Higher Cost,Lower Validity and Higher Utility: Comparing the Utilities of Two Tests that Differ in Validity,Costs and Selectivity

Traditional approaches to comparing the utility of two tests have not systematically considered the effects of different levels of selectivity that are feasible and appropriate in various selection situations. For example, employers who hope to avoid adverse impact often find they can be more selective with some tests than with others. We conducted two studies to compare the utilities of two tests that differ in costs, validity, and feasible levels of selectivity which can be employed. First, an analytical solution was conducted starting with a standard formula for utility. This analysis showed that for both fixed and variable hiring costs, a higher-cost, lower-validity procedure can have higher utility than a lower-cost, higher-validity procedure when the selection ratios permissible using the two procedures are sufficiently (yet realistically) different. Second, using a computer simulation method, several combinations of the critical variables were varied systematically to detect the limits of this effect in a finite set of specific selection situations. The results showed that the existence of more severe levels of adverse impact greatly reduced the utility of a written test with relatively high validity and low cost in comparison with an assessment center with lower validity and higher cost. Both studies showed that the consideration of selectivity can yield surprising conclusions about the comparative utility of two tests. Even if one test has lower validity and higher cost than a second test, the first may yield higher utility if it allows the organization to exercise stricter levels of selectivity.     

Reducing Implicit Prejudice

Implicit prejudices are social preferences that exist outside of conscious awareness or control. In this review, we summarize evidence for three mechanisms that influence the expression of implicit prejudice: associative change, contextual change, and change in control over implicit prejudice. We then review the evidence (or lack thereof) for answers to five open issues in implicit prejudice reduction research: (1) what shows effectiveness in real‐world application; (2) what doesn't work for implicit prejudice reduction; (3) what interventions produce long‐term changes in implicit prejudice; (4) measurement diversity in implicit prejudice reduction research; and (5) the relationship between implicit prejudice and behavior. Addressing these issues provides an agenda for clarifying the conditions and implications of reducing implicit prejudice.     

Using a Difficulty‐Anchored Rating Scale in Performing Angoff Ratings

While the Angoff (1971) is a commonly used cut score method, critics ( Berk, 1996; Impara & Plake, 1997 ) argue the Angoff places too‐high cognitive demands on raters. In response to criticisms of the Angoff, a number of modifications to the method have been proposed. Some suggested Angoff modifications include using an iterative rating process, presenting judges with normative data about item performance, revising the rating judgment into a Yes/No decision, assigning relative weights to dimensions within a test, and using item response theory in setting cut scores. In this study, subject matter expert raters were provided with a ‘difficulty anchored’ rating scale to use while making Angoff ratings; this scale can be viewed as a variation of the Angoff normative data modification. The rating scale presented test items having known p‐values as anchors, and served as a simple means of providing normative information to guide the Angoff rating process. Results are discussed regarding reliability of the mean Angoff rating (.73) and the correlation of mean Angoff ratings with item difficulty (observed r ranges from .65 to .73).     

“Not me” consumer justifications for not reporting suspected price-fixing activities: Neutralization techniques & counterstrategies

Price-fixing, an anti-competitive activity by firms, raises consumer prices, limits consumer choices, and violates the law. Drawing on the neutralization theory, this study aims to investigate consumer participation in anti-price-fixing efforts. This is important as the government's strategy of combating price-fixing often relies on tip-offs from the public. Accordingly, this study examines consumer willingness to come forward to file a complaint of suspected price-fixing cases to authorities and the justifications provided by participants for their reluctance. Focus group interviews were conducted with twenty-three participants. The findings revealed that although the participants agreed that price-fixing is unethical and unjust, they were reluctant to file a complaint to report suspected price-fixing activities to authorities. This study makes theoretical contributions to uncover five neutralization techniques used by the participants to reconcile their negative feelings. Three new counterstrategies have not been explored or discussed in previous studies. This contributes to a new line of inquiry about consumer responses to price-fixing.     

Caregivers’ perspective of the child support grant in South Africa: An exploratory study

This study explored caregivers’ perceptions of the South African Child Support Grant as a poverty alleviation instrument. Informants consisted of 72 caregivers who were purposively selected through the snowball method (female = 99%; single parent = 71%, blacks = 100%). They completed a survey based on their perceptions of the Child Support Grant. Thematic analysis applying the happiness or wellbeing approach to poverty revealed that caregivers find the Child Support Grant to be a family stress reliever by providing basic essentials for living. In addition, caregivers indicated the presence of inefficiencies in the administration of the grant. Findings suggest that the Child Support Grant has a buffering effect on poverty-stricken households in South Africa.     

Rater agreements in assigning stanford-binet items to Guilford's structure of intellect operations categories

Nineteen school psychologists assigned the 142 items in the Form L-M of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale to the five Operations categories of Guilford's Structure of Intellect model, following flow charts prepared for this purpose by Meeker (1965). On the average, one rater agreed with another on about half the items, and their modal assignments agreed with Meeker's (1969) assignments on only 81 (57%) of the items. These levels of agreement are judged not to be high enough to justify classifying Stanford-Binet items in accordance with the Structure of Intellect Operations categories.     

Finding lung nodules with and without comparative visual scanning

The effect of a pretarget (TS1) masked by a noise mask (MS) upon the recognition of a posttarget (TS2) was examined in a TS1-MS-TS2 paradigm. The results clearly showed that the presentation of TS1 masked completely by MS reduced the recognition of a subsequent TS2 to a much greater extent if TS2 was the same as TS1 than when it was not. The results suggest that a TS1 that is perceptually masked by an MS nevertheless continues to have an effect within the visual system. A possible explanation of this reductive effect is described briefly.