SIOP Human Resource Management & Talent Development 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which type of validity evidence is gathered when a selection test is administered to current employees and their scores are correlated with existing performance ratings?
- Predictive validity
- Concurrent validity (Correct answer)
- Content validity
- Construct validity
Correct answer: Concurrent validity
Concurrent validity is established by correlating test scores with criterion measures collected at the same time, typically using incumbent employees.
Question 2: In talent analytics, a 'flight risk' model is designed primarily to predict which outcome?
- Employee absenteeism rates
- Voluntary employee turnover (Correct answer)
- Performance decline over time
- Promotion readiness scores
Correct answer: Voluntary employee turnover
Flight risk models use machine learning and historical HR data to identify employees most likely to voluntarily leave the organization.
Question 3: A company implements a 360-degree feedback process for development purposes. What is the MOST critical design consideration to maximize its effectiveness?
- Ensuring anonymity of raters to promote honest feedback (Correct answer)
- Tying feedback results directly to compensation decisions
- Limiting raters to immediate supervisors only
- Conducting reviews annually rather than continuously
Correct answer: Ensuring anonymity of raters to promote honest feedback
Anonymity is critical in 360-degree feedback because it encourages honest, candid responses from peers, subordinates, and supervisors without fear of retaliation.
Question 4: Which legal doctrine holds that an employer can be automatically liable for a supervisor's harassment if the harassment results in a tangible employment action against the victim?
- Respondeat superior
- Vicarious liability (Correct answer)
- Negligent retention
- Constructive discharge
Correct answer: Vicarious liability
Under vicarious liability (as established in Burlington Industries v. Ellerth), employers are automatically liable for supervisory harassment that results in a tangible employment action such as demotion or termination.
Question 5: The 'four-fifths rule' (80% rule) is used by the EEOC to assess evidence of:
- Pay equity between genders
- Adverse impact in selection procedures (Correct answer)
- Reasonable accommodation compliance
- Affirmative action goal attainment
Correct answer: Adverse impact in selection procedures
The four-fifths rule states that adverse impact is indicated when the selection rate for a protected group is less than 80% of the rate for the highest-selecting group.
Question 6: In the context of competency modeling, what distinguishes a 'threshold competency' from a 'differentiating competency'?
- Threshold competencies predict superior performance; differentiating ones predict average performance
- Threshold competencies are needed for minimal job performance; differentiating ones distinguish superior from average performers (Correct answer)
- Threshold competencies are technical skills; differentiating ones are behavioral skills
- Threshold competencies apply to all jobs; differentiating ones are role-specific
Correct answer: Threshold competencies are needed for minimal job performance; differentiating ones distinguish superior from average performers
Threshold competencies are the minimum requirements to perform a job adequately, while differentiating competencies distinguish high performers from average performers.
Question 7: An organization uses a structured behavioral interview for selecting managers. Which response evaluation technique is MOST aligned with I-O psychology best practices?
- Global ratings based on overall interview impression
- Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) for each competency (Correct answer)
- Panel consensus without predetermined scoring rubrics
- Ranking candidates relative to each other after all interviews
Correct answer: Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) for each competency
BARS provide specific behavioral examples for each rating level, reducing subjectivity and improving inter-rater reliability in structured interviews.
SIOP Human Resource Management & Talent Development 2
Which type of validity evidence is gathered when a selection test is administered to current employees and their scores are correlated with existing performance ratings?