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    Computerised ACER advanced test BL : analysis of equivalency, test anxiety, and the effects of input device using New Zealand university participants : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Gosse, Michelle A
    Study I examined the effects of the computerised format of the ACER Advanced Test BL (ACER-BL) on the test scores and anxiety of undergraduate participants, compared with the traditional paper-and-pencil format. Forty-one students were assigned to either a computer or paper-and-pencil treatment group using a stratified random design. Participants sequentially completed a general background questionnaire, the ACER-BL, an anxiety questionnaire, the ACER-BL, and a final anxiety questionnaire, with a 10 minute test-retest period between the ACER-BL administrations. There were no significant differences in ACER-BL score, and subsection scores, between the 2 treatment groups on either administration. The internal consistency reliability of each formats was moderate to high, and there was a high test-retest reliability for each format. While the mean scores for each treatment group were higher for the second test administration compared with the first, this result only reached significance for the computerised group. Gender, Undergraduate Year, and Typing Ability significantly influenced test score, although these failed to remain significant when treatment group was included in each analysis. These results suggest that the computerised version of the ACER-BL is equivalent to the paper-and-pencil version. Generally, there was no significant difference in reported test anxiety measures between the treatment groups, with mean reported anxiety indicating "slight anxiety." These anxiety results suggest little influence of test format on test anxiety. Study 2 examined the influence of input device (keyboard, numeric pad, and mouse) on ACER-BL scores and test anxiety of undergraduate participants. Using stratified random assignment, 90 subjects were tested on all three input devices using a one factor repeated measures design. Each participant sequentially completed a general background questionnaire, the ACER-BL, an anxiety questionnaire, the ACER-BL, an anxiety questionnaire, the ACER-BL, and a final anxiety questionnaire, with a 10 minute delay between each ACER-BL administration. There was no significant main effect of input device on test score, and there was no significant order effect for input device. Between- subjects analyses indicated a significant increase in mean test score across administrations for the keyboard and numeric pad, but no significant change in mean scores with the mouse. These results were also reflected in the analyses of mean input response time. While there was no significant effect of any measured participant characteristic on input device scores, mathematical ability and undergraduate year each had a significant influence on mean scores in the first ACER-BL administration. Participants with higher mathematical ability or more years at university had significantly higher mean test scores than participants with less mathematical ability or first year undergraduates respectively. While mean reported anxiety on all test anxiety measures decreased over the ACER-BL administrations, all mean reported anxiety indicated "slight anxiety." These anxiety results suggest little influence of input device on test anxiety. The lack of test-retest comparisons between the computerised and paper-and-pencil formats of a test was discussed along with the need for future computerised testing research to use participants from the general population.
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    Effects of encouragement and locus of control on WAIS IQ scores : a thesis ... [for] the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1981) Bennett, Warwick John
    Wechsler (1955, p.27) suggests that for some subjects it may be advisable to make encouraging remarks during testing on the WAIS. The present study investigated the effects of such encouragement upon WAIS IQs, taking into account a personality variable which has been shown to mediate the effects of reinforcement, Locus of Control. Forty-eight female introductory psychology students were selected from a class of 128 on the basis of their scores on Rotter's I-E Locus of Control Scale. They were pre-tested on the Naylor-Harwood Adult Intelligence Scale, and assigned to groups for testing on the WAIS. Subjects who were given encouragement (verbal reins forcement) during WAIS testing did significantly better than those who were not. The observed tendency for subjects external in Locus of Control to be more strongly affected by the encouragement than internals was not significant. In the light of the inevitable differences between examiners in their interpretations of Wechsler's recommendation, it is concluded that there may be reason to doubt the comparability of scores reported by different examiners. Further research is necessary, however, to determine whether this effect is mediated by Locus of Control.
