Employee Selection: References and Testing

Question 1

A _____ is the process of confirming the accuracy of information provided by an applicant.

Answer 1

reference check

Question 2

A _____ is the expression of an opinion, either orally or through a written checklist, regarding an applicant’s ability, previous performance, work habits, character, or potential for future success.

Answer 2

reference

Question 3

A letter of _____ is a letter expressing an opinion regarding an applicant’s ability, previous performance, work habits, character, or potential for future success.

Answer 3

recommendation

Question 4

In psychology, a common belief is that the best predictor of future performance is _____ performance.

Answer 4

past

Question 5

However, people providing references are granted what is called a _____, which means that they have the right to express their opinion provided they believe what they say is true and have reasonable grounds for this belief.

Answer 5

conditional privilege

Question 6

The _____ the recommendation letter, the more positively the letter was perceived.

Answer 6

longer

Question 7

_____ are designed to measure how much a person knows about a job.

_____ have excellent content and criterion validity, and because of their high face validity, they are positively accepted by applicants.

Answer 7

Job knowledge tests

Question 8

_____ tests are commonly used by state licensing boards for such occupations as lawyers and psychologists.

Answer 8

Standardized job knowledge

Question 9

One of the most widely used cognitive ability tests in industry is the _____.

The short amount of time (10 minutes) necessary to take the test, as well as the fact that it can be administered in a group setting, makes it popular.

Answer 9

Wonderlic Personnel Test

Question 10

A potential breakthrough in cognitive ability tests is the _____. The developers of this test theorized that the large race differences in scores on traditional cognitive ability tests were due to the knowledge needed to understand the questions rather than the actual ability to learn or process information (intelligence).

Answer 10

Siena Reasoning Test (SRT)

Question 11

A type of test related to cognitive ability is the _____ test. In this test, applicants are given a series of situations and asked how they would handle each one.

Answer 11

situational judgment

Question 12

Predicting Performance Using Applicant Skill

Rather than measuring an applicant’s current knowledge or potential to perform a job (ability), some selection techniques measure the extent to which an applicant already has a job-related skill.

The two most common methods for doing this are the:

Answer 12

work sample and the assessment center.

Question 13

Predicting Performance Using Applicant Skill

With a _____, the applicant performs actual job-related tasks.

_____ are excellent selection tools for several reasons. First, because they are directly related to job tasks, they have excellent content validity.

Second, scores from _____ tend to predict actual work performance and thus have excellent criterion validity.

Third, because job applicants are able to see the connection between the job sample and the work performed on the job, the samples have excellent face validity and thus are challenged less often in civil service appeals or in court cases.

Answer 13

work samples

Question 14

Predicting Performance Using Applicant Skill

An assessment center is a selection technique characterized by the use of multiple assessment methods that allow multiple assessors to actually observe applicants perform simulated job tasks.

Its major advantages are that assessment methods are all job related and multiple trained assessors help to guard against many (but not all) types of selection bias.

Answer 14

Assessment Centers

Question 15

The first step in creating an assessment center is, of course, to do a _____.

From this analysis, exercises are developed that measure different aspects of the job. Common exercises include the in-basket technique, simulations, work samples, leaderless group discussions, structured interviews, personality and ability tests, and business games.

Answer 15

job analysis

Question 16

Exercises in Assessment Centers

The _____ is designed to simulate the types of daily information that appear on a manager’s or employee’s desk. The technique takes its name from the wire baskets typically seen on office desks. Usually these baskets have two levels: the “in” level, which holds paperwork that must be handled, and the “out” level, which contains completed paperwork

During the assessment center, examples of job-related paperwork are placed in a basket, and the job applicant is asked to go through the basket and respond to the paperwork as if he were actually on the job.

Answer 16

in-basket technique

Question 17

Exercises in Assessment Centers

_____ which can include such diverse activities as role-plays and work samples, place an applicant in a situation that is as similar as possible to one that will be encountered on the job.

