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…

Legal issues at the state and constitutional levels and associated misconceptions related to written preemployment integrity tests are addressed. Common misconceptions include the beliefs that: (1) such tests fall within the purview of state antipolygraph statutes; (2) unfair discrimination doctrines are violated by integrity testing; and (3)…

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…

The following tests and techniques have been developed by the U.S. Emloyment Service for the measurement of occupational aptitude, clerical skills, literacy skills, and occupational interest: General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), Nonreading Aptitude Test Battery (NATB), Specific Aptitude Test Battery (SATB), Clerical Skills Tests, Basic…

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…

The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) focuses on improving public personnel assessment in such fields as selection and performance evaluation. Author-generated summaries/outlines of papers presented at the IPMAAC's 1983 conference are provided. The presidential address is "Is There a Future for Test…

Employment tests predict job performance because they measure or are correlated with a large set of malleable developed abilities, which are causally related to productivity. Our economy currently under-rewards the achievements that are measured by these tests. Consequently, economic incentives to study hard in high school are minimal, and this…

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…

This report examines how selection fairness is influenced by the characteristics of a selection instrument in terms of its distribution of item difficulties, level of item discrimination, degree of item bias, and testing strategy. Computer simulation was used in the administration of either a conventional or Bayesian adaptive ability test to a…

Research resulting in the development of the Specific Aptitude Test Battery for use in selecting inexperienced or untrained individuals for training as Utility Hands (paper goods) was described. Aptitudes measured were form perception, clerical perception, and manual dexterity. Job analysis was performed by observation of the workers' performance…

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…

Many multiple aptitude test batteries, including the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT), used for assigning or classifying individuals to jobs or for occupational counseling have subtests covering a broad range of content such as science, mathematics, reading, vocabulary, perceptual, mechanical, or technical knowledge. This content reflects…

The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) is a non-profit organization of personnel assessment professionals involved in public personnel assessment. Author-generated summaries/outlines of papers are presented. The keynote address is "Ability Testing in the 1980's and Beyond: Some Major Trends" by A.…

Abstracts, titles, and sources are given for documents concerning the Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI) and Inwald Survey 3 (IS3). The following titles are included: (1) "Five-Year Follow-Up Study of Departmental Terminations as Predicted by 16 Preemployment Psychological Indicators"; (2) "The Predictive Validity of Psychological…

One way for agencies to reduce fiscal stress is to minimize employee turnover. A project undertaken by San Bernardino County (California) to reduce employee turnover through the development, validation, and use of a non-traditional worker selection instrument (biographical inventory) is described. This project was aimed at the specific…