Unstandardized and unstructured interviews can have an adverse impact on the hiring of minority groups; the personnel interview does not substitute for well designed and valid objective tests as predictors of job success. (TA)

College faculty served as judges to rate the instructional validity of items on the National Teacher Examinations Core Battery. The ratings were examined in relation to actual test performance, as well as panelists' ratings of item difficulty and relevance. (Author/GDC)

This paper considers the application of Bayesian techniques for simultaneous estimation to the specification of regression weights for selection tests used in various technical training courses in the Marine Corps. It concludes that a hypothesis of complete generalization of the predictor-criterion relationship would only be retained for selected…

Addresses problems involved in developing and using performance tests, creating job-like testing situations, specifying measurable criteria, and controlling external factors to reduce problems of test reliability. Placing trainees in on-the-job training environments when training cannot be provided in the classroom or laboratory is recommended.…

Examines several decisions of district and appeals courts and the Supreme Courts, both State and Federal, under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and their implications for personnel and training management. In a reversal of the appeals court decision, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Washington vs. Davis that the…

Introduces this issue of "The Counseling Psychologist," which considers several contemporary developments and issues in the areas of testing and assessment and their relevance for counseling psychologists. Topics examined by the papers are identified, along with five additional current issues in testing and assessment. (Author/TE)

A proposed model for the validity of measures of professional competence treats validation as the evaluation of inferences drawn from test scores, focusing on evaluation, generalization, and extrapolation. The model is used to indicate strengths and weaknesses of assessments of professional competence: observations of performance, simulations, and…

Professionals often seem to view guidelines, standards, and the like, not to mention legal mandates, as adding to their work load. It is argued that a widely promulgated set of test taker rights would actually make the work of personnel selection professionals easier. The California court case Soroka v. Dayton-Hudson Corporation, in which test…

Soldiers who exit the Army before the end of their first term of service represent lost investments in terms of both direct costs (e.g., training costs) and indirect costs (e.g., force instability). The Army would benefit from pre-enlistment information that could identify those individuals most likely to complete their first term. This paper…

The fourth edition of this reference guide contains information on thousands of assessment instruments published by 221 publishers and available for use by psychologists, educators, and human resources personnel. The assessments described are organized according to a system of primary classification and cross referencing intended to make the…

Because intelligence and culture are inextricably intertwined, the measurement of ability is difficult. Test material inevitably reflects the culture of the test developer. As a consequence of this culture-boundedness, a test might not measure the same thing in another culture, and scores might not be comparable across cultures. There are three…

Among the constructs commonly considered by career counselors are vocational interests, aptitudes, and personality variables. Although the predictive power of each of these domains with respect to successful occupational functioning has been demonstrated, little research has been conducted on the nature of their interaction. The interrelatedness…

The development of the Army Intern Intake Survey (AIIS) is described. The AIIS focuses on the Army civilian intern program, a vehicle for entry-level employees to progress in Army civilian jobs, which produces a profile of past and current interns. The AIIS will identify changes in intern quality over time and will make comparisons of Army interns…

The differences between multiple-choice, simulated, and concurrent tests of software-skills proficiency are discussed. For three basic human-resource functions, the advantages of concurrent tests (i.e., those that use the actual application software) include true performance-based assessment, unconstrained response alternatives, and increased job…

The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) is a professional section of the International Personnel Management Association for individuals involved in professional level public personnel assessment. Author-generated summaries/outlines of papers presented at the IPMAAC's 1984 conference, which focus on…