Self-assessment in personnel selection.

Examined the usefulness of self-assessments of skills, abilities, and knowledge for personnel selection in 2 studies. In Study 1, 73 clerical state government employees rated ther current abilities in several areas and took a speeded test of clerical accuracy and 2 parallel forms of an unspeeded test of several clerical abilities. Supervisors provided concurrent performance ratings on as many as 16 dimensions. Significant positive correlations between self-assessments and written test scores were found for spelling, grammar, word meaning, reading, and arithmetic. Self-assessments of spelling, reading, grammar, speed and accuracy of proofreading, comparing names and numbers, and concentration of accuracy of details correlated significantly with supervisory ratings on corresponding performance dimensions. In study 2, 569 applicants for clerical jobs rated their typing speed and were later given a standardized typing test. Typing test scores correlated .62 or better with self-assessments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issues in personnel selection.

Industrial/organizational psychologists have made many contributions to the development of modern selection procedures. Such procedures are used by organizations in making decisions about individual employees (e.g., hiring and promoting). This article briefly reviews the methods used in selection (i.e., psychological tests, personal histories, projective techniques, and interviews); summarizes the professional and legal issues that their use has raised; and discusses current trends and future developments in selection. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision processes in communication nets.

In star, slash, and common communication nets, the "central S more than the peripheral S tries to change the opinion of those who disagree, but if he fails, he himself changes more… the presence of one supporter strengthens the resistance of a S relatively more than the mere reduction of size of opposition and more than the simple fact that the opposition is not unanimous… member satisfaction is a joint function of centrality and amount of support by other group members." 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work sampling for personnel selection.

Developed a work sample checklist from supervisors' ratings of important tasks and behaviors expected of maintenance mechanics. The test was given to 34 employees by an outside e, and checklist evaluations were compared with (a) supervisors' evaluation of each s on 3 factors; and (b) ss' responses on the test of mechanical comprehension, the wonderlic personnel test, and the short employment tests. Results indicate that performance on the work sample was significantly related to supervisory evaluations of job success, but that none of the validity coefficients for the paper-and-pencil tests was significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implications of personnel psychology for intern selection.

Examines innovations in selection and performance appraisal described in the personnel psychology literature and details how these innovations might be incorporated into the internship experience. Most of the current research literature on the professional psychology internship is anecdotal in nature. In addition, the limited empirical research on intern selection criteria reveals no basis on which to judge the validity of current performance predictors. Research in the areas of personnel psychology that apply to intern selection and evaluation is reviewed: the use of cognitive ability and academic record data to predict performance, letters of recommendation as a selection component, and the personal interview as a primary aspect of the selection process. Current practices in intern selection in each of these areas are not well supported by empirical research. Several promising innovations from personnel psychology, particularly behavioral interviewing, are described and evaluated. It is concluded that behavior-based interviews developed from a job analysis possess considerable promise to improve intern selection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the use of personality measures in personnel selection.

Discusses the use of personality as a predictor in personnel selection. Recent data has suggested that personality measures (PRMs) are related to performance criteria that are unrelated to cognitive ability when the traits measured are conceptually related to these criteria. It seems that PRMs may predict job performance dimensions that cannot be predicted by cognitive ability measures. The use of PRMs in personnel selection may be warranted when a careful job analysis is undertaken to determine which performance dimensions may be related to personality traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision processes in visual discrimination of line orientation.

The contribution of decision factors to the meridional variations in line orientation discrimination (OD) was determined for 2-alternative forced-choice experimental designs. With K. O. Johnson's (1980) formalization of decision processes in discrimination tasks, 3 decision factors were identified: decision rule, memory variance, and criterial noise. Exp I (with 13 Ss) showed the effect of experimental design on OD to be similar at horizontal and oblique standard orientations, indicating that the meridional variations in OD were not due to a decision rule anisotropy. In Exp II (with 5 Ss) the effect of the interstimulus interval was also found to be similar at both standard orientations, suggesting that the memory variance is isotropic in the orientation domain. Exps III and IV (with a total of 7 Ss) supported the hypothesis that the meridional variations in OD are not due to a criterial noise anisotropy. Results strongly suggest that the oblique effect in OD is due to sensorial factors rather than to decision factors. Therefore, they further support the hypothesis linking the anisotropy of the preferred orientation distribution of Area 17-S cells (a single physiologically defined class of cells in the primary visual cortex) and the meridional variations in OD. (58 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bales' interaction process analysis of personnel selection interviews.

