1. Military Psychology Gerhard Ohrband – ULIM University, Moldova 7 th lecture Selection and classification

2. Course structure 1. Introduction: Historical Overview, main applications 2. Environmental Stressors 3. Leadership 4. Team Effectiveness 5. Individual and Group Behaviour 6. Clinical Psychology 7. Selection and Classification 8. Training 9. Human Factor Engineering 10. Psychotherapy and Counseling 11. Terrorism 12. Trauma Therapy 13. Psychological Warfare 14. Ethical Issues for a Psychologist in the Armed Forces 15. Review: Preparation for the exams

3. Outline: 1. Perspectives on Selection 2. The Recruitment and Selection Process 3. Selection Methods and Techniques 4. The Candidate’s Perspective in Selection

4. 1. Perspectives on Selection The predictivist perspective: Person-job fit: finding the most suitable candidate Steps: 1 Job analysis 2 Person specification 3 Selection criteria 4 Recruitment 5 Selection

5. The constructivist perspective Candidates make decisions as well! Not only person-job fit but also 1person-organization fit: the fit between the applicant’s values and organizational culture 2person-team fit: the fit between the applicant’s skills and attitudes and the climate of the immediate working group Several encounters between the individual and the organization Socialization impact of selection (Anderson and Ostroff)

6. Key elements of the predictivist and constructivist perspectives Predictivist perspectiveConstructivist perspective Primary focusOrganizational decision-making between numerous candidates Person-job fit Organizational and candidate decision-making Construction of a viable psychological contract Person-team and person-organization fit Selection methodsAs “predictors” of future job performance As information elicitation techniques applied to applicants As representative samples of behaviour As social episodes As opportunities for information exchange As “socialization impact” upon applicants Selection decisionUnilateral, made by the organization upon candidates Primarily as (numeric) predictors of subsequent job performance Socially negotiated, each party deciding whether to continue the relationship further The “tip of the iceberg” concealing complex social and psychological processes “under the surface”

8. 2. The Recruitment and Selection Process Contingency tables: Valid positives Valid negatives False positives False negatives Correlation coefficients Criterion-related validity Meta-analysis and validity generalizations The criterion problem, criterion contamination

10. Types of validity and reliability Predictive validity Concurrent validity Construct validity Content validity Face validity Parallel reliability Test-retest reliability Split-half reliability

12. 3. Selection Methods and Techniques Application forms Curriculae vitae Biodata Realistic job previews (RJP) Interviews Cognitive ability tests Personality tests Integrity and honesty tests Work samples Assessment centres (AC s) References Self-assessment (SA) Alternative methods: graphology and astrology

13. Predictive accuracy Assessment centres promotion (0.68) Work samples (0.54) Ability tests (0.54) Structured interviews (0.44) Integrity tests (0.41) Assessment centres performance (0.41) Personality tests (0.38) Biodata (0.37) Unstructured interviews (0.33) Self-assessment (0.15) Reference (0.13) Astrology (0.0) Graphology (0.0)

14. Popularity Interviews (97%) References (96%) Application forms (93%) Ability tests (91%) Personality tests (80%) Assessment centres (59%) Biodata (19%) Graphology (2.6%) Astrology (0.0%)

15. 4. The Candidate’s Perspective in Selection Two-sided decision-making process Social issues Organizational justice theory (Gilliland): 1procedural justice: fairness in the selection process 2distributive justice: fairness of the hiring decision Important issues to increase perceived justice: - job-relatedness and consistency of selection methods - opportunity to perform - honesty in communication with the candidate - interpersonal effectiveness of the recruiter - two-way communication - propriety of questions

16. Selection justice Candidate’s reactions to selection justice can have an impact on (Gilliland, 1993): 1applicant’s reactions and decisions during hiring. E.g.: the extent to which the candidate will recommend the organization to others; the decision on whether to pursue discrimination cases 2attitude’s attitudes and behaviours after hiring. E.g.: organizational commitment, intention to leave and work performance 3applicant’s self-perceptions. E.g.: self-esteem and self- efficacy

17. Literature Personnel Psychology (1990) 43 (2), Special issue. Project A, The US Army Selection and Classification Project. Borman, W., Hanson, M. and Hedge, J. (1997). Personnel selection. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 299-337. Gilliland, S.W. (1993). The perceived fairness of selection systems: an organizational justice perspective. Academy of Management Review, 18, 696-734. Gilliland, S.W. (1994). Effects of procedural and distributive justice on reactions to a selection system. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 691-701.

18. 5. Intelligence Testing in the Armed Forces The "Intelligence Testing Movement" began with the publication of the Binet-Simon Scale, which was revised by Lewis M. Terman in 1916 and renamed the Stanford-Binet Revision. This test was administered to over 1,700,000 soldiers in the United States Army during World War I. The results were published in 1921 by Robert M. Yerkes and became known as the Army Report.Robert M. Yerkes Army Alpha and Army Beta tests were developed by Army psychologists who were working under considerable time pressures to evaluated vast numbers of military recruits. Army Alpha test was for literates and Army Beta test was for illiterates, designed to "measure native intellectual capacity."

19. First Company of Commissioned Psychologists - School for Military Psychology, Camp Greenleaf

20. Mental deficiency There is no group in the Army that has the exclusive privilege of recognizing mentally dull individuals. The classification officer, the unit commander, and the surgeon all may encounter an individual who is so stupid as to make himself more of a burden than an asset to the Army. Whenever such an individual is found, it is the duty of the officer to make arrangements to have him tested by a psychologist to determine whether his mental ability is truly as poor as it appears. Again, caution must be exercised to make certain that illiterate individuals are not given verbal tests but are given performance tests. A certificate from the psychologist stating that the man's mental age is below ten or that his I.Q. is below 70, together with a letter requesting the unit commander to initiate action, can usually get these men discharged by Section VIII with little delay." (Manual of Military Neuropsychiatry, 1944)

21. Navy Recruit Screening Cards - 1919 These Screening Cards were developed largely in response to a cable from General Pershing sent on July 15, 1918, several months after the American Expiditionary Force arrived in France. The cable read as follows: "Prevalence of mental disorders in replacement troops recently received suggest urgent importance of intensive efforts in eliminating mentally unfit from organisation's new draft prior to departure from the United States. Psychiatric forces and accommodations here inadequate to handle a grater proportion of mental cases than heretofore arriving, and if less time is taken to organise and train new division, elimination work should be speeded."

25. Literature Personnel Psychology (1990) 43 (2), Special issue. Project A, The US Army Selection and Classification Project. Borman, W., Hanson, M. and Hedge, J. (1997). Personnel selection. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 299-337. Gilliland, S.W. (1993). The perceived fairness of selection systems: an organizational justice perspective. Academy of Management Review, 18, 696-734. Gilliland, S.W. (1994). Effects of procedural and distributive justice on reactions to a selection system. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 691-701.

26. Internet resources http://www.historyofmilitarypsychology.com/in telligence.htm http://www.historyofmilitarypsychology.com/in telligence.htm