DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIPLE JOB PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF JOBS

The goal of criterion development in Project A was to construct multiple measures of the major components of job performance such that the total performance domain for a representative sample of the population of entry-level enlisted positions in the U.S. Army was covered. These measures were to be used as criteria against which to validate both experimental and existing predictors of job performance. The initial model specified that performance is multidimensional within two major categories of dimensions designated as organization-wide and job specific. The development strategy involved describing the total domain of job content via extensive task analyses and critical incident analyses, generating the critical performance dimensions that constitute it, constructing measures for each dimension, and evaluating each measure using expert judgment and field test data. The specific measures developed consisted of rating scales, tests of job knowledge, hands-on job samples, and archival records. The major steps in the job analyses, content sampling, instrument construction, and instrument evaluation are described, and the final array of criterion measures is presented.     

The Aged Are Family Members

Research reveals that the notion of the aged being abandoned or dumped by families is a myth. In general close ties and mutually responsible behavior continue. For those engaged in family treatment, older families and intergenerational relationships are a clinical frontier. Practitioners have the opportunity to experience and observe, in depth, the emotional quality and meaning of intergenerational relations. Older family members may play important roles in the family dynamics. It is hypothesized that their inclusion when appropriate in the treatment of younger families can be a preventive measure to forestall cyclical repetition of pathological relationship patterns. Just as family therapists are committed to the premise that many nuclear families are capable of psychological growth and change, they must become aware that aged family members have similar capacities. If intergenerational relationships are modified then family members in all the generations could be benefited.     

PARALLEL TEST FORM DEVELOPMENT: A PROCEDURE FOR ALTERNATE PREDICTORS AND AN EXAMPLE

A procedure for developing alternate test forms that are parallel in the sense that scores on the different forms have similar means, standard deviations, and factor structures is described and applied to a bio-data inventory and a situational judgment test. Careful consideration of item-by-item parallelism during development resulted in alternate forms that were parallel at the item level. Further, comparison with a biodata test form comprised of items randomly selected from a pool of biodata items revealed that for the types of measures described here it may be necessary to produce parallel forms of each item to create alternate forms that are parallel in the way in which Cronbach (1947) originally defined parallelism.     

Do you remember?: Recollections of adult attachment patterns

To determine if memory biases influence recall of attachment patterns, we examined retrospective reports of adult attachment patterns in a sample of young established couples. At time 1, participants reported their attachment patterns on a self-report attachment measure (RQ). Eight months later, participants completed the RQ to assess their current attachment patterns, as well as their memory of their attachment patterns 8 months earlier. Seventy-eight percent of participants reported that their past attachment category was consistent with their current category, and 58% of participants accurately recalled their predominant time 1 attachment category. Parallel results were obtained with continuous attachment ratings We also found strong reconstructive biases: Participants’memories of their past attachment patterns were biased by their current patterns. Secure and insecure individuals did not differ in their perceptions of stability, their accuracy of recall, or the degree to which they demonstrated a consistency bias. Finally, with few exceptions, memories for time 1 attachment ratings were not biased by current relationship satisfaction, current partner attachment ratings, or reported life events. The importance of studying reconstructive biases in the field of adult attachment is discussed.     

Family Photographs: in Treatment and Training

The universal appeal of nostalgia and reminiscence makes photographs a natural instrument for studying the impact of the past upon the present. This paper explores photography as a medium for facilitating reminiscence to discover individual roles, interpersonal relationships, and family dynamics. A method is described for using family photographs in treatment and training of clinicians at a Family Therapy Clinic.