8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
1/13
Reconsideration o f Testing for C om pe tenc e
Rather Than for Intell igence
Gerald V. Barrett and Robert L. Depinet
T h e U n i v e rs i ty o f A k r o n
D a v i d C . M c C l e l la n d ' s 1 9 7 3 a r t i cl e h a s d e e p l y i n f l u e n c e d
b o t h p r o f e s s io n a l a n d p u b l i c o p i n io n . I n i t, h e p r e s e n t e d
f i v e m ajor t hemes. (a ) Grad es i n schoo l d id no t pred i c t
occup a t iona l success , (b ) in t e l li gence t e s t s and a p t i t ude
t e s ts d i d n o t p r e d i c t o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c ce s s o r o t h e r i m p o r -
tan t l i f e ou t comes , ( c ) t e s t s and academic pe r formance
o n l y p r e d i c te d j o b p e r f o r m a n c e b e c a u s e o f a n u n d e r l y i n g
re la t i onsh ip w i th soc ia l s t a tus , (d ) such t e s t s were un fa i r
to minor i t i e s, and (e ) com pe tenc i e s wou ld be be t t e r ab l e
t o p r e d i c t i m p o r t a n t b e h a v i o r s t h a n w o u l d m o r e t r a d i -
t i ona l t e st s. Des p i t e t he pe rvas i ve i n f l uence o f t he se as -
se r t ions , t h i s rev i ew o f t he l i te ra ture show ed on l y l im i t ed
s u p p o r t f o r t h e s e c l a im s .
In 1973, David C. McClelland's lead article in the
A m e r -
i can Psycho log i s t
profoundly affected both the field of
psychology and popular opinion. This article was designed
to review skeptically the main lines of evidence for the
validity of intelligence and aptitude tests and to draw some
inferences from this review as to new lines that testing
might take in the future (p. 1). The main themes he
endorsed and continues to promote (e.g., Klemp &
McClelland, 1986) have been published widely in news-
papers, magazines, and popular books as well as psy-
chology textbooks. Bel ief n these views, however, has be-
come so widespread that often they are presented as com-
mon knowledge (e.g., Feldman, 1990).
Table 1 reviews a number of works that cited
McClelland (1973) and shows that the impact of Mc-
Clelland's article has increased over time. Soon after the
article was published, McClelland's views were integrated
into int roductory psychology textbooks. By the late 1980s,
these themes had become part of generally accepted public
opinion, with newspaper and magazine writers commonly
citing McClelland as an au thor ity on intelligence testing.
It was McClelland's (1973) belief that intelligence
testing should be replaced by competency-based testing.
His argument against intelligence testing rested on the
assertion that intelligence tests and aptitude tests have
not been shown to be related to important life outcomes
because psychologists were unable and unwilling to test
this relationship. McClelland argued that intelligence tests
have been correlated with each other and with grades in
school but not with other life outcomes.
McClelland (1973) stated that intellectual ability
scores and academic performance were the result o f social
status, and he labeled them a sort of game. He asserted
that a test must resemble job performance or other criteria
to be related to the performance on the criteria. He also
claimed tha t intelligence and aptitude testing were unfair
to minorities . He advocated that the profession should
focus on what he termed
compe tency t e s t i ng
and criterion
sampling, maintaining that intelligence testing and ap-
titude testing should be discarded.
The main points of McClelland's (1973) article can
be summarized in the following five themes: (a) Grades
in school did not predict occupat ional success, (b) intel-
ligence tests and aptitude tests did not predict occupa-
tional success or other impor tant life outcomes, (c) tests
and academic performance only predicted job perfor-
mance as a result of an underlying relationship to social
status, (d) tradit ional tests were unfai r to minorities, and
(e) competencies would more successfully predict im-
portant behaviors than would more traditional tests.
In the present article, these themes are examined
through a comprehensive review of relevant literature.
Although McClelland's (1973) article contained many
subthemes, only those themes we believe to be the main
issues are addressed here. This does not imply, however,
that we agree with any aspects of McClelland's article
that are not addressed here.
o Grades P redict Occupational Success
McClelland (1973) claimed that the games people are
required to play on aptitude tests are similar to the games
teachers require in the classroom (p. 1). As evidence,
McClelland presented four citations that he interpreted
as suppor t for his position, while ignoring disconfirming
evidence. He also included his personal experiences at
Wesleyan University as evidence, maintaining that A
students could not be distinguished from barely passing
students in later occupational success. This finding differs
greatly from that found in a similar, more scientific com-
parison done by Nicholson (1915) at the same school.
Nicholson found that academical ly exceptional students
were much more likely to achieve distinction in later
life. The results of Nicholson's study are summarized in
Table 2.
Cor re sponde nc e c onc e rn ing th i s a r t i c le should be a ddre s se d to G e ra ld
V. Ba r re tt De pa r tm e nt o f Psychology The Unive r s i ty of Akron Buc hte l
College of Arts and Sciences Akron O H 44325-4301.
1012
October 1991 ° American Psychologist
Copyright 1991 by the American P sychological Association, Inc. 0003-066X/91/ 2.00
Vol. 46, No. 10, 1012-1024
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
2/13
T a b l e
S uppo r t f o r Mc C l e l l and s (1973 ) C onc ep t s i n N ew s pape rs , Magaz i nes , P opu l a r B ook s , and Tex tbook s
Publication Author(s) Statement
N e w s p a p e r s
New York Times
New York Times
Plain Dealer
M a g a z i n e s
Atlantic Monthly
Psychology Today
Psychology Today
Popu la r books
More Like Us
Whiz Kids
Psycho logy t ex t s
Psychology: An Introduction
Introduction to Psychology
Psychology: Being Human
Psychology
Understanding Human Behavior
Elements of Psychology
Essentials of Psychology
Psychology: An Introduction
Introductory Psychology
Goleman (1988)
Goleman (1984)
Drex ler (1981)
Fa l lows (1985)
Goleman (1981)
Koen ig (1974 )
Fa l lows (1989)
M a ch low i t z ( 1985 )
Morr is (1990)
C oon (1986 )
Rub in McN ei l (1985)
Cr ider , Goetha ls ,
Kavanaugh ,
So lom on (1983 )
McConne l l (1983)
Krech Cru tch f ie ld
(1982)
S i lverman (1979)
M u s s e n
R osenzw e ig (1977 )
D av ids Engen
(1975)
IQ tes ts seve re ly l im i ted as
p red i c to r s o f j ob success
In te l ligence unre la ted to
ca ree r success
Tes ts un re la ted t o
accom p l i shm en ts i n
leadersh ip , a r ts , sc ience,
mus ic , wr i t ing , speech,
and drama; tes ts
d i sc r im ina te by cu l t u re
P rom o te rep lacing ap t i t ude
tes t s w i t h com pe tence
tes t s
Tes ts and g rades a re
unre la ted to career
success
Tes ts and g rades have l ess
va lue than com pe tence
tes t s
Tes ts and g rades a re use less
as pred ic to rs o f
occupa t i ona l success
B r igh t peop le do no t do
bet te r in l i fe
IQ and grades are unre la ted
to occupa t i ona l success
IQ does no t p red i c t im po r tan t
behav io r s o r success
Suggests rep lac ing IQ tes ts
w i th com pe tence tes t s
Tes ts a re un fa i r by race and
soc ioeconom ic s ta tus
Ab i l i ty is unre la ted to c areer
s u c c e s s
Tes ts and g rades a re
un re la ted t o l if e ou t com es
Test ing re su l ts in ca tegor ica l
labe ls
Tes t sco res a re un re la ted to
j ob success
Suggests rep lac ing IQ tes ts
w i th com pe tence tes t s
S o m e l i m i t a ti o n s d o e x i s t wh e n g ra d e s a r e u s e d a s
p red ic to rs. G rades vary g rea t ly amo ng d i sc ip lines (Barre t t
Alexander , 1989 ; EUio t t S t ren ta , 1988 ; Schoe nfe ld t
Brush , 1975) as wel l as am ong co l leges (Barre t t Al -
exander, 1989; H um phr ey s, 1988; Ne lson, 1975). Bec ause
d i f fe ren t s tuden ts usua l ly t ake d i f fe ren t courses , the re -
l i ab i li ty o f g rades is re la tive ly low un less a c om m on se t
o f courses i s t aken (Bu t le r Mc Cau ley , 1987) . De sp i te
t h e s e s h o rt c o m i n g s , a n u m b e r o f m e t a - a n a ly s e s h a v e
s h o wn t h a t g r a d e s d o h a v e a s m a l l - to -m o d e ra t e c o r r e la -
t i o n w i t h o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c c e s s (C o h e n , 1 9 84 ; Dy e
Reek , 1988 , 1989 ; O 'Leary , 1980 ; Samson , Graue , Wein -
s te in , Walberg , 1984) . De sp i te an over lap am ong the
d a t a u s e d b y t h e s e s t u d i e s a n d v a r i a b il i ty a m o n g r e s u lt s
( r = . 15 to .29 ), they a l l reach ed s im i la r conc lus ions . A
wi d e v a r i e t y o f m e a s u re s o f o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c c e s s s u c h a s
O ctob er 1991 • Am erica n Psycho log is t 1013
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
3/13
T a b l e 2
Success of Wesleyan raduates
Classes/academic standing
Percentage
w o
achieved
distinction in
later l i fe
1 8 3 1 1 9 5 9
V a l e d i c to r i a n s a n d s a l u t a to r i a n s 4 9
P h i B e t a K a p p a 3 1
N o s c h o l a r l y d i s t in c t i o n 6
1 8 6 0 1 8 8 9
H i g h e s t h o n o r s 4 7
P h i B e t a K a p p a 3 1
N o sch o l ar l y d i s t in c t i o n 10
1 8 9 0 1 8 9 9
H i g h e s t h o n o r s 6 0
P h i B e t a K a p p a 3 0
N o sch o l ar l y d i s t in c t i o n 11
Note. Ada pted from Suc ces s in col lege and in later l i fe by F. W. Nicholson,
1915, School an d Society 12, p. 229-232. In the publ ic domain.
sa la ry, p ro m ot ion ra te , and supe rv i so ry ra t ings have been
pos i t ive ly re la ted to g rade po in t average .
