Recent attempts to reduce the adverse impact of examinations have focused on alternatives to written tests. The present report, however, demonstrates how the adverse impact of written tests can be reduced by correcting for the degree to which a job applicant had been educationally and/or economically disadvantaged or deprived. A measure of…

The Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) project is a joint Armed Services coordinated effort to develop and evaluate a system for automated, adaptive administration of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The CAT is a system for administering personnel tests that differs from conventional test administration in two major…

This paper describes in some detail Siegfreid's Process Mapping Model for describing human performance. The model's application to task analysis and the advantages of using it when constructing assessment strategies and instruments are discussed. Examples of the model's use in building portfolios, behavioral rating scales, and skill demonstration…

Focusing on assessment centers, this chapter is one of seven in a report that examines the assessment of occupational competence. Assessment centers are presented first in a historical context (their origins in personality theory), through which their evolution is traced and examined. What follows is a description of current assessment center…

One of seven sections of a report that examines the assessment of occupational competence, this chapter presents competence assessment as it is defined in practice by selection techniques currently used by employers. The chapter begins with a discussion of the major techniques used in employee selection, focusing on the competencies employers…

Although frequently attacked as invalid, demeaning, biased, illegal, and irrelevant, preemployment testing procedures appear to be increasing in popularity. Many prominent companies and organizations are making extensive use of tests. Part of the resurgence of testing is attributable to clearer definitions of acceptable practice. Legal precedents…

Eighty three applicants for empployment in a hardware supply manufacturing company participated in a study of the effects of anxiety, praise and the awareness of time remaining on employment testing. Two control groups and three testing groups--praise, time, and praise and time--were administered the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), a…

Starting in the fall of 1992, students will be asked to use the U.S. Department of Defense's "Occu-Find" to find occupations that fit their Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) codes, which will be based on the ASVAB academic ability composite (a measure of student cognitive ability). The purpose of this report is to…

One of seven sections of a report that examines the assessment of occupational competence, this chapter examines the issue of certification from the perspective of the consumer of services performed by the individual possessing the credential. To provide an understanding of the current practice of competence assessment as a component of…

Research is reported on four tests commonly used in South Africa to select apprentices, the Intermediate Mental Alertness Test, the High Level Figure Classification Test, the Blox Test, and the Mechanical Comprehension Test. Samples were as follows: (1) 206 Asian, 208 Black, 102 Coloured, and 99 White mostly male applicants for sugar industry…

Three topics were discussed at this conference: (1) the supply and identification of high level talent; (2) problems of evaluation in general education; and (3) the development of tests for the measurement of non-intellectural functions. Tony Oxtoby and John T. Dailey discussed military and civilian personnel research on talent identification and…

This guide was developed to help managers and human resource (HR) professionals use assessment practices that are the right choices for reaching their organizations' HR goals. It provides information about assessment practices so that managers and HR professionals can evaluate and select assessment tools and procedures that maximize chances for…

The final chapter of a seven-section report that examined the assessment of occupational competence, this chapter explores the key patterns and commonalities that have emerged from the study of occupational competency assessment. The chapter begins with a synthesis of the state of the art of competency definition and measurement under four topic…

This introduction and overview is part of a seven-section report that investigates how individual competence is defined and assessed in the settings of education and work. Following background rationale, the first portion develops a definition of competence as "a characteristic of an individual that underlies effective work performance."…