Tools and Methods of Psychology in the Workplace - Essay Example

As  we  attempt  to  develop  screening  and  selection  batteries  for  the  future  , not  only  must  they  be  valid  and  reliable  but  they  must  also  fall  within  current  legal  guidelines, which  is  an  arduous task  . This learner feels that psychological practitioners in order to contribute must be well informed about many legal guidelines; because these laws are work-related laws that psychological practitioners or psychologist must abide by now and beyond the future.

This  learner  feels  that  psychological  practitioners  can  contribute  by  helping  to  create  and  implement  selection  procedures  that  are  predictive,  practical, cost  effective, and  legally  defensible. In addition those  practitioners  can  also  contribute  by  searching  for  valid  and  unbiased  assessment  methods  , because  those  methods  has  become  a  crucial  issue  in  personnel  selection  ( Schmidt, 1993). . Structural interviews, which measure a variety of skills and abilities, particularly non-cognitive skills, 3.

Work samples which measure job skills such as planning and organizing  . , and 4. Assessment centers measure knowledge , skills , and abilities through a series of work samples  / exercises that reflect job content and types of problems faced on the job , cognitive ability tests , personality inventories , and or  job knowledge  tests  . This learner feels that the most important fact is the validity and reliability of the tool and the impact that it will have on applicants. According to Schmidt and Hunter, combining a general mental ability measure with a structural interview or with a work sample is likely to yield the highest composite validity .

(Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Compare     and  Contrast  a skill , competencies , or tool  and its  implementation  by  either  a human  resource  manager  or  a  psychological  practitioner  . This  learner  would  choose  the  " Cognitive  Ability  Test " , which is a tool that is used  by  psychological  practitioners because  it  measures  mental  abilities  such as  logic  , reading  comprehension  , verbal or  mathematical  reasoning  and  perceptual  abilities  .

Cognitive ability test is implemented by paper and pencil or computer based instruments. This   tool  carries  a  very  high  validity  rate  when  compared  to  " Conscientiousness  tool  " , which  measures  the  personality  trait  and  is  implemented  by  typically  with  multiple  -choice  or  true  / false  formats  . This learner , would  use  the help  of a competency  model  that many skills that most applicants should have when