Fair and accurate decision-making has long been a goal of
psychological testing. The earliest known uses of psychological tests were
civil service exams, established in China 2000 years ago. These tests helped to
assess individual ability, establishing an arguably fairer way to select
capable employees and de-emphasize rank and personal connections.
Nevertheless, decisions about people are not always made by using
psychological tests. Decisions are often made by using subjective procedures,
such as interviews. Examine the following scenario and consider whether, for
this situation, interviewing or psychological testing might be a more effective
evaluative method.
The warden at a prison
where you work has discovered that parole decisions made by a panel of
interviewers often turn out to be wrong, with released prisoners often
committing crimes and retained prisoners often demonstrating model behavior.
The warden asks the prison psychologist to make a recommendation regarding
whether parole decisions should be made on specific test batteries or
interviews. Assuming that you need to choose one or the other, what would you
recommend as a method for deciding parole—a test battery or the panel
interview?