Relationship between job knowledge and the reliability of conceptual similarity schemata.

Several investigators have argued that raters often rely on the conceptual similarity among performance dimension labels to guide the pattern of their performance ratings. Recent studies have used individual-level conceptual similarity (COS) judgments to investigate this systematic distortion hypothesis and related performance rating issues. In this article the results from 4 studies are reported in which 171 subjects completed COS judgments on 2 occasions. In 3 separate studies the reliability of COS schemata was found to be positively related to the rater's relevant job knowledge. In a 4th study it was found that changes in COS schemata over a 9-week interval may result from COS unreliability as much as from any meaningful reconceptualization of COS structure. Implications for performance rating research are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)