Testing

1. Testing MANA 5341 Dr. George Benson benson@uta.edu

2. Substantive Methods • Biodata • Ability Tests • Proficiency Tests • Assessment Centers • Personality Tests

3. Ability Tests • Generally very valid • Physical • Reaction time, mechanical ability, strength, stamina etc. • Remember: pre-offer medical exams prohibited • Adverse impact must be justified • “Preventing injury” is not the same as “job performance” • Cognitive • Verbal, mathematical, and reason skills • Valid predictors – particularly for first line supervisors • May have adverse impact

4. Physical Ability and Adverse Impact • Cooper Fitness Test (named for the institution in Dallas) test includes a 1.5-mile run and timed sit-ups and push-ups, with standards that varied based on gender and age. • These kinds of fitness tests have been challenged in court as discriminatory when used as mandatory standards. • In general standards should be the same and not have adverse impact. To justify adverse impact, the physical test should be strongly linked to job performance. • Provide training before the test • Be explicit about how the test relates to the job • Make no assumptions about physical ability

5. Different Standards for Genders? A federal district court in Iowa has ruled that a pre-employment strength test used at an Armour meat packing plant Iowa, has a disparate impact against women. Dial's "work tolerance test" (WTS) was passed by 97% of male applicants and less than 40% of female applicants. Although women had been successfully performing the job for years, Dial argued that the test was necessary to reduce injuries in the job which requires lifting 35 pound sausage rods to a height of 65 inches. Paula Liles and other unsuccessful female applicants testified at trial that they had performed heavy physical work, including lifting, in the past, and that they had met all the other job requirements. Ms. Liles completed the seven-minute test, but was graded as failing because of her height, which required her to go on her toes to complete the lifts to 65 inches. 2.9.05

6. Cognitive Ability Tests • General cognitive ability (g) or IQ • Measure multiple dimensions of “ability” • Verbal • Mathematical • Memory • Reasoning • General “IQ tests” • “Wonderlic Personnel Test” • What about “Emotional Intelligence”?

7. 1938 Wonderlic Sample Questions • Look at the row of numbers below. What number should come next? 8 4 2 1 ½ ¼ ? 2. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one: 1. true 2. false, 3. not certain? The boy plays baseball. All baseball players wear hats. The boy wears a hat. 3. Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will four pads cost? 4. A boy is 17 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 23 years old, what will be the age of his sister?

8. 1938 Wonderlic Sample Questions • Look at the row of numbers below. What number should come next? 8 4 2 1 ½ ¼ ? ANSWER 1/8 2. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one: 1. TRUE 2. false, 3. not certain? 3. Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will four pads cost? ANSWER 84 cents 4. A boy is 17 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 23 years old, what will be the age of his sister? ANSWER 40 years old

9. Wonderlic in the NFL Wall Street Journal : • The teams with the top-five average scores were the Rams, Raiders, Titans, Bucs and Chargers • The bottom-five scores came from the Bengals, Redskins, Chiefs, Cardinals and Packers. • Four of the top five have made a recent Super Bowl appearance. • Stanford, Purdue, BYU and Cal had higher average scores than the highest-scoring NFL team, St. Louis.

10. Cognitive Ability Tests Why aren’t cognitive tests used more frequently? • Lack “face” validity – not accepted by public • Differences in minority subgroup means creates problems What to do about differences among minority subgroups? • “Differential validity” does not exist

11. Proficiency Tests • Knowledge Tests • High validity / reliability • Licensing tests – Content Knowledge Tests • Work Sample Tests • Very high validity / reliability • Assembly-line simulations • Assessment Centers / In-boxes/ Role plays

12. DHS Testing Airport Screeners "Notwithstanding that some questions addressed information material to the [training] course, it is extremely disturbing… that a number were phrased so as to provide an obvious clue to the correct answer” Homeland Security Acting Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin. Why is it important to screen bags for bombs? • The ticking timer could worry passengers • Batteries in the bomb could leak and damage other passengers bags. • Wiring could cause a short to the aircraft’s wires. • Bombs can cause the loss of life, property, and aircraft. TSA said that test is no longer used, and that screeners also had to pass a hands-on exam to demonstrate that they could find explosives using the government's detection machines. LATimes 10.10.03

13. Assessment Centers • Typically a combination of several tests • In-basket exercises • “Leaderless Group Discussion” • Role plays • Work-sample tests • Group interviewing • Must be carefully designed to be reliable and valid • Assessors must be trained if they are rating behavior. • Valid and reliable if done well. • Often used for managerial development / promotion rather than new hire selection. • Expensive to develop and maintain

14. Personality Inventories • Personality is a set of very specific measurable traits • NOT – how well you get along with someone • NOT – an “outgoing” or interesting person • Never use a personality test as the sole criteria • Should be job related like other KSA’s • Use only validated instruments and trained testers • Choose a vendor and instrument carefully (1000’s available) • Better for comparing applicants than assessing a single candidate

15. Strong vs. Weak Situations • Person x Situation Interaction • How an individual’s personality impacts job person is dependent on both the person and the situation. • Strong vs. Weak situations • Field sales vs. call center

16. Personality Measurement • Self-report Inventories • Ratings from co-workers more reliable • Little evidence that social desirability and faking affects validity • Examples - NEO Personality Inventory / Personality Characteristics Inventory (PCI) / California Psychological Inventory (CPI) • Projective techniques • Ambiguous inkblots or open-ended questions • Low reliability • Requires trained scorers • Behavioral Assessment • Situational behavioral assessment – role play • Requires trained observers

17. Personality Inventories • The “Big 5”: • Emotional stability • Extraversion • Openness to experience • Agreeableness • Conscientiousness • Conscientiousness best predictor of performance for most jobs: r = .31 • Emotional stability predicts for managers. • Extraversion predicts for sales.

18. Buyer Beware • Fritz Drasgow (former SIOP President) • “In any growing area you get people that aren’t reputable….There is no licensing or registration in this area. Its really caveat emptor…buyer beware.” • Choose a personality measure that has been developed and validated for employment selection. • MMPI only used in special cases • Meyers-Briggs typically NOT used for employee selection.

19. Potential Problems • In 1993, Target stores agreed to pay more than $1 million to about 2,500 prospective security guards. • At issue was a lengthy employment screening test that included deeply personal questions and that some experts say was designed to be administered to mental patients. • Among questions on the true-false test were: “I never indulge in unusual sex practices” and “I feel sure there is only one true religion.” • In 2000, a similar case was settled by Rent-A-Center, a Texas-based appliance rental company that had been using a psychological test.

20. SHRM Guideline Questions • How was the instrument validated? • What theory of personality is the instrument based on? • “Normal” personality • Big “5” is a big help • What kind of personality are you looking for? • Identify specific work behaviors • Take into account the situation • Can the instrument be customized for specific positions? • Does the provider monitor effectiveness of the measure? • How will the results actually be used in selection?

21. Integrity / Honesty Tests • Reliability and Validity depends on test • Can predict bad behavior • Subject to manipulation • Polygraphs are prohibited for most private employers. • In-direct  Personality-based tests • Direct  Questions on ethical situations or attitudes towards theft / unlawful activities.