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88 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Characteristics of Employment Testing |
- the best and most legally defensible HR assessments are standardized and meet professional standards concerning their psychometric properties and predictive validities - The central requirement for assessments is that they accurately assess an individual's capacity to perform the essential components of the target job - Should be reliable, valid, unbiased, and fair - Should adhere to industry guidelines for employee testing - Individuals who test should understand own limitations of when not to test due to inexperience |
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Cautions of employment tests (5) |
1. Informed consent: applicants must be told why they are being tested 2. Access to test results: When possible, should be able to access results of test 3. Right to Privacy & Confidentiality 4. Language and Culture: Must be in a language they are fluent in 5. Accommodation: For disabilities, even changing standardized testing to accommodate |
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Considerations when selecting an employee test |
1. Job Analysis - KSAOs 2. Gain info about several tests that are relevant to job needs 3. Check validity, reliability, fairness of tests 4. Seek independent evaluations of proposed test 5. Check readability, appropriateness, and take special needs into consideration 6. Determine skill level needed to purchase and administer test, and interpret scores (expertise level) 7. Use tests that are psychometrically sound, meet needs of intended test-takers, and those where you have the necessary skills to administer, score, and interpret correctly |
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Difference between ability, skill, and aptitude |
Ability is characteristic of someone, the skill is the degree of competency, and aptitude is a narrow aspect of the ability or skill. Ex: ability: finger dexterity; skill: how correct they hold their fingers when typing; aptitude: operating a keyboard |
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Ability |
Enduring, general traits or characteristics on which people differ and which they bring to a work situation |
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Skill |
An individual's degree of proficiency or competency on a given task, which develops through performing the task |
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Aptitude |
A specific, narrow ability or skill that may be used to predict job performance |
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Four broad ability categories |
Cognitive Psychomotor Physical Sensory/Perceptual |
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Cognitive abilities |
Intelligence, general mental ability, or intellectual ability |
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Types of cognitive abilities |
Verbal Numerical Reasoning Memory Problem Solving Processing information |
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GMA |
General mental ability is essentially looking at the ability to learn and is related to successful job performance in many occupations Validity coefficient of .5 and is among best predictors of success in training and job performance |
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GATB |
General Aptitude Test Battery |
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What tests should be used according to Gonzalez-Mule and colleagues? |
Cognitive is best for performance Personality is best for counterproductive behaviours Both predict org. citizenship GMA does better job of predicting task and overall job performance |
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Advantages of Cognitive testing |
Highly reliable Verbal, reasoning, and numerical tests have shown high validity Combinations of aptitude tests have higher validities than alone May be administered in group settings where many applicants can be tested at same time Scoring of tests may be completed by computer scanning equipment Lower cost than personality testing |
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Disadvantages of Cognitive testing |
Non-minorities typically score lower Differences between males and females in abilities |
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How can the disadvantages of cognitive testing be minimized |
Use other less adverse impact tests (i.e. personality), especially when applicant pool includes members of different races and groups |
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WPT |
Wonderlic Personnel Test - type of cognitive ability test |
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What are the two approaches most commonly used by cognitive testing |
Hierarchal approach Nested-factors model |
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Discuss Hierarchal approach |
GMA underlies performance broadly over many cognitively demanding tasks. Each level contains abilities in clusters e.g. visual perception auditory perception cognitive speediness others Then there is another level of breaking down categories |
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Discuss the Nested-factors model |
It assumes: 1. That both GMA and the narrower cognitive ability directly explain variance in performance on cognitive ability tests 2. GMA has no causal effect on cognitive abilities and is not a higher order factor Specific cognitive abilities develop to varying strengths depending less on GMA and more on genetic and environmental differences among people |
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So which method is best to choose? Hierarchy or Nested-factors? |
If the needs require specific measure, then may be better to measure specific items but if you want to measure generally, GMA is best |
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Practical Intelligence |
The ability to apply ideas in "real world" contexts |
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Tacit Knowledge |
Knowledge that is derived from experience when learning is not the primary objectives Solving practical, everyday problems |
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Difference between practical intelligence and intellectual/academic ability |
Practical knowledge is knowing how to get stuff done (street knowledge) where academic ability is how to obtain the information (book smarts) |
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How is tacit knowledge measured? |
Through Situational Judgment Tests (SJT) Figuring out which way to the best way out of a series of options |
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Job knowledge |
Knowledge of issues and/or procedures deemed essential for successful job performance |
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Emotional Intelligence |
The ability to accurately perceive and appraise emotion in oneself and others, and to appropriately regulate and express emotion |
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Emotional intelligence includes three skills |
1. Emotional awareness, including the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others 2. The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problems solving 3. The ability to manage emotions, including the ability to regulate your own emotions, and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person |
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The best inventory to use for emotional intelligence |
