Deck 18: Testing in Industrial and Business Settings

Question 1

Which of the following is true of decision and utility theory?

A)It makes managers more likely to use data.
B)It is widely used in employee selection.
C)It requires information that is difficult to estimate.
D)It has been rejected for use in medical research.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A cutting score is

A)associated with the number of people allowed to take the test.
B)the minimum point for test reliability.
C)a decision point.
D)the base rate for a test with a dichotomous format.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A base rate is

A)the number of "hits".
B)the proportion of people with a defined condition in the general population.
C)the chances of succeeding given a person is selected by a highly valid test.
D)the chances of failing given that a person is selected by a highly valid test.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

When a false negative rate is high, test makers may

A)re-norm the test.
B)add items to the test.
C)lower the cutoff.
D)increase reliability.

Question 5

In practice, employment interviews involve a search for

A)goodness of fit.
B)skill sets.
C)negative information.
D)employment history.

Question 6

Which of the following is needed for Taylor-Russell tables?

A)determination of the reliability
B)definition of false negatives
C)identification of false positives
D)a definition of success

Question 7

In structured interviews, candidates who work hard at impression management

A)have no advantage.
B)receive higher ratings.
C)are seen as manipulative.
D)pay less attention to the questions.

Question 8

Researchers who have reviewed the literature on employment interviews almost unanimously recommend

A)the use of an unstructured interview.
B)the use of a structured interview.
C)that the employer should depend upon their first impression.
D)that prospective employees cannot go too far in trying to make a good impression.

Question 9

Which type of employment interview has the lowest validity?

A)structured
B)psychologically-based
C)situational
D)value-added

Question 10

The difference between I/O psychology and human resource management is that

A)human resource emphasizes quantitative methods.
B)human resource emphasizes testing methods.
C)I/O psychology emphasizes quantitative methods.
D)I/O psychology emphasizes qualitative methods.

Question 11

When there has been one unfavorable impression in an interview, ____ of the interviewees are rejected;  when there have been only positive impressions, ____ are rejected.

A)50%; 50%
B)75%; 25%
C)75%; 10%
D)90%; 25%

Question 12

If an applicant is selected on the basis of test performance, but fails on the job, the situation is described as a

A)hit.
B)false negative.
C)false positive.
D)high cutting score.

Question 13

What kind of score is used when a decision is dichotomous?

A)scaled
B)cutting
C)qualitative
D)normalized

Question 14

The percent of cases in which a test accurately predicts success or failure is known as the

A)rate of accuracy (RA).
B)positive percentile.
C)hit rate.
D)base rate.

Question 15

On the basis of a psychological test, an individual is identified as schizophrenic. An interview reveals schizophrenic thinking and a history of psychiatric hospitalization. This case best illustrates a

A)false negative.
B)miss.
C)false negative.
D)hit.

Question 16

When the cost of false positives is high, test makers may

A)abandon the test for one that is better.
B)raise the cutting score.
C)identify sources of variance.
D)change the method of administration.

Question 17

____ psychology is the study and practice of job analysis, job recruitment, employee selection, and the evaluation of employees, while ____ psychology is the study and practice of leadership, job satisfaction, and employee motivation

A)Cognitive; social
B)Personnel; organizational
C)Human resource; leadership
D)Selection psychology; motivational

Question 18

In order for a test to be considered useful, it must provide more information than would be known by

A)the cutting score.
B)the validity coefficient.
C)making a decision without a test.
D)the hit rate alone.

Question 19

Which of the following is a problem with tests that purport to measure and predict antisocial behavior by measuring childhood aggression?

A)They have high false positive rates.
B)They lack validity.
C)They have poor reliability.
D)They have high false negative rates.

Question 20

When women apply for an entry-level management position, wear perfume, and convey friendliness through nonverbal behaviors,

A)male interviewers are typically distracted and pay less attention to responses.
B)they are negatively viewed, perhaps because they seem manipulative.
C)they are viewed as appropriate management candidates.
D)the salary that is offered will be higher.

Question 21

Suppose that 100 people applied for a job and that 50 will be selected. The base rate for success on the job is .60 and the applicants would be selected on the basis of a test with a validity of .80. What would the probability of success be given rejection?

A)44/50
B)44/60
C)6/60
D)16/50

Question 22

If a test were available that could identify those persons most likely to suffer heart attacks, it would be more costly and dangerous to have a

A)hit.
B)low cutting score.
C)false positive.
D)false error.

Question 23

The predictive validity of most selections tests

A)is very low.
B)is only modest.
C)is between .7 and .8.
D)is never less than .9.

Question 24

_________ remain(s)one of the best ways to understand the value of personnel testing.

A)The Taylor-Russell tables
B)Environmental classification
C)Value-added employee assessments
D)The Myers-Briggs type indicator

Question 25

The information a test provides beyond what is known using some simpler procedure is called

A)construct validity.
B)hit rates.
C)incremental validity.
D)the base rate.

