A test of the relative and incremental predictive validity associated with a set of paper-and-pencil test measures and a set of situational test measures within an assessment centre.

Abstract

A sample of two hundred and ninety-seven subjects from lower middle to upper middle levels of management within the Canadian Federal Government participated in an assessment centre program designed to facilitate the identification of potential for effective functioning at executive levels of management. During the assessment program, performance was assessed through a series of situational tests and a battery of psychometric paper-and-pencil tests. The general progression achieved by these participants approximately one and one-half to four years following assessment was evaluated by means of criterion measures related to position-level and salary, as well as a composite measure combining both of these criterion variables. The research was primarily designed to compare the predictive validity of a set of paper-and-pencil test measures with the validity associated with a set of situational test measures. As part of this effort, the research also focussed on the incremental validity which could ensue from the combination of both sets of predictors. The results of the investigation indicated that there was no significant difference in the amount of predictive variance accounted for by the paper-and-pencil versus situational testing methods. It was determined, however, that both sets of predictors added in an incremental fashion in the overall prediction of progression within the organization. The existence of this relationship was to some extent dependent upon the criterion measure considered.