A replication of an original study of managerial assessment centers performed by Sackett and Dreher (1982) is presented. Their major finding, indicating that assessment centers lack key tenets of internal construct validity, was corroborated in this study of a hotel managers' assessment center. This hotel managers' assessment center is also found to be externally valid using criterion-related validity. The argument is posed that assessment centers, as standardized tests of complex behavioral traits, appear to be operating outside the bounds of normal test construction principles. Five key explanations for this paradox are offered to guide much needed future research in this area. Additionally, a description of commonly utilized assessment center activities is offered the reader.

It was hypothesized that group industrial accident rates would be negatively related to job satisfaction. An employee opinion survey measuring satisfaction with various aspects of the job was administered to 1,577 non-exempt (hourly) field workers in 36 district offices of a Texas petroleum services company. Factor analysis of the survey revealed five interpretable sub-scales (factors) measuring five aspects of job satisfaction. Internal consistency reliability for each of the sub-scales and for the instrument as a whole was high (.83 or better). For each of the 36 districts, group accident rate for a six month period was determined. A correlational analysis was then done between district accident rate and the district satisfaction score for each factor and for total satisfaction. None of the correlations were significant.

This study examined the validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) as a predictor for police officer selection. The MMPI profiles of 212 police officer applicants selected to enter the training academy were compared to the standardized MMPI norms. Significant differences between the police officers and the normative population were found on all but two scales. When the average profile of officers still on the police force was compared with the average profile of terminated officers, two scales were significantly different. Significant correlations were obtained between four MMPI scales and the academy score criterion and two scales each for the commendation and supervisory rating criteria. A prediction equation was developed for academy score using multiple regression analysis.

This study re-examined a previously validated application blank in use for 1 year to screen applicants for the position of equipment operator with a company involved in hydrocarbon recovery. Subjects were 409 male equipment operators ranging in age from 19 to 38 years. Minorities accounted for 12% of the group, while 88% were white. Subjects were randomly divided into an even group, N = 201, and an odd group, N = 208. Multiple R's of .39 were obtained for the most significant 10 variables in each group, but these shrank considerably during cross-validation. Only 3 variables were common to both groups since the unique error variances for each group resulted in different arrangements of variables. It was concluded that the items should be re-examined for relevancy and job relatedness.

Absenteeism, lateness, and work performance on the job were investigated. Pre-entry attitudes and self-reported behaviors in the three areas were assessed via RELY, a self-report instrument developed by Kurt Helm (1980). Subjects (N=282) were entry-level stock, bag and clerical personnel for a large grocery store chain. They were 91% Caucasian and 62% male. Results showed significant correlation between three empirically derived scales and criteria: total days absent, total occurrences of lateness, and supervisory performance ratings. However, these findings were considerably weaker under cross-validation. The findings indicate absence-proneness as a tenable concept. Further investigation may find a considerable amount of the variance in attendance to be the result of pre-entry attitudes.

A factor analysis using an oblique rotation was performed on an employee attitude survey developed for a data processing company. The survey was administered to 669 volunteer employees. There were 291 males and 378 females. It was hypothesized that four main factors would be identified as "Advancement Opportunities," "Compensation and Benefits," "Management Style," and "Job." Results of the factor analysis did not confirm the hypothesized a priori factor structure. The lack of confirmation of the hypothesized factor structure was found to be a result of poor survey construction. The attitude survey was found not to be a valid measure of employee attitudes. Implications of this study suggest that a poorly constructed attitude survey may be worse than no survey at all.

Five learning measures used in a skills training program were related to three types of job performance measures for a sample of 163 oil field employees. Statistical analyses resulted in only modest correlations between learning and job performance criteria. Factor analyses of learning measures followed by multiple regression on factors yielded a significant R with only one criterion measure. It was concluded from these data that the training program was of minimal value. The discussion centered on strategies for better training, training research, job engineering, and correcting the two limitations of this study.