Question 26

The percentage of applicants who are hired or admitted to a program is known as the

A)base rate.
B)reliability coefficient.
C)selection ratio.
D)validity coefficient.

Question 27

Utility theory has not been widely used for making personnel decisions because

A)it is not as reliable as the Taylor-Russell table.
B)the equations are difficult to apply.
C)hit rates are low.
D)variables must be dichotomous.

Question 28

Jason had worked very hard to accurately and quickly perform every task assigned to him. Still, his supervisor gave him a low rating. Research indicates that supervisors

A)are the most accurate judge of an employee's performance.
B)are not influenced by petty concerns such as their own job security.
C)are known to be inaccurate raters.
D)give lower performance ratings if they are conflicted about their own role.

Question 29

In decision analysis, the detection rate is the same thing as

A)the sensitivity.
B)the specificity.
C)the accuracy rate.
D)the false positive rate.

Question 30

According to Jung's theory, knowing something because we can see it would be considered

A)intuition.
B)sensing.
C)feeling.
D)vision.

Question 31

Taylor-Russell tables are used to estimate

A)it is not as reliable as the Taylor-Russell table.
B)the equations are difficult to apply.
C)hit rates are low.
D)variables must be dichotomous.

Question 32

Incremental validity

A)is less valuable than face validity.
B)defines the base rate in utility theory.
C)is an estimate of the hit rate.
D)tells you what you can gain by using a particular test.

Question 33

Which test attempts to measure temperament?

A)WPT
B)MBTI
C)MEAP
D)CPI

Question 34

Even if a test is reliable and valid, it should not be used unless it has

A)incremental validity.
B)utility.
C)a high cutting score.
D)content validity.

Question 35

Validity for structured interviews is highest when

A)the interviewer and interviewee are matched on gender.
B)the interviewee is more him or herself rather than focusing on impression management.
C)the same interviewer evaluates all candidates.
D)the interviewer explains to the interviewee the criteria on which they will be judged.

Question 36

Utility theory approaches may be more applicable to actual situations than the Taylor-Russell methods because

A)the definition of success can be in terms of a continuous variable.
B)utility theory does not consider dollar values.
C)they are easier to apply.
D)the information needed for the calculations is easily obtained.

Question 37

Students selected on the basis of a test for a graduate training program frequently leave prior to completion because of poor grades. This is an example of a

A)false negative.
B)high cutting score.
C)high base rate.
D)false positive.

Question 38

In Jung's theory, inferring what underlies sensory inputs is

A)sensing.
B)signal detection.
C)intuition.
D)thinking abstractly.

Question 39

________ interviews are less subject to sex bias and are less likely to result in discrimination against women or men.

A)employment
B)educational
C)structured
D)group

Question 40

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is based on the theory of psychology types proposed by

A)Isabel Myers.
B)Carl Jung.
C)Henry Murray.
D)Carl Rogers.

Question 41

A(n)____ is used by job analysts to describe the activities and working conditions associated with a job title.

A)incident report
B)checklist
C)base rate
D)interview

Question 42

Several studies have demonstrated that self-rated emotional intelligence

A)cannot be used to make inferences.
B)predicts if a person will like a work environment.
C)is a good predictor of job performance.
D)is not as accurate as when rated by others.

Question 43

What is commonly found to be the correlation between the GRE and graduate school GPA?

A).05
B).10
C).50
D).80

Question 44

The WPT is a(n)

A)computer adaptive test.
B)very long test to administer.
C)stable test with extensive norms.
D)test with extensive validity documentation.

Question 45

The template-matching technique attempts to match a specific template of behavior to

A)job performance.
B)test scores.
C)personality.
D)interest inventories.

Question 46

Which measure also has an abbreviated quicktest?

A)Wonderlic
B)Myers-Briggs
C)Perceived Person-Environment Fit Scale
D)Taylor-Russell

Question 47

Analysis of success for employees in the Phillips Rubber Band Company has shown that the successful employees always arrive at work on time, volunteer to help other employees, and always attend the company picnic. The form of job analysis used to arrive at this conclusion was most likely

A)checklists.
B)attribution theory.
C)the critical incident technique.
D)the template-matching technique.

Question 48

Special precautions are necessary when using ____ to find out about job situations because the information gained is easily biased by employees who have strong negative or positive feelings toward the company.

A)observation
B)interviews
C)questionnaires
D)critical incidents

Question 49

A problem with obtaining information about employment settings from questionnaires is that

A)returned questionnaires may not be a representative sample of the employees.
B)employees tend not to report critical incidents.
C)questionnaire studies are too expensive.
D)questionnaires cannot be structured to allow employees to express their opinions.

Question 50

Which factors are associated with the greatest percentage of variation in behavior?

