General and specific cognitive and psychomotor abilities in personnel selection: The prediction of training and job performance

Use of ability tests in personnel selection is addressed beginning with met hodological issues. Studies are reviewed that show that almost all the vali dity of cognitive tests comes from general cognitive ability, g. Psychomoto r ability is reviewed and found to have both higher- and lower-order factor s, contrary to long-held beliefs. It was found that the higher-order genera l psychomotor factor was one source of validity of psychomotor tests. Addit ionally, psychomotor tests were shown to contain measures of g and to incre ment the validity of g-based measures very little.