schultz10e_ch04.ppt

Schultz & Schultz 10e 1
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved
Psychology and Work Today
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Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
• Explain the principles of psychological testing
• Describe the implications of fair employment practices
• Present an overview of a sample testing program
• Describe the administrative implications of the different
types of psychological tests used in the workplace
• Identify the types of psychological tests used in the
workplace
• Understand the limitations of psychological testing

Psychological Test Characteristics
• Standardization
• Objectivity
• Test norms
• Reliability
• Validity
• Validity generalization

Standardization
• Standardization refers to the consistency or
uniformity of the conditions and procedures for
administering a psychological test
• Maintaining standardized conditions is the
responsibility of the people administering the test
• Computer technology is helping ensure that
people taking a test receive the same
instructions in the same format

Objectivity
• Objectivity refers to the scoring of the test
results
• Objective tests have a scoring process
that is free of personal judgment or bias
• Subjective tests contain items such as
essay questions and can be influenced by
the personal characteristics and attitudes
of the scorer

Test Norms
• Test norms refers to the distribution of scores of
a large number of people similar to the job
applicants being tested
• Standardization sample refers to the scores of
the group of subjects used to establish test
norms.
• Standardization sample scores serve as the
point of comparison for determining the relative
standing of the persons being tested

Reliability
• Reliability refers to the consistency or stability of
a response on a psychological test
• Test-retest method is a way to determine reliability by
administering a new test twice to the same subjects and
correlating the two sets of scores
• Equivalent-forms method uses a test-retest approach,
but uses a different but similar test (disadvantage is the
difficulty and expense of developing two separate forms)
• Split-halves method is determined by dividing the items
of a test into two groups and correlating the two sets of
scores

Validity
• Validity is the most important test
requirement and refers to whether a test
measures what it’s intended to measure
• Criterion-related validity
• Predictive
• Concurrent
• Rational validity
• Content
• Construct

Criterion-Related Validity
• Criterion-related validity is concerned with
the relationship between test scores and
subsequent job performance
• Predictive validity involves administering the
test to all job applicants and correlating test
scores with later performance
• Concurrent validity involves testing current
employees and correlating the results with job
performance (but there are problems of pre-
selection and differing motivation levels)

Rational and Face Validity
• Rational validity relates to the nature, properties,
and content of a test, independent of job
performance measures
• Content validity assesses test items to ensure that they
adequately sample the skills the test is designed to
measure
• Construct validity attempts to determine the
psychological characteristics measured by a test
• Face validity is not a statistical measure; it is a
subjective impression of how well test items seem
to be related to the requirements of the job

Validity Generalization
• Validity generalization is based on meta-
analysis and refers to the principle that tests valid
in one situation may also be valid in another
situation
• Replaced concepts of situational specificity and
differential validity
• Endorsed by SIOP, the National Academy of
Science and included in Standards for Educational
and Psychological Testing of the APA

Fair Employment Practices
• Fair employment legislation increased validity
research to document whether a test
discriminates against any particular group of job
applicants
• Studies indicate cognitive ability tests not biased
against Blacks
• Differences reflect societal discrimination
• Criterion-related validation procedures are
required, when feasible, by EEOC guidelines

• Empirical demonstration of test validity does not
guarantee that a test will not be declared to be
discriminatory
• GATB (cognitive test) showed similar validities for
whites and minorities, but minority scores were lower
on average
• To avoid adverse impact, U.S. Employment Service
adopted race norming, adjusting minority scores
upward to equalize hiring rates
• The Civil Rights Act of 1991 prohibits race norming

• When race norming was declared unlawful,
banding was suggested
• Banding is a controversial practice of grouping
test scores for minority applicants to equalize
hiring rates
• Order of selection within a band might not be by the
highest test score
• Many tests have been modified for disabled
persons and are supported by empirical validation
studies

Overview of a Testing Program
• Investigate the nature of the job for which testing
will be used
• Choose or develop appropriate tests related to
job success
• Mental Measurements Yearbook (1998) offers
information on reliability, validity, and norms
• Consider cost, time
• Validate the test and the items within
• Conduct an item analysis

Overview of a Testing Program
• Ensure the items are not too easy or too difficult
• Once the validity and reliability are established, a
cutoff score must be determined
• Cutoff scores must consider the probability that a
minimally competent person would answer each
test item correctly

Psychological Test Administration
• Psychological tests can be categorized in
two ways
1. The manner in which they are administered
2. The abilities they are designed to measure
• Individual and group tests
• Computerized adaptive tests
• Speed and power tests

Individual and Group Tests
• Group tests are designed to be
administered to a large number of people
at the same time
• Individual tests are designed to be
administered to one person at a time

Computerized Adaptive Testing
• Computerized adaptive testing – computer-based
group test that adapts level of difficulty of questions
based on previous answers
• Larger initial investment but more cost effective in the
long run than paper and pencil tests
• Little difference in scores between paper-and-pencil
tests and computerized tests
• Limitations:
• Not administered in a controlled environment
• Ample opportunity for cheating
• May result in adverse impact due to “digital divide”

