Industrial/Organizational Psychology - Chapter 7: Selection Decisions and Personnel Law

Vocabulary practice flashcards for Chapter 7: Selection Decisions and Personnel Law in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, covering validation designs, recruitment methods, selection models, utility, and employment laws.

Selection battery

A set of predictors, or tests, that are used by an organization to make employee hiring decisions.

Selection Battery Predictor Overlap Diagram

A representation demonstrating how multiple predictors (such as assessment centers, work samples, and interviews) combine to account for shared and unique criterion variance, yielding an overall multiple correlation of $R = .74$ and $R^2 = .55$.

Recruitment

The process of encouraging potentially qualified applicants to seek employment with a particular company.

Person–environment (PE) fit

The agreement or match between an individual's KSAOs and values and the job demands and organizational characteristics.

Cybervetting

The assessment of an individual's suitability for a job based on Internet information, including the use of social media.

Validation study

A study conducted to determine the extent to which a predictor is related to a job performance criterion.

Predictive validation study

A study investigating how effective predictors are at forecasting job performance by gathering predictor data from all applicants, hiring some, and later collecting criterion data to compute a validity coefficient.

Concurrent validation study

A study design in which predictor and criterion data are collected from current incumbents at the same time to calculate a validity coefficient.

Validity shrinkage

A statistical phenomenon reflecting the likelihood that a given selection battery will demonstrate lower validity when employed with a different sample.

Cross-validation

The empirical process of testing a selection battery on a separate sample to determine the stability of its validity and assess shrinkage.

Validity generalization (VG)

A technique using meta-analytic procedures to weight and combine validity coefficients across situations to determine if validity is generalizable rather than situationally bound.

Situational specificity

The premise that the validity of a selection test depends upon the specific characteristics of the particular job or organizational context.

Synthetic validity

Validity inferred on the premise that job components common across different jobs are related to the same KSAOs or human attributes.

Multiple cutoff approach

A noncompensatory method of employee selection in which passing scores (cutoffs) are set on each predictor, requiring applicants to achieve minimal competence on every test.

Multiple hurdle approach

A variation of the multiple cutoff approach in which predictors are administered in a predetermined sequence from least to most expensive, and applicants must pass each cutoff before moving to the next predictor.

Multiple regression approach

A compensatory selection method that uses validation data to generate an equation ($Y = b_0 + b_1X_1 + b_2X_2 + b_3X_3$) to predict criterion performance and rank-order applicants.

Decision accuracy

The percentage of hiring decisions that are correct, calculated as $Q_1 / (Q_1 + Q_3)$ (hits divided by total hires).

Overall decision accuracy

The proportion of all selection decisions that are correct, calculated as $(Q_1 + Q_2) / (Q_1 + Q_2 + Q_3 + Q_4)$.

Selection Decision Quadrant Model

A scatterplot diagram displaying outcomes when a predictor battery has positive validity, dividing applicant outcomes into hits ($Q_1$), correct rejections ($Q_2$), false alarms ($Q_3$), and misses ($Q_4$).

Hits ($Q_1$)

Selection decisions where applicants score above the predictor cutoff and prove to be successful on the job criterion.

Correct rejections ($Q_2$)

Selection decisions where applicants score below the predictor cutoff and would have failed on the job criterion.

False alarms ($Q_3$)

Selection decisions where applicants score above the predictor cutoff but fail to perform successfully on the job criterion.

Misses ($Q_4$)

Selection decisions where applicants score below the predictor cutoff but would have succeeded on the job criterion if hired.

Zero Validity Scatterplot

A scatterplot diagram representing a selection battery with zero validity, demonstrating that hiring decisions with zero validity result in outcomes equivalent to random selection with no utility.

Base rate

The percentage of current employees who are successful on the job, reflecting the quality of previous selection batteries and establishing a baseline for comparison.

Selection ratio

The ratio calculated as the number of job openings divided by the total number of applicants, where a smaller ratio indicates greater utility.

Utility

The overall usefulness and cost-efficiency of a selection battery, evaluated using decision accuracy, validity, base rate, selection ratio, and cost.

Employment at-will

A common law doctrine granting employers and employees the legal right to initiate or terminate an employment relationship at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all.

Adverse impact

A legal operationalization of discrimination occurring when a selection battery results in a protected group being selected at a substantially lower rate than the majority group.

80% rule of thumb

A guideline from the Uniform Guidelines stating that adverse impact exists when the selection rate for a minority group is less than $80\%$ of the selection rate for the majority group.

Prima facie case

An initial showing by a plaintiff presenting preliminary evidence ('on the face of it') that employment discrimination has taken place.

Business necessity defense

An employer defense against adverse impact claims showing that the selection battery is job-related for all minority and majority groups.

Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs)

Organizational practices designed to increase the number of minorities or protected class members to address historical discrimination, excluding quota systems.

Equal Pay Act (EPA)

A 1963 federal statute making it illegal to provide unequal pay and benefits to men and women holding jobs that are equal, unless justified by sizable and reasonable differences in work.

Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

A 2009 federal law establishing that an unfair discriminatory practice occurs each time an individual is affected by a pay decision, resetting the statute of limitations with every paycheck.

Civil Rights Act (Title VII)

The 1964 landmark legislation prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, which established the EEOC.

Griggs v. Duke Power

A landmark 1971 Supreme Court disparate impact case establishing that selection procedures causing adverse impact against Black applicants are illegal unless shown to be job-related.

Quid pro quo harassment

A form of sexual harassment where career advancement or continuation in a company is contingent upon submitting to sexual favors.

Hostile work environment harassment

Sexual harassment involving verbal or physical behavior that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment that interferes with an employee's job performance.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

A 1990 federal law prohibiting employment discrimination against qualified individuals with physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities.