CHAPTER 4

PREDICTORS: PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS

ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF PREDICTORS

 Reliability – a standard for evaluating tests that refers to the consistency, stability, or equivalence
of test scores.
 Types of Reliability
1. Test-retest Reliability – reveals the stability of tests scores upon repeated applications of the
test.
2. Equivalent-form Reliability – reveals the equivalence of test scores between two version or
forms or the test.
3. Internal-consistency Reliability – reveals the homogeneity of the items comprising a test.
4. Inter-rater Reliability - reveals the degree of agreement among the assessments of two or more
raters.
 Validity – a standard for evaluating tests that refers to the accuracy or appropriateness of drawing
inferences from test scores.
 Types of Validity
1. Construct Validity – the test is an accurate and faithful measure of the construct it purports to
measure.
2. Criterion-related Validity – a test forecasts or is statistically related to a criterion.
3. Content Validity – subject matter experts agree that the items in a test are a representative
sample of the domain of knowledge the test purports to measure.
4. Face Validity – the appearance that items in a test are appropriate for the intended use of the
test by the individuals who take the test.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS AND INVENTORIES

 Inventory – method of assessment in which the response to questions are recorded and interpreted
but are not evaluated in terms of their correctness.
TYPES OF TESTS
 Speed Test – has a precise time limit; a person’s score on a test is the number of items attempted
in the time period.
 Power Test – usually does not have a precise time limit; a person’s score on the test is the number
of items answered correctly.
 Individual Test – administered to one individual test taker at a time.
 Group Test – administered to more than one test taker at a time.
 Paper-and-pencil Test – the responses to questions are evaluated in terms of their correctness; do
not involve the physical manipulation of objects or pieces of equipment.
  Performance Test – requires the test taker to exhibit physical skill in the manipulation of objects,
as in typing test.
ETHICAL STANDARDS IN TESTING
 Invasion of Privacy

A condition associated with testing pertaining to the asking of questions on a test that are
unrelated to the test’s intent or are inherently intrusive to the test taker.
 Confidentiality

A condition associated with testing pertaining to which parties have access to test results.
TEST CONTENT
 Intelligence Tests – used to assess the general mental ability of an individual; used to forecast
job performance.
 Mechanical Aptitude Tests – require a person to recognize which mechanical principle is
suggested by a test item; measures the underlying concepts of sound and heat conductance,
velocity, gravity, and force; Bennett Test of Mechanical Comprehension – a series of pictures that
illustrate various mechanical facts and principles; highly predictive of performance in
manufacturing/production jobs.
 Sensory/Motor Ability Tests – assess visual acuity, color vision, and hearing sensitivity; Snellen
Eye Chart – best known sensory/motor ability test, a display with rows of letters that get
increasingly smaller; Audiometer – most common way to measure hearing sensitivity; test of
motor ability assess fine or gross motor coordination; two frequently used motor ability are the
Purdue Pegboard and the Crawford Small Parts Dexterity Test; most predictive of job success in
clerical occupations.

BENNETT TEST OF MECHANICAL SNELLEN EYE CHART

COMPREHENSION
 PURDUE PEGBOARD CRAWFORD SMALL PARTS
DEXTERITY TEST

TEST CONTENT
 Personality Inventories – used to predict job success and as a basis for selecting new employees;
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – one of the more popular test used in I/O psychology, and
is predicted by 16 personality types; NEO-PI-R, is personality inventory based upon the Big 5
Personality Theory, and assesses the Big % Personality Traits, that consists of 240 items.
 Integrity Tests – a type of paper-and-pencil test that purports to assess a test taker’s honesty,
character, or integrity; overt integrity test – the job applicant clearly understands that the intent of
the test is to assess integrity; personality-based measure – contains conventional personality
assessment items that have been found predictive of theft.
 Physical Abilities Testing – assessment of physical abilities and how these relate to performance
in some jobs.
 Set of abilities relevant to work performance
1. Static strength – the ability to use muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects
2. Explosive strength – the ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself for an
object
3. Gross body coordination – the ability to coordinate the movement of the arms, legs, and torso
in activities where the whole body is in motion
4. Stamina – the ability of the lungs and circulatory systems of the body to perform efficiently
over time
MULTIPLE-APTITUDE TEST BATTERIES
 Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) -  is a multiple choice test, administered by
the United States Military Entrance Processing Command, used to determine qualification
for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces.
  Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) - are a series of assessments designed to measure an individual's
ability to learn or to succeed in a number of different areas such as mechanical reasoning, verbal
reasoning, numerical reasoning and space relations.