The resu l t s o f these rec ta -ana lyses re f lec t the d iverse
ind iv idua l s tud ies tha t show ed a re la t ionsh ip be tw een ac-
a d e m i c p e r fo rm a n c e a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c c e ss . Th i s r e -
l a t i o n s h i p m a y h a v e s t e m m e d f ro m u n d e r l y i n g a s s o c i a -
t i o n s b e t w e e n a c a d e m i c p e r fo rm a n c e a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l
ab i li ty , mo t iva t ion (How ard , 1986) , and a t t i tudes towa rd
wo rk (Pa lmer , 1964) . H un ter (1983 , 1986) sup por te d th i s
p o s s i b il i ty b y d e m o n s t r a t i n g t h ro u g h p a t h a n a ly s i s th a t
h i g h e r a b i l it y l e d t o i n c r e a s e d j o b k n o w l e d g e , w h i c h i n
t u rn l e d t o b e t t e r j o b p e r fo rm a n c e . T h i s r e l a t io n s h i p w a s
t rue a t a l l educa t iona l l eve l s , inc lud ing med ica l schoo l
g raduates , g raduate- leve l MBAs, co l lege g raduates in bo th
eng ineer ing and l ibera l a r t s , t echn ica l schoo l g raduates ,
a n d h i g h s c h o o l g r a d u a t e s i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d i n
o the r coun t r ies , such as Swede n (Husen , 1969) . The co r-
r e l a ti o n s b e t w e e n g r a d e s a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c c e ss h av e
ranged f ro m .14 to .59 . However , som e research has in -
d i c a t e d t h a t t h e s e r e l a t io n s h i p s w e re u n d e re s t i m a t e d b e -
c a u s e t h e r a n g e o n t h e p r e d i c t o r g r a d e s w a s r e s t r i c t e d
(Dy e & Reck , 1989; El l io t t & St ren ta , 1988) . Even when
l imi ta t ions a re cons idered , bo th meta-ana lyses and d iverse
ind iv idua l s tud ies showed g rades as p red ic to rs o f occu-
p a t i o n a l success
o Intelligence ests
a n d p t i t u d e
Tests
R e l at e t o J o b S u c c e s s o r O t h e r L i f e
Ou t c ome s
Th o rn d i k e a n d H a g e n ' s ( 1 9 5 9 ) s tu d y w a s M c C l e l l a n d 's
(1973) cen t ra l ev idence tha t ap t i tud e t es t s d id no t p red ic t
o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c c e s s . Th e Th o rn d i k e a n d H a g e n s t u d y
i n v o l v e d m o re t h a n 1 2 ,0 0 0 c o r r e l a ti o n s b e t w e e n a p t i t u d e
t e s ts a n d v a r i o u s m e a s u re s o f o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c c e s s fo r
m o re t h a n 1 0 ,00 0 i nd i v id u a l s. Th e y c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e
n u m b e r o f s ig n i fi c a nt c o r r e l a ti o n s d i d n o t e x c e e d t h e
n u m b e r t h a t w o u l d b e e x p e c te d b y c h a nc e . F r o m t h e se
r e s u lt s , M e C l e l la n d c o n c l u d e d t h a t i n o t h e r w o rd s , t h e
tes t s we re inva l id (p . 3) .
Th i s c h a ra c t e r i z a t io n o f th e r e s e a r c h b y Th o rn d i k e
a n d H a g e n (1 9 5 9 ) h a s o f t e n b e e n q u o t e d a s p ro o f t h a t
ap t i tude t es t s canno t p red ic t jo b success (Hane y , 1982 ;
Nai rn , 1980) . However , Mc Cle l land (1973) d id no t ad -
d re s s s o m e e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t p o i n ts .
P e rh a p s t h e m o s t b a s i c p o i n t o v e r l o o k e d w a s t h a t
ap t i tud e t es t s d id , in fac t , p red ic t suc cess fo r those p ro fes -
s iona l s fo r wh om they were des igned , namely , p i lo t s and
nav iga to rs. Th e t es t ba t t e ry co ns i s ted o f d ia l and tab le
read ing , speed o f iden t i f i ca tion , two- hand co ord ina t ion ,
complex coord ina t ion , ro ta ry pu rsu i t , f inger dex ter i ty ,
a iming s t res s , d i sc r imina t ion in reac t ion t ime, read ing
c o m p re h e n s i o n , m a t h e m a t i c s , n u m e r i c a l o p e ra t i on s , a n d
mec han ica l p r inc ip les (D ubo is , 1947) . Al l o f these t es ts
were spec i f i ca l ly des igned to p red ic t success in av ion ics ,
a n d t h e c o n t e n t o f t he s e t e s ts w a s d i r e c tl y r e l a te d t o t h a t
f ie ld . The mec han ica l p r inc ip les t es t , fo r exam ple , asked
t h e d i r e c t io n o f t h e w i n d a s s h o w n b y a w i n d s o c k .
Th e v a l i di t y o f t h e t e s t b a t t e ry w a s d e m o n s t r a t e d
d u r i n g W o r l d W a r I I (D u b o i s , 1 94 7 ) w h e n a n u n s c re e n e d
g ro u p w a s u s e d a s p a r t o f t h e v a l id a t i on p ro c e ss . O f th o s e
wh o fa i l ed the t es t ba t t e ry , on ly 8 .6% subse quen t ly g rad -
u a t e d f ro m t r a i n in g (4 5 o f 5 20 ) , a n d n o o n e i n t h e l o w e s t
s tanine ( 150 subjects) gradu ated. Conversely , 85% of those
in the upper s t an ines g raduated (Dubo is , 1947) .
M e C l e l l an d (1 9 7 3 )w a s c o n c e rn e d t h a t c u l t u ra l b i a s
was p resen t in ap t i tu de t es t s . The a v ion ics ba t t e ry s tud ie d
b y Th o rn d i k e a n d H a g e n (1 9 5 9 ) w a s u s e d t o p r e d i c t t h e
s u c c e s s o f p il o t s d u r in g W o r l d W a r I I (D u b o i s , 1 94 7) a n d
i n c l u d e d W e s t P o i n t c a d e ts , C h i n e s e p e o p l e , w o m e n , a n d
B l a c k s a s s ub j e c ts . Th e b a t t e ry w a s fo u n d v a l id fo r a ll o f
these g roups . T h is ag rees wi th l a te r f ind ings tha t , in gen-
era l , ap t i tude t es t s a re va l id fo r a ll g roups (Bo ehm , 1972;
H u n t e r , S e h m i d t , & H u n t e r , 1 9 7 9 ; H u n t e r , S c h m i d t , &
Rauschenberger , 1984) .
Th o rn d i k e a n d H a g e n (1 9 5 9 ) s u rv e y e d a s a m p l e o f
i n d i vi d u a l s w h o h a d t a k e n t h e p i l o t a n d n a v i g a to r s t e s t
ba t t e ry in 1943 . The responden ts , wh o ranged in age f rom
1 8 t o 2 6 y e a r s a t t h e t i m e o f te s ti n g , w e re a s k e d t o s u p p l y
se l f - repor t da ta in seven a reas , inc lud ing m on th ly in com e
in 1955 . Val id ity coeff ic ien t s were then com pute d be tw een
resu l t s on the av ion ics t es t ba t t e ry and se l f - repor ted in -
c o m e .
Th i s v a l i d a t i o n p ro c e d u re c o n t a i n e d o b v i o u s f la w s.
Th e e i g h t-y e a r a ge r a n g e a m o n g s u b j e c t s i n f l u e n c e d t h e
j o b e x p e r ie n c e o f t h e r e s p o n d e n ts . S o m e r e s p o n d en t s w e re
wel l es tab l i shed in the i r careers . O thers w ere on ly beg in -
n i ng . D i f f e r e nc e s i n j o b e x p e r i e n c e w o u l d t r a n s la t e i n t o
wide sa la ry d if fe rences , even wi th in the sa me oc cupat ion ,
c o n t a m i n a t i n g t h e c r i t e r i o n m e a s u re .
Th e r e s p o n d e n t s w e re i n d i v e r s e o c c u p a t i o n s a n d
w e re d i s p e r s e d g e o g ra p h i c a l l y t h ro u g h o u t t h e U n i t e d
S t a te s . Ev e n i f t h e a v i o n i c s t e s t h a d b e e n a p p ro p r i a t e f o r
p re d i c t in g t h e s u c c e s s o f b o t h a n En g l is h a c a d e m i c a n d
a p h y s i c i a n a n d e v e n i f t h e y w e re t h e s a m e a g e s a t t h e
t ime the sa la ry da ta were co l lec ted , the d i f fe rences in
1 0 1 4 O c t o b e r 1 9 91 • A m e r i c a n P s y c h o lo g i st
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
4/13
m ean o ccu p a t i o n a l s a l a r y w o u l d o b s cu r e an y p o t en t i a l
r e la t ionsh ip .
W h i l e M cC l e l l an d ( 1 9 7 3 ) w as c l a i m i n g t h a t t h e
av ion ics ba t te ry was inval id fo r p red ic t ing occupat ional
success , o ther r esearcher s us ing the same da ta se t as
T h o r n d i k e an d H ag en ( 1 9 5 9 ) re f i n ed t h e p r o ced u r e an d
ob ta in ed add i t ional c r i t e r ion da ta in 1969 (Beaton , 1975 ;
Ha use , 1972 , 1975 ; Tan bm an & Wales , 1973 , 1974).
