SIOP Psychological Assessment & Measurement Techniques 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) differs from Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) primarily because CFA:
- Requires a larger sample size than EFA
- Tests a pre-specified factor structure against data (Correct answer)
- Always produces fewer factors than EFA
- Cannot handle ordinal data
Correct answer: Tests a pre-specified factor structure against data
CFA tests whether a theoretically derived factor structure fits the observed data, whereas EFA explores data to identify factor structures without prior constraints.
Question 2: The concept of 'bandwidth-fidelity tradeoff' in personality assessment refers to the tension between:
- Test length and administration cost
- Broad trait measurement versus narrow, specific trait measurement (Correct answer)
- Self-report versus observer ratings
- Normative versus ipsative scoring
Correct answer: Broad trait measurement versus narrow, specific trait measurement
The bandwidth-fidelity tradeoff describes how broad measures (like Big Five domains) capture wide coverage but less precision, while narrow facets offer greater specificity for predicting specific criteria.
Question 3: Which assessment center dimension has consistently shown the highest validity for predicting managerial performance?
- Interpersonal skills
- Problem solving/cognitive ability (Correct answer)
- Administrative skills
- Motivation/career ambition
Correct answer: Problem solving/cognitive ability
Meta-analytic research shows that problem-solving and cognitive dimensions in assessment centers tend to have the highest validity for predicting managerial job performance.
Question 4: A researcher finds that a personality scale has high convergent validity but low discriminant validity. This means the scale:
- Correlates highly with measures of different constructs it should not correlate with (Correct answer)
- Has poor internal consistency across items
- Fails to predict job performance criteria
- Shows large mean score differences across cultural groups
Correct answer: Correlates highly with measures of different constructs it should not correlate with
Low discriminant validity means the scale correlates too highly with measures of theoretically different constructs, indicating the scale may not measure a unique construct.
Question 5: The primary advantage of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) over fixed-form testing is:
- Elimination of all item bias
- Greater measurement precision with fewer items (Correct answer)
- Avoidance of adverse impact
- Ability to measure multiple constructs simultaneously
Correct answer: Greater measurement precision with fewer items
CAT adaptively selects items near the examinee's estimated ability level, providing greater measurement precision while using fewer items compared to fixed-form tests.
Question 6: When scoring situational judgment tests (SJTs), which scoring key approach requires subject matter experts to rate the effectiveness of each response option?
- Rational keying
- Empirical keying
- Expert consensus keying (Correct answer)
- Ideal respondent keying
Correct answer: Expert consensus keying
Expert consensus keying uses SME ratings of response option effectiveness to establish the scoring key, rather than deriving the key empirically from incumbent data.
Question 7: Ipsative scoring on personality assessments, compared to normative scoring, is particularly problematic for selection because it:
- Increases faking susceptibility
- Produces scores that are not independent, making comparisons across people invalid (Correct answer)
- Reduces test-retest reliability
- Cannot detect socially desirable responding
Correct answer: Produces scores that are not independent, making comparisons across people invalid
Ipsative scores are forced-choice rankings within a person, making them interdependent; this violates the assumptions needed for valid between-person comparisons in selection contexts.
SIOP Psychological Assessment & Measurement Techniques 3
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) differs from Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) primarily because CFA: