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Threats to the Operational Use of Situational Judgment Tests in the College Admission Process
Author(s) -
Cullen Michael J.,
Sackett Paul R.,
Lievens Filip
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international journal of selection and assessment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.812
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1468-2389
pISSN - 0965-075X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2389.2006.00340.x
Subject(s) - situational ethics , coaching , psychology , test (biology) , applied psychology , process (computing) , situation awareness , selection (genetic algorithm) , personnel selection , medical education , social psychology , computer science , medicine , artificial intelligence , statistics , engineering , paleontology , mathematics , psychotherapist , biology , aerospace engineering , operating system
This study examined the coachability of two situational judgment tests, the College Student Questionnaire (CSQ) and the Situational Judgment Inventory (SJI), developed for consideration as selection instruments in the college admission process. Strategies for raising scores on each test were generated, and undergraduates were trained in the use of the strategies using a video‐based training program. Results indicated that the CSQ was susceptible to coaching. In addition, the scoring format of the CSQ was found to be easily exploited, such that trainees could increase their scores by greater than 1 SD simply by avoiding extreme responses on that test. The results as a whole sounded a note of caution for the potential use of the CSQ in the college admission process.