Development and validation of synthetic dexterity tests based on elemental motion analysis.

INFORMATION with the highest validity seems to have a pobnt-topoint correspondence with the criterion. For instance, in a review article of the scorable application blank, Asher (1972) concluded that biographical information showed substantially higher predictive validity when job proficiency was the criterion, than other predictors including tests of intelligence, personality, interest, perception, motor skill, and mechanical ability.The generalization seemed t o be that factual and verifiable historical information about applicants was the best predictor of future performance in specific positions. This implication was based on comparisons with tests designed t o measure "simple" dimensions. Simple in this context means a pure or single dimension of behavior.If there is merit in a theory about predictive power in a pointto-point connection between the predictor and criterion space, then tests of single dimensions should be less powerful predictors than more complex tests such as work sample tests designed to be a miniature replica of the criterion task. The intention was not to include in this review ready-made standardized tests, but only work samples especially created for specific criterion tasks.In a search of the literature, work sample tests were classified into the categories of either motor or verbal. A work sample was identified as "motor" if the task was a physical manipulation of things as, for example, tracing a complex electrical circuit, operating a sewing machine, making a tooth from plaster, or repairing a gear box. A work sample test was classified as "verbal" if there was a problem situation that was primarily language-oriented or people-oriented. For instance, the in-basket problem required the subject to deal with a set of materials which a company manager

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“…A police test involving general information and judgment related to police work (DuBois and Watson, 1950).…”

Section: Personnel Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Motions tests for bench assembly jobs (Drewes, 1961). Two hand coordination test for miner operators (Durrett, 1961).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Realistic Work Sample Tests: A Review

Asher

Sciarrino

1974

Personnel Psychology

121

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“…attempt to describe the concept, Lawshe and Steinberg (1955) showed, for example, that jobs judged to require high levels of spelling ability were jobs on which incumbents who had survived for a time scored higher on a spelling test than did the incumbents on other jobs; this is hardly, however, the problem in the employment office and is therefore not equivalent to the usual validity coefficient. In another study, Drewes (1961) constructed psychomotor tests from motion study principles and attempted to show that these tests, chosen in accordance with a motion analysis of a particular job, could do as well or better than other manipulative tests. Neither of these studies, however, could be considered a direct application of the synthetic validity concept to a small business.…”

Section: In Briefmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic Validity In A Small Company: A Demonstration

Guion

1965

Personnel Psychology

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In BriefTRADITIONAL methods of empirically validating tests for employee selection require large numbers of employees all doing essentially the same work. The small business organization is not able to meet this requirement; it is typically faced, therefore, with the options of not testing or of using clinical appraisals. An alternative has been proposed under the term "synthetic validity" in which empirical validation data can be used to infer the validity of a battery of tests even for situations in which the N is too small to permit conventional validation. This report describes research in a small company in which nearly every employee has a job that is appreciably different from the jobs of other employees. Despite the diversity, however, there is some overlapping of job descriptions. Seven elements of work proficiency which appeared in many jobs in the company were identified. Ratings for each employee to whom an element applied were obtained, along with a rating on over-all effectiveness. A battery of tests was validated against this group of criterion ratings, taken one at a time.The setting provided the opportunity for a demonstration of the concept of synthetic validity. Because of small N's, the results of the study cannot be taken as conclusive evidence of the superiority of synthetic validity over more traditional methods, but it can be taken as (1) a demonstration of the concept and (2) a model for the evaluation of the synthetic validity approach.

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“…However, the synthetic validity approach has been utilized in a few instances with work samples and psychomotor ability tests (Griffin, 1959). For example, Drewes (1961) presented a synthetic validity approach to creating psychomotor test batteries from an analysis of the specific motion patterns of a particular job. This approach involved matching the specific motions to tests of those specific motions.…”

Section: Historic Approaches To Synthetic Validitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic Validity: Past, Present, and Future

Scherbaum

2005

Personnel Psychology

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Practitioners in the area of personnel selection can be confronted with situations in which the use of traditional validation strategies is not feasible. This situation can result from small numbers of incumbents, rapidly changing jobs, insufficient resources, or the lack of high-quality criterion data. Although traditional strategies are not possible, a set of techniques falling under the rubric of synthetic validity can be used to estimate predictor validity in these situations. Synthetic validity is a logical process of inferring validity on the basis of the relationships between components of a job and tests of the attributes that are needed to perform the job components. Unfortunately, synthetic validity is infrequently used and not well understood. This article provides an overview and conceptualization of synthetic validity, reviews the historical approaches to synthetic validity, describes the recent developments and trends, and suggests future directions for synthetic validity application and research. The relationship of synthetic validity with other validity concepts, the advantages, the limitations, and the legal issues are considered throughout.

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Development and validation of synthetic dexterity tests based on elemental motion analysis.

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

Realistic Work Sample Tests: A Review

Realistic Work Sample Tests: A Review

Synthetic Validity In A Small Company: A Demonstration

Synthetic Validity: Past, Present, and Future

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