
Sets of behaviors, usually learned by experience, that are instrumental in the accomplishment of desired organizational results or outcomes.
Competencies
Process that determines the important tasks of a job and the human attributes necessary to successfully perform those tasks.
Job analysis
A proposed kind of intelligence focused on people’s awareness of their own and others’ emotions.
Emotional intelligence (EI)
Instrument designed to measure a subject’s ability to reason, plan, and solve problems; an intelligence test.
Mental test
An objective and standardized procedure for measuring a psychological construct using a sample of behavior.
Test
Comparing a test score to other relevant test scores.
Norming
Group whose test scores are used to compare and understand an individual’s test score.
Norm group
Collection of tests that usually assess a variety of different attributes.
Test battery
Yearbook Widely used source that includes an extensive listing of tests as well as reviews of those tests.
Mental Measurements
A test with rigid and demanding time limits; most test takers will be unable to finish the test in the allotted time.
Speed test
A test with no rigid time limits; enough time is given for a majority of the test takers to complete all of the test items.
Power test
A test that can be administered to large groups of individuals; often valuable in reducing the costs (both in time and money) of testing many applicants.
Group test
A test given only on an individual basis.
Individual test
One of the most common forms of industrial testing that requires no manipulation of any objects other than the instrument used to respond.
Paper-and-pencil test
A test that requires the individual to make a response by manipulating a particular physical object or piece of equipment.
Performance test
Technical and statistical term that deals exclusively with a situation where a given test results in errors of prediction for a subgroup.
Bias
Value judgment about actions or decisions based on test scores.
Fairness
A system in which individuals share meanings and common ways of viewing events and objects.
Culture
A test that allows individuals to demonstrate what they know, perceive, remember, understand, or can work with mentally; includes problem identification, problem- solving tasks, perceptual skills, the development or evaluation of ideas, and remembering what one has learned through general experience or specific training.
Cognitive ability test
Collection of tests that assess a variety of cognitive aptitudes or abilities; often called multiple-aptitude test batteries.
Cognitive test battery
A test that assesses the extent to which individuals understand course or training materials; also administered for licensing and certification purposes.
Knowledge test
Physical functions of movement, associated with coordination, dexterity, and reaction time; also called motor or sensorimotor abilities.
Psychomotor abilities
A test used to eliminate candidates who are clearly unsuitable for employment; tests of psychopathology are examples of screen-out tests in the employment setting.
Screen-out test
A test used to add information about the positive attributes of a candidate that might predict outstanding performance; tests of normal personality are examples of screen-in tests in the employment setting.
Screen-in test
A person’s public face or “game face.”
Self-presentation
A test asks questions directly about past honesty behavior (stealing, etc.) as well as attitudes toward various behaviors such as employee theft.
Overt integrity test
A test that infers honesty and integrity from questions dealing with broad constructs such as conscientiousness, reliability, and social responsibility and awareness.
Personality-based integrity test
A proposed kind of intelligence focused on people’s awareness of their own and others’ emotions.
Emotional intelligence (EI)
Parallels the notion of intelligence quotient (IQ); a score on a test of emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence quotient (EQ)
Situation in which only one candidate (or a very few) is assessed on many different attributes.
Individual assessment
Assessment procedure that consists of very specific questions asked of each candidate; includes tightly crafted scoring schemes with detailed outlines for the interviewer with respect to assigning ratings or scores based on interview performance.
Structured interview
An assessment procedure in which the interviewee is asked to describe in specific and behavioral detail how he or she would respond to a hypothetical situation.
Situational interview
An interview format that includes questions that may vary by candidate and that allows the candidate to answer in any form he or she prefers.
Unstructured interview
Collection of procedures for evaluation that is administered to groups of individuals; assessments are typically performed by multiple assessors.
Assessment center
Assessment procedure that measures job skills by taking samples of behavior under realistic job-like conditions.
Work sample test
Commonly a paper-and- pencil test that presents the candidate with a written scenario and asks the candidate to choose the best response from a series of alternatives.
Situational judgment test
The value in terms of increased validity of adding a particular predictor to an existing selection system.
Incremental validity
Information collected on an application blank or in a standardized test that includes questions about previous jobs, education, specialized training, and personal history; also known as biographical data.
Biodata
Underlying model for life history biodata instruments. Proposes that the events that make up a person’s history represent choices made by the individual to interact with his or her environment. These choices can signal abilities, interests, and personality characteristics.
Ecology model
Desire to be appealing to others.
Social desirability
A type of testing that presents a test taker with a few items that cover the range of difficulty of the test, identifies a test taker’s approximate level of ability, and then asks only questions to further refine the test taker’s position within that ability level.
Computer adaptive testing (CAT)
Preliminary test used in computer adaptive testing that identifies a test taker’s approximate level of ability before providing additional questions to refine the test taker’s position within that ability level.
Routing test
Fleishman’s taxonomy 3 categories:
Cognitive abilities
Physical abilities
Perceptual-motor abilities
DAT (Differential Aptitude Test)
8 aptitudes:
Mechanical reasoning Spatial relations Abstract reasoning Numerical ability Verbal reasoning Spelling Clerical speed and accuracy
Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test
Picture-based questions
BMCT was one of the best predictors of pilot success in WWII.
HEXACO
Honesty-Humility Emotionality Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Openness to experience
