A SURVEY OF INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT PRACTICES BY I/O PSYCHOLOGISTS

Individual assessment, defined as one psychologist making an assessment decision for a personnel-related purpose about one individual, was the focus of a survey of a segment of the Division of Industrial and Organizational Psychology of the American Psychological Association. A response rate of 31.6% was obtained. The responses of 163 individuals who conduct individual assessment to questions about their practices and of 153 individuals who do not conduct individual assessment to questions concerning their attitudes toward individual assessment were examined. Findings regarding what types of assessment are typically conducted, how methods are chosen, what methods are typically used, how findings are relayed to client organizations and assessees, and how practices are evaluated are reported. Implications for training and practice as well as areas for research are discussed.     

Qualitative Evaluation Methods Applied to a High School Counseling Center

The authors present a case study demonstrating how qualitative techniques can be used to evaluate a high school counseling and guidance program.     

INTEGRITY TESTING FOR PERSONNEL SELECTION: AN UPDATE

Sackett and M. M. Harris (1984) reviewed published and unpublished literature on the use of commercially available paper-and-pencil integrity tests for employee selection. This paper reviews recent developments in this area. Legal issues related to the use of the polygraph, and integrity tests are discussed. Empirical research on the reliability, criterion-related validity, construct validity, fakability, and adverse impact of integrity tests is reviewed. Major changes since the previous review include (1) the emergence of two distinct types of tests, labeled overt integrity tests and personality-oriented measures, (2) a broadening of the criteria used for test validation to include global performance, absence, turnover, and forms of counterproductivity other than theft, and (3) an increase in the use of external criteria (e.g., detected theft, turnover) rather than self-report criteria (e.g., admissions of theft) in validation research. Difficulties in interpreting research findings and practical constraints on the use of integrity tests are discussed.     

A Career Awareness Program for High School Dropouts

The Career Awareness Program for High School Dropouts was an experimentally funded project to determine the effect of a concentrated vocational assessment and vocational counseling program on the employability of high school dropouts. Various aspects of CAP included individual and group counseling, vocational-educational assessment and diagnosis, job attitude training, vocational guidance, and career exploration. The results of a follow-up survey showed that approximately 60% of the dropouts were still employed six months after completion of the program. In addition, the dropouts reported benefiting from the program through increased awareness of their own needs, abilities, and interests as well as through better awareness of the types of skills and behaviors desired by employers.     

Leisure Counseling and Consultation

Leisure counseling and consultation is a fairly new counseling specialty that is emerging from the field of recreation and volunteer placement while borrowing heavily from vocational counseling models and techniques. After presenting a brief history of the development of the field, the authors describe a working model of one approach to leisure counseling. The article concludes with a prediction that the field will move from its present focus on leisure alone to an integration of leisure with vocational counseling and planning.