COMPUTERIZED ADAPTIVE TESTING (CAT)

 A form of assessment using a computer in which the questions have been precalibrated in terms
of difficulty, and the examinee’s response (i.e., right or wrong) to one question determines the
selection of the next question.
INTERVIEWS
 Posthuma, Morgeson, and Campion (2002) described an employment interview as a social
interaction between the interviewer and applicant. As such, various social factors can influence
the outcome of the interview, quite apart from the objective qualifications of the applicant.
DEGREE OF STRUCTURE
 Unstructured Interview – a format for the job interview in which the questions are different
across all candidates.
 Structured Interview – a format for the job interview in which the questions are consistent across
all candidates.
 Situational Interview – a type of job interview in which candidates are presented with a problem
situation and asked how they would respond to it.
ASSESSMENT CENTERS
 A method of assessing job candidates via a series of structured, group-oriented exercises that are
evaluated by raters.
 Four Characteristics of the Assessment Center Approach
1. Those individuals selected to attend the center are usually management-level personnel the
company wants to evaluate for possible selection, promotion, or training.
2. Assessees are divided into groups of 10 to 20. They may be divided into smaller groups for
various exercises.
3. Several raters (assessors) do the evaluation. They work in teams and collectively or
individually recommend personnel action.
4. A wide variety of performance appraisal methods are used such as, in-basket tests, projective
personality inventories, personal history information forms, and interviews.

WORK SAMPLES
 A type of personnel selection test in which the candidate demonstrates proficiency on a task
representative of the work performed in a job.
 Used for mechanical jobs.
 Assess what a person can do and not their potential.
 Best suited to evaluating experienced workers rather than trainees.
SITUATIONAL EXERCISES
  A method of assessment in which examinees are presented with a problem situation and asked
how they would respond to it.
 Used mainly to select people for managerial and professional jobs.
 Involve a family of tests that assess problem solving ability

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
 A method of assessing individuals in which information pertaining to past activities, interests, and
behaviors in their lives is recorded.
 Assesses constructs that shape our behavior, such as, sociability and ambition.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
 One of the most commonly used and least valid of all predictors.
 Usually written on behalf of an applicant by a current employer, professional associate, or
personal friend.
 The respondent rates the applicant on such dimensions as leadership ability and written and oral
communication skills.

DRUG TESTING
 A method of assessment typically based on an analysis of urine that is used to detect illicit drug
use by the examinee.
 Types of Assessments
1. Screening Test – assesses the potential presence of a wide variety of chemicals.
2. Confirmation Test – identifies the presence of chemicals suggested by the initial screening test
NEW OR CONTROVERSIAL METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
 Polygraphy or Lie-Detection – uses an instrument that assesses responses of an individual’s
central nervous system that supposedly indicate giving false responses to questions.
 Graphology or Handwriting – is popular in France as a selection method; a method of assessment
in which a person’s handwriting are evaluated and interpreted based on such factors as the
specific formation of letters, the slant and size of the writing, and how hard the person presses the
pen or pencil on the paper.
 Test of Emotional Intelligence – a construct that reflects a person’s capacity to manage emotional
responses in social situations.

ASSESSMENT OF 12 PERSONNEL SELECTION METHODS ALONG FOUR EVALUATIVE

STANDARDS