The work preferences of four adults with severe handicaps were assessed, and three choice-related situations were presented. The study found that clients attended to work tasks almost twice as much when they chose their tasks and when assigned to work on preferred tasks, versus when assigned to work on nonpreferred tasks. (Author/JDD)

Historically, training for performance appraisal has focused on the same issues as instrument development--the reduction of psychometric errors in ratings. Efforts were centered around teaching people to use rating scales properly. A review of the literature shows these programs met with mixed success. While a meta-analysis of these data are…

The majority of empirical studies on performance appraisal (PA) systems focus on the search for the perfect form in which subjective traits are replaced by objective and job-relevant, measurable behaviors. Organizations using a PA system to evaluate their employees struggle with issues of implementation, adaptation, and linkage with other human…

Questionnaire responses from 65 supervisors in human service agencies and interviews with 27 employers, supervisors, and vocational program administrators indicated that employees with moderate special needs (in this case specific learning disabilities and low intelligence) surpass others in several positive work habits. Supervisors valued…

The United States Employment Service is now able to expand the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) coverage from approximately 400 jobs to all candidates for every job in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (over 12,000 occupations). In addition, employers can now receive more useful feedback on applicants. Instead of reporting whether a…

The structure of this report is as follows: First, specific aptitude theory and general ability theory, the two theories of the relation between ability and job performance, are presented and differentiated. Second, there is a discussion of problems in the current use of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and of problems in the use of…

The Work Performance Assessment (WPA) is a brief work simulation designed to evaluate job maintenance skills, emphasizing work-related social/interpersonal skills rather than specific vocational skills. The WPA uses three work samples involving sorting of food service items to measure 19 common work demands in four categories: responding to…

Age grading, the differentiation of social groups by members' age judgments, is widely regarded to be a universal aspect of social life. Most studies have examined age structurally (demographically), rather than normatively (modally). This study presents survey data measuring employees' age judgments of managerial careers collected from an…

The performance of two adults, one with moderate and one with severe mental retardation, in a community employment site was compared. Results indicated that both participants learned to perform the target tasks equally well though the individual with severe mental retardation required substantially more training. (DB)

This represents one of a series of studies of the Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographics Study (LEADS) being undertaken by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This secondary analysis of the LEADS database, which provides a…

Past researchers have claimed that it is possible to over-involve individuals in decision-making and that this saturation may result in a decrease in job satisfaction. This paper presents a synthesis of three studies that covered the kindergarten through 12-th grade spectrum and tested the curvilinear relationship between teacher involvement in…

Since 1980, Loevinger's Sentence Completion Test has been used to explore the relationship between ego development and managerial effectiveness in the context of Boston College's Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. According to the theory of ego development developed by Loevinger and others, most adults either inhabit one of four…

This preliminary report describes a project designed to formulate a competency model for research library managers as suggested input for job descriptions, recruitment and interviewing techniques, training, and curriculum review in the graduate professional programs. The objectives of the project are to identify the requisite managerial…

Describes a training program based on research in the private sector, which was developed to improve the performance and job satisfaction of the library's public contact personnel. Suggestions are offered for future research and applications based on trainee and patron evaluations. (Author/CLB)

Ninety-four persons employed in direct care positions in a community-based agency that serves adults with mental retardation completed self-report questionnaires assessing relationships between social support and the adaptive outcomes of mood, perceived competence, and self-efficacy. Findings indicated that: (1) negative mood was negatively…