Research suggests that less adverse impact should result from the use of em
ployment tests assessing memory abilities than is obtained from tests asses
sing cognitive abilities. To test the application of this principle, a Shor
t-Term Memory test and a Reading Comprehension test were administered as pa
rt of a selection battery for entry level police. Subjects were 1423 police
officer applicants for a Midwestern city in the U.S. The results for the o
verall sample showed a smaller standardized difference between the scores o
f Blacks and Whites on the Short-Term Memory test than on the Reading Compr
ehension test, a difference which was further reduced when a subsample of B
lacks and Whites was created which had been matched on gender, years of edu
cation and age.