THE USE OF FUNCTIONAL JOB ANALYSIS IN ESTABLISHING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATORS

Research recently completed for a large international craft union provided the opportunity for an empirical assessment of functional job analysis (FJA) as a method for developing job-related performance standards. Based on content-oriented test development procedures, work sample tests were developed to measure operator achievement of these training standards. According to the results the tests significantly differentiated between skill levels of operating engineers in which the significant criterion factor was the degree of independence and autonomy the operator could be permitted in doing the work. FJA proved to be a useful technique for defining the work of operating engineers so that the knowledges, skills and abilities required can be easily communicated to the courts and the public.     

Tools and Techniques for Diagnosis and Evaluation in Marital and Family Therapy

This is a slightly edited version of a chapter to appear in a forthcoming book. ¹ It is a beginning attempt at codification of existing tools and techniques and is therefore nonexhaustive. The authors welcome feedback from readers concerning omissions and information on new techniques, references, and applicability to therapeutic settings.     

INTERVIEW NOTES AND VALIDITY

Three studies were conducted investigating the effects of notetaking behavior and the content of notes on validity in a selection interview. Overall, results indicate that when notetaking was voluntary, notetakers made more valid ratings than non-notetakers. But, when note-taking was manipulated non-notetakers made ratings that were just as valid as raters told to take behavioral notes, and actually more valid than those raters instructed to take general notes. With regard to the content of notes, behavioral-type notes were found to contribute to greater validity. In addition, in the first and third study, procedural type notes resulted in lower validity. These results may have important implications for interviewer training for notetaking.     

Involvement in four future events as a function of temporal distance

Abstract.— A total of 91 Swedish high-school students, in four groups, estimated their degree of involvement in each of 4 potential future events, which were assumed to occur at 5 alternative points in time within the next 75 years. In addition, estimates were made of the relative importance of the events as well as of their subjective probability and influenceability. Factor analysis revealed two different time-involvement relations: (1) involvement decreasing slowly with increasing temporal distance for the two next decades. and then rapidly approaching zero, and (2) involvement decreasing rapidly for the nearest decades, and then slowly approaching an asymptotic value. Subjects representing the first trend gave consistently higher estimates of event probability. Relative involvement for the events was judged differently by subjects in natural-science and social-science lines of education.