EFFECTS OF ASSESSORSHIP ON MANAGERs' PROFICIENCY IN ACQUIRING, EVALUATING, AND COMMUNICATING INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE

This study investigated the developmental effects of assessorship, i.e., serving as a trained member of an assessment center staff, on managers' proficiency in three categories of behavior: acquiring, evaluating, and communicating information about people. Eighty managers selected to serve as assessors in a management assessment center were assigned to one of two experimental groups. Immediately prior to assessor training, one group participated in three exercises designed to measure proficiency in the criterion behaviors. The other group participated in these exercises after they had accumulated at least 3 months of full-time experience as assessors. The results indicate that the experienced assessors were more proficient in interviewing another individual to obtain relevant information about job candidates, verbally presenting and defending information about others' managerial qualifications, and communicating this information in concise written reports. Also, the experienced assessors' ratings of videotaped ratees' managerial ability possessed somewhat superior psychometric properties.     

A Conceptual Analysis of Lambert,Ogles, and Masters's Conceptual Scheme for Outcome Assessment

For in psychology, there are experimental methods, and conceptual confusion. (Wittgenstein, 1968, p. 232)     

An Analysis of Counselor Verbal Interventions in Group Counseling

This study of verbal interventions of counselors during group counseling with predelinquent urban youth revealed that of the 12 counseling skills rated, 3 accounted for 2/3 of the verbal interventions used by the counselors.     

THE CONTROL OF BIAS IN RATINGS: A THEORY OF RATING

Based on several years of research and a careful analysis of the rating process Wherry developed a theory of rating. An accurate rating is seen as being a function of three major components: Performance of the ratee, observation of that performance by the rater, and the recall of those observations by the rater. Cast in a mold of classical psychometric theory each of these components is seen as consisting of a systematic portion and a random portion. The systematic portion of each component is further broken down. The performance of the ratee is a combination of true ability or aptitude for the job and the influence of the environment. What the rater observes is a function the performance of the ratee and bias of observation and what the rater recalls is a result of those observations combined with a bias of recall. The development of the theory of rating unfolds by defining the various factors that affect each of these components in a series of linear equations. Various theorems and corollaries are proposed which should lead to a maximization of the true ability component of the ratee and minimize environmental influence and the bias and error components. The theorems and corollaries suggest testable hypotheses for the researcher in performance evaluation.     

EYEBALL MEASUREMENT OF DEXTERITY: TESTS AS ALTERNATIVES TO INTERVIEWS

As industry's most popular selection device, the interview is too often misused to measure or predict numerous skills and abilities that can be measured or predicted better by other methods. The authors encountered such an abuse in a recent allegation of sex discrimination. This paper reports a study conducted for this litigation. Couched in a general lens model paradigm, the results demonstrate an inappropriate use of a selection technique to predict an ability that can be better measured by a test. This simple interview analog demonstrates the problems of replacing tests with inappropriate selection devices.     

A Structural Blueprint for Group Facilitators: Three Group Modalities

This article provides a conceptual model, typology, or blueprint to unify and more clearly understand the spectrum of task-, socio-, and psycho-group processes used by guidance and counseling personnel. The authors provide a structure for group leaders to follow within their various group forms or modalities.     

The paradox of trust for male couples: When risking is a part of loving

Among gay men, there is evidence to suggest that serious, committed male couples practice especially risky sex. To understand the reasons why male couples might take such risks, 92 participants (46 long-term couples) were asked to complete a survey in which they independently indicated their sexual practices, why they engaged in them, and their attitudes toward relationships. Three sets of findings suggest a paradoxical relationship between emotional intimacy and sexual risk: (1) love, trust, and commitment were used more often to explain riskier than safer sex; (2) those more dependent upon their relationships and who desired a stable and lasting relationship practiced riskier sex; and (3) requesting safer sex had negative connotations (e.g., suspicion of extrarelationship sexual contacts). Of those who practiced safer sex (i.e., protected anal sex), 94% indicated that they did so because of their “fear of AIDS.” Implications of these findings for developing HIV interventions for male couples are discussed.