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Research suggests that less adverse impact should result from the use of employment tests assessing memory abilities than is obtained from tests assessing cognitive abilities. The test the application of this principle, a Short-Term Memory test and a Reading Comprehension test were administered as part of a selection battery for entry level police. Subjects were 1423 police officer applicants for a Midwestern city in the U.S. The results for the overall sample showed a smaller standardized difference between the scores of Blacks and Whites on the Short-Term Memory test than on the Reading Comprehension test, a difference which was further reduced when a subsample of Blacks and Whites was created which had been matched on gender, years of education and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviewed and summarized the literature on the use of written tests in the selection of firefighters using a sample of 13,418 individuals drawn from 101 samples. For the prediction of job performance, cognitive tests showed substantial validity (.42), although mechanical comprehension tests showed even higher validity (.54). However, the best prediction was obtained by tests which were composites of cognitive and mechanical predictors (.56). Training criteria was best predicted by cognitive measures (.77), although mechanical comprehension predictors also showed substantial prediction value (.62). Tests which were composites of cognitive and mechanical measures showed validities equal to that of cognitive measures (.77). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

David C. McClelland's 1973 article has deeply influenced both professional and public opinion. In it, he presented five major themes: (a) Grades in school did not predict occupational success, (b) intelligence tests and aptitude tests did not predict occupational success or other important life outcomes, (c) tests and academic performance only predicted job performance because of an underlying relationship with social status, (d) such tests were unfair to minorities, and (e) "competencies" would be better able to predict important behaviors than would more traditional tests. Despite the pervasive influence of these assertions, this review of the literature showed only limited support for these claims. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous research has found that test takers can score above chance level on reading comprehension tests even when the passages are omitted. The present research investigated whether the effect would vary as a function of race. In Study 1, 386 participants completed a reading test with the passages omitted. General mental ability and race were significantly correlated with test performance. In Study 2, 827 job applicants completed the test as part of an entry-level selection battery. Eliminating items for which large race differences existed in Study 1 had no real effect on the size of the Black-White mean difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barrett (1993) presented evidence that mental ability measures designed specifically for the prediction of performance in tasks and jobs have validity at least equal to that of tests of general mental ability, while having advantages such as lower adverse impact. The current study demonstrates that the match in specificity of predictor and criterion can be attained through simple changes in the scoring of standard mental and clerical ability tests. A sample of 51 university students completed a battery of pre-employment tests and, a week or two later, worked on a clerical job sample. The results indicated that quality of performance (number of errors on the task) was best predicted using the number of errors made on the predictor tests while quantity of work was only predicted by the number correct. A test of general mental ability did not correlate with either criterion. These results contradicted the conclusions of Schmidt (1993) that specific ability tests have no incremental validity above a general ability test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effect of factor analytic method on the interpretation of the changing abilities requirements model. Factor pattern of ability tests; Support for changing factor structure; Problem in relying on a statistical technique to develop a psychological theory.

Focuses on the ambiguous nature of validity and the practical utility of personnel testing. Presentation of historical overview of testing and validation; Performance of employees in an employment test; Practical steps for personnel research.

Focuses on the reanalysis of the changing-abilities-requirements model for task performance. Basis of the model; Citations of the studies supporting the model; Strength of the experimental support for the model.

This study investigated the extent of convergence among SDy estimates from three different techniques. As reported, the dollar-based (Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie & Muldrow, 1979) and performance-based (Eaton, Wing & Mitchell, 1985) judgemental estimates were nearly equivalent to the precentage of salary SDy estimate (Hunter, Schmidt & Judiesch, in press). Close inspection revealed that these similarities were, in large part, attributable to the various measures of central tendency adopted by these procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opinion. Comments on the concept raised by McClelland on the importance of validation of empirical data for a conclusion to be valid. Recommendations and data establish the point that empirical data is needed to support the contention of McClelland; Correlation data from different parameters; Use of reliable and valid nontraditional tests; Nontraditional approach to test development.

Questions the scientific integrity of the amicus curiae brief on sex stereotyping submitted to the Supreme Court in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989). American Psychological Association (APA) as an impartial source of scientific knowledge; Need to restructure the process used to generate APA briefs; Scientific integrity over expediency.

Purpose: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists with a unique role as professional test developers and consultants involved in assisting organizations in establishing the job-relatedness/validity defense to charges of discrimination, specifically charges based on an adverse or disparate impact theory. However, these activities have transmogrified into the fairly common occurrence of public municipalities and organizations demanding the reduction or absence of adverse impact as part of the scope of work or contracts and for practitioners and consultants to guarantee adverse impact reduction or elimination a priori. Plaintiffs and their experts also routinely argue that the observed adverse impact could have been allayed or eliminated if the defendant had only just used alternative testing methods. This then begs the following question: “Are there well established techniques and procedures that can reduce, minimize, or eliminate adverse impact in a predictable, generalizable, and replicable fashion in the same manner that we might guarantee validity?” The present paper seeks to answer this question. Approach and Findings: With the preceding as a backdrop, the present paper identifies and discusses four overlooked critical attributes of adverse impact that collectively and in conjunction work against and obviate adverse impact reduction and elimination guarantees. Conclusions and Implications: We conclude that the search for guaranteed adverse impact reduction or elimination is a “Holy Grail” and that we should avoid predictions and guarantees regarding adverse impact elimination in specific situations, including those based on the inclusion of “alternative” selection devices. However, in the context of civil rights legislation, and the intersection of I/O psychologists with said legislation, what we can guarantee as a science and profession are sound and valid tests and assessment devices that can be defended accordingly should the use of said tests and devices be challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field study was conducted with 175 Civil Service clerical employees. The results indicated that extraverts preferred jobs with higher levels of cognitive task demands, pace of task demands, cognitive closure, extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards. Neuroticism was negatively related to these preferences except for extrinsic rewards, and the relationships were not as strong. Extraverts were found to be less satisfied than introverts with their present clerical job in terms of the work itself, supervision and co-workers as measured by the Job Descriptive Index. Neuroticism was unrelated to job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the method used in illustrating the impact of differential weights on personnel selection outcomes. Ability of simulation method to generate statistics on interrelations of test components and job performance; Estimation of the hiring rates; Comparison between a unit weighting approach to the application of differential weights.