These r esearcher s de termined tha t the numer ica l ap t i tude
fac to r , der ived by f ac to r ana lys i s , was pos i t ive ly r e la ted
to la te r income. These s tud ies a l so showed tha t th i s r e -
la t ionsh ip increa sed over t ime as the fo rm er av ia to r s and
n av i g a to r s m a t u r ed i n t h e i r r e s p ec t i ve o ccu p a t i o n . W h en
t h e d a t a w e r e b r o k en d o w n b y o ccu p a t i o n , t h o s e r e s p o n -
d en t s s co r i n g i n t h e t o p o n e t en t h i n n u m er i ca l ab i l i t y
ea r n ed 3 0% m o r e t h an t h o s e s co ri n g i n t h e b o t t o m f o u r
t en t h s . W h en ab i l i t y w as h e l d co n s t an t , ed u ca t i o n w as
no t a s ign i f ican t f ac to r in r e la t ion to earn ings (Taubman
& Wales, 1974) .
T au b m an an d W a l e s ( 1 9 7 4 ) f o u n d t h a t t h o s e w i t h
scores in the top ab i l i ty l eve l w i th in each ed ucat ion al ca t -
egory ( f rom h igh schoo l th rough p ro fess ional educat ion)
had cons iderab ly h igher sa lar ies than those a t the lowes t
ab i l i ty level . Fo r ind iv iduals w i th ma s ter ' s degrees , those
s co r i n g i n t h e b o t t o m o n e f i f th av e rag ed an an n u a l s a l a ry
of 14 ,000 , where as those in the top one fi f th averaged
22 ,200 .
C o m p ar ab l e r e s u lt s w e r e o b t a i n ed i n a l o n g it u d i na l
s tudy in Sweden over a 26-year per iod (Husen , 1969) .
M en i n c l u d ed i n t h e g r o u p w i t h t h e h i g h est i n t e ll e c t u a l
ab i l i ty , when tes ted a t age 10 , earned tw ice the income
of those in the lowes t ca tegory , a p rac t ica l and s ign if ican t
d i f fe r en ce i n i n co m e . T h e ev i d en ce p r e s en t ed h e r e l e ad s
to the inev i tab le conclus ion tha t in te l l igence tes t s and
ap t i tude tes t s a r e pos i t ive ly r e la ted to job success .
Recent vidence
M an y r e s ea r ch e r s h av e t e s t ed t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w een
cogn i t ive ab i l i ty and job per fo rma nce us ing meta-analy t ic
t ech n i q u es . D a t a f r o m ap p r o x i m a t e l y 7 5 0 s t u d ie s o n th e
G en e r a l A p t i t u d e T es t B a t t e r y ( G A T B ) s h o w ed t h a t t h e
t e s t v a l id l y p r ed i c t ed j o b p e r f o r m an ce f o r m an y d i f fe r en t
o ccu p a t i o n s ( H a r t i g an & W i g d o r , 1 9 8 9 ) . H u n t e r an d
Hu nter ' s ( 1984 r ec ta- analys i s demons t r a ted tha t in en t ry -
level pos i t ions , cogn i t ive ab i l i ty p red ic ted job per fo r -
mance wi th an average va l id i ty o f .53 . Th is s tudy a l so
s h o w ed an av e rag e co r r e la t i o n o f . 4 5 b e t w een i n t e l l ec t u a l
ab i l it y an d j o b p r o fi c ien cy . O t h e r s t u d i e s u s in g a n u m b er
of d if f eren t measures o f ob p ro f ic iency have found s imi lar
relat ionships to cognit ive abi l i ty (Distefan o & Pryer , 1985;
Hu nter , 1983, 1986; Pea r lman , Schm idt , & Hun ter , 1980;
Schmid t , Hunter , & Cap lan , 1981) .
McCle l land (1973) impl ied tha t superv iso r s ' r a t ings
were b iased . However , r esearch has shown tha t the sex
an d r ace o f e it h e r t h e r a t e r o r r a t ee d o n o t ex e r t i m p o r t an t
in f luence on r a t ings (Pu lakos , Wh i te , Oppler , & Borm an ,
1 9 89 ). M o r e o b j ec t i v e c r i t e ri o n m eas u r e s p r o d u ced ev en
h igher va l id i ty coef f ic ien ts w i th ap t i tude tes t scores . In
Na than and A lexander ' s (1988) meta-analys is , the cr i t e r ia
o f r a t ings , r ank ings , work samples , and p ro duc t ion qu an-
t i t ies a l l resu l ted in h igh tes t va l id i t ies . Pro duc t ion q uan-
t i ty and work sample cr i t e r ia r esu l ted in subs tan t ia l va-
l id i ty coef f ic ien ts , negat ing McCle l land ' s c la im tha t va-
l id i ty coef f ic ien ts were ob ta ined on ly by us ing b iased
superv iso ry r a t ings . In f ac t , Smi ther and Rei l ly (1987)
found tha t the in te l l igence o f the r a ter was r e la ted to the
accu r acy o f j o b p e r f o r m an ce r a ti n gs .
In a s tudy us ing pa th analys i s , Schm id t , Hu nter , and
Outerb r idge (1986) found tha t cogn i t ive ab i l ity co r r e la ted
wi th jo b know ledge ( .46) , work sam ples ( .38), a nd su -
perv iso ry r a t ings ( . 16) . Th ey conc luded tha t cogn i t ive
ab i l i t y l ed t o an i n c r ea s e i n j o b k n o w l ed g e , a p o s i t i o n
a l s o s u p p o r t ed b y G o t t f r ed s o n ( 1 9 8 6 ).
ractical Tasks
To suppor t h i s asser t ion tha t in te l l igence was no t app l i -
cab le to em ploy m ent s i tua tions , McC le l land (1973) s ta ted
tha t in te l l igence as measu red in ap t i tu de and in te l l igence
tes t ing was no t usefu l in p rac t ica l , everyday s i tua t ions .
Schaie (1978) exp lo red th i s theory , descr ib ing the i s sues
tha t m us t be addresse d to a t ta in ex terna l va l id i ty . He sug-
gested that cr i ter ia should include actual real-wor ld tasks.
Wi l l i s and Schaie (1986) tes ted th i s p ropos i t ion on o lde r
adu l t s . Bo th the ind iv iduals t es ted and th e cr i t e r ion tasks
u s ed i n t h e s t ud y , s u ch a s ab i l it y t o co m p r eh en d t h e l ab e l
o n a m ed i c i n e b o t t l e o r t o u n d e r s t an d t h e y e l lo w p ag es
of the te lep hone d i r ec to ry , d i f fer ed subs tan t ia l ly f rom
typ ica l academic tasks . Accord ing to McCle l land ' s v iew ,
a r e la t ionsh ip shou ld no t ex i s t be tween menta l ab i l i t i es ,
such as f lu id and crys ta l l i zed in te l l igence , and per fo r -
ma nce on the e igh t ca tegor ies o f r ea l- li fe t asks used by
Wil l i s and S chaie .
T h i s i d ea w as n o t s u p p o r t ed b y t h e s t u d y r e s u l t s .
An ex t r emely h igh r e la t ionsh ip ex is ted be tween in te l l i -
gence and per fo rmance on r ea l - l i f e t asks . In te l lec tua l
ab i l i ty acc oun ted fo r 80% of the var iance in t ask per fo r -
mance (Wi l l i s & Schaie , 1986) . In a second s tudy , they
again fou nd in te l lec tua l ab i l i ty to be r e la ted to b o th se lf -
p e r ce i v ed p e r f o r m an ce an d t h e r a t i n g s a s s ig n ed b y j u d g es
fo r per fo rm ing a num be r o f p rac t ica l t asks. These r esu l t s
were repl icate d on several sam ples o f older adults (Schaie,
1987).
C o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w een p e r f o r m an ce an d s co r e s o n
in te l l igence and ap t i tude tes t s a r e suppor ted in o ther ,
m o r e u n s t r u c t u r ed an d am b i g u o u s s i t u a t i o n s i n c l u d i n g
b u s i n e s s m an ag em en t ( B r ay & G r an t , 1 9 6 6 ; C am p b e l l ,
Dunnette, Lawler , & Weick, 1970; Siegel & Ghisel l i ,
1971), per fo rm anc e in g roups (Ma nn , 1959) , and success
in sc ience (Pr ice , 1963) . Michel l and Lambourne (1979)
s t u d i ed 1 6 - y ea r -o l d st u d en t s an d f o u n d t h a t t h o s e w i t h
h igher cogn i t ive ab i l i ty were be t te r ab le to answer open-
ended ques t ions . S tuden ts w i th h igher cogn i t ive ab i l i ty
were a l so ab le to su s ta in d i scuss ion longer , ask m ore in -
t e r p re t i v e q u es ti o n s , an d ach i ev e a m o r e co m p l ex u n d e r -
s tand ing o f i s sues . In add i t ion , in te ll igence has bee n
s h o w n t o b e r e l a t ed t o m u s i ca l ab i l i t y ( L y n n & G au l t ,
1986) and crea t iv ity (Crop ley & M as lany , 1969; Drevda h l
& Cat te ll , 1958 ; Hocevar , 1980 ; M acK inno n , 1962 ;
Oc tobe r 1991 • Am er ican Psycho log is t 1015
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
5/13
M c D e rm i d , 1 9 6 5 ; R i c h a rd s , K i n n e y , B e n e t , & M e rz e l ,
1988) . From examin ing these s tud ies , we f ind cogn i t ive
ab i l i ty to be pos i t ive ly re la ted to a var ie ty o f rea l -wor ld
behav io rs .
Summary
A rev iew o f the re levan t l i te ra tu re shows tha t in te l l igence
t e s ts a r e v a l id p r e d i c t o r s o f o b s u c c e s s a n d o t h e r i m p o r -
tan t l i fe ou tcom es . Cogn i t ive ab i l i ty i s the bes t p red ic to r
o f p e r fo rm a n c e i n m o s t e m p l o y m e n t s i t u a ti o n s (A rve y ,
1986; Hun ter , 1986) , and th i s re la t ionsh ip rem ains s tab le
o v e r e x te n d e d p e r i o d s o f t i m e (A u s ti n & H a n i s c h , 1 9 90 ).
