SHORT-TERM-MEMORY TESTS IN PERSONNEL-SELECTION - LOW ADVERSE IMPACT AND HIGH VALIDITY

This study investigated the usefulness of short-term memory tests as a strategy for reducing adverse impact in personnel selection decisions , also achieving high validity in predicting job and training performa nce. Based on an integration of 27,973 individuals from 31 samples, th e average Black-White mean difference in standard deviation units was .42. This is less than half the mean score difference that is typicall y obtained with general cognitive ability tests. A separate analysis o f 141 validity coefficients based on 34,262 individuals indicated that short-term memory tests yielded validities of .41 for job performance (.19 observed) and .49 for training performance (.28 observed). Valid ity was generalizable for all distributions examined.