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    Crystallised and fluid ability change across age and a psychometric evaluation of the GRT2 : a cross-sectional analysis :a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) McInnes, Andrew James
    This paper critically evaluated many psychometric properties of the General Reasoning Test (GRT2) and examined age changes in Crystallised and Fluid ability across the 16- to 58-year age range, as represented by the Verbal and Abstract GRT2 scales, respectively. Respondent data came from a large New Zealand-based archived group (N=5075) of individuals whom had completed the assessment as a component of general-level pre-employment information gathering. The psychometric evaluation found the GRT2 to possess adequate internal consistency, and a sub-adequate item-difficulty distribution, for both the Abstract and Verbal scales. A cross-sectional analysis of ability suggested a significant linear decline in Fluid intelligence and non-significant change in Crystallised intelligence, across age. Furthermore, heterogeneity of Fluid ability variance appeared to increase significantly across age, whereas Crystallised ability variance did not. Results were interpreted in the context of Horn’s theory, especially with the distinction between vulnerable and maintained abilities. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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    Integrity, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and ability : relationships and measurement : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Wood, Paul Q
    The purpose of this dissertation was to increase knowledge relevant to psychometrically oriented workplace selection and classification. Multivariate relationships among integrity, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and fluid and crystallised ability scales were investigated. Adverse impact and the capacity to use response time information as criteria of ability scoring were also investigated. These three foci all had the potential to contribute knowledge capable of increasing the accuracy of the measurement and interpretation of commonly used psychometric assessments. Two cross-sectional studies were undertaken. The first study used archival data for extant assessments of ability, general personality, and integrity. It involved 211 participants having undertaken assessments as a function of job applications. The second study designed and piloted new scales of integrity, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and fluid and crystallised ability. It involved 317 participants who completed these scales online as voluntary participants. The first study found integrity to be related to both conscientiousness and neuroticism, but not substantially related to ability. Conscientiousness was also negatively related to crystallised ability. These findings were replicated in the second study. The first study’s neuroticism scale which included a suspicion/cynicism facet (i.e., subscale) had a negative relationship with ability indices. This finding was not replicated in the second study. This may have been due to the absence of a neuroticism facet measuring suspicion/cynicism in the second study. Those identifying as Maori within the first study were found to score substantially less well than non-Maori on crystallised ability indices, but not other scales measured. Calculations suggested any resulting adverse impact could be reduced by combining ability assessments with scales of integrity, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. These calculations were based in part upon the assumption that relationships among assessments are likely to account for shared variance in job performance predictions. No significant differences were found in the second study; although the very small sample size used (N = 22) encourages caution regarding the robustness of this result. Findings from the second study also suggested that relative to low-ability respondents, highability respondents took less time to complete crystallised items and more time to complete fluid ability items. A small significant relationship was also observed between conscientiousness and the length of time taken to complete the fluid ability scale. The studies undertaken had a number of limitations. One limitation shared across these studies was the very small number of participants identifying as Maori (N46 in Study 1 and N22 in Study 2). Another common limitation was the inability to generalise findings based upon crosssectional data drawn from participant groups of convenience rather than individuals selected via probability sampling. Despite such limitations the preceding findings have a number of practical implications. One such implication is that relationships among scales may vary according to whether the level of analysis undertaken is at the Big Five or facet level and whose version of a scale is examined. On this basis practitioners should examine items in order to understand scale output, and researchers should examine relationships at the level of facet or ability subcomponent. Practitioners should also use personality assessments alongside those of ability if they wish to maximise predictive validity and reduce adverse impact for those identifying as Maori. Furthermore, the use of response time information in testing is probably better suited to controlling and checking respondents’ approach to answering assessments than incorporation in scoring algorithms. This dissertation makes two novel contributions concerning relationships between response time and participant characteristics. Firstly, negative relationships between ability indices and conscientiousness or neuroticism scales appear real. They do not appear to be a consequence of more conscientious or neurotic respondents taking longer to complete ability scales. Secondly, poor timemanagement strategies do not explain response time results that are inconsistent with the belief that higher-ability respondents will complete assessments more quickly than their lower-ability peers. Differences in the cognitive requirements associated with fluid and crystallised tasks instead appear to explain why higher-ability respondents take relatively less time to complete crystallised scales, but relatively more time to complete fluid ability scales.
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    Cognitive ability and job performance in a New Zealand service organisation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Industrial/Organisational Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Mann, Catherine
    This study investigated cognitive ability and job performance theoretically and empirically. A New Zealand government organisation tested job candidates’ verbal, numeric and abstract abilities during their selection procedure and appraised employees’ task, contextual and team performance as part of their performance management system. The service-based organisation provided scores on these variables for 43 recently hired employees. There was partial support for the hypothesis that cognitive abilities were related, as numeric reasoning scores correlated significantly with verbal reasoning (r = .38, p = .018) and abstract reasoning scores (r = .36, p = .023). Verbal reasoning scores did not correlate significantly with abstract reasoning scores (r = .24, p = .128), though this was probably due to low power. Individual task and contextual performance ratings correlated with each other as hypothesised (r = .32, p = .036), supporting the theory that some performance processes relate to both task and contextual performance. Team dynamics were expected to obscure simple linear relationships between team performance and individual-level variables and, as hypothesised, team performance did not correlate significantly with task or contextual performance, or cognitive abilities. Abstract reasoning did not show significant positive correlations with task or contextual performance, contrary to expectations, indicating that participants already had job-related experience. Numeric reasoning was not expected to relate to task or contextual performance as work was service based and not likely to require numeric ability, which was borne out in the non-significant correlations. Verbal ability scores correlated positively with task performance ratings (r = .44; p <.001), supporting the hypothesis that verbal ability would be associated with task performance in a service organisation. Verbal reasoning scores did not correlate with contextual performance ratings. Implications of these results for criterion-related validity, as well as cognitive ability and job performance theories are discussed along with limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.