A Reconsideration of Testing for Competence Rather Than for Intelligence.docx
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AReconsiderationofTestingforCompetenceRatherThanforIntelligence
AReconsiderationofTestingforCompetenceRatherThanforIntelligence
GeraldV.BarrettandRobertL.Depinet
TheUniversityofAkron
CorrespondenceconcerningthisarticleshouldbeaddressedtoGerald
V.Barrett,DepartmentofPsychology,TheUniversityofAkron,Buchtel
CollegeofArtsandSciences,Akron,OH44325-4301.
October1991°AmericanPsychologist
DavidC.McClelland's1973articlehasdeeplyinfluencedbothprofessionalandpublicopinion.Init,hepresentedfivemajorthemes:
(a)Gradesinschooldidnotpredictoccupationalsuccess,(b)intelligencetestsandaptitudetestsdidnotpredictoccupationalsuccessorotherimportantlifeoutcomes,(c)testsandacademicperformanceonlypredictedjobperformancebecauseofanunderlyingrelationshipwithsocialstatus,(d)suchtestswereunfairtominorities,and(e)"competencies"wouldbebetterabletopredictimportantbehaviorsthanwouldmoretraditionaltests.Despitethepervasiveinfluenceoftheseassertions,thisreviewoftheliteratureshowedonlylimitedsupportfortheseclaims.
In1973,DavidC.McClelland'sleadarticleintheAmericanPsychologistprofoundlyaffectedboththefieldofpsychologyandpopularopinion.Thisarticlewasdesignedto"reviewskepticallythemainlinesofevidenceforthevalidityofintelligenceandaptitudetestsandtodrawsomeinferencesfromthisreviewastonewlinesthattestingmighttakeinthefuture"(p.1).Themainthemesheendorsedandcontinuestopromote(e.g.,Klemp&McClelland,1986)havebeenpublishedwidelyinnewspapers,magazines,andpopularbooksaswellaspsychologytextbooks.Beliefintheseviews,however,hasbecomesowidespreadthatoftentheyarepresentedascom-
monknowledge(e.g.,Feldman,1990).
Table1reviewsanumberofworksthatcitedMcClelland(1973)andshowsthattheimpactofMcClelland'sarticlehasincreasedovertime.Soonafterthearticlewaspublished,McClelland'sviewswereintegratedintointroductorypsychologytextbooks.Bythelate1980s,thesethemeshadbecomepartofgenerallyacceptedpublicopinion,withnewspaperandmagazinewriterscommonlycitingMcClellandasanauthorityonintelligencetesting.
ItwasMcClelland's(1973)beliefthatintelligencetestingshouldbereplacedbycompetency-basedtesting.Hisargumentagainstintelligencetestingrestedontheassertionthatintelligencetestsandaptitudetestshavenotbeenshowntoberelatedtoimportantlifeoutcomesbecausepsychologistswereunableandunwillingtotestthisrelationship.McClellandarguedthatintelligencetestshavebeencorrelatedwitheachotherandwithgradesinschoolbutnotwithotherlifeoutcomes.
McClelland(1973)statedthatintellectualabilityscoresandacademicperformanceweretheresultofsocialstatus,andhelabeledthemasortofgame.Heassertedthatatestmustresemblejobperformanceorothercriteriatoberelatedtotheperformanceonthecriteria.Healsoclaimedthatintelligenceandaptitudetestingwereunfairtominorities.Headvocatedthattheprofessionshouldfocusonwhathetermedcompetencytestingandcriterionsampling,maintainingthatintelligencetestingandaptitudetestingshouldbediscarded.
ThemainpointsofMcClelland's(1973)articlecanbesummarizedinthefollowingfivethemes:
(a)Gradesinschooldidnotpredictoccupationalsuccess,(b)intelligencetestsandaptitudetestsdidnotpredictoccupationalsuccessorotherimportantlifeoutcomes,(c)testsandacademicperformanceonlypredictedjobperformanceasaresultofanunderlyingrelationshiptosocial
status,(d)traditionaltestswereunfairtominorities,and(e)"competencies"wouldmoresuccessfullypredictimportantbehaviorsthanwouldmoretraditionaltests.
Inthepresentarticle,thesethemesareexaminedthroughacomprehensivereviewofrelevantliterature.AlthoughMcClelland's(1973)articlecontainedmanysubthemes,onlythosethemeswebelievetobethemainissuesareaddressedhere.Thisdoesnotimply,however,thatweagreewithanyaspectsofMcClelland'sarticlethatarenotaddressedhere.
DoGradesPredictOccupationalSuccess?
McClelland(1973)claimedthat"thegamespeoplearerequiredtoplayonaptitudetestsaresimilartothegamesteachersrequireintheclassroom"(p.1).Asevidence,McClellandpresentedfourcitationsthatheinterpretedassupportforhisposition,whileignoringdisconfirmingevidence.HealsoincludedhispersonalexperiencesatWesleyanUniversityasevidence,maintainingthat"A"studentscouldnotbedistinguishedfrombarelypassingstudentsinlateroccupationalsuccess.Thisfindingdiffersgreatlyfromthatfoundinasimilar,morescientificcomparisondonebyNicholson(1915)atthesameschool.Nicholsonfoundthatacademicallyexceptionalstudentsweremuchmorelikelytoachievedistinctioninlaterlife.TheresultsofNicholson'sstudyaresummarizedinTable2.
