Selection Predictors (Chap 4) Flashcards
Test vs Inventory
- test: right or wrong answer (knowledge and ability)
- inventory: no right and wrong answers (interest and personality)
Three test/inventory dimensions
- speed vs power
- individual vs group
- paper/pencil vs performance
Speed vs power (test/inventory dimension)
- speed: many easy questions - criterion = # answered in specific time
- power: difficult, no time limit - score is typically # right
Individual vs group
- individual not common
- time and cost problems
- sometimes only option (ex: if administration has to participate
Defining cognitive ability
- āgā - general intelligence (wonderlic)
- quantitative vs verbal
- spatial vs verbal
- crystallized vs fluid
- academic vs practical vs creative (sternberg)
- intuitive (insight) vs analytical (logic)
Cognitive ability tests (more info)
- people believe intelligence should be related to job performance
- usually around .2 - .5 (very high)
- average around .25 - .3
- relationship to performance tends to decrease with job experience
wonderlic personnel test
- most popular in selection
- taken by over 2.5 million job applicants a year
- 50 questions in 12 minutes
- average score is 21
problem with intelligence tests?
- many intelligence tests show group differences
- test bias
- motivation
- vocab/semantics
- administration
- opportunities
test bias (intelligence tests)
- a systematic, stable variation in test scores unrelated to the purpose of measurement (random error is no bias)
1. motivation - tests tend to reflect on Caucasian values/experiences
2. vocab/semantics - tests are usually developed by Caucasians
3. administration - tests are usually administered by Caucasians
4. opportunities - throughout history, not all people were given the same learning opportunities and societal privileges
Flynn effect (intelligence tests)
- IQ scores have generally risen over time
- effect has narrowed group differences
- effect is slowing in developing countries
legal to use cognitive ability to hire?
- it is legal to use cognitive ability for personnel selection - have to show that is is justifiable/applicable to job
Other ability tests
- mechanical aptitude
- sensory ability (vision or audition tests)
- motor ability (coordination, reaction time, dexterity)
- physical ability (strength, endurance, movement)
Personality and individual difference inventories
- an individuals unique behavior patterns
- questions usually address personal preferences
- personality is fairly stable over time
conscientiousness is related to
supervisory ratings, citizenship behaviors, job accidents, interactions with team members, exam grades, essay grades, and gpa
interest inventories
- measure preferences for certain activities
- strong-campbell
- kuder
- used mainly for career/vocational counseling
- may be related to job satisfaction and tenure
measurement issues
- carelessness
- response sets
- acquiescence
- extreme responding
- central tendency
- social desirability
acquiescence
- tendency to agree with items, regardless of content
- psychologists counteract by reverse-keying some items
extreme responding
- tend to only give endpoint responses
central tendency
- tend to only give midpoint/neutral responses
social desirability
- tendency to answer items in such a way so that once comes across as socially attractive/likeable
individual differences (faking)
- some people respond in a more socially desirable/impression management / faking fashion than others
item differences (faking)
- some questions are answered in more socially desirable fashion than others
