Lecture Outline

1
Lecture Outline

• History of selection
• Ability, personality, and integrity tests
• Vocational interest inventories
• Biographical data
• Interviews
• Work Samples
• Assessment Centers
• Computer Adaptive Testing

2
A short history of selection

• Platos Republic -- 380s B.C.
• Han Dynasty -- 206 B.C.
• Early research on individual differences in
  psychology -- 1870s -- 1890s
• Taylor and Scientific Management -- 1910
• World War I -- Army Alpha Beta
• Adoption of scientific selection by
  industry--20s 30s
• WWII -- simulators, assessment centers
• Civil Rights movement

3
Characteristics of tests

• Individual vs. group tests
• Objective vs. open-ended tests
• Paper-and-pencil vs. performance tests
• Power vs. speed tests

4
Ability tests

• cognitive abilities
• psychomotor abilities
• knowledge and skill tests

5
Personality tests

• Projective vs. objective
• Problems
• applicants may fake responses
• job relevance
• have not been shown to predict job performance

6
Integrity tests

• Predicts predisposition to counterproductive or
  dishonest behavior
• Types
• polygraphs
• overt integrity tests
• personality integrity tests

7
Vocational interest tests

• measures interests or personality of the test
  taker to those of people in various occupations
• Strong Vocational Interest Inventory
• Based on Hollands RIASEC model

8
Hollands RIASEC Model

• Realistic
• Investigative
• Artistic
• Social
• Enterprising
• Conventional

9
Biographical Information

• Application Blank
• Weighted Application Blank
• Legal traps in applications
• Reference checks

10
Interviews

• advantages
• more detailed answers than questionnaire
• allows for clarification
• disadvantages -- subject to LOTS of biases
• Validity issues
• Structured interviews
• Interviews as recruitment devices

11
Elements of Structured Interviews

• Based on formal job analysis
• Limited access to extraneous data
• Standardize information gathering
• Use numerical rating scales
• Encourage note-taking
• Use decomposed and unit weighted ratings

12
Types of Structured Interviews

• Situational interview
• uses critical incidents to develop questions
• questions follow the what would you do in this
  situation format
• every applicant is asked identical questions

• Patterned Behavior Description Interview
• also uses critical incidents
• questions follow the tell me about the last time
  you were in this situation format
• Interviewers choose from a fixed pool of questions

13
Work Samples

• asks a person to perform a simulated job under
  standardized conditions
• Good predictors of job performance

14
Assessment Centers

• series of exercises that measure how well a
  person can perform a sample of tasks from a job
• Generally used for managerial and other white
  collar jobs

15
Computer Adaptive Testing

• Based on Item Response Theory
• Uses fewer items than paper and pencil test to
  generate a score
• Different items for different people

16
Validity of selection procedures

• Top Dogs (.30)
• mental ability tests
• work samples
• weighted application blanks
• highly structured interviews
• Moderate (.15-29)
• Scored reference checks
• Experience

• Fair-Poor (.10- .14)
• unstructured interviews
• grades
• interests
• personality
• integrity tests
• Dont bother (
• Polygraphs
• Graphology
• Astrology
• Age

17
Favorability of selection procedures

• Interview
• Work samples
• Accomplishment record
• Job skills test
• Drug test
• References
• Mental ability test

• Mental health assessment
• criminal record
• honesty test
• personality test
• medical examination
• physical ability test
• polygraph
• graphology
• Astrology

18
Summary

• History of selection
• Tests and inventories
• Biographical data
• Interviews
• Work Samples
• Assessment Centers
• Computer Adaptive Testing
• Validity and favorability of selection procedures