THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RECRUITING SOURCE, APPLICANT QUALITY, AND HIRE PERFORMANCE: AN ANALYSIS BY SEX, ETHNICITY, AND AGE

This study investigated both an applicant pool and its resulting class of new hires in an attempt to clarify a number of empirical questions concerning recruiting source effectiveness. A pre-established database of applicants and hires for the job of life insurance agent in a large insurance company was analyzed for recruiting activity. Differences in applicant quality and new hire survival were found in favor of the informal recruiting sources. A second measure of hire success, new business commission credits, failed to show differences across recruiting sources. The informal recruiting sources yielded significantly higher selection ratios than did formal sources for all groups. Examination of recruiting source use showed significant group differences, with females and blacks using the formal recruiting sources more frequently than males, non-minorities, and Hispanics. While the informal recruiting sources yielded higher quality applicants and more successful hires for all groups, this research cautions that the implementation of revised recruiting policies must be carefully monitored for adverse effects on protected groups.     

REACTANCE AND INTENTIONALITY ATTRIBUTIONS AS DETERMINANTS OF THE INTENT TO FILE A GRIEVANCE

Experimental studies were conducted in two unions to examine the effects of perceptual variables–namely, reactance and intentionality attributions–on the intent to seek redress from management action. Participants responded to a series of vignettes, each of which described a management action (formal punishment, informal warning, promotion denial) taken against an employee. The vignettes varied systematically in terms of the perceived threat to worker freedom posed by the action and the degree to which the action was motivated by a dispositional rather than an environmental attribution. Both studies demonstrated that greater threat and dispositional attributions provoked stronger intent to file a grievance. Implications of the findings were discussed for investigating and screening grievances.     

KIRKPATRICK'S LEVELS OF TRAINING CRITERIA: THIRTY YEARS LATER

Kirkpatrick's model (1959a, 1959b, 1960a, 1960b) of training evaluation criteria has had widespread and enduring popularity. This model proposed four "levels" of training evaluation criteria: reactions, learning, behavior, and results. Three problematic assumptions of the model may be identified: (1) The levels are arranged in ascending order of information provided. (2) The levels are causally linked. (3) The levels are positively intercorrelated. This article examines the validity of these assumptions, the frequency of each level in published evaluation studies, correlations from the literature in regard to Assumptions 2 and 3, and implications for the researcher and training manager.     

A FIELD STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATIONAL FEEDBACK ENVIRONMENT AND PERFORMANCE

This field study used the Job Feedback Survey (Herold & Parsons, 1985) and performance data gathered from multiple sources to examine the relationship between the perceived organizational feedback environment and performance. Regression analyses indicated that, while holding the other feedback variables constant, feedback from supervisory and organizational sources was related to reported job performance while feedback from peers and self was not. Most of the unique variance in performance explained by feedback was also accounted for by feedback from organizational and supervisory sources. Negative expressions from organizational/supervisory sources (e.g., the supervisor expressing anger, the company communicating dissatisfaction with poor performance) were related to lower performance, and positive job changes initiated by these sources (e.g., increasing responsibility, assignment to special jobs) were related to higher performance. Higher performers did not receive more feedback than lower performers but did receive more total positive feedback. Supplemental issues, possible explanations, and implications of the findings are discussed.     

RECONSIDERING THE EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW: A REVIEW OF RECENT LITERATURE AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Literature since the last comprehensive review of research on the employment interview is summarized, and suggestions for future studies in this area are described. Major changes in findings regarding the validity of the interview, the impact of applicant sex, and the effect of interviewer characteristics/behavior on applicant reactions, as well as other issues, are reported. Contrary to the widely held belief that the interview has low validity, recent research indicates at least modest validity for this selection tool. Conversely, the effect of the campus interview on applicant reactions has been seriously questioned. Researchers are urged to examine several areas in social psychology, including the literature on attitudes-intentions-behavior, the elaboration likelihood model, and theories of discrimination to achieve greater understanding of the employment interview.     

Effects of Fluprazine Hydrochloride on Three Aversively Motivated Tasks

The Psychological Record - Treatment with 8.0 mg/kg fluprazine hydrochloride had no effect on the acquisition of a step-down avoidance response but retarded its extinction. The drug also impaired...     

The naturalistic fallacy: moral inferences drawn from research with children versus adults

The naturalistic fallacy occurs when a person reads a report of scientific research and concludes that the moral implication of the research was included in the article when, in fact, it was not. For example, the fallacy is committed when a study contains the conclusion that TV advertising increases preference for sugar-based foods, but the reader later believes that the study concluded that TV advertising should be controlled. Previous research indicates that the commission of the fallacy was strong when memory for social research was tested. The present study showed that the commission of the fallacy was stronger when the research which was read involved children as subjects compared to adult subjects. Increased empathy for the subjects of a research article strengthens commission of the fallacy.     

Clinical judgment, clinical training, and professional experience

Reviews studies on training, experience, and clinical judgment. The results on the validity of judgments generally fail to support the value of on-the-job experience in mental health fields. The validity results do provide limited support for the value of training. Other results suggest that experienced clinicians are better than less experienced judges at knowing which of their judgments are likely to be correct and which are likely to be wrong. Reasons why clinicians have trouble learning from experience are given. Recommendations are made for improving training and clinical practice.     

Blocking Effects in Two-Choice Discrimination Tasks in Rhesus Monkeys Macaca Mulatta

The Psychological Record - The present experiments investigated blocking effects in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in a discrimination learning paradigm using a single stimulus modality. Two...