A)situations
B)persons
C)person-situation interactions
D)"other" factors and error

Question 51

The Wonderlic Personnel Test is based on the

A)Porteus Maze Test.
B)Otis Self-Administering Tests of Mental Ability.
C)General Aptitude Test.
D)Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test.

Question 52

Many studies have demonstrated that the characteristics of other people in a person's environment

A)serve as an example of what not to do.
B)fail to have any impact on behavior.
C)affect one's own behavior.
D)only have an effect on the weak-minded.

Question 53

A work situation is described as follows: hot, high pressure for production, little reinforcement for production, and low pay. This description employs which approach to assessment?

A)personality
B)environmental classification
C)persons-situation interaction
D)job stress

Question 54

Moos' research has led to the conclusion that

A)work productivity is not affected by the environment.
B)supportive work environments reduce stress.
C)bank customers do not care if the teller is friendly or not.
D)stress is related to outside influences and not to work environments.

Question 55

Behavioral factors like smoking predict life expectancy ________ measures of physical indicators like blood pressure.

A)only when considered along with
B)as well as
C)better than
D)worse than

Question 56

The purpose of the Myers-Briggs test is to determine

A)whether people are clinically depressed.
B)if a potential employee will be successful in a particular job.
C)where people fall on the introversion-extroversion dimension.
D)the IQ of older employees compared to younger employees.

Question 57

According to Moos's classification system, consideration of the architectural design would be a characteristic of the

A)behavioral setting.
B)ecological dimensions.
C)functional properties.
D)organizational structure.

Question 58

Which of the following methods of job analysis involves the observation of behaviors that differentiate successful from unsuccessful employees?

A)checklists
B)observation
C)questionnaires
D)critical incidents

Question 59

A classification system that includes six characteristics of environments was developed by

A)Roe.
B)Barker.
C)Stokols.
D)Moos.

Question 60

The field of psychology that studies people in their natural environment and attempts to analyze the effects of the physical environment on social behavior is known as

A)behaviorism.
B)cognition.
C)environmental psychology.
D)ecological psychology.

Question 61

Person-situation interaction is analogous to a(n)____ in educational psychology.

A)aptitude test
B)achievement test
C)aptitude-treatment interaction
D)STM-LTM interaction

Question 62

Which of the following is NOT an assessment provided by the Wonderlic company?

A)Knowledge and skills
B)Motivational potential
C)Integrity
D)Job satisfaction

Question 63

Compare and contrast utility theory and decision theory. How have they been used in I/O settings? What are the particular barriers to application of these theories?

Question 64

All of the following have been associated with workplace depression EXCEPT

A)working in isolated environments.
B)having little job latitude.
C)feeling strain from work.
D)being bullied by other employees.

Question 65

Select a variable of interest that can be evaluated with some sort of test (i.e., medical, psychological, educational, etc.)and discuss the issues involved in determining an acceptable hit and miss rate. What would the base rate and cutting score be? What are the costs associated with false negatives and false positives?

Question 66

Which of the following is predicted by the Perceived Person-Environment Fit Scale?

A)Citizenship within organizations
B)Citizenship within organizations
C)Promotion potential
D)Productivity

Question 67

Which of the following is NOT measured by the Perceived Person-Environment Fit Scale?

A)Fit between a person and a college major
B)Fit between a person and a job
C)Fit between a person and their supervisor
D)Fit between a person and an organization

Question 68

The Perceived Person-Environment Fit Scale consists of how many subscales?

A)2
B)3
C)4
D)5

Question 69

Local environments, such as the availability of parks, sidewalks, and public transportation have a big impact on

A)cognitive functioning.
B)job satisfaction.
C)motivation.
D)health behaviors.

Question 70

In the template-matching technique,

A)personality test scores are matched to environmental classification scores.
B)individuals predict how they will behave in well described situations.
C)clusters of traits are obtained through factor analysis to form "templates".
D)employers develop templates of the "ideal" employee.

Question 71

Discuss the use of value-added assessments for teachers. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this approach?

Question 72

Initial impressions in job interviews can have _______ effects on overall evaluations and are often _______.

A)strong; accurate
B)strong; inaccurate
C)weak; accurate
D)weak; inaccurate

Question 73

Concerns about the validity of the Wonderlic primarily stem from studies showing that the test does not well differentiate people with

A)superior intelligence.
B)low visual-spatial processing ability.
C)high fluid intelligence.
D)cognitive impairments.

Question 74

Discuss the importance of fit between person and work environment. How is this construct measured by the Perceived Person-Environment Fit Scale and what factors does this measure predict?

Question 75

Describe the purpose of the Taylor-Russell tables. List and define the four types of information required to use them.

Question 76

Ryan was fired last week, but he looked still confident as usual. As opposed to Ryan, Jason looked less confident due to the lay off. This illustrates a

A)person-situation interaction.
B)trait.
C)state.
D)personality.