What are the sources of interview unreliability? This is the 2nd of a series of 3 studies of the interview. 276 interviews were used. "Samples of interview conversation (personnel selection interviews) were analyzed according to Bales' interaction process analysis. Scores obtained were correlated with decisions made by interviewers about whether applicants were recommended for acceptance or rejection… . specific interaction score variance accounts for interviewer error to a significant degree." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response selection processes for conjunctive targets.

A model is proposed for identification and response selection of cross-dimensional conjunctive stimuli. The model assumes that the formation of conjunction representations involves processes similar to those used in response selection for single-feature targets. It predicts that discrimination between conjunctive targets leads to separate competitions in each of the relevant component dimensions and that detection of a predefined single conjunctive target is done at the conjunctive map level. Experiments 1 and 2 support these two sets of predictions. Experiment 3 demonstrates that responses to conjunctions of features within the orientation dimension are qualitatively different from those for cross-dimensional conjunctive targets. It is speculated that line-orientation conjunctions are handled by the visual object-recognition system, whereas cross-dimensional conjunctions, as exemplified by the model, may be performed by a different system that is closely associated with response selection processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interviewer consistency in the use of empathic models in personnel selection.

Personnel selection interviewers predicted the responses of applicants to 2 paper and pencil tests. Comparisons were made between these predictions and the responses of applicants (accuracy score), predictions and the responses of interviewers (similarity score). (These scores were referred to collectively as empathy scores.) Statistical analysis of empathy scores and their components indicated marked inter-interviewer inconsistency, which was interpreted to mean that interviewers tend to make errors by resorting to empathy as a basis of decision making. Explicit, actuarial bases of decision making in interviewing are advocated. Results of a follow-up study supported this interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial bias in the use of work samples for personnel selection.

Examined the role of evaluation specificity and task relevance in explaining racial bias in the use of work samples. 56 White maintenance mechanics evaluated a videotaped performance of a Black job applicant and a White job applicant performing a relevant task (laying out, drilling, and tapping) and an irrelevant task (indexing drill bits). The applicants were evaluated by using a highly specific behavioral recording form, a global rating scale, or both. Race-linked bias was found only when Ss were asked to make global evaluations after observing an applicant's performance on a task representing irrelevant job behavior. Race-linked bias was not found when Ss used the behavioral recording form or in global evaluations made following the behavioral recordings. Race-linked bias was not evident when evaluations were based on observations of relevant job behavior. It is concluded that by using careful work sample development procedures and by assisting Ss in focusing on and recording relevant behavior, the potential for bias in the use of work samples appears small. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imposed quotas and personnel selection: A computer simulation study.

A computer simulation program was used to assess a set of algorithms developed to predict the necessary recruitment and performance outcomes likely for organizations under different subgroup quota constraints. Results demonstrate the accuracy of the algorithms in predicting outcomes for a range of selection problems common in organizational practice. It is concluded that the joint probability of locating enough qualified applicants of a particular subgroup to meet a quota may result in certain consequences that have neither been considered nor intended by those advocating such quotas. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Faking and personality assessment in personnel selection: Advancing models of faking.

Personality testing is a particularly valuable preemployment assessment tool when one matches personality traits to job requirements. The authors explain that, unlike most other common personnel selection methods, the unique value of personality assessment in personnel selection stems from its tendency to predict the choice to perform, or “will-do” aspects of job performance. The effect of faking on the value of personality testing is discussed, and the authors suggest that personality testing’s contribution to personnel selection could be leveraged if more were known about the psychological process underlying applicant faking behaviour. To this end, the authors present an improved general model of the applicant faking process as well as a new “faking decision tree.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fairness reactions to personnel selection techniques in France and the United States.