An attempt was made to determine the presence of subjectivity in the appraisal system of a data processing company. Ninety-one clerks were given individual performance ratings by their supervisors, including an overall rating and ratings on seven performance dimensions. A multiple regression performed on these data resulted in a set of empirical weights. Supervisors were also asked to rank the relative importance of each of the seven dimensions to the clerk job. The mean rankings were regarded as apparent weights. A comparison of the empirical and apparent weights led to the conclusion that supervisors were not rating their employees according to what they said was important for successful performance, thus introducing an element of subjectivity into the system.

With the EEOC requiring empirical criterion-related validity for selection procedures, predictor variables of physical characteristics, biographical data, and personality traits were related to both on-the-job performance and training performance. In the correlational analysis of the variables, a total of 455 flight attendants from a single airline were used, with half of the subjects serving as a cross-validation sample. The results showed slight relationships between biographical data and physical characteristics to training performance but no relationship between any predictor variable and job performance. The impact of race being a significant predictor of training performance was reviewed. The lack of practical information was discussed, and implications made for future research to include proper design and reliability of screening procedures before attempting criterion-related validation.

The study described the development of a standardized, normed, content-valid machine transcription test which could be used to evaluate the ability of secretarial applicants to type a mailable copy of a business letter from a dictated tape recording. The test was based on a thorough job analysis and was pretested using a pilot study with job incumbents to confirm its feasibility. Normative data were developed from 50 job applicants. Interrater reliability was statistically significant (r = .85, p <..05). The test was adopted for use at the headquarters office of a major oil and gas producing company.

Empirical findings on Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) have been mixed, despite early researchers' claims that BARS were superior to trait ratings and in reliability and resistance to leniency, central tendency, and halo. The study presented compared a BARS format to an independently derived trait scale as measures of secretarial and clerical performance. Though the BARS showed slightly inflated mean ratings, the instruments showed nearly identical variability. Neither demonstrated sufficient resistance to halo. Thus, despite their intuitive appeal and the rigors involved in format development, it did not appear in this instance that BARS were an efficient and psychometrically superior alternative to the traditional trait rating format.

Subjects were 34 computer programmers employed in a major computerized tax processing company. Scores in the Computer Programmer Aptitude Battery (CPAB) and ratings of each programmer's job performance by his immediate supervisor were obtained. The purpose of the study was to validate a selection test. The relationship between the aptitude battery and performance evaluations was examined to evaluate the test's ability in predicting programming performance. Statistical treatment of data included Pearson product-moment correlations and a multiple linear regression analysis. The total test scores and several of the subtests were found to be significantly correlated with performance.

A 75-item, Likert-type employee attitude survey was completed by a sample of 670 hourly and salaried employees of a Southwestern company engaged in computerized tax-form processing. The survey contained items relating to attitude dimensions roughly analogous to those subsumed under the two-factor theory of job satisfaction as defined in the relevant literature. Factor analysis, using the principle axes solution, followed by both orthogonal (varimax) and oblique (direct oblimin) rotations was performed. The oblique rotation derived 11 factors which accounted for 87.3% of the common variance. These lent statistical support to 10 of 16 a priori, hypothesized attitudinal dimensions. The six remaining hypothesized dimensions were not empirically supported.

Subjects were 32 computer programmers employed in a large computerized tax-processing company in the Southwest. Ratings of each programmer's job performance by his/her immediate supervisor and scores on the Aptitude Test for Programmer Personnel (ATPP) were obtained. Relationships between test scores and criteria were examined to identify significant (p < .05) correlations. Statistical treatment of data included zero-order Pearson product-moment correlation, multiple linear regression, and first-order semi-partial correlation analyses. Results indicated that the ATPP did not successfully predict (2 >.05) the rated performance of the programmers.

The study examined the validity of using the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) as a tool for police selection. The mean CPI profile of 211 police applicants was first compared to that of the CPI norms. Five performance criterion measures--retention on the job, academy grades, supervisory ratings, commendations, and reprimands of police officers--were studied to investigate their relationships with the CPI scales. The results indicated that there were significant mean differences on all the CPI scales between police applicants and CPI norms. The scale of Flexibility significantly differentiated the criterion groups of retention on the job. The CPI was useful in predicting academy performance; however, it did not correlate well with job performance as measured by supervisory ratings, commendations, and reprimands.