African-Americans' Test-Taking Attitudes and Their Effect on Cognitive Ability Test Performance: Implications for Public Personnel Management Selection Practice

Abstract

This review examined recent research literature which has reported that African-Americans' attitudes toward cognitive ability tests affect their subsequent test performance. In particular, the negative attitudes of African-Americans toward cognitive predictor measures have been shown in some cases to reduce their performance on such tests, even though these tests remain valid predictors of job performance. The implications of the above findings for personnel selection practice are discussed.