INFLUENCE OF MEDICAL-SCHOOL APPLICANTS DEMOGRAPHIC AND COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS ON INTERVIEWERS RATINGS OF NONCOGNITIVE TRAITS

Background. Interviews are commonly used to measure noncognitive trait s of medical school applicants. The present study investigated the inf luence of knowledge of applicants' cognitive abilities on interviewers ' ratings of noncognitive traits. Method. Academic and demographic pre dictors of interview ratings of applicants' noncognitive traits were e xamined at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicin e during two years: 1992, when applicants' Medical College Admission T est (MCAT) total scores and undergraduate grade-point averages (GPAs) were available to interviewers; and 1993, when MCAT and GPA data were not available. In 1992, 226 applicants met study criteria (i.e., they received ratings from three interviewers in addition to having MCAT an d GPA data on file); in 1993, 245 applicants met the criteria. Stepwis e regression analyses were conducted to measure the influences of seve n independent variables on applicants' interview ratings. Two-way anal yses of variances and t-tests were used to determine the effects of ge nder of applicants and interviewers. Cronbach's alpha coefficients wer e used as measures of interviewers' reliability. Results. GPA was the best predictor for both years but accounted for double the amount of v ariance in interview ratings in 1992 (15.7%) compared with 1993 (7.4%) . The reliability coefficients for the interviewers were .496 for 1992 and .473 for 1993. Conclusion. If the goal of the medical school admi ssion interview is to assess noncognitive traits independently from ac ademic skills, the authors recommend that MCAT and GPA data not be ava ilable to interviewers during interviews. The authors also found that gender and race influenced interview ratings in accordance with affirm ative-action goals. Finally, the authors found that interview scores w ere only moderately reliable across different interviewers. They discu ss ways to increase their reliability.