Emotional and social competency inventory – (ESCI) |
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For predictive testing, what other type of testing is known to similar to emotional intelligence? |
Personality |
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When taking EQ into consideration... |
1. Assessment should align with the conceptualization of EQ (is EQ being seeing as a benefit or a negative?). So construct must equal job requirements 2. Portion most related to to job performance is emotional regulation 3. Practicality of results can be difficult 4. EQ becomes more important to measure as the emotional labour increases 5. Emotional intelligence is a young study so adverse impact is not clear yet |
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Psychomotor Abilities |
Traits or characteristics that involve the control of muscle movements |
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GATB |
General Aptitude Battery Test includes tests that involve apparatus that measure psychomotor ability in addition to cognitive and perceptual aptitudes |
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Physical abilities |
Traits or characteristics that involve the use or application of muscle force over varying periods of time, either alone or in conjunction with an ability to maintain balance or gross body coordination |
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Sensory/perceptual abilities |
Traits or characteristics that involve different aspects of vision and audition, as well as the other senses |
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When should physical/medical exams be given? |
After an offer of employment |
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Genetic testing |
the testing or monitoring of genetic material to determine a genetic propensity or susceptibility to illness resulting from various workplace chemicals or substances |
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Requirements for Voluntary Genetic Testing to Employees |
1. Test is highly specific, sensitive, and has low false-positive/false-negative rates 2. Tests are carried out by independent lab 3. Pre- & post-test counselling must be provided at owners' expense 4. Must not focus on a discriminatory gene 5. Where relevant, employer guarantees group insurance, regardless of outcome 6. Employer must ensure that those who test positive will retain a reasonable degree of job security |
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Pre-employment drug/alcohol testing in America. When? |
After conditional offer of employment unless: 1. Accurately identifies only the use of illegal drugs 2. Is not given in conjunction with a pre-employment physical 3. Does not require applicant to disclose info about prescription drug use, unless positive test result may be explained by the prescription drug |
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Canadian perspective of drug/alcohol testing |
Loosely deemed discriminatory under human rights legislation Exception: Drug testing mandatory for "safety sensitive" jobs |
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Work samples and simulations |
Testing procedures that require job candidates to produce behaviours related to job performance under controlled conditions that approximate those found in the job |
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Validity of work samples |
High validity as it showcases maximum performance It also garners positive applicant reactions |
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Issues of work samples |
1. Whites score higher than blacks when sample focused on cognitive ability and job knowledge skills 2. Females tend to outperform males when sample focused on social skills and require written responses Males tend to outperform females when work samples measure technical skills |
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Simulations |
Attempt to duplicate salient features of the job |
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Difference between work samples and simulations |
In a simulations, tasks and the setting in which they are performed represent less of an approximation of the job. The simulation involves a more artificial environment than work sample testing |
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Fidelity |
The degree to which the simulation represents the real environment |
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Benefits of a simulation |
Allows a type of hands-on performance in an environment that provides substantial safety and cost benefits compared with allowing the applicant to perform in the actual job |
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Situational exercises |
Form of work sample testing - usually used to test managers or professionals Form of low-fidelity simulation Assess aptitude or proficiency in performing important job tasks by using tasks that are abstract and less realistic than those performed on the actual job |
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SJTs |
Situational judgement test is a type of situational exercise designed to measure an applicant's judgment in workplace or professional situations Normally pen-and-paper tests Through the critical incident technique, situations are created for this type of test Generally, a good predictor of performance |
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Another name for SJTs |
Job Situation exercises |
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Two prominent types of SJTs |
Leaderless group discussion In-basket test |
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Leaderless group discussion |
A simulation exercise designed to assess leadership, organizational, and communication skills |
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In-basket test |
A simulation exercise designed to assess organizational and problem-solving skills |
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Assessment centre (AC) |
A standardized procedure that involves the use of multiple measurement techniques and multiple assessors to evaluate candidates for selection, classification, and promotion |
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Essential elements of an assessment centre |
1. Job analysis is used to identify job dimensions, tasks, and attributes that are important to job success 2. Behaviour displayed by candidates must be categorized by trained assessors and related to dimensions, aptitudes, or KSAO's 3. Assessment techniques must provide information related to the dimensions and attributes identified in the job analysis 4. Multiple assessment procedures are used to elicit a variety of behaviours and information relevant to the selected dimensions and attributes 5. A sufficient number of job-related simulations must be included in the procedure to allow opportunities to observe behaiovur on the selected dimensions 6. Multiple assessors, diverse in ethnicity, age, gender, and functional work areas, are used to observe and assess each candidate 7. Assessors must receive thorough training and meet performance standards before being allowed to evaluate candidates 8. Systematic procedures must be used by assessors to record specific behavioural observations accurately at the time of their occurrence 9. Assessors must prepare a report or record of observations made during each exercise in preparation for consolidating information across assessors 10. Data from all assessor reports must be pooled or integrated either at a special meeting of assessors or through statistical methods |
