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    A criterion validation of the New Zealand Army Officer Selection Board : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2006) Benjamin, Kathryn
    The purpose of this research was to assess the incremental validity of selection measures employed on the New Zealand Army Officer Selection Board (OSB) over and above measures of cognitive ability. The study assessed whether the use of measures of personality, cognitive ability, peer assessment ratings, and observer competency gradings, could predict future training performance and job performance. Criterion measures of training and job performance included Officer Cadet School (OCS) performance results, supervisor ratings, and annual reporting documents. The sample population consisted of 72 New Zealand Army officers. Of these participants 15 were female and 57 were male. The average age of the participants was 27.5 years. It was hypothesised that individual elements of the assessment centre (observer ratings, psychologist ratings, and peer assessment ratings) would provide incremental validity over cognitive ability testing. It was also hypothesised that elements of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R) and the Gordon Personal Profile-Inventory (GPP-I) would be positively correlated with measures of training performance and job performance. Lastly, it was hypothesised that increased time since commissioning would be positively correlated with higher job performance. The results demonstrate that no linear combination of predictors was able to predict future training performance or job performance. Only the last hypothesis was supported and the results are discussed in light of methodological shortcomings.
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    The development and psychometric assessment of a measure of numerical business acumen : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Sciences at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Anso, Jocelyn
    The competency Numerical Business Acumen has been identified as a managerial behaviour that is crucial for keeping pace with a dynamic business environment. Numerical Business Acumen was defined as the ability to interpret numerical data within the wider organisational and external context. The primary components of this construct were hypothesised to be numerical critical reasoning and business acumen. No commercially available test appears to adequately measure this construct. Therefore, the main aims of the present research were to develop a scenario-based measure of the Numerical Business Acumen competency, and to assess its psychometric properties. Two parallel versions of the Numerical Business Acumen measure and a comparative measure of critical reasoning were administered to a sample of 46 participants from seven organisations. The results showed that both the measure's internal consistency (r =.36) and stability over time (r = .27) were relatively poor. The Numerical Business Acumen measure did not correlate with the comparative measure used, indicating that a construct distinct from numerical critical reasoning was being assessed. This construct was tentatively identified as an aspect of business acumen, one which might include a type of context-specific critical reasoning based on experiential learning. Suggested improvements to the measure consisted of further refinement of the existing questions, and the inclusion of additional questions to measure other components of the Numerical Business Acumen competency.
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    Clinical psychologists' opinions about and uses of tests, assessment, and clinical intervention applications : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1997) Patchett-Anderson, Lorraine Shirley
    A replication of two North American studies done in 1995, on the contemporary practice of psychological assessment and clinical intervention training, was conducted with New Zealand clinical psychologists currently registered and practising. One hundred and thirty seven subjects, of whom one third were in private practice, were asked their opinions about clinical assessment and their use of instruments. They were also asked about their professional experience with common, mostly empirically-validated, clinical interventions. It was found that over half of assessment-active clinical psychologists used six procedures, and a third or more used another eight. The clinical interview was top (and used by 87%), and the first five procedures were used most across nine work settings also. The respondents used assessment to answer specific questions, and recommended that clinical students learn about assessment procedures in order to incorporate the results into therapy and thereby facilitate the therapeutic process. Thirty-seven percent of their clients received objective testing procedures and 3% received projective testing. Half or more of the respondents used, and recommended that students learn to administer, the Wechsler Scales, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Scale. The most used projective method was Sentence Completion (by 33%) but only 12% recommended that students should learn to use it, and whilst a quarter of clinical psychologists used and recommended that the TAT be learned, another quarter believed that students need not be competent in projective testing methods at all. Over half the clinical psychologists identified themselves as practising from a cognitive-behavioural orientation and this was reflected in their endorsement of cognitive, behavioural, or cognitive-behavioural empirically-validated clinical interventions. Eighteen of the most used 20 treatments were so described, the remaining two being the psychodynamic therapies which were ranked at positions 10 and 19, brief and longterm respectively. The most taught, supervised and utilised empirically-validated treatments were therapies for anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, and skills training for marital partners and for parents of children with oppositional behaviour. The single most used intervention, by 74%, was Applied Relaxation for Panic Disorder. The results of the study suggest that New Zealand clinical psychologists have developed a methodology of assessment originally patterned on North American practices but have evolved pragmatically in a distinctly cognitive-behavioural direction whilst still valuing the importance of traditional assessment instruments such as the MMPI and the Bender-Gestalt. Likewise their clinical intervention preferences tend to be cognitive-behavioural whilst still retaining the psychodynamic and psychoeducational approaches and embracing the "nineties" narrative evolution as well. The lack of success in obtaining information about the training content of programmes and internship requirements for clinical students should be remedied, in order to inform the profession, and research is also needed into yet-to-be-validated clinical interventions such as narrative therapy.