PSYC 516 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED SOLUTIONS LATEST UPDATE 2026

PSYC 516 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED SOLUTIONS LATEST UPDATE 2026 By nature and by necessity, measures of individual differences are - Answers discriminatory Differential Validity - Answers distinguishing b/w performance on the selection measure and performance on the job (i.e. diffs in validity coefficients across grps) Diff. validity - Answers when the relationship b/w predictor and criterion is different for different groups - if a test is valid for 2 grps, but more valid for one than the other Diff. prediction - Answers difference in slopes or intercepts across groups 2 conditions that must exist for diff validity to exist? - Answers 1. significant diff b/w coefficients obtained for 2 subgrps (ethnicity or gender) 2. correlations found in 1 or both grps are significantly different from 0 Fairness - Answers treating all ppl alike, justly, equitably; having no adverse impact on any grp of ppl 2 dimensions of fairness - Answers 1. distributive 2. procedural distributive - Answers fairness of the outcomes procedural - Answers fairness of the procedures used to reach a decision types of predictive bias - Answers single-grp validity and diff validity adverse impact - Answers employment practices that appear neutral but a discrim. effect on a protected grp 4/5ths rule - Answers test to calculate adverse impact - compares rates of selection for lesser represented classes of individuals against the rate at which the most represented grp is selected - the lesser represented grp has a selection rate that is less than 4/5ths or 80% of selection rate for the most represented grp can be used as evidence of discrim or adverse impact single-grp validity - Answers a test is valid for 1 grp (usually whites) but is invalid (0) for other grps (typ minority grps) test-scoring banding - Answers method for referring candidates for selection, addresses this broader goal of test fairness, as well as the appropriateness of the test-based conducts or rules underlie decision making-that is, distributive justice sliding-band method - Answers instead of just selecting the top score, you create a grp w/in standard error for the diff of the top score and treat them all equal differences b/w criterion-referenced bands and predictor-referenced bands - Answers 1. criterion-ref bands produce wider bands 2. criterion-ref bands may not be possible b/c lack of criterion-related validity info 3. criterion-ref bands includes the use of available data (may be imperect) 4. criterion-ref bands include 2 reliability coeff, one fore each variable sliding band method - Answers allows band to be moved down a score point when highest score is exhausted, once the highest person is selected, the band moves down to the next highest score fixed band method - Answers candidates in lower bands not considered until higher bands have been exhausted What differences are typically analyzed through the examination of diff validity? - Answers race, ethnicity, gender How do you determine fairness? - Answers HRM decisions make justice decisions in employment decisions example of diff prediction - Answers if an org is using a cognitive ability test to select for employees in an engineering position, but it has led to a lower proportion of minorities being hired than the majority zero validity - Answers if the distribution of the predictor/criterion scatterplot is similar for grp and circular resources for guiding HRM fairness - Answers 1. uniform guidelines on employee selection process (1978) 2. standards for educational and psychological testing (1999) 3. Principles for validations and use of personnel selection procedures (2003) HRM decisions are based on - Answers individual difference measures moderator - Answers type of variable that decreases the size of the predictor/criterion relationship depending on what grp of the variable that person belongs to positive validity - Answers predictor-criterion relationship is the same for both subgrps and elliptical in shape; conclude fairness, validity, and legally supported zero validity - Answers predictor-criterion relationship is the same for both subgrps but circular in shape, conclude no diff validity, no point to consider predictor positive validity but adverse impact - Answers predictor-criterion relationship shows differences per subgrp and elliptical shape; conclude valid and legal adverse impact but only if criterion necessity proven positive validity for combined grps, invalid for separate grps - Answers predictor-criterion relationship is high for entire grp but low or zero for either subgrp and elliptical shape; conclude unfair, invalid, illegal and discrim. Strategies for reducing adverse impact - Answers 1. improve the recruiting strategy for minorities 2. use cognitive abilities in combination w/ noncognitive predictors 3. use multiple regression and other methods for combing predictors into a composite 4. use measures of specific, as opposed to only general, cognitive abilities 5. use differential weighting for various criterion facets, giving less weight to criterion facets that require more general cognitive abilities 6. use alt modes of presenting test stimuli 7. enhance face validity 8. implement test-score banding to select among the applicants meta-analyses - Answers are often used to determine if diff validity might exist for certain variables criterion-referenced banding model - Answers includes the reliability for the performance measure and the predictor-performance relationship as well equal validity, unequal criterion means - Answers predictor-criterion relationship is similar for both subgrps elliptical shape, but criterion means differ; concludes fairness questionable, validity questionable, but no adverse impact Chicago Firefighters Local 2 v. City of Chicago - Answers court decision that confirmed that banding was a legal mechanism for reducing adverse impact When using a sliding-band method of banding to select multiple people for a position, if the top scorer is chosen and more applicants need to be selected - Answers a new band is created using the standard error of the difference Agreeableness - Answers applicants high in the personality construct tend to positive perceptions of fairness work analysis - Answers refers to any systematic process for gathering, documenting, and analyzing three features of work: 1. content (tasks, responsibilities, or outputs) 2. worker attributes related to its performance (knowledge, skills, abilities, or