Browsing by Author "Pederson, Kenneth Robert"
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Item Ego-strength, impulsiveness, and risk taking as personality correlates of volunteering(1975) Pederson, Kenneth Robert; Lester, Jerry W.; Baxter, James C.; Blakeney, Roger N.On the basis of a review of the literature, some tentative relationships between the traits of ego-strength, impulsiveness, and risk taking and the personality traits often associated with "volunteering behavior" were noted. These relationships suggested that the above mentioned personality traits might be predictive of subjects' volunteering for participation in research. or at least factors which should be considered when designating a research project in which volunteer bias is a possible problem. To test these possiblities, 350 students in introductory Psychology were administered the Barron Ego-strength Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the Kopan-Wallach Choice Dilomma Procedure for measuring risk taking. They were also given a series of opportunities to volunteer for participation as subjects in research projects. It was hypothesized that Volunteers would score higher on each of the three personality measures than would Non-Volunteers. When the male and female subjects were considered together, none of the Volunteer/Non-volunteer group differences were significant (p ranging from .10 to .20); however, the existing differences were in the hypothesized direction. Considering the sexes separately, however, did result in significant differences. Males evidenced higher Ego-strength scores than did females with Male Volunteers scoring significantly higher than any other group. In addition, whereas volunteering by males was predicted best by Ego-strength and then by Risk Taking, volunteering by females was best predicted by the measure of Impulsiveness. It is felt that these sex related differences between Volunteers and Non-Volunteers constitute important dimensions of volunteer bias and should be considered in teh design of experiments using volunteer human subjects.Item The reliability of a behaviorally recorded work sample(1977) Pederson, Kenneth Robert; Campion, James E.; Forkner, William R.; MacNaughton, John F.; Willems, Edwin P.; Williams, RoyThis study investigated the test-retest reliability of a behaviorally recorded work sample test. Although previous research has demonstrated the internal consistency and interrater reliability of work sample scores, only limited attention has been paid to test-retest reliability of the subject's performance. Forty-two students enrolled in technical courses where operation of the engine lathe was taught were used as subjects. The subjects were administered a work sample test, a related job knowledge test, and a mechanical aptitude test in a counterbalanced design during a regularly scheduled lab period. These same tests were readministered one week later. The work sample test was developed as part of a machinist training program at a local refinery and employed both checklist recording of process behaviors and evaluation of final product characteristics. The work sample required the use of a lathe to turn round metal stock to a specified diameter and cut threads on a section of that diameter to fit a nut. A modification of the checklist used to record process behavior on the work sample was used as the job knowledge test. The subjects were given a statement of a similar problem and asked to check those behaviors on the checklist which they felt represented the correct procedures to follow. The mechanical aptitude measure was the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test. Significant test-retest reliabilities were found for all tests. The work sample reliability (r = .62) was similar to that of the job knowledge (r = .73) and mechanical aptitude (r = .77) tests. However, significant score improvement in retest work sample performance was observed. It was speculated that this was due to subject inexperience and replication of the study with experienced subjects was recommended. Implications of the observed practice effect for work sample applications were discussed. The three tests were found to be relatively independent. The mechanical aptitude measure was related to work sample performance only within the initial trial; none of the other correlations were significant although they were generally positive. Surprisingly, job knowledge test performance was not clearly related to work sample performance. It appeared that work sampling measured aspects of task performance not evaluated by paper and pencil tests. The implications for use of similar written tests for selection testing were discussed. Both evaluation of process behavior recording and evaluation of final product characteristics were found to exhibit test-retest and interrater reliabilities which compared favorably with those reported by previous research. The relative advantages and disadvantages of using either strategy were discussed and the recommendation made that both be utilized whenever possible. Subscores based on three previously identified critical performance dimensions were found to be reliable (test-retest and some interrater). Two of the dimensions. Use of Tools and Follows Job Procedure, were related to process behavior and the third was the Accuracy and Appearance of the final product. These critical dimensions were viewed as possible building blocks for an improved system for classifying and describing complex job behavior.