Us ing sam ples o f the s ize usua l ly found in personnel w ork ,
Th o rn d i k e (1 9 8 6 ) c o n c l u d e d th a t c o g n it i ve g i s t h e b e s t
p red ic to r o f ob success . I ron ica lly , th i s was the sam e au -
t h o r w h o s e e a r li e r s t u d y w a s p r e s e n t e d i n M c C l e l l a n d 's
(1973) a r t i c le as ev idence tha t ap t i tude t es t s canno t be
u s e d t o p r e d i c t j o b p e r fo rm a n c e .
The ev idence f rom these var ied sc ien t i f i c s tud ies
leads again and again to the same conclusion: Intel l igence
and ap t i tud e t es t s a re pos i t ive ly re la ted to job per fo r -
m a n c e .
Is There an r t i fac tua l Re lat ionship Between
Inte l lec tua l b i l i ty and Job Succe ss Based on
Social Status
A m a j o r p a r t o f M c C l e l la n d ' s ( 1 9 7 3 ) a rg u m e n t a g a i n s t
the use o f in te l ligence o r ap t i tude t es t s was h i s c la im th a t
t h e t e s t s a r e c l e a r l y d i s c r i m i n a t o ry a g a i n s t t h o s e w h o
h a v e n o t b e e n e x p o s e d to t h e c u l t u r e , e n t r a n c e t o w h i c h
is gua rde d b y the tes ts (13. 7). Available scienti f ic evidenc e
h a s r e fu t e d t h i s c o n t e n t i o n ; IQ i s re l a t e d t o o c c u p a t i o n a l
s u c c e ss . H o w e v e r , M c C l e l la n d m a i n t a i n e d t h a t ' the cor-
re la t ion be tween in t e l l igence t e s t scores and job succes s
o f t en may be an ar t i fac t , t he
p ro d u c t o f t h e i r j o i n t a s s o -
c ia t ion wi th c las s s t a tus (p . 3 ) .
D e s p i t e t h e n u m e ro u s w a y s o f d e f in i n g s o c i o e c o -
nomic s ta tus (SES) , we wi l l show tha t occupat iona l sue-
cess i s p r imar i ly a resu l t o f ind iv idua l cogn i t ive ab i l ity
and educa t ion , b o th fac to rs tha t a re re la tive ly independ en t
o f soc ia l o r ig in. W e wi l l a l so show tha t the s t reng th o f the
r e l a ti o n s h i p b e t w e e n IQ a n d j o b s u c c e s s i s n o t s t r o n g ly
re la ted to the soc ia l p res tige o f par t i cu la r careers , regard -
l e ss o f v a r i a ti o n s b e t w e e n o c c u p a t i o n s . W e a g re e w i t h
Go t t f redson (1986) tha t i t i s more usefu l to focus on a reas
such as ind iv idua l ab i l i ty ra ther than i r re levan t SES fac-
t o rs , s u c h a s f a m i l y i n c o m e , o v e r w h i c h i n d i v id u a l s h a v e
no con t ro l .
ef in i t ion of Socioeconomic Status
Mc Cle l land ' s (1973) d ef in i tion o f SES d i f fe rs cons iderab ly
f ro m t h o s e u s e d b y o t h e r r e s e a r c h e r s . To M c C l e l l a n d ,
s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s b e l o n g s t o t h e p o w e r e l i t e - - t h o s e
wh o have c reden t ia l s, pow er , pu l l , oppor tun i t i es , va lues ,
asp i ra t ions , money , and mater ia l advan tages . Some o f
these fac to rs (e .g. , va lues and asp i ra tions ) have be en shown
to be re la ted to l a te r success (Sewell & H auser , 1976) .
Th e y h a v e n o t b e e n d e s c r i b e d a s s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s
by o the r researchers , however , because these fac to rs do
n o t b e l o n g e x cl u s iv e l y t o t h e w e a l t h y (G re e n b e rg & D a -
vidson, 1972).
M c C l e l l a n d (1 9 7 3 ) a l s o d e s c r i b e d S ES i n t e rm s o f
income. Other researchers in the a rea (e .g . , Scar r &
Weinberg , 1978; Sewell & Hauser , 1976) have found in -
c o m e t o h a v e w e a k c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h l a t e r s u c c e ss , w i th
c o r r e l a ti o n s o f o n l y . 17 b e t w e e n t h e a d u l t ' s i n c o m e a n d
the inco me o f h is o r her pare n t s (Sewell & Hauser , 1976) .
Th e s e f i n d in g s a r e c o n s i s te n t w i t h A l w i n a n d Th o rn t o n
(1 9 8 4 ) a n d W i l li a m s (1 9 7 6 ), w h o fo u n d c o r r e l a ti o n s b e -
t w e e n . 12 a n d . 2 5 b e t w e e n f a m i l y i n c o m e a n d t h e i n t el -
l igence o f the ch i ld ren . Al tho ugh var ia t ion ex i s t s in the
c o r r e l a t io n s fo u n d , n o n e o f t h e r e s u lt s s u p p o r t e d M c -
Cle l l and ' s v iew o f s t rong f inanc ia l e f fec ts .
S o m e v a r i ab l e s th a t h a v e b e e n e x a m i n e d a s o p e ra -
t i o n a l m e a s u re s o f S ES i n c l u d e f a m i l y s t r u c t u re , d w e l li n g
c o n d i t io n s , a n d s c h o o l a tt e n d a n c e r e c o rd (G re e n b e rg &
Dav idson , 1972) ; num be r o f s ib lings in the fami ly , reg ion
of res idence , and s ize o f comm uni ty (Pe te rson & Karp lus ,
1 98 1) ; n u m b e r o f p e o p l e p e r r o o m i n t h e h o m e (G re e n -
berg & Dav idson , 1972 ; Herzog , Newcomb, & Cis in ,
1972) ; moth er ' s e duca t iona l l eve l (Herz og e t a l. , 1972 ;
Peterson & Karplus , 1981; Sewell & Hauser, 1976; Wil l-
e rm an , 1979) ; fa ther ' s educa t iona l l eve l (Du ncan , F ea th -
erm an , & Dunc an , 1972; Pe te rso n & Karp lus , 1981 ;
Sewell & Hauser , 1976; Wi l le rm an 1979) ; fa ther ' s occu-
p a t i o n (D u n c a n e t a l . , 1 9 7 2 ; G re e n b e rg & D a v i d s o n ,
1972; Peterson & Karplus , 1981; Sewell & Hauser, 1976;
W i l le rman , 1979) ; fam i ly inco me (Pe terson & Karp lus ,
1981 ; Sewell & Hau ser , 1976) ; and m ed ia n ne ig hbor hood
incom e and ed uca t ion a l l eve l (Scarr, 1981) . Soc ioeco -
n o m i c s t a t u s h a s o f t e n b e e n o p e ra t i o n a l l y d e f i n e d a s a
c o m b i n a t i o n o f th e s e f a c to r s . B e c a u s e S ES h a s b e e n d e -
f ined in so many ways , the spec i f i c var iab les exp lo red
w e re th e o re t ic a l l y m o re i m p o r t a n t a n d p r a c t i c a l th a n t h e
g e n e ra l te rm
soc ioeconomic s ta tus .
E f f ec t s of Socioeconomic t a t u s V a r i a b l e s
M e a s u re s d e s c r i b e d a s S ES, s u c h a s p a r e n t a l e d u c a t i o n ,
have been re la ted to ch i ld ren ' s success (Duncan e t a l . ,
1972; Scarr & Weinberg, 1978; Sewell & Hauser, 1976).
Th e s e f a c t o rs w e re m o s t l i k e l y p ro x i e s fo r e x p l a n a t o ry
fa c t o r s s u c h a s o rd e r li n e s s in t h e h o m e a n d v a l u e p la c e d
o n e d u c a t i o n . S t u d i e s s h o w t h a t p a r e n t a l b a c k g ro u n d
v a r i a b le s m a k e l it tl e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e d i s t r i b u t io n o f
i n d i v id u a l s t o o c c u p a t i o n s , w h e re a s y e a r s o f e d u c a t i o n
a n d c o g n i ti v e a b i l it y m a k e a l a rge c o n t r i b u t i o n (D u n c a n
et a l. , 1972 ; Go t t f redso n & Brow n, 1981) . A wel l -know n
long i tud ina l s tudy (Vail lan t, 1977) found tha t b r oad
m e a s u re s o f S ES b e fo re a n i n d i v i d u a l ' s e n ro l l m e n t i n c o l -
l ege had no re la t ion to o u tco me var iab les 30 years l ater .
How ever , am ong peop le o f equa l ab i l ity , the mo s t s ign if -
i c a n t p r e d i c t o r o f a d u l t o c c u p a t i o n a l a c h i e v e m e n t w a s
the paren t s ' a t t i tude toward schoo l and educ a t ion (Kraus ,
1984).
Th e o p e ra t i o n a l m e a s u re s o f S ES t h a t h a v e b e e n
f o u n d t o b e i m p o r t a n t d e t e r m i n a n ts o f la t er o u t c o m e s
(e .g ., va lues and a t t i tudes ) were fac to rs tha t c ou ld b e in -
1016 Oc tobe r 1991 • Am er ican Psycho log is t
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
6/13
fluenced. Even the poorest of families could develop and
use these factors to benefit their children (Greenberg &
Davidson, 1972). Unfortunately, some families are so
destitute that t heir environment would not even be con-
sidered as humane, and this deprivation would have det-
rimental effects on later accomplishments. For the vast
majority of people in all socioeconomic and racial
subgroups, however, this is not the case (Scarf, 1981).
Education and measured cognitive ability were
shown to be more important to later outcomes than were
such factors as income. However, the effect of SES on
these variables must be examined further.
Test performance
Oakland (1983) found that the
relationship between IQ scores and achievement test per-
formance was the same across SES levels. A factor analysis
of ability measures in different SES groups showed that
factor structure was not contingent on SES (Humphreys
& Taber, 1973). Spaeth (1976) and Valencia, Henderson,
and Rank in (1985) found that the effects of parental SES
on a child's IQ score were mediated by family interaction
and exposure to stimuli provided by parents. In addition,
Spaeth concluded tha t parental influence was a great deal
more important than that of teachers and schools. The
effects of the latter were much less personal and direct.