other personal characteristics, or KSAOs) 3. context (physical and psychological conditions) job description - Answers written statement of what a worker does, how he does it, and why elements of a job description include - Answers 1. job title - indicates job duties and org level; used for reporting purposes 2. job activates - tasks, materials, machinery, interactions, supervision 3. working conditions & physical environment - heat, lighting, noise, indoor/outdoor, hazards, office space 4. social environment - work grp, interactions 5. conditions of employment - hours, wages, benefits, opportunities for promotion job specifications - Answers represent the KSAOs deemed necessary to preform a type of work; identify the personal characteristics (educational background, experience, training) that are valid for screening, selection, and placement Task inventories and checklists - Answers are questionnaries used to collect info about a particular type of work; an analyst completes a list of tasks or job activities, by checking or rating each item as it related to the work in question, in terms of the importance of the item, frequency of performance, judged difficulty, time to learn, or overall performance SME panels - Answers panels of 6-10 SMEs; are often convened for different purposes in work analysis: a. develop information on task KSAOs to be used in constructing work analysis questionnaires b. test development, to establish linkages b/w tasks and KSAOs, KSAOs and test items, and tasks and test items questionnaires - Answers usually standardized and requires respondents either to check items that apply to a job or to rate items in terms of their relevance to the job: - cheaper and quicker to administer than other methods - can be completed at the respondent's leisure, online or via hard copy, therefore avoiding lost production time - when there are many workers in each job, questionnaires provide a breadth of coverage that would be extremely expensive and time consuming to obtain by any other method interview - Answers most commonly used for establishing tasks duties, and behaviors necessary both for standardized or non-standardized activities and for physical and mental work Fleishman Job Analysis Survey (F-JAS) - Answers one of the most research approaches to job or work analysis objective to describe work in terms of the abilities required to preform it Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) - Answers - instrument that is based on statistical analyses of primarily worker-oriented job elements - consists of 194 items in following categories: information input, mental processes, work output, relationship with other persons, job context - limitation: behavioral similarities in jobs may mask genuine task differences between them Critical Incidents - Answers an approach that involves the collection of a series of anecdotes of work behavior (collected from supervisors, employees, or others familiar with the job) that describe especially good or especially poor performance (a) what led up to the incident and the context in which it occurred (b) exactly what the individual did that was so effective or ineffective c) the perceived consequences of this behavior d) whether or not such consequences were within the employee's control Personality - Answers the set of characteristics of a person that account for the consistent ways that he or she responds to situations Big Five Model - Answers 1. Neuroticism 2. Extraversion 3. Openness to experience 4.Agreeableness5.Conscientiousness neuroticism - Answers concerns the degree to which an individual is insecure, anxious, depressed, and emotional versus calm, self-confident, and cool approaches to job analysis - Answers 1. functional job analysis 2. position analysis questionnaire 3. critical incident method 4. job analysis wizard 5. personality-based job analysis Extraversion - Answers concerns the degree to which an individual is gregarious, assertive, and sociable versus reserved, timid, and quiet Openness to experience - Answers degree to which an individual is creative, curious, and cultured versus practical with narrow interests agreeableness - Answers the degree to which an individual is cooperative, warm, and agreeable versus cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic conscientiousness - Answers degree to which an individual is hardworking, organized, dependable, and persevering versus lazy, disorganized, and unreliable Competency models - Answers attempt to identify variables related to overall organizational fit and to identify personality characteristics consistent with the organization's vision (e.g., drive for results, persistence, innovation, flexibility); are a form of work analysis that focuses on broader characteristics of individuals and on using these characteristics to inform HR practices cognitive task analysis (CTA) - Answers appropriate for knowledge-based work, such as that of surgeons, financial analysts, or scientific researchers; its objective is to bridge the gap between what gets done and how it gets done Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) - Answers published by the U.S. Department of Labor in the 1930s to help deal with the economic crisis of the Great Depression by allowing the new public employment system to link skill supply and skill demand O*NET® content model - Answers incorporated the three design principles—multiple windows, common language, and hierarchical taxonomies—to include the major types of cross-job descriptors and to provide a general descriptive framework of occupational information O*NET system - Answers is a comprehensive database for collecting and disseminating information on occupational and worker requirements for 974 occupations, covering the U.S. economy interrater reliability - Answers the degree to which different raters agree on the components of a target work role or job, or the extent to which their ratings covary job analysis - Answers process of obtaining information about jobs by determining the duties, tasks, or activities of jobs Job descriptions (work to be done) plus Job specifications (personal characteristics) equals - Answers job analysis element - Answers smallest unit of observable work task - Answers distinct activity for a distinct purpose duty - Answers large segment of the work performed by the individual and may include any number of tasks position - Answers one or more duties performed by an individual job - Answers group of positions w/ similar duties job family - Answers grp of jobs w/ similar worker characteristics