Personnel Assessment Form

Douglas N. Jackson, Ph.D. © 2004

The Personnel Assessment Form (PAF) is an efficient, accurate measure of general cognitive ability designed for easy administration and interpretation. The PAF identifies candidates’ that will learn more quickly, are more communicative and promotable, and less prone to turnover. A large body of research indicates that cognitive ability is the single greatest predictor of success for virtually every job.

Applications

• A pre-hire assessment for selection and placement.
• An aid in formulating career and educational plans.
• Research into intellectual processes and their relationship to other constructs, such as job performance, and learning.

Description

A Strong Predictor of Job Performance

Literally thousands of studies provide evidence that tests of general mental ability are the greatest predictors of success in virtually every job. In fact, studies indicate that there is no predictor of job performance that is comparable in validity to measures of general mental ability. Better than interviews, references, or educational background.

Distinguished Pedigree and Expert Development

The PAF is based on and follows the rigorous developmental procedures of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery-II (MAB-II). The MAB-II is a world-class mental ability assessment that has been used to select NASA astronauts.

Different Forms for Different Needs

The PAF is available in two forms. Form A contains more difficult items and is more accurate at a high range than Form C. Form A is appropriate for positions that require a college or university degree, such as managerial positions. In contrast, Form C is more accurate at the lower range of scores. Form C is appropriate for jobs that do not necessarily require college or university education, such as blue-collar jobs.

PAF Subtests

The PAF report provides scores for Verbal and Quantitative subtests, and an Overall Score for general mental ability.

Verbal Subtest: Includes 36 multiple-choice items that assess accumulated knowledge of diverse topics, words, and verbal concepts, as well recognizing similarities among the properties of different objects and concepts.

Quantitative Subtest: Includes 21 numerical problems with multiple-choice response options measuring reasoning and problem solving abilities.

Reliability

The coefficient alphas for the verbal and numerical PAF subscales were 0.89 and 0.87, respectively.

Validity

The PAF has also shown good convergent validity with the MAB-II and another established measure of cognitive ability (r = .82 and r = .80, respectively). Moreover, research has found that individuals scoring high on the PAF tend to be rated by supervisors as having greater promotability. The verbal dimension of the PAF was found to predict higher ratings on written and verbal communications, in addition to higher ratings on managing and training employees.

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