He concluded that the direct effect of parental SES on
child's IQ was -.03. In related research, SES has not
been found to have a significant effect on the IQ scores
of adult, adopted twins reared apart (Bouchard, Lykken,
McGue, Segal, & Tellegen, 1990).
Simple measures of SES did not adequately capture
the parts of the environment that produced individual
differences, even within families (Mercy & Steelman,
1982; Rowe & Plomin, 1981). Even such simple, specific
variables as amount of time spent on homework and
amount of time spent watching TV on weekdays were
related in the expected direction to performance on ac-
ademic achievement tests (Keith, Reimers, Fehrmann,
Pottehaum, & Aubey, 1986). Ultimately, parents could
help children learn to cope with cognitive complexity, an
effect independent of SES (Spaeth, 1976).
College attendance
Contrary to McClelland's
(1973, p. 3) assertion that entrance into prestigious jobs
was based on social background, entrance into higher
status jobs has instead been shown to be primarily de-
termined by educational attainment (Alexander & Eck-
land, 1975; Bajema, 1968; Gottf redson & Brown, 1981;
Schiefelbein & Farrell, 1984; Sewell & Hauser, 1976).
Therefore, what determines attendance at college is very
important.
M cClelland ( 1973) s tated that an individual's socio-
economic class was the primary factor in determining his
or her ability to attend college. Research has shown the
flaws in this assertion. Although socioeconomic back-
ground is associated with college attendance, other factors
are more important. Alwin and Otto (1977) found that
high school teachers encouraged students to attend college
on the basis of ability rather than socioeconomic status.
Other studies (Baird, 1984; Christensen, Melder, & Weis-
brod, 1975; Hearn, 1984, 1985) have shown that intel-
lectual ability stands out as the most important factor in
determining college attendance.
Educat ional success
Using a multiple regression
model, Sewell and Hauser (1976) showed that SES vari-
ables accounted for 15% of the variance in educational
attainment. When intelligence was added to the model,
the variance accounted for nearly doubled, rising to 28%.
Between 23% and 40% of the variance attr ibuted to SES
variables was mediated by ability.
Baird (1984) found that individuals with higher
scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test were more likely
to have had higher grades and higher class rank in high
school. In direct contrast to McClelland's (1973) assertion
that grades are awarded for demonstrating middle- and
upper-class attitudes, neither grades nor class rank were
related to family income. Higher test scores were also
associated with higher grades in college. Baird also found
that higher test scores were associated with plans for
graduate education; family income was not.
Vari ation With in amily and Socioeconomic Status
Even within an SES class, as determined by income, in-
dividual test scores vary widely. In a sample of Black
ghetto children, Greenberg and Davidson (1972) found
that home environments differentiated between those who
were high and low achievers in school. The differentiating
factors included parents ' concern for education, awareness
of the child as an individual, general social awareness,
use of rational discipline, and the structure and orderliness
of the home. The high achievers also tended to have
slightly more educated parents with slightly better in-
comes. It could be argued that the possession of certain
values led to the better conditions. Herzog et al. (1972)
also studied a sample of ghetto children, again showing
that education and family nteraction were associated with
higher IQ and a tendency to benefit more from a nursery
school intervention program.
A simple conceptual ization of SES effects, in which
such factors as family income or parents education
caused differences in IQ test performance, educational
performance, and occupational success, leaves very im-
portant questions unanswered. If such effects were pri-
mary, outcomes would be identical for all children within
a family, a conclusion definitely not supported by research
evidence.
In a large-scale review of the literature, Duncan et
al. (1972) found a mean correlation of .50 between the
IQs of siblings. Daniels and Plomin (1985) also found
that the correlat ions between siblings for cognitive ability
were only about .40 to .50. Approximately the same dif-
ference existed between the IQ of siblings and the IQ of
all possible child pairs (Willerman, 1979). The average
difference between the IQ scores for a random pair of
individuals was about 17 points, whereas the average dig
ference between siblings was about 13 points (Rowe &
Plomin, 1981). Within-family correlations on cognitive
ability ranged from .86 for identical twins raised together
to . 15 for nonbiological parent-child pairs living together
(Horn, 1983; Plomin, 1988).
October 1991 • American Psychologist 1017
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
7/13
When education and income were correlated with
IQ, diversity within similar environments was again
demonstrated. The correlation of mother's education with
the children's IQ was higher for biological mothers and
the children they have never met (.21) than was the cor-
relation of children's IQ with the education of the adoptive
mother who raised them (. 10; Scarr & Weinberg, 1978).
Scarr and Weinberg also found that the correlation be-
tween family income and IQ was .06 for adopted children
and .22 for biological children. This suggested a limited
influence for environment.
Increased diversity of sibling test scores over time
Another argument against the assumption that individ-
uals are destined to remain in the social class of their
birth was that intelligence test scores o f siblings tended
to become more diverse over time (Bouchard et al., 1990;
McCartney, Harris, & Bernieri, 1990). Although SES
variables tended to be slightly more important in early
childhood (Alwin & Thornton, 1984), by the end o f ad-
olescence, correlations among siblings are lower than in
earlier childhood (Scarr & Weinberg, 1978). These are
more pronounced among adopted siblings. The intelli-
gence scores of adopted siblings grow apart until no in-
tellectual similarity exists between them; IQ correlations
for this group at age 18 were found to be zero (Scarr &
Carter-Saltzman, 1983). Correlations of IQ scores among
biologically related siblings were .35 at age 18. Being
raised with the same family in the same house and at-
tending the same schools had tittle or no influence on IQ
(Bouchard et al., 1990).
Aggregation of data Despite evidence to the con-
trary, the belief hat socioeconomic status is a major factor
in determining educational and occupational outcomes
remains a widely held misperception. What is the source
of these misperceptions? In exploring this issue, White
(1982) found that correlations between SES and academic
achievement typically ranged from. 10 to .80. The higher
correlations were usually found when data were aggre-
gated. When a school or school district was used as the
unit of analysis, correlations averaged .73. The average
correlation dropped to .22 when the individual student
was considered as the unit of analysis. The higher cor-
relations found with aggregated data resulted from the
mathematical properties of the statistical formulas. As
the homogeneity of the unit of analysis decreased, the
resulting correlation increased, leading researchers to
draw inappropriate conclusions on the relationship of in-
terest (Robinson, 1950).
Tes t Sco res an d ob Pr est i ge
McClel land (1973) claimed that tests were socially dis-
criminatory because research has sometimes found higher
validities for more prestigious jobs. He explained these
results by attributing the relationship between cognitive
ability scores and occupational success to an underlying
social status causal agent. Using a selected segment of
Ghiselli's (1966) data, McClelland further claimed that
success in some occupations was more highly correlated
with intelligence because, as McClelland stated,
These two obs differalso in social status, in the language,accent,
clothing, manner, and connections by education and family
necessary for success n the j o b . . , they depend heavilyon the
credentials the man brings o the job---the habits, values, accent,
interests, etc.--that mean he is acceptable to management and
to clients. (p. 3)
As evidence, McClelland cited correlations of - .08 for
proficiency as a canvasser or solicitor and .45 with pro-
ficiency as a stock and bond salesman, results published
in GhiseUi's study.
It is interesting to note, however, tha t one of Ghiselli's
(1966) highest validity coefficients between intellectual
ability and job performance was that o f jani tor (r = .65;
p. 85). Ghiselh's study contains other examples that do
not conform to McClelland's (1973) generalization. Ghi-
selli pointed out that the highest correlation between in-
tellectual abili ty and job proficiency was for salespeople,
a correlation higher than that of executives and admin-
istrators (p. 63). Although more recent evidelace showed
that performance of more complex jobs was, in general,
more highly correlated with performance on ability tests
than that of ess complex jobs (Gutenberg, Arvey, Osburn,
& Jeanneret, 1983; Hunter, Schmidt, & Judiesch, 1990),
variation among validity coefficients seen in the evidence
presented here was not due to job prestige.
Summary
The relationship between IQ and job success is not an
artifact of SES. In fact, as demonstrated in the evidence
cited here, IQ is a fundamental cause of the correlation
between SES and occupational success. McCleUand
(1973) had it backwards. Neither ability test scores, oc-
cupation, or the relationship between the two is dependent
on SES. Typical measures o f SES are not strongly related
to either college attendance or success in school. Sub-
stantial variation between test and school performance
exists even within families and neighborhoods. The re-
lationships between SES and other variables that have
been observed can be attributed at least in part to the
aggregation of data.
A re T es t s U nf a ir t o M i nor i t ie s
According to McClelland (1973), Tests have served as a
very efficient device for screening out black, Spanish.
speaking, and other minor ity applicants to colleges (p.
1). McClelland compared the position of a minor ity stu-
dent with that of young men of the Middle Ages who
were required to know Latin to gain access to learned
professions, stating that many a ghetto resident must or
should feel that he is in a similar position with regard to
the kind of English he must learn in order to do well on
tests, in school, and in occupations today in America
(p. 6).
McClelland's (1973) position has been refuted by
scientific evidence. The very test battery in Thorndike
and Hagen (1959) that formed part of McClelland's ev-
idence was found equally valid for all subgroups tested
(Dubois, 1947). The data we will now review regarding
1018 October 1991 • American Psychologist
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
8/13
college attendance and test performance also demonstrate
the fairness of aptitude and intelligence tests.
College attendance
McClelland ( 1973) claimed tha t
tests kept minor ity students out of colleges, even though
these students could do well academically. Minority stu-
dents with substantially lower test scores than White stu-
dents were admitted to colleges, even though research has
shown that the academic performance of Blacks with
identical test scores and pr ior grades could be expected
to be one to two thirds of a standard deviation lower than
tha t for Whites (Klitgaard, 1985).
Baird (1984) showed that Blacks with high ability,
as measured by standardized intelligence tests and apti-
tude tests, were more likely to enter college than were
Whites with high ability. Moreover, Black students with
high ability were more successful than their White coun-
terparts in entering the most selective colleges. Very few
White students with low ability attended selective colleges.