Speed Tests and Power Tests
• Speed tests
• Have a fixed time limit, at which everyone
taking the test must stop
• Large-scale testing easier as tests can all be
collected at same time
• Power tests
• Have no time limit
• Items generally more difficult than speed test

Categories of Psychological Tests
• Cognitive abilities
• Interests
• Aptitudes
• Personality – Big Five
• Integrity tests
• Situational judgment tests

Cognitive Ability Tests
• Widely used for employee selection because they
are highly effective in predicting success in the
workplace
• A meta-analysis indicated that CA tests had highest
validity for predicting success in job training and
performance (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998)
• Another study (Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2004)
indicated that cognitive ability required for success in
college was not significantly different from that
required for jobs with moderate to high levels of
complexity in business world

Cognitive Ability Tests
• Otis Self-Administering Tests of Mental Ability is
a group-administered test for lower level, non-
managerial jobs
• Wonderlic Personnel Test is a 50 item test of
general mental ability (12 minute limit) and
correlates with Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised
(WAIS-R), individually administered (11 subtests)
which takes about 75 minutes

Interest Tests
• Assess a person’s interests and preferences
• Try to match applicant’s interests to jobs where
successful incumbents hold similar interests
• They are used primarily for career counseling
• Easy to fake, therefore of little use for selection
• Interest does not guarantee success
• Examples:
• Strong Interest Inventory
• Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

Aptitude Tests
• Measure specific abilities, such as mechanical or
clerical skills
• Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test
• 68 pictures with questions about physical laws or
principles of mechanical operation
• Tape recorded instructions for those with limited reading
ability
• Group or individual administration
• Takes about 30 minutes to complete
• Used for jobs in such areas as aviation, construction, and
oil refineries

Personality Tests
• Assess personal traits and feelings
• Two approaches
• Self-report inventories include questions dealing with
situations, symptoms, and feelings; may have problems
with honesty of responses
• Projective techniques present an ambiguous stimulus,
such as an inkblot, to test-takers who project their
thoughts, wishes, and feelings in an effort to give it
meaning; there are problems with subjectivity
• Rorschach Inkblot Test
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Self-Report Inventories
• Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey
• Yields scores on 10 personality traits
• Minnesota Personality Inventory (MMPI-2)
• First published in 1943, is the most frequently used
personality test for employee selection and clinical work
• Especially useful for jobs requiring a high level of
psychological adjustment
• Repeated administrations result in less extreme scores

Self-Report Inventories
• California Psychological Inventory
• Provides scores on 17 personality dimensions
• Used to predict success in teaching and health
care
• Has scales to identify leadership and
management potential, creative potential, and
social maturity

Big Five Personality Factors
• The “Big Five”
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
• Conscientiousness and extraversion are
effective in predicting job performance, particularly
for jobs requiring autonomy
• Agreeableness and conscientiousness are
important for teamwork

Integrity Tests
• Used to predict and detect employee dishonesty
• Overt integrity tests directly assess attitudes
toward theft and other dishonest behaviors
• Personality-oriented integrity tests measure
counter-productive behaviors such as general
delinquency, impulse control, and
conscientiousness
• Research indicates integrity tests measure
conscientiousness which would explain why they
are valid predictors of performance

Situational Judgment Tests
• A series of job-related situations designed
to test judgment in the workplace
• Applicants choose best and worst
alternatives to solve problem
• Example: Supervisory Practices Test
• Meta-analysis indicates high predictive
validity for wide range of jobs

Problems with Psychological Tests
• Uncritical or Inappropriate Use
• Need to appraise test’s norms, reliabilities and
validities for the purpose at hand
• Rejection of qualified applicants
• Faking
• Retaking
• Scores improve with practice

APA Code of Ethics
• Test users – administrators and evaluators should be
aware of the principles of tests, measurement, and
validation
• Test security - tests should only be sold to
professionals who will safeguard their use
• Test interpretation - scores should only be given to
those qualified to interpret them; the test taker has the
right to know the test score and what it means
• Test publication - tests shouldn’t be released without
background research to support the developer’s claims

Privacy Issues
• Some tests may be criticized for the use of
questions about personal and intimate issues
• Questions must be related to performance of the
job for which the person is applying
• Personal questions about sex, religion, political
beliefs, and health have been successfully
challenged in court as unwarranted invasions of
privacy
• See “Newsbreak” on p. 101

Key Terms
• Aptitude tests
• Banding
• Computerized adaptive tests
• Concurrent validity
• Construct validity
• Content validity
• Criterion-related validity
• Equivalent-forms method
• Face validity
• Group tests
• Individual tests
• Integrity tests
• Interest tests
• Objective tests
• Personality tests
• Power tests
• Predictive validity
• Proactivity
• Projective techniques
• Race norming
• Rational validity
• Reliability
• Self-report personality inventories
• Situational judgment tests
• Speed tests
• Split-halves method
• Standardization
• Standardization sample
• Subjective tests
• Test norms
• Test-retest method
• Validity
• Validity generalization

schultz10e_ch04.ppt

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