THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF A WORK SAMPLE: A LABORATORY STUDY

Concurrent and predictive test validity data and test-retest reliability data were obtained for a work sample performance measure and two paper and pencil tests in a laboratory setting. The work sample predicted performance on the criterion comparably with the two traditional paper and pencil tests for both concurrent and predictive validity conditions. The results of this study coupled with the inherent advantages of work samples for personnel selection offer a favorable prognosis for future research and application of work samples. The findings are interpreted in light of a behavioral consistency model and the practical utility of work samples as a personnel selection technique.     

Program Evaluation and Counseling: Yesterday,Today, and Tomorrow

Spawned by intensified demands for accountability, expanding counselor roles and functions, and increased counselor attention both in the counseling literature and in counseling practice, program evaluation has emerged as a vital aspect of counselor functioning in recent years. This article highlights the differences between program evaluation and research, a long-standing source of confusion; presents major issues in the practice of counseling program evaluation; and identifies current trends in program evaluation.     

Counseling Men in Groups

This article advocates group counseling as an effective intervention strategy for problems that characteristically confront men. It is maintained that aspects of the traditional male socialization process create therapeutic obstacles for counseling men in groups; the purpose of the male's defenses is anxiety reduction, although the male's coping behaviors are usually an excellent example of his inner personal problems. Counseling men in groups also has implications for group counselors, specifically with regard to counselor sexism, countertransference issues, and special applications of group counseling techniques and skills.     

THE JOB COMPONENTS INVENTORY AND THE ANALYSIS OF JOBS REQUIRING LIMITED SKILL

The Job Components Inventory, a new job analysis technique examining the use of tools and equipment, physical and perceptual requirements, mathematical requirements, communication requirements, and decision-making and responsibility requirements, is introduced. Results of a study of 100 job holders demonstrate a high reliability of the technique in terms of supervisor-job holder agreement, and the method is shown by analysis of variance and cluster analysis successfully to discriminate between and within job titles. The technique is proving to be a practical instrument for use in curriculum development, careers guidance and broad-based training, and recommendations for its further use and evaluations are made.     

RELATIVISM AND NORMATIVE NONREALISM: BASING MORALITY ON RATIONALITY

Normative nonrealism denies (a) that some things are good or bad or right or wrong independently of facts about the attitudes of moral agents, and (b) that attitude-independent normative facts determine what is rational. An influential nonrealist approach to rationality comes from Richard Brandt's account of rationality in terms of “full information.” Using Brandt's account as illustrative, this paper identifies a serious problem for nonrealist normative theories based on theories of rationality. The paper argues that nonrealist accounts of rationality that oppose relativism cannot successfully handle the most serious threat from relativists: namely, a threat from a ‘Why care?’ open-question argument that stems from the question why one should care about being rational in a certain respect or sense. The paper identifies the bearing of ‘Why care?’ questions on the conflict between internalism and externalism regarding practical reasons. The main lesson is that ‘Why care?’ questions wreak havoc for nonrelativist nonrealist approaches to rationality and reason-based morality.     

Primal Alternatives to Talk Therapy: The Batak “Tondi” of North Sumatra

Although talk therapy has tended to rely on exogenous or outside the person resources, many primal alternatives to talk therapy have emphasized the importance of endogenous or inside the person sources of empowerment. The Toba Batak of North Sumatra provide an internalized means of mediating mental health through a religious-based notion of the tondi, or source of power, inside the person as the source of mental-physical health and illness. The rituals necessary for maintaining health are discussed with the rationale supporting those rituals. Applications of these historical beliefs among contemporary university students are also discussed.     

The NEO Personality Inventory: Using the Five-Factor ModeI in Counseling

Personality psychologists have recently concluded that five major dimensions account for most individual differences in personality traits. The NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) is a concise measure of this Five-Factor Model and of some of the important traits that define the factors. Characteristics of the test, features for administration and scoring, and studies of reliability, stability, and validity are summarized. The NEO-PI may be particularly appropriate for use in counseling because it is brief, nonpsychopathological in content, and sensitive to client strengths as well as weaknesses. We suggest several ways in which the counselor can learn how to use the NEO-PI effectively.