Answer 17

Simulations

Question 18

Exercises in Assessment Centers

In this exercise, applicants meet in small groups and are given a job-related problem to solve or a job-related issue to discuss.

No leader is appointed, hence the term _____.

Answer 18

Leaderless Group Discussions

Question 19

The most commonly used interest inventory is the _____, which asks individuals to indicate whether they like or dislike 325 items such as bargaining, repairing electrical wiring, and taking responsibility.

As the name implies, these tests are designed to tap vocational interests.

Answer 19

Strong Interest Inventory (SII)

Question 20

_____ tests (also called honesty tests) tell an employer the probability that an applicant would steal money or merchandise.

Answer 20

Integrity

Question 21

_____ tests (also called honesty tests) tell an employer the probability that an applicant would steal money or merchandise.

Answer 21

Integrity

Question 22

_____ tests are based on the premise that a person’s attitudes about theft as well as his previous theft behavior will accurately predict his future honesty. They measure attitudes by asking the test-taker to estimate the frequency of theft in society, how harsh penalties against thieves should be, how easy it is to steal, how often he has personally been tempted to steal, how often his friends have stolen, and how often he personally has stolen.

Answer 22

Overt integrity

Question 23

_____ integrity tests are more general in that they tap a variety of personality traits thought to be related to a wide range of counterproductive behavior such as theft, absenteeism, and violence.

Answer 23

Personality-based

Question 24

_____ tests are more reliable and valid in predicting theft and other counterproductive behaviors than are personality-based tests.

Answer 24

Overt

Question 25

_____ tests were initially developed by James to reduce the inaccurate responses and get a more accurate picture of a person’s tendency to engage in aggressive or counterproductive behavior.

_____ tests provide test takers with a series of statements and then ask the respondent to select the reason that best justifies or explains each of the statements. The type of reason selected by the individual is thought to indicate his or her aggressive biases or beliefs.

Answer 25

Conditional reasoning

Question 26

Aggressive individuals tend to believe:

most people have harmful intentions behind their behavior (_____ bias)

Answer 26

hostile attribution

Question 27

Aggressive individuals tend to believe:

it is important to show strength or dominance in social interactions (_____ bias)

Answer 27

potency

Question 28

Aggressive individuals tend to believe:

it is important to retaliate when wronged rather than try to maintain a relationship (_____ bias)

Answer 28

retribution

Question 29

Aggressive individuals tend to believe:

powerful people will victimize less powerful individuals (_____ bias)

Answer 29

victimization

Question 30

Aggressive individuals tend to believe:

evil people deserve to have bad things happen to them (_____ bias)

Answer 30

derogation of target

Question 31

Aggressive individuals tend to believe:

social customs restrict free will and should be ignored (_____ bias)

Answer 31

social discounting

Question 32

Most importantly, the small body of scientific literature on the topic concludes that _____ is not a useful technique in employee selection. _____ predicts best when the writing sample is autobiographical (the writer writes an essay about himself), which means that graphologists are making their predictions more on the content of the writing than on the quality of the handwriting.

Answer 32

Graphology

Question 33

It is important to keep in mind that psychological exams are not designed to predict employee _____. Therefore, they should only be used to determine if a potential employee is a danger to himself or others.

Answer 33

performance

Question 34

Comparison of Techniques
Validity

Unstructured interview, education, interest inventories, and some personality traits are _____ of future employee performance for most jobs.

Answer 34

not good predictors

Question 35

Comparison of Techniques
Validity

Ability, work samples, biodata, and structured interviews do a _____ job of predicting future employee performance.

Answer 35

fairly good

Question 36

_____ and _____will result in the highest levels of adverse impact, whereas integrity tests, references, and personality inventories will result in the lowest levels.

Answer 36

Cognitive ability, GPA

Question 37

The surprising results of a study by Waung and Brice suggest that applicants react more positively if there is a _____ in receiving the letter.

Answer 37

delay