Thomas, Alexander, and Eckland (1979) found that test
scores were more important in determining college at-
tendance for Blacks than for Whites.
Affirmative action programs were probably a t least
partially responsible for the fact that equal percentages
(i.e., 32%) of Black and White high school graduates en-
tered college in 1975 (Jackson, 1990). However, if test
performance accurately reflects college performance, then
tests do not unfairly prevent minorit y students from at-
tending college.
Test performance McClelland (1973) maintained
tha t intelligence tests were clearly discriminatory against
those who have not been exposed to the culture, entrance
to which is guarded by the tests (p. 7). Evidence has
refuted this contention. Scarr-Salapatek ( 1971) and Oak-
land (1983) have shown that aptitude tests predicted
school performance equally well for both Black and White
children across SES groups. In examining employment
and training selection procedures, Boehm (1972) found
no evidence of differential validity for Black and White
population subgroups. Hunter et al. (1984) reported that
massive empirical evidence has now accumulated show-
ing that tests are fair to minor ity members (p. 93). They
determined that cognitive ability tests predicted equally
well for Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites, results tha t had
been seen in an earlier study by Hunter et al. (1979).
Studies conducted in Israel (Zeidner, 1987, 1988), as well
as studies by the National Research Council (Hartigan
& Wigdor, 1989), also disproved the cultural bias hy-
pothesis. Several other studies also did not show a per-
vasive differential validity by race (Hartigan & Wigdor,
1989; Linn, 1982a, 1982b; Wigdor & Garner, 1982).
Ca n Co m p e t e n e ie s P r e d i ct B e t t er T h a n
Tradit ional Aptitude and Intel l igence Tests
A fundamental problem with MeClelland's (1973) re-
search was his failure to define his concept of competency
To obtain a definition of this term, we had to rely on
subsequent papers he and his associates had written. This
unique type of esting, advocated by McClelland, has been
seen as a way to facilitate long-term prediction (Cronbach,
1990). As a result, close examinat ion of the evidence was
very important. The literature presented here does no t
support the use of competency testing to replace aptitude
testing.
Boyatzis (1982) completed a comprehensive inte-
gration of the data on competency testing available from
McClelland and his associates. He described a job com-
petency as an underlying characteristic of a person in
that it may be a motive, trait, skill, aspect of one's self-
image or social role, or a body of knowledge which he or
she uses (p. 21). He further asserted that these underlying
characteristics may be unconscious and that the person
may be unable to articulate or describe them (p. 21).
However, the method he prescribed to uncover compe-
tencies was to have individuals describe what made them
successful on the job.
he entire method rested on stories people told about
themselves, labeled the Behavioral Event Interview (BEI).
For the BEI, job incumbents were interviewed and asked
to describe three incidents in which they felt effective on
the job and three in which they felt ineffective. Although
the reported events were not substantiated, the BEI was
said to be a content-valid assessment method. McClelland
(1973, p. 8) himself said that it is not job analysis to ask
what people think good job performance is; yet this was
precisely the method recommended to uncover compe-
tencies.
The stories told in the BEI were subjected to an un-
specified scoring system. The same sample o f people was
then tested with the Picture Story Exercise. This test, de-
scribed by Boyatzis (1982) as a variation of Murray' s
(1938) Themat ic Apperception Test (TAT), required peo-
ple to tell stories about pictures. These stories were then
coded to measure motives such as need for achievement,
need for affiliation, and need for power. Not surprisingly,
people tended to include behaviors in their stories similar
to the behaviors they described themselves using. Because
this similarity was found, the competencies were declared
to be criterion related. The possibility of mono-method
bias (Cook & Campbell, 1979) was ignored.
The Picture Story Exercise was then defined as a
content-valid assessment technique (Boyatzis, 1982), on
the basis of the claim that the test measured thought pat-
terns used on the job. This was very different from the
usual definition of a content-valid test (Uniform Guide-
lines on Employee Selection Procedures, 1978).
Controversy has recently developed concerning the
appropriateness o f various validation designs (Barrett, in
press; Barrett , Phillips, & Alexander, 1981; Binning &
Barrett, 1989; Guion & Cranny, 1982; Landy, 1986).
None of these researchers would have accepted the vali-
dation design used by Boyatzis (1982). In fact, Boyatzis
stated that his validation studies did not provide enough
information to permit the development of a selection or
promotion system. Most psychologists would likely agree
with Boyatzis, who stated,
To develop and implement such systems and procedures, an
organization would have to conduct studies to validate com-
petencies against performance in their organization and in spe-
October 1991 • American Psychologist 1019
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
9/13
cific obs or job families. This step is necessary o conform to
legal and professionallyaccepted practices. (p. 251)
Typical of the literature available on competency
testing, Klemp and McClelland (1986) reported a study
involving a small sample of not more than 27 managers.
From this sample, Klemp and McClelland claimed to
have identified useful information concerning senior
managers but did not present empirical data to support
their contention.
Klemp and McCleUand (1986) did not develop or
validate an assessment device, leaving five important is-
sues unanswered. First, did Klemp and McClelland's
techniques provide any incremental gains over widely
used methods? Kornhauser (1922) pointed out that se-
lection procedures typically began with the hunches of
test developers. Has the work o f McCleHand and his col-
leagues contributed to the field beyond the hunches used
at the turn of the century?
Second, did the techniques of Klemp and Mc-
Clelland (1986) identify any competencies different from
the constructs already developed and tested for many years
by other techniques, such as assessment centers? For ex-
ample, was the competency of planning and causal
thinking identified by Klemp and McClelland any dif-
ferent from the variable labeled organization an d plan-
ning
identi fied 20 years earlier (Bray & Grant, 1966)?
The third issue was whether a reliable assessment
device could be developed to measure identified com-
petencies. Fourth, if a device were developed to measure
a competency, would performance on the test relate to
job performance?
Fifth, the competency of self-confidence was iden-
tiffed as a characteristic of successful managers; whether
this competency was a cause or effect of success was not
determined. Would a measure of self-confidence taken
early in a manager's career, before the manager had ex-
perienced career successes or failures, have results similar
to one taken later in his or her career?
In an unpublished study reported in McClelland
(1981), 50 different predictors were used, but only 9 had
any relationship with the criterion. These results were
derived only after the original sample was subdivided to
obtain significant relationships. We agree with Mc-
Clelland that these results need to be cross-validated.
In deriding cognitive ability tests, McOelland (1973)
stated, even a little criterion analysis would show that
there are almost no occupations or life situations that
require a person to do word analogies, choose the most
correct of four alternative meanings of a word, etc. (p.
7). We could add that few occupations require a person
to look at a picture and tell a story.
Driving.
McClelland (1973) implied that compe-
tency testing was based on criterion sampling. His ar-
guments need to be examined. McClelland suggested that
if you want to know how well a person can drive a car
(the criterion), sample his ability to do so by giving him
a driver's test (p. 7). McClelland claimed that faking a
high score is impossible i f you are performing the criterion
behavior, as in tests for reading, spelling, or driving a car
(p. 9).
This assertion is problematic. Research data have
indicated that driving tests do not predict accident in-
volvement or citations received (Edwards, Hahn , &
Fleishman, 1977; Freeberg & Creech, 1971; Newsome,
1975; Ratz, 1978; Wallace & Crancer, 1971). At least in
the context of driving a car, evidence has demonstrated
that this behavior could be faked and that the usual driv-
ing test would not necessarily differentiate a responsible
driver from one who was likely to be involved in accidents
or commit violations, criteria widely used as standards
of driving ability. Similar results have been found for mo-
torcycle operators (Jonah, Dawson, & Bragg, 1981). Cfl-
teflon sampling was not an adequate testing strategy in
predicting these important criteria.
In contrast to McClel land's (1973) assertion that the
best testing involved criterion sampling, instruments such
as selective attention and perceptual style, both without
face validity, have been shown to be related to involve-
men t in accidents (Arthur, Barrett, & Alexander, 1991;
Arthur, Barrett, & Doverspike, 1990; Avolio, Kroeck, &
Panek, 1985; Barrett & Thornton, 1968; Mihal & Barrett,
1976). Even paper-and-pencil tests of intelligence have
been related to accidents and violation records (Conger,
Miller, & Rainey, 1966; Smith & Kirldaam, 1982).
Patience. McClel land (1973) believed tha t patience
was a desirable competency for many service occupations,
especially for police officers. As we did with McClelland's
reports on the research of Thorndike and Hagen (1959)
and Ghiselli (1966), we examined the actual tests and
results to conclude for ourselves the value o f patience as
a competency to predict occupational success.
McClelland (1973) said, Kagan, Pearson, and
Welch (1966) have shown tha t it [patience] is an easily
measured human characteristic that is relatively stable
over time and can be taught directly (p. 10). Kagan et
al. used a Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) to
study impulsive versus reflective cognitive tempos in first-
grade children. This test was composed of line drawings
of familiar objects, such as trees, toys, and airplanes, from
which the subject selected one to match a s tandard. Even
in first-grade children, this test was not related to any
meaningful behaviors. Nothing suggested that the test in-
volved patience or was related in any way to police per-
formance.
The only performance dimension on the M FFT that
the first-grade children could be trained to change was
increasing response time. They could not decrease their
error rates. Ironically, although response time scores had
no personality implications, the error rate on the M FFT
was related to intellectual ability. Students with higher
ability made fewer errors (Block, Block, & Harflngton,
1974, 1975; Block, Gjerde, & Block, 1986; Gjerde, Block,
& Block, 1985; Messer, 1976).
ummary
The patience competency illustrates the state of compe-
tency testing. More than 18 years have passed since
1020 October 1991 • American Psychologist
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
10/13
M c C l e l l a n d ( 1 9 7 3 ) p u b l i s h e d h i s co n c l u s i o n s, b u t
M c C l e l l a n d a n d h i s a s s o c i a te s h a v e n o t y e t b e e n a b l e t o
p r o d u c e a n y p r o f e s si o n a ll y a c ce p t a b le e m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e
t h a t t h e i r c o n c e p t o f c o m p e t e n c i e s i s r e l a t e d t o o c c u p a -
t i o n a l s u c c e ss .
