What: Assessments that differentiate individuals on the basis of their personal mental abilities; also known as tests of general intelligence, tests of general mental ability, or IQ tests.
Why: According to Salgado (2017), results on tests of general cognitive ability are the single most reliable predictor of workplace success, job and task performance, academic achievement, and training aptitude.
Uses: Selection, promotion, and succession planning. High scores on tests of general mental ability are associated with solving problems correctly, making rapid but sound decisions, judging situations accurately, being able to use abstract reasoning, and acquiring knowledge and being able to use it in new contexts.
Advantages: High validity for predicting job performance, low cost to administer, replicable, highly accurate in predicting individual acquisition of job knowledge and training knowledge,
Disadvantages: Well-documented evidence suggests that tests of general cognitive ability show race-based differences between the scores of White and Black test takers and White and Hispanic test takers, with scores for White test takers being higher than for either Black or Hispanic test takers. This is known as predictive bias. Read more about this in the chapter by Salgado (2017) and the chapter by McDaniel and Banks (2010).
Assignment Prompt
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 3 by McDaniel and Banks (2010) in the Handbook of Workplace Assessment text and Chapter 19 by Scherbaum et al. (2017) in The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Recruitment, Selection and Employee Retention Then read the articles by Montuori and Montefiori (2022) and Salgado and Moscoso (2019).
Much controversy exists about using tests of general cognitive ability in the workplace to assess an individual’s ability to excel in a particular job. In this assignment, you will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of using tests of general cognitive ability, and you will review and evaluate two different assessments of cognitive ability.
In a paper of at least 1,200 words (exclusive of title, abstract, and reference pages) and citing at least two scholarly sources in addition to required readings, evaluate two tests of cognitive ability, and analyze the use of tests of cognitive ability in the workplace.
In Part One of your paper,
- Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of using tests of general cognitive ability to determine which individuals are better suited for a particular job or specific types of leadership training and development.
- Defend whether using tests of general cognitive ability is defensible to support certain types of organizational decision-making.
- Analyze when you might recommend or not recommend a test of cognitive ability to support organizational decision-making.
- Discuss the potential adverse impacts that might affect the results of tests of cognitive ability.
In Part Two of your paper,
- Analyze two different assessments that measure general cognitive ability.
- Describe the theoretical framework upon which each assessment is based, the typical uses for each assessment, and the target population(s) for each.
- Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of using each assessment for its intended purpose.
- When would you recommend using each assessment and when would you not recommend its use? Why?
The Evaluating Tests of General Cognitive Ability paper
- must be at least 1,200 words in length (not including abstract, title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA Style Links to an external site. and APA Style Elements Links to an external site. as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word resource. Links to an external site.
- must include a separate title page with the following in title case:
- title of paper in bold font
- Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
- student’s name
- name of institution (The University of Arizona Global Campus)
- course name and number
- instructor’s name
- due date
- title of paper in bold font
- must utilize academic voice.
- See the Academic Voice Links to an external site. resource for additional guidance.
- must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph.
- Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
- For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions Links to an external site. and Writing a Thesis Statement Links to an external site., refer to the Writing Center resources.
- must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to required readings.
- The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources Links to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source.
- To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this Quick and Easy Library Research Links to an external site. tutorial, which introduces the University of Arizona Global Campus Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
- must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper Links to an external site.
- must include separate abstract and reference pages that are formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center.
- See the Writing an Abstract Links to an external site. and APA: Formatting Your References List Links to an external site. resources in the Writing Center for specifications.