The stepladder technique: an alternative group structure facilitating effective group decision making

Article Abstract:

A new group problem-solving structure entitled the 'stepladder technique' is introduced. The stepladder technique is intended to allay the problems associated with group decision making by structuring the entry of group members into a core group and by ensuring that each member contributes to the decision-making process. Four-person groups, randomly assigned to either the stepladder group condition (15 groups) or the conventional group condition (15 groups), performed Johnson and Johnson's (1987) winter survival exercise. Stepladder groups produced significantly (p<.05) higher quality decisions than did conventional groups (in which all members entered and worked on the problem at the same time). Furthermore, stepladder groups' decisions surpassed the quality of their best individual members' decisions 56% of the time. In contrast, conventional groups' decisions surpassed the quality of their best members' decisions only 13% of the time. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Methods, Decision-making, Group, Group decision making, Group problem solving

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Predictive validity of an entry-level police officer assessment center

Article Abstract:

Assessment center ratings on 275 police recruits correlated .14 (p<.05) with training academy performance and .20 (p<.05) with on-the-job performance. Lower validity for this assessment center compared with published meta-analytic validities on assessment enters is discussed in the context of several unique study characteristics: the police sample, difficulties in measuring police performance, number of scale points used in the assessment enter, and the relatively small number of exercises used in the center. Using the same sample, a composite of two cognitive ability tests correlated .31 and .17 with training performance and job performance, respectively. Strictly on the basis of the obtained validities, results do not support the use of assessment centers for police selection compared with cognitive ability tests. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Management development programs

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Behaviorally anchored bias: a replication and extension of Murphy and Constans

Article Abstract:

A recent study of Murphy and Constans (1987) found that behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) containing observed but unrepresentative behaviors biased ratings in the direction of those behaviors. This study extends the work of Murphy and Constans by adding a retention interval (immediate rating vs. 1-week delay) as an independent variable. The principal finding of Murphy and Constans, that BARS induced a novel form of rating bias, was replicated. This bias was found in both the immediate and delayed rating conditions. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Behavioral assessment, Test bias

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