Critical Analytic Thinking Skills: Do They Predict Job-Related Task Performance Above and Beyond General Intelligence?

Authors

Sara Beth Elson, MITRE CorporationFollow
Robert Hartman, MITRE CorporationFollow
Adam Beatty, Human Resources Research OrganizationFollow
Matthew Trippe, Human Resources Research OrganizationFollow
Kerry Buckley, MITRE CorporationFollow
John Bornmann, MITRE CorporationFollow
Elaine Bochniewicz, MITRE CorporationFollow
Mark Lehner, MITRE CorporationFollow
Liliya Korenovska, MITRE CorporationFollow
Jessica Lee, State DepartmentFollow
Les Servi, MITRE CorporationFollow
Alison Dingwall, MITRE CorporationFollow
Paul E. Lehner, The MITRE CorporationFollow
Maurita Soltis, MITRE CorporationFollow
Mark Brown, MITRE CorporationFollow
Brandon Beltz, Northrop Grumman CorporationFollow
Amber Sprenger, MITRE CorporationFollow

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25035/pad.2018.002

Abstract

Employers and government leaders have called attention to the need for critical thinking skills in the workforce, while business trends toward evidence-based decision making also highlight the increasing importance of the critical thinking skill set. Although studies have examined the relationship of critical thinking to behaviors or job performance, many have missed a key component: incremental predictive validity of critical thinking beyond cognitive ability. The current study defines critical thinking, presents results from a test development effort in which the conceptual definition was operationalized as a measure of critical analytical thinking skills for government analysts, and presents results of a criterion validity study examining whether critical thinking skills predict technical performance generally and incrementally, beyond cognitive ability and other characteristics.

Recommended Citation

Elson, Sara Beth; Hartman, Robert; Beatty, Adam; Trippe, Matthew; Buckley, Kerry; Bornmann, John; Bochniewicz, Elaine; Lehner, Mark; Korenovska, Liliya; Lee, Jessica; Servi, Les; Dingwall, Alison; Lehner, Paul E.; Soltis, Maurita; Brown, Mark; Beltz, Brandon; and Sprenger, Amber (2018) "Critical Analytic Thinking Skills: Do They Predict Job-Related Task Performance Above and Beyond General Intelligence?," Personnel Assessment and Decisions: Number 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/pad.2018.002
Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/pad/vol4/iss1/2

Corresponding Author Information

Amber Sprenger

asprenger@mitre.org

703-983-4717