I n c o n t r a s t t o t h e l a c k o f e v id e n c e f o r c o m p e t e n c y
t e s ti n g , a l a rg e b o d y o f l i te r a t u r e h a s s h o w n t h a t t e s t s o f
c o g n i t iv e a b i li t y a r e r e la t e d t o t h e j o b p e r f o r m a n c e o f
m a n a g e r s a n d p e o p l e i n o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n s ( A r v e y , 1 9 8 6;
H u n t e r , 1 9 8 6 ; T h o r n d i k e , 1 9 8 6 ). B o y a t z i s ( 1 9 8 2 ) s t a te d
t h a t c o m p e t e n c y t e s ti n g w a s d i st i n c t f r o m , a n d s u p e r i o r
t o , a s s e s s m e n t c e n t e r s , b u t t h e e v i d e n c e d o e s n o t s h o w
t h a t c o m p e t e n c~ ( t e s ts c a n m a t c h t h e k n o w n s t r e n g th s
a n d v a l i d it y o f a s s e s s m e n t c e n t e r s ( e. g. , G a u g l e r, R o s e n -
t h ai , T h o r n t o n , B e n t s on , 1 98 7; T h o r n t o n B y h a m ,
1 9 82 ) . M c C l e l l a n d ( 1 9 7 3 ) e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n a b o u t b i a s
a g a i n s t m i n o r i t i e s , y e t t h e r e l a ti v e p e r f o r m a n c e o f m i -
n o t i f i e s o n c o m p e t e n c y t e s t s i s u n k n o w n ( B o y a t z is , 1 9 82 ) .
I n c o n t r a s t , a s s e s s m e n t c e n t e rs h a v e b e e n s h o w n t o b e
f a i r t o b o t h B l a c k s a n d W h i t e s ( H u c k B r ay , 1 9 76 ;
T h o r n t o n B y h a m , 1 9 82 ) , a s w e l l a s t o w o m e n ( R i tc h i e
M o s e s , 1 9 83 ; T h o r n t o n B y h a m , 1 9 82 ; T z i n e r D o -
l a n , 1982 ) .
A n u n f o r t u n a t e p r o b l e m w i t h c o m p e t e n c y t es t in g
i s t h a t r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n t h e s e t e s t s a n d t r a d i t i o n a l
a b i l i ty t e s ts , a p t i t u d e t e s ts , a s s e s s m e n t c e n t e r s , p e r s o n a l i t y
t e s t s , a n d w o r k s a m p l e t e s t s h a v e n o t b e e n e x a m i n e d .
E a c h o f th e s e t r a d i t i o n a l t y p e s o f t e s ts i s k n o w n t o h a v e
p r e d i c t i v e v a l u e ( D a y S i l v e r m a n , 1 9 8 9 ; G e l l a t ly , P a u -
n o n e n , M e y e r , J a c k s o n , G o f l i n , 1 9 9 1 ; H u n t e r H u n t e r ,
1 9 84 ; R o b e r t s o n D o w n s , 1 9 8 9) . W h a t is n o t y e t d e -
t e r m i n e d i s w h e t h e r c o m p e t e n c y te s t i n g h a s t h e p o t e n t i a l
t o m a k e a u n i q u e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e f i e ld o f t e st in g .
on c l u s i on
M c C l e l l a n d ' s ( 1 9 7 3 ) a r t ic l e h a s d e e p l y a f f e c t ed t h e p u b -
l i c' s p e r c e p t i o n o f te s t s a n d h a s i n f l u e n c e d t h e p s y c h o -
l o g i c a l p r o f e s s i o n . A s a r e s u l t o f it s a c c e p t a n c e i n p r o f e s -
s i o n a l l i t er a t u r e , l a w j o u r n a l s , a n d i n t r o d u c t o r y p s y -
c h o l o g y t e x t b o o k s , i t s a u t h o r i t y h a s b e c o m e m o r e
p e r v a s i v e o v er ti m e . T h e v i e w s w e r e a l s o d i s s e m i n a t e d
i n t o n e w s p a p e r s , m a g a z in e s , a n d p o p u l a r b o o k s . T h e t i m e
h a s c o m e t o c l a r i f y th e i s s u e s i n v o l v ed .
D e s p i t e t h e w i d e a c c e p t a n c e o f M c C l e l l a n d ' s ( 1 9 7 3 )
v i e w s , t h e e v i d e n c e h e u s e d t o s u p p o r t h i s a r g u m e n t s l e a d s
t o c o n c l u s i o n s t h a t a c t u a l l y o p p o s e t h e o n e s h e h a s p r o -
p o s e d . H i s a s s e r t i o n s a r e c o n t r a d i c t e d b y o t h e r e v i d e n ce .
G r a d e s d i d p r e d i c t o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c c e s s . I n t e l l e c t u a l
a b i l it y a n d a p t i t u d e t e s t s p r e d i c t e d o c c u p a t i o n a l s u c ce s s
e v e n w h e n t h e a p t i t u d e t e s t w a s a n a v i o n i c s b a t t e r y n o t
s p e c i f i ca l l y d e s i g n e d f o r g e n e r a l u s e . T e s t r e s u l t s w e r e n o t
a n a r t i f a c t o f s o ci a l s ta t u s, n o r w e r e t h e y u n f a i r t o m i -
no r i t i e s .
T h e c o n c e p t o f c ri t er i o n s a m p l i n g m a y b e a p p r o -
p r i a t e i n s o m e s i t u at i o n s, h u t t h e e v i d e n c e d o e s n o t s u p -
p o r t M c C l e U a n d ' s ( 1 9 7 3 ) v i e w s i n a n y o f h i s o w n e x -
a m p l e s . T h e e v i d e n c e h a s n o t s h o w n t h a t c o m p e t e n c i e s
c a n s u r p a s s c o g n i t i v e a b il i ty t e s t s in p r e d i c t i n g a n y i m -
p o r t a n t o c c u p a t i o n a l b e h a v i o r . N o t e t h a t a l t h o u g h
M e C l e l l a n d e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n a b o u t b i a s a g a i n s t m i -
n o t i f i e s , h e d i d n o t e x a m i n e m i n o r i t y p e r f o r m a n c e o n
c o m p e t e n c y t e s t s ( B o y a t z i s , 1 9 8 2 ) .
S i n c e 1 9 7 3 , t h e e v i d e n c e i n c r e a s i n g l y s h o w s t h a t
c o g n i ti v e a b il i t y te s t s d o p r e d i c t j o b p e r f o r m a n c e i n a
w i d e v a r i e t y o f o c c u p a t i o n s ( H u n t e r , 1 9 86 ) . U s e o f c o g -
n i fi v e a b il i ty t e s ts a s p a r t o f a n a s s e s s m e n t c e n t e r ( T h o r n -
t o n B y h a m , 1 98 2 ) o r i n c o m b i n a t i o n w i t h s t a n d a r d iz e d
p e r s o n a l i t y t e s t s ( D a y S i l v e r m a n , 1 9 89 ) h a s b e e n s h o w n
t o p r o v i d e i n c r e a s e d v a l i d i ty i n p r e d i c t i n g j o b p e r f o r -
m a n c e . I f M c C l e l l a n d ' s c o n c e p t o f c o m p e t e n c i e s i s t o
m a k e a c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e f i e ld o f ps y c h o lo g y , h e m u s t
p r e s e n t e m p i r i c a l d a t a t o s u p p o r t h i s c o n t e n t i o n .
R E F E R E N E S
Alexander, K. L., Eekland, B. K. (1975). Schoolexperienceand status
attainm ent. In S. E. Dragastin G. H. Eider, Jr. (Eds.),
Adolescence
in the life cycle: Psychological change and social context p p .
171-
210). N ew York: Wiley.
Alwin, D. E, Otto, L. B. (1977). Hig h school context effects on as-
pirations.
Sociology of Education, 50,
259-273.
Alwin, D. E , Thornton, A. (1984). Family origins and the schooling
process: Early versus ate influence of parental characteristics.
Amer-
ican Sociologica l Review , 49, 784-802.
Arthur, W., Jr., Barrett, G. V., Alexander, R. A. (1991). Prediction of
vehicular accident involvement:A meta-analysis.
Human Performance,
4, 89-105.
Arthur, W., Jr., Barrett, G. V., Doversp ike, D. (1990). Validation of
an information-processingbased battery fo r the pred iction of handling
accidents among petroleum product transport drivers.Journal of Ap-
plied Psychology, 75, 621-628.
Arvey, R. D . (1986). General ability n em ployment:A discussion.
Jour-
nal o f V ocational Behavior, 29,
415-420.
Austin, J. T., Hanisch, K. A. (1990). Occupational attainment as a
function o f abilities and interests: A longitudinal analysisusing Project
TALENT data.
Journa l o f Applie d Psychology, 75,
77-86.
Avolio, B. J., Kroeck, IC G., Panek, P. E. (1985). Individualdifferences
in information-processingability as a predictor of mo tor vehicle ac-
cidents.
Hu ma n Factors, 27,
577-587.
Baird, L. L. (1984). Relationships between ability, college attendance,
and fam ily income. Research in Higher E ducation, 21, 373-395.
Bajema, C. J. (1968). A note on the interactions among intellectual
ability, education al attainm ent, and occupation al achievement:A fol-
low-up study of a m ale Kalamazoopubficschool X~pulation.Sociology
of Education, 41, 317-319.
Barrett, G. V. (in press). Clarifyingconstruct v alidity:Definitions, pro-
cesscs, and m odels.
Hu man P erformance.
Barrett, G. V., Alexander, R. A. (1989). Rejoind er to Austin, Hum -
phreys, and Hulin: C ritical reanalysis of Barrett, Caldwell, and Al-
exander.
Pe rson nel Psycholog?z, 42,
597-612.
Barrett, G. V., Phillips, J. S., Alexander; R. A. (1981). Con curren t
and predictivevalidity
~ : A cr it ical reanaly~s : Jou ina l o f Applied
Psychology, 66, 1 -6.