The authors examined the bases for fairness reactions to different selection practices and considered cross-cultural differences in these reactions by comparing respondents from 2 cultures. College students (N?=?259) from France and the United States rated the favorability of 10 selection procedures and then indicated the bases for these reactions on 7 procedural dimensions. Selection decisions based on interviews, work-sample tests, and resumes were perceived favorably in both cultures. Graphology was perceived more favorably in France than in the United States, but even French reactions toward graphology were somewhat negative. The perceived face validity of the selection procedure was the strongest correlate of favorability reactions among both samples. Beyond comparing the results from each culture, the discussion addresses implications for multinational companies establishing selection systems in foreign countries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision processes in discrimination: Fundamental misrepresentations of signal detection theory.

A new approach to studying decision making in discrimination tasks is described that does not depend on the technical assumptions of signal detection theory (e.g., normality of the encoding distributions). In 3 different experiments, results of these new distribution-free tests converge on a single, surprising conclusion: response biases had substantial effects on the encoding distributions but no effect on the decision rule, which was uniformly unbiased in equal and unequal base rate conditions and in symmetric and asymmetric payoff conditions. This seemingly paradoxical result is fundamentally inconsistent with the entire family of signal detection theory models, raising some important questions about the significance of many published results in the human performance literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigator characteristics as moderators of personnel selection research: A meta-analysis.

Surrogate measures of original authors' reward context, primary motivation for doing the research, and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) were examined for their affect on criterion-related validities reported in the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology between 1964 and 1992. Number of years of experience (a surrogate KSA measure) displayed no moderating relationship. Type of organizational need (equal employment opportunity compliance, augmenting existing selection system, etc.) and investigator interests (e.g., theory testing) were related to criterion-related validities. Place of authors' employment (i.e., reward context) also displayed a moderating relationship (authors in private industry reported higher average validities in comparison with academics). Interaction effects on criterion-related validities were found between authors' experience and (1) place of employment and (2) primary motivation for conducting the research. Results are interpreted in view of possible differences in ability, motivation, and opportunity to do research across employment settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orientations toward personnel selection: Differential reliance on appearance and personality.

In two studies we examined the hypothesis that the psychological construct of self-monitoring would identify people who adopt distinctly different strategies in personnel selection. In both experiments, undergraduates examined information about the physical appearance and personalities of two applicants for a specific job and then decided which applicant should receive a job offer. In Study 1, information about the applicants' physical attractiveness and job-appropriate dispositions was varied. In Study 2, job appropriateness of the applicants' physical appearance and of their personalities were both varied. In each study, high self-monitoring individuals placed greater weight on information about physical appearance than did low self-monitoring individuals. By contrast, low self-monitoring individuals put greater weight on information about personal dispositions than did high self-monitoring individuals. We discuss the implications for understanding personnel selection as well as for decision making in interpersonal contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Activation and selection processes in the recognition of ambiguous words.

Three experiments with 234 undergraduates investigated the role of meaning frequency in the processing of ambiguous words in isolation. Ss made lexical decisions to target words that were associates of the more frequent or less frequent meaning of a homograph prime. Exps I–II charted the time course of activation of the 2 meanings, showing that the dominant meaning was retrieved first, with the subordinate meaning activated more slowly. Subsequent to its retrieval, activation of the less frequent meaning decreased again. Exp III indicated that meaning selection was the result of allocation of attention to information related to the dominant meaning of the ambiguous word. Overall results suggest the selection process is active but difficult for the S to control and that the processing of ambiguous words in isolation may be conceived of as a 2-stage process: automatic selection followed by a 2nd, optional stage driven by the deliberate allocation of limited-capacity resources. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the economic utility of generalized validity coefficients in personnel selection.

This study compared economic utility estimates that were based on noninteractive, interactive, independent multiplicative, and Taylor Series Approximation (TSA) 1 and 2 validity generalization results for clerical selection procedures at a large international manufacturing company. On the basis of estimates of the mean true validity and lower bound 90% credibility value, magnitude and percentage differences in resulting utility estimates across validity generalization procedures were relatively small for almost all comparisons. Regardless of the specific validity generalization parameter estimate used in estimating a utility value, the change in economic utility, going from the organization's current selection procedure (i.e., a verbal ability test) to an alternative procedure, was sizable in most cases. These results clearly demonstrate the practical similarity in utility terms of alternative validity generalization procedure results as well as the sizable economic value of minimum-level generalized validity coefficients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)