Psychology Ph.D. Dissertations

Frequency and Anchoring Effects on Lay Impressions of Comparison Validity Estimates

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology/Industrial-Organizational

First Advisor

Scott Highhouse (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Meagan Docherty (Committee Member)

Third Advisor

Margaret Brooks (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

James Foust (Committee Member)

Abstract

Validity information (effect sizes) for selection tests can be difficult for people to understand without some additional context. Previous research has investigated how using visual representations of effect sizes can help lay people understand the magnitude of the effect. The purpose of this study is to build upon the findings of previous research to investigate how cognitive heuristics (i.e., Anchoring and Adjustment and Range-Frequency Theory) may influence how people interpret visual presentation of validity coefficients. This study used a fully crossed 3 Comparison Effect Size Content (medical vs. nonsense vs selection) X 2 Presentation (sequential vs. simultaneous) X 2 Frequency Below (4 vs. 1) model. Despite expectations, findings from this study suggest that having a high frequency of comparison effect sizes below the focal effect size results in less positive impressions of a focal effect size, perhaps due to the cognitive load of interpreting multiple effect sizes. In addition, presenting the comparison effect sizes simultaneously resulted in higher estimates of the effectiveness of a hiring test. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that practitioners hoping to present statistical information to a lay audience use caution and consider how best to present the information to ensure it is interpreted correctly. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

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