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Work in the 21st Century

Chapter 3

Individual Differences
And Assessment

Module 3.1: Introduction to


Individual Differences
Individual Differences: Dissimilarities
between or among 2 or more people
Background

1890 Cattell & concept of mental test


Differential psychology
Psychometrics
World War I & intelligence tests
g or general mental ability
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Varieties of Individual Differences

Cognitive ability & the g-ocentric model


Physical ability
Personality
Interests
Knowledge
Emotion
Monica Lau/Getty Images

Link b/w Attributes


& Behavior in Organizations

Figure 3.1
The Link between Attributes
and Behavior in Organizations
Source: K. R. Murphy (1996).

Fundamental Assumptions in Applying


Individual Differences Model
Adults have variety of attributes that are
relatively stable over a period of time
People differ with respect to those attributes
Relative differences among people on these
attributes remain even after training
Different jobs require different attributes
These attributes can be measured
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Module 3.2: Human Attributes


Taxonomy of abilities
Fleishmans taxonomy of 52 abilities
divided into broad categories of:
Cognitive abilities
Physical abilities
Perceptual-motor abilities
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Definitional Issues in Intelligence


Many people consider the terms intelligence, IQ, cognitive ability, and
mental ability to be synonyms for one another. We will make some
distinctions:
IQ is a historical term that stands for intelligence quotient; term
is popular with laypersons but is generally not used by scientists.
Mental ability and cognitive ability are current terms that scientists
often use interchangeably.
Cognitive ability and mental ability often refer to specific abilities
such as memory or reasoning; intelligence refers to general
intellectual capacity (often called g for GMA).
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Cognitive Abilities
Intelligence as g

Chad Baker/Getty Images

Involves the ability to


reason, plan, solve
problems, comprehend
complex ideas, & learn
from experience

Cognitive Abilities
Is g important at work? Yes
Intelligence (or g): broad general capability
describes persons ability to learn from experience
job complexity = predictive value of
general intelligence tests

Jeff Maloney/Getty Images

Sensory Abilities
Vision
Touch
Taste
Smell
Hearing
Kinesthetic feedback
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A Model of Physical Abilities

Figure 3.3: A Model of


Physical Abilities
SOURCE: (Guion, 1998)

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Psychomotor Abilities
Also called sensorimotor or motor abilities
Physical functions of movement, associated
with coordination, dexterity and reaction time
Fleishmans psychomotor abilities

Arm-hand steadiness
Manual dexterity
Finger dexterity
Control precision

Response orientation
Rate control
Reaction time
Wrist-finger speed
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Practical Issues Associated with


Personality Measures
Faking
Self-presentation
Social desirability
Does faking really matter?

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Additional Proposed
Individual Differences
Skills
Practiced acts
Technical & non-technical

Knowledge
Collection of discrete but related facts & information
about a particular domain
Tacit knowledge street smarts
Procedural knowledge knowing how
Declarative knowledge knowing that
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Additional Proposed Individual


Differences (cont'd)
Competencies
Sets of behaviors instrumental in accomplishing
various activities
Combination of individual difference
characteristics

Emotional intelligence
Awareness of our own & others emotions
Controversial construct
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What is a Test?
Objective & standardized procedure for
measuring a psychological construct using a
sample of behavior
Attributes to be assessed
Ways to assess attributes

CONTENT
PROCESS

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Tests (cont'd)
What is the meaning of a test score?
Norming & norm groups used to interpret & give meaning
to a score

Test users & test interpretation


Importance of training test administrators to correctly
understand & interpret results

Test battery
Collection of tests assessing variety of different attributes

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Administrative Test Categories


Speed vs. power tests
Speed tests have rigid & demanding time limits
Provide greater variability among candidates
Issue of relevance to job
May increase the risk of legal challenges

Power tests have no rigid time limits

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Administrative Test Categories


(cont'd)
Group vs. individual tests
Individual tests useful in assessing a
candidates style of problem solving
Group testing is valuable in reducing costs

Paper & pencil vs. performance tests


Performance tests assess skill in performing
tasks & knowledge of how to carry out actions
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Speed Test
The game show
Jeopardy is an
example of a speed test

Picture 3.7

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Testing & Culture


Bias
Situation in which a given test results in
statistical errors of prediction for a subgroup

Fairness
Value judgment about actions or decisions
based on test scores

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Testing & Culture (cont'd)


Culture
System in which individuals share meanings &
common ways of viewing events & objects
Influence of culture & subculture on test scores

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