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Most ACs include: |
Ability and aptitude tests Personality assessments Situational exercises Interviews |
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Performance dimensions determined through ACs |
Skills (administrative, problem solving, interpersonal) Decision-making ability Leadership potential Motivation Resistance to stress Flexibility |
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Typical exercises in an AC |
Leaderless group discussion Performance appraisal simulation In-basket Formal presentation |
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OARs |
Overall Assessment centre Ratings |
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Positive aspects of ACs |
Provide info that can be used over the lifetime of a career (great for succession planning) Participants generally see tests as unbiased and fair, job relevant and realistic Also used to provide realistic job previews to applicants |
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Cautions of ACs |
Worth of AC is dependent on evaluation of psychometric properties and its utility Adverse impact on blacks, especially when cognitive heavy Favour to women when interpersonally loaded Exercise Effect |
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Exercise effect |
The scores that candidates obtain on different dimensions within exercise correlate more highly than do scores obtained on the same dimension measured by different exercises |
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When to use and not to use ACs |
Should be used for development In terms of selection: Better to use cognitive and personality assessments, supplemented by a structured interview and a work sample or two |
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Political skill |
One who has political skill is able to understand others in one's work environment and to leverage that understanding to get others to behave in ways that advance personal and organizational goals |
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How is political skill generally tested? |
PSI - political skill inventory |
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What does the PSI test relate positively to? |
Self-monitoring Political savviness Emotional intelligence Extraversion Conscientiousness Self-efficacy Job Satisfaction Organizational commitment Work Productivity Organizational citizenship |
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What does PSI test relate negatively to? |
Trait anxiety neuroticism Physiological strain |
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What does PSI not correlate with? |
General mental ability Psychological strain Measures of social desirability |
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Personality |
A set of characteristics or properties that influence, or help to explain, an individual's behaviour |
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Personality traits |
Stable, measurable characteristics that help explain ways in which people vary |
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Personality states vs. traits |
Someone in an interview may be nervous (state) and calm at other times (state), but another may be anxious generally (trait) |
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Type A personality |
Competitive, achievement-oriented, aggressive, hasty, impatient, restless, hyper-alert, explosiveness of speech, tense, feelings of being under pressure all the time |
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Self-report inventory |
Most common personality test used Short, written statements related to various personality traits |
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Another name for Self-report inventories |
Objective techniques |
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Criticism of self-report inventories |
Prone to faking or social desirability responses If correction are created to address faking, it may be difficult to uphold reasoning in court case |
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Generally, is personality a good predictor of performance? |
No, they can be too invasive of privacy and are generally not clearly job related Recent studies have shown that personality measures can predict a number of job-related criteria, including performance |
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The Big Five dimensions of personality |
Conscientiousness Emotional Stability Openness to Experience Agreeableness Extraversion It is the most widely used classification scheme in summarizing relationships between personality and job performance variables |
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When selecting for work teams... |
Best personality traits found are generally extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability Agreeableness and conscientiousness produce higher performers when those two variables are high so higher interpersonal demands would work well here |
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So the best work team consists of... |
Those who score high on: - conscientiousness - open to experience - emotional stability - Agreeableness Having a mix of extraversion and introversion is best |
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Regarding the Big Five dimensions, narrow versus broad traits... |
Should be dependent upon the criteria. For example, whistle-blowing would be best with the assertiveness aspect of extraversion. Overall job performance would be better measured by conscientiousness. |
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Honesty/Integrity tests |
Self-report inventories designed to assess employee honesty and reliability |
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Two types of honesty/integrity tests |
Covert tests and Overt honesty tests |
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Integrity tests positively correlate with which categories of personality? |
Agreeableness, emotional stability, and conscientiousness |
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Cavaets of honesty testing |
- misinterpretation of results - gather negative reactions - high number of false positives (are honest but do poorly on the test) - Publisher's interpretation |
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How to ensure validity of integrity test? |
Figure out what is of concern (negative behaviour) and then use a test for that that is valid and reliable |
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When to use integrity tests |
With other tests... can improve validity Never use integrity test by itself Overt is better |
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How does one balance diversity and validity in selection? |
1. Use job analysis... recognize technical and nontechnical requirements 2. Use cognitive and non cognitive predictors to measure KSAOs 3. Use alternative predictor measurement methods (interviews, SJTs, biodata, accomplishment record, assessment centres) when feasible. This will reduce adverse impact 4. Decrease cognitive loading of predictors and verbal ability to the extent supported by job analysis (i.e. high school education, predictors should not predict for post secondary) 5. Enhance applicant reactions, from interviews or assessment centres 6. Consider branding. |
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Best alternative predictor methods |
interviews, SJTs, and assessment centres |