Table1SupportforMcClelland's(1973)ConceptsinNewspapers,Magazines,PopularBooks,andTextbooks
PublicationAuthor(s)Statement
Newspapers
NewYorkTimesGoleman(1988)IQtestsseverelylimitedaspredictorsofjobsuccess
NewYorkTimesGoleman(1984)Intelligenceunrelatedtocareersuccess
PlainDealerDrexler(1981)Testsunrelatedtoaccomplishmentsinleadership,arts,science,music,writing,speech,anddrama;testsdiscriminatebyculture
Magazines
AtlanticMonthly
PsychologyToday
PsychologyToday
Popularbooks
MoreLikeUs
WhizKids
Psychologytexts
Psychology:
AnIntroduction
IntroductiontoPsychology
Psychology:
BeingHuman
Psychology
UnderstandingHumanBehavior
ElementsofPsychology
EssentialsofPsychology
Psychology:
AnIntroduction
IntroductoryPsychology
Fallows(1985)
Goleman(1981)
Koenig(1974)
Fallows(1989)
Machlowitz(1985)
Morris(1990)
Coon(1986)
Rubin&McNeil(1985)
Crider,Goethals,
Kavanaugh,&
Solomon(1983)
McConnell(1983)
Krech&Crutchfield
(1982)
Silverman(1979)
Mussen&
Rosenzweig(1977)
Davids&Engen
(1975)
Promotereplacingaptitudetestswithcompetencetests
Testsandgradesareunrelatedtocareersuccess
Testsandgradeshavelessvaluethancompetencetests
Testsandgradesareuselessaspredictorsofoccupationalsuccess
Brightpeopledonotdobetterinlife
IQandgradesareunrelatedtooccupationalsuccess
IQdoesnotpredictimportantbehaviorsorsuccess
SuggestsreplacingIQtestswithcompetencetests
Testsareunfairbyraceandsocioeconomicstatus
Abilityisunrelatedtocareersuccess
Testsandgradesareunrelatedtolifeoutcomes
Testingresultsincategoricallabels
Testscoresareunrelatedtojobsuccess
SuggestsreplacingIQtestswithcompetencetests
Somelimitationsdoexistwhengradesareusedaspredictors.Gradesvarygreatlyamongdisciplines(Barrett&Alexander,1989;EUiott&Strenta,1988;Schoenfeldt&Brush,1975)aswellasamongcolleges(Barrett&Alexander,1989;Humphreys,1988;Nelson,1975).Becausedifferentstudentsusuallytakedifferentcourses,thereliabilityofgradesisrelativelylowunlessacommonsetofcoursesistaken(Butler&McCauley,1987).Despitetheseshortcomings,anumberofmeta-analyseshaveshownthatgradesdohaveasmall-to-moderatecorrelationwithoccupationalsuccess(Cohen,1984;Dye&Reek,1988,1989;O'Leary,1980;Samson,Graue,Weinstein,&Walberg,1984).Despiteanoverlapamongthedatausedbythesestudiesandvariabilityamongresults(r=.15to.29),theyallreachedsimilarconclusions.Awidevarietyofmeasuresofoccupationalsuccesssuchassalary,promotionrate,andsupervisoryratingshavebeenpositivelyrelatedtogradepointaverage.
Table2SuccessofWesleyanGraduates
Classes/academicstandingPercentagewhoachieveddistinctioninlaterlife
1831-1959
Valedictoriansandsalutatorians49
PhiBetaKappa31
Noscholarlydistinction6
1860-1889
Highesthonors47
PhiBetaKappa31
Noscholarlydistinction10
1890-1899
Highesthonors60
PhiBetaKappa30
Noscholarlydistinction11
Note.Adaptedfrom"Successincollegeandinlaterlife"byF.W.Nicholson,
1915,SchoolandSociety,12,p.229-232.Inthepublicdomain.
Theresultsoftheserecta-analysesreflectthediverseindividualstudiesthatshowedarelationshipbetweenacademicperformanceandoccupationalsuccess.Thisrelationshipmayhavestemmedfromunderlyingassociationsbetweenacademicperformanceandintellectual
ability,motivation(Howard,1986),andattitudestowardwork(Palmer,1964).Hunter(1983,1986)supportedthispossibilitybydemonstratingthroughpathanalysisthathigherabilityledtoincreasedjobknowledge,whichinturnledtobetterjobperformance.Thisrelationshipwastrueatalleducationallevels,includingmedicalschoolgraduates,graduate-levelMBAs,collegegraduatesinbothengineeringandliberalarts,technicalschoolgraduates,andhighschoolgraduatesintheUnitedStatesandinothercountries,suchasSweden(Husen,1969).Thecorrelationsbetweengradesandoccupationalsuccesshaverangedfrom.14to.59.However,someresearchhasindicatedthattheserelationshipswereunderestimatedbecausetherangeonthepredictorgradeswasrestricted(Dye&Reck,1989;Elliott&Strenta,1988).Evenwhenlimitationsareconsidered,bothmeta-analysesanddiverseindividualstudiesshowedgradesaspredictorsofoccupationalsuccess.
DoIntelligenceTestsandAptitudeTestsRelatetoJobSuccessorOtherLifeOutcomes?
ThorndikeandHagen's(1959)studywasMcClelland's(1973)centralevidencethataptitudetestsdidnotpredictoccupationalsuccess.TheThorndikeandHagenstudyinvolvedmore
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