week 3 Flashcards
What are cognitive abilities
A century of empirical research has demonstrated the pervasive influence of cognitive ability in all domains of life
Intelligence defined as “a basic ability for abstract reasoning, problem solving, or adaptability”
Cultural differences
Found similarities and differences between Western and non-western conceptualisation of intelligence
The main difference is in how intelligence is related to self vs social world
Cognitive abilities and workplace
Intelligence has emerged as one of the most important factors of success in the complex world of business (Boal, 2004, Gatewood et al., 2011)
Overall job performance reflects the overall contribution of each employee to the organization on different performance dimensions
Task performance
Contextual performance
Avoidance of counterproductive behaviours
Cognitive ability tests predict outcomes in all jobs including overall job performance, objective leadership effectiveness, and assessments of creativity
Cognitive Abilities and Organizational Citizenship Behaviours (OCBS)
Defined as employee’s contributions to the “effective functioning of their organizations by supporting the overall organizational, social, or psychological environment.” (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993)
These behaviours are discretionary and not recognised by the formal reward system
Cognitive Abilities and Leadership
Leadership is perhaps the most frequently studied criterion in all of organizational psychology
Hence, not simply due to an “intelligent is good” stereotype but cognitive ability actually has an important effect on objectively assessed indicators of leadership (Judge, Colbert, and Ilies, 2004)
Cognitive Abilities andJob Satisfaction
Long neglected relationship as two domains were presumed to be independent of each other
There is a moderate, positive relationship between cognitive ability and job satisfaction that remains stable over time in general population (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen, & Barrick, 1999)
Mediated through education attainment and job prestige (Judge, Ilies, & Dimotakis, 2010)
Across occupations, levels of intelligence and satisfaction are strongly, positively correlated (Ganzach, 1998)
Wechsler test of intelligence
Developed by David Wechsler
Originally modelled after Spearman’s two-factor model of intelligence; in 1955 he introduced two tests
The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
The Wechsler Scale for Children (WISC)
Measured different aspects of intelligence such as arithmetic ability, block design, comprehension, object assembly, picture arrangement, vocabulary etc
Differed from other tests because people of all ages could take them
Raven Matrices
Developed by John Carlyle Raven
Drastically different from Wechsler tests but both based on Spearman’s work
Independent of cultural influence, i.e. language
Comprises of 60 items arranged into five sets with increasing order of difficulty
Overall score based on that person’s deviation from standardised norms
Widely used for personnel selection in the US and the UK
Abundant evidence of its reliability and validity across range of ages, cultural groups, clinical and non-clinical samples (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2010)
Wonderlic personnel test
Most widely used IQ test in personnel selection
Omnibus test of GMA developed by Wonderlic in 1937
Administered in 12 minutes
Scores on WPT have high correlations with the WAIS (r=.93) and high test-retest reliability in five years (r=.94)
The WPT has been reported to be correlated equally with both gf and gc, thus measuring both abstract reasoning capability and knowledge possessed (Bell, Matthews, Lassiter & Leveret, 2002)
Woodcock-Johnson-Revised Tests Of Cognitive Abilities (WJ IV COG)
A measure of intelligence modelled after Gf/Gc theory
Core battery involved the administration of 14 subtests
Generates general IQ score, as well as seven cluster scores:
Fluid Reasoning, Comprehension-Knowledge, Visual Processing, Auditory Processing, Processing Speed, Short-term Memory, and Long-term Retrieval
Reliability coefficient of .96 for Broad IQ scores and .81-.95 for specific scores
“An examiner seldom needs to administer all tests or complete all interpretive options for a single person.”
General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB)
Developed by the U.S. Employment Service between 1940s and 1970s
Examined 100 occupation-specific tests and identified 9 basic aptitudes that seem to be important for a number of jobs
Consists of 12 timed subtests combined to form nine aptitude scores
Revised in the late 1980s and renamed to the Ability Profiler
Acceptable reliability and moderately strong convergent validity for the GATB
Problematic norms
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
During decision-making, individuals anticipate the emotions they expect to experience and guide their decisions based on past experiences when making similar choices – high EI individuals better at making difficult decisions
Four facets:
Awareness of emotions in self
Awareness of emotions in others
Management of emotions in self
Management of emotions in others
Use of EI measures for career selection has garnered momentum in the Western world
EI skills are vital component of any organisation’s management philosophy
Skills that cannot be assessed by personality or cognitive measures
People with high levels of emotional intelligence experience more career success, build stronger personal relationships, lead more effectively, and enjoy better health (Cooper,1997)
Mechanisms?
Better at communicating their ideas in assertive and interesting ways (Goleman, 1998)
EI skills related to social skills needed for teamwork (Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Sjoberg, 2001)
EI helps individuals to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures (Bar-On, 1997)
