Deck 5: Employee Selection: References and Testing

Question 1

The process of confirming the accuracy of information provided by the applicant is called a:

A) reference
B) reference check
C) letter of recommendation
D) trait evaluation

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Increasing the ______ of references seems to increase validity.

A) length
B) scoring complexity
C) structure
D) psychometric depth

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Even though references are commonly used to screen and select employees, they have not been successful in predicting future employee success. The average uncorrected validity coefficient for references and performance is:

A) .00
B) .18
C) .32
D) .57

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a concern about using physical ability tests?

A) Job relatedness
B) Reliability
C) Passing scores
D) When the ability must be present

Question 5

Tests of ______ ability might contain measures of finger dexterity and manual dexterity aptitudes.

A) cognitive
B) developmental
C) perceptual
D) psychomotor

Question 6

The major disadvantage to job knowledge tests is that even though they do a good job of predicting performance, they often result in _______.

A) high costs
B) misdiagnosis
C) invasion of privacy issues
D) adverse impact

Question 7

Which of the following is good advice in asking for a letter of recommendation?

A) Provide your reference with a copy of your resume
B) Give your reference plenty of advance notice before the letter is due
C) Choose references who can provide information from multiple perspectives
D) All three are good advice

Question 8

Color discrimination, glare sensitivity, and speech recognition are examples of ______ abilities.

A) cognitive
B) developmental
C) perceptual
D) psychomotor

Question 9

Tests that are designed to measure how much someone already knows rather than how much someone is capable of knowing are referred to as:

A) knowledge tests
B) interest inventories
C) personality tests
D) aptitude tests

Question 10

The _________ is a potential breakthrough in cognitive ability tests as it has high validity and lower levels of adverse impact.

A) Miller Revised Intelligence Scale
B) Siena Reasoning Test
C) Cognitive Styles Assessment Test
D) Employee Knowledge Scale

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT an ethical practice in providing references or writing letter of recommendation?

A) State the nature of your relationship with the applicant
B) Provide an honest appraisal of the applicant
C) Always write a positive letter of recommendation
D) Let the applicant see a copy of your reference before you send it

Question 12

Jobs such as police officer, fire fighter, and lifeguard, which require physical strength and stamina, often use _______tests.

A) physical ability
B) mental ability
C) general aptitude
D) job knowledge

Question 13

A problem associated with letters of recommendation is the lack of agreement between two people who provide references for the same person. This lack of agreement is related to the issue of:

A) reliability
B) knowledge of the applicant
C) leniency
D) extraneous factors

Question 14

In psychology, it is commonly believed that the best predictor of future performance is:

A) results from a psychological test
B) present performance
C) past performance
D) asking the person if they can do the job

Question 15

In a reference check over the telephone, Bob says that his former employee Ted was a real jerk and couldn't be trusted. Ted might sue Bob for:

A) negligent hiring
B) libel
C) negligent reference
D) slander

Question 16

Because it is not uncommon for applicants to engage in resume fraud, references and letters of recommendation are used to:

A) confirm details on a resume
B) check for outside interests and habits
C) check for discipline problems
D) discover new applicant information

Question 17

Most general ability tests place the many specific aptitudes into one of three main dimensions. The _______ dimension includes verbal, numerical, logic, and general learning aptitudes.

A) cognitive
B) developmental
C) perceptual
D) psychomotor

Question 18

If an employer does not check an applicant's references and the applicant molests a child after being hired, the employer could be charged with:

A) negligent reference
B) defamation
C) tort reform
D) negligent hiring

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the use of grade point average for employee selection?

A) GPA predicts job performance
B) GPA predicts best in the first years after graduation
C) GPA has low adverse impact
D) All three are true

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a factor contributing to reference leniency?

A) Applicants choose their own references
B) Employers fear legal ramifications
C) Most applicants are highly skilled
D) All three contribute to leniency

Question 21

The first step in creating an assessment center is to:

A) conduct a job analysis
B) find a location to hold the center
C) develop the necessary exercises
D) restructure the company budget

Question 22

Which of the following assessment center techniques allows the applicant to demonstrate such attributes as creativity, decision making, and ability to work with others?

A) Business games
B) Out-basket technique
C) Simulations
D) In-basket technique

Question 23

A job applicant is given a set of questions in which she is asked to rate the extent to which she is outgoing, anxious, optimistic, careful, and loyal. She is probably taking:

A) a personality inventory
B) an interest inventory
C) a cognitive ability test
D) an assessment center

Question 24

Gandy and Dye (1989) believe that proper biodata items must:

A) be job related
B) deal with events under a person's control
C) have answers that are verifiable
D) all three of these are item standards

Question 25

Which assessment center technique is designed to simulate the types of daily information that appear on a manager's or employee's desk?

A) simulation
B) work sample
C) leaderless group discussion
D) in-basket technique

Question 26

Though there is some disagreement, psychologists today agree there are _______ main personality dimensions.

A) two
B) three
C) five
D) seven

Question 27

The first step in the development of a biodata instrument is to:

A) obtain information about employees
B) analyze group differences
C) choose an appropriate criterion
D) split employees into two criterion groups

Question 28

_______ are designed to tell an employer the probability that an applicant would steal money or merchandise.

A) Creativity tests
B) Social desirability tests
C) Integrity tests
D) Theft analysis inventory

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT one of the "Big 5" personality dimensions?

