The Predictive Validity of Verbal and Numerical Subtests of the Personnel Tests for Industry (PTI) in a Sample of Highly Skilled Employees

Abstract

This study sought to moderate the overall validity coefficients (.24 and .23 respectively, p > .05) of the verbal and numerical subtests of the Personnel Tests for Industry (PTI) for 59 top level employees by testing the proposition that high ability workers should be more predictable when job motivation is also defined as high. Support for the proposition was provided when relative to the criterion of job success, the predictive validity of the verbal subtest increased to .64 (p < .001), whereas the predictive validity of the numerical subtest reached .42 (p < .05) when only those subsamples of individuals in the high ability ranges (above the medians) were considered. A rationale for the interactive relationship between test scores and performance ratings was discussed.

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