A) openness to experience
B) agreeableness
C) conscientiousness
D) vigor

Question 30

Tests of _______ determine if individuals have serious psychological problems such as depression and bipolar disorder.

A) psychopathology
B) psychometrics
C) character
D) integrity

Question 31

The 16PF is a personality inventory whose 16 dimensions were determined by a factor analysis. The16PF is an example of a(n) ______ test.

A) theory-based
B) empirically-keyed based
C) parapsychology-based
D) statistically-based

Question 32

A job in which an employee continually lifts 25 pound boxes from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. requires:

A) trunk strength
B) gross body equilibrium
C) dynamic strength
D) static strength

Question 33

Though work samples are excellent selection tools for several reasons, the main reason for not using them is that they can be:

A) expensive to construct
B) expensive to administer
C) neither are important reasons
D) both are important reasons

Question 34

In constructing a biodata instrument, John asks his employees to answer a series of questions about their background. John then compares these answers to the employees' job performance. John is using which of the following methods?

A) rare response scoring
B) questionnaire approach
C) vertical percentage method
D) composite scoring

Question 35

Which of the following are criticisms of biodata?

A) The validity of biodata may not be stable
B) Some biodata items may not be legal
C) Both are criticisms
D) Neither are criticisms of biodata

Question 36

Because they are expensive, time-consuming to score and administer, and lack reliability and validity, _______ tests such as the Rorschach Ink Blot Test are seldom used by I/O psychologists.

A) objective
B) subjective
C) projective
D) multi-modal

Question 37

Which of the following selection methods uses multiple techniques and multiple observersto evaluate applicants as they perform different job-related tasks?

A) Work samples
B) Assessment centers
C) Psychological testing
D) job-knowledge testing

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT a requirement for an assessment center?

A) Multiple assessors
B) Multiple assessment exercices
C) Use of an interview
D) At least one simulation exercise

Question 39

The traditionally used method to compare each piece of employee information with criterion group membership in the biodata process is the:

A) questionnaire approach
B) rare response scoring
C) vertical percentage method
D) composite scoring

Question 40

Of the four choices below, which is the worst predictor of employee performance?

A) Biodata
B) Cognitive ability
C) Vocational interest
D) Assessment centers

Question 41

What are the reasons for using references and recommendations?

Question 42

_______ testing certainly is one of the most controversial testing methods used by personnel professionals.

A) Personality
B) Ability
C) Drug
D) Agility

Question 43

Which of the Big 5 personality dimensions is the best predictor of employee performance?

A) Openness
B) Agreeableness
C) Conscientiousness
D) Emotional stability

Question 44

When personnel professionals are concerned with adverse impact or invasion of privacy associated with a test, they are assessing the:

A) cost
B) scoring methods
C) reliability
D) potential for legal problems

Question 45

____ are legal and scores on these tests are often compared to self-admissions of theft and the amount of goods lost by an organization.

A) Polygraph tests
B) Pencil-paper integrity tests
C) Voice stress analyzers
D) Electronic honesty tests

Question 46

What are the three major aptitude categories?

Question 47

Which of the following has both high validity and low adverse impact?

A) Cognitive ability tests
B) Integrity tests
C) Education
D) Personality inventories

Question 48

Most drugs can be detected for ______ after use.

A) 8 hours
B) 2-3 days
C) 2-3 weeks
D) 2-3 months

Question 49

Which of the following is the best predictor of training proficiency?

A) Cognitive ability
B) Experience
C) Education
D) Vocational interest

Question 50

_______ are based on the premise that peoples' attitudes about theft as well as their previous theft behavior will accurately predict their future honesty.

A) Personality based integrity tests
B) Overt integrity tests
C) Voice stress analyzer
D) Interest inventories

Question 51

The manager of a retail store notices that 7% of the inventory is missing. She doesn't know if the merchandise was stolen, lost, or broken. This missing inventory is called ______ and is one of the criteria used to validate integrity tests.

A) a loss leader
B) inventory obsolescence
C) product pilferage
D) shrinkage

Question 52

In recent years, the percentage of applicants failing drug tests has:

A) remained the same
B) increased slightly
C) greatly increased
D) decreased

Question 53

What are the Big 5 personality dimensions?

Question 54

Which of the following have the highest level of adverse impact?

A) Cognitive ability and GPA
B) Cognitive ability and integrity tests
C) Integrity tests and personality inventories
D) Integrity tests and GPA

Question 55

Which of the following is the least useful predictor of future performance?

A) Biodata
B) Interest inventories
C) Assessment centers
D) Cognitive ability tests

Question 56

What are the common types of psychological tests used in employee selection?

Question 57

What are the three main reasons for leniency in references?

Question 58

Which of the following is NOT true about drug testing?

A) Many organizations use drug testing
B) Illegal drug users are absent more often
C) Drug testing is not accurate
D) Applicants consider drug testing to be fair

Question 59

Though handwriting analysts are consistent in their judgment about script features, they are not consistent in:

A) their analysis of what these features mean
B) their selection success rate
C) their use of handwriting analysis
D) any of these

Question 60

What are the problems associated with using references to predict performance?

Question 61

What are the four standards to use when considering biodata items?

Question 62

What are five common assessment center exercises?