Barrett, G. V., Thornto n, C. L. (1968). Relationshipbetween perceptual
style and driver reaction to an emergency
ituation. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 52,
169-176.
Bcaton, A. E. (1975). The influence of education and ability on salary
and attitudes. In E T. Furster (Ed.),
Education, income, and human
behavior pp.
365-396). New Y ork: McGraw-Hill.
Binning, J. E , Barrett, G. V. (1989). Validity of personnel decisions:
A conceptual analysis of the inferential and evidential bases.
Journal
o f Applie d Psychology, 74,
478-494.
Block, J., Block, J. H., Harrington, D. M. (1974). Some misgivings
about the Matching Familiar Figures Test as a measure of reflection-
impulsivity.
Dev elopm ental Psychology, 10,
611-632.
Block, J., Block, J. H., Harrington, D. M. (1975). Comm ent on the
Kngan-Messcr reply.
DevelopmentalPsychology,, I1 ,
249-252.
Block, J., Gjerde, P. E, Block, J. H. (1986). M ore misgivingsabout
O c t o b e r 1 99 1 • A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i s t 1 02 1
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
11/13
the M a tc hing Fa m i l i a r F igure s Te st a s a m e a sure of r e f l e c t ion- im -
puls ivi ty: Absen ce of co nstruct va l idi ty in preadolescence.
Develop-
men tal Psychology, 22,
820-831.
Boehm, V. R. (1972). Neg ro-W hite differences in va l idi ty of employ ment
and tra inin g se lec t ion procedures: S um ma ry o f research evidence .
Journal of Applied P sychology, 56,
33-39 .
Bou chard, T. J . , J r ., Lykken, D. T., Mc Gue , M. , Segal , N. L. , Tellegen,
A. (1990) . Sources o f human psychologica l differences: The Minn esota
Study o f Twins Re a re d Ap a r t . Science, 250, 223-228.
Boyatzis, R. E. (1982).
The competent manager.
New York: Wiley.
Bray, D. W. , Gran t , D. L. (1966) . Th e assessment center in the mea-
surem ent of potentia l for business m anagem ent. PsychologicalMono-
graphs: General and App lied,
80(17), 1-27.
Butler, R. P., MeCauley, C. (1987). Extr aord inary stability and ordina ry
predic tabil i ty of academ ic success a t the U nited Sta tes M ili ta ry Acad-
emy.
Journal o f Educational Psychology,, 79,
83-86 .
Cam pbell , J . P. , Dun nette , M . D. , Lawler , E. E. HI, Weick, K. E. , J r .
(1970).
Ma nager ial behavior, perform ance and effectiveness.
New York:
Mc Gra w-Hi l l .
Chr istense n, S., Melder, J. , Weisbrod, B. A. (1975). Factors affecting
college a t tendance .
Journal o f Huma n Resources, 10,
174-188.
Cohen , P. A. (1984). C ollege grades and adult achievemen t: A research
synthesis. Research in Higher Education, 10, 281-293.
Conger, J. J. , Miller, W. C., Rainey, R. V. (1966). Effects of driv er
education: The role of mo tivat ion, intel l igence , socia l c lass , and ex -
posure . Traffic Safety Research Review, 10, 213.
Cook , T. D. , Cam pbell , D. T. (1979) .
Quasi-experimentation: Design
and analysis issues for field settings.
Boston: Hou ghton Miff lin.
Coon, D. (1986) .
Introduction to psychology.
St. Paul , M N: W est.
Crider , A. B. , Goethals , G. R. , Kavanaugh, R . D. , Solom on, P. R.
(1983).
Psychology.
Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
Cronb aeh, L . J . (1990) .
Essentials ofpsychological testing
(5th ed. ). New
York: Harp er Row.
Cropley, A. J. , Maslany, G. W. (1969). Reliability and factorial validity
of the Wallach-Kogan crea t ivi ty tests .
British Journ al o f Psychology,,
60, 395-398.
Daniels, D., Plo min , R. (1985). Differential experie nce of siblings in
the same family.
Developmental Psychology, 21,
747-760.
Davids, A., Engen, T. (1975).
Introductory psychology.
New York:
Ra ndo m House.
Day, D. V. , Si lverman , S. B. (1989) . Personali ty a nd job performance:
Evide nce of increm enta l va l idi ty.
Personnel Psychology, 42,
25-36 .
Diste fano , M. K., Jr. , Pryer, M . W. (1985). Verbal selection test and
work performance validity with aides from three psychiatric hospitals.
Psychological Reports, 56, 811-815.
Drevdah l , J . E. , Catte l l , R. B. (1958) . Personali ty an d crea t ivi ty in
artists and writers. Journal of C linical Psychology, 14, 107-111.
Drexler , M. (1981, M ay 3) . The other s ide : Assess ing what y ou know,
not wh o you a re .
The Plain Dealer Magazine,
pp. 50-51 .
Dubois, P. H. (Ed.). (1947). The classification program ( R e p o r t N o . A D
651 778) . Washington, DC : Arm y Air Forces .
Dun can, O. D. , Featherman, D. L. , Dun can, B. (1972) .
Socioeconomic
background and achievement.
New Y ork: Semina r Press .
Dye, D. A. , Reck, M. (1988, Decemb er) . A review andmeta-analysis
of education as a predictor o f job performance: Sum mary version
(OP RD Rep ort No. 88-8) . Washington, DC: U.S. Office of Personnel
Man agemen t, Off ice of Personnel R esearch and Develop ment.
Dye, D. A., Reck, M. (1989). College grade point average as a predictor
of adult success: A reply.
Public Personnel Managem ent, 18,
2 3 5 -
241.
Edwards , D. S. , Hah n, C. P. , Fle ishman , E. A. (1977) . Evaluat io n of
laboratory meth ods for the study o f driver behavior. Relations between
simula tor and s tree t performance.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 62,
559-566.
Ell iot t , R. , Strenta , A. C. (1988) . Effec ts of imp rovin g the re l iabi l i ty
of the GPA on pre dic t ion ge ne ra lly a nd on c om pa ra t ive pre dic t ions
for gender and race particularly.
Journal o f Educational Measurement,
25, 333-347.
Fallows, J. (1985, December). The case against credentialism. The At-
lantic Monthly,
pp. 49-67 .
Fallows, J. (1989).
More like us: Making America great again.
Boston,
MA : Ho ughton Mif fl in .
Feldm an, R. S. (1990).
Understanding psychology
(2nd ed. ). New York:
Mc Gra w-Hi l l .
Freeberg, N. E., Cree ch, E R. (1971). Development of measures for
a driver licensing program in the state o f North Carolina: Phase I:
Analyses o f current licensing tests Report
No. PR - 71 - 14). Pr inceton ,
NJ: Edu cational T esting Service .
Gaugler, B. B., Rosenthal, D. B., Th orn ton , G. C., III, Bentson, C.
(1987). M eta-analysis o f assessment cen ter validity.
Journal of Applied
Psychology,, 72,
493-511.
Geilatly, I. R., Pauno nen , S. V., Meye~ J. P., Jackson, D. N., Goffin,
R. D . (1991) .
Personality and Individual Differences, 12,
221-231.
Ghiseili, E. E. (1966).
The validity of occupational aptitude tests. New
York: Wiley.
Gjerde , P. E, Block, J ., Block, J . H. (1985) . Longitud inal consis tency
of Ma tc hing Fa m i l i a r F igure s Tes t pe r form a nc e f rom e a r ly c h i ldhood
to preadolescence.
Developmental Psychology, 2j,
262-271.
Gole m a n, D . (1981, J a nua ry) . The ne w c om pe te nc y te s ts : Ma tc hing the
r ight pe ople to the r ight jobs . Psychology Today, pp. 35-46 .
Go leman , D. (1984, July 31) . Successful executives re ly on own k ind o f
inte l l igence: I .Q. can' t expla in achievement but thinking s tyle can.
The New York Times,
pp. C l , C11.
Go leman , D. (1988, A pri l 5) . New scales of inte ll igence rank ta lent for
living.
TheNew York Times,
p p . C 1, C l l .
Gottfred son, L . S. (1986) . Socie ta l consequences of the g fac tor in em -
ploym e nt . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 29, 379 -4 10.
Gottfredso n, L. S. , Brown, V. C. (1981) . Occupation al differentia tion
among White men in the f irs t decade af ter high school .
Journal of
Vocational Beha vior, 19,
251-289.
Grcenberg , J . W. , Davidson, H. H. (1972) . Ho me backgro und and
school achievement o f Black urban ghetto children.
American Journal
of Orthopsychiat~ 42,
803-810.
Gu ion, R. M. , Cranny, C. J . (1982) . A note on conc urren t and pre-
dictive valid ity designs: A critical reanalysis.
Journal o f Applied Psy-
chology, 67,
239-244.
Gutenb erg, R. L. , Arvey, R. D. , Osburn, H. G. , Jcannere t , P. R.
(I 983). Moderating effects of decision making/information-processing
job dimen sions on tes t va l idi t ies .
Journal o f Applied Psychology, 68,
602-608.
Haney, C. (1982) . Employment tes ts and discr imination: A dissenting
psychological opinion .
Industrial Relations Law Journal,
5, 1-86.
Ha rtiga n, J. A., Wigdor, A. K. (Eds.). (1989).
Fairness in employment
testing.
Washington, DC : National Acad emy Press .
Hause , J . C. (1972) . Earning s prof ile : Abil i ty and schooling. Journal of
Political Econom y, 80 3, Pt.
I I) , S I08-S1 38.
Hause , J . C. (1975) . Ab il i ty and schooling as de termin ants o f f i fe t ime
earnings , or i f you 're so smart , why aren' t y ou r ich? In E T. Fuster
Ed.), Education, income, and human behavior (pp. 123-149) . New
York: McGraw-Hil l .
Hearn, J . C. (1984) . T he re la t ive roles of academic , ascr ibed, and socio-
eco no mic characteristics in college destinations. Sociology o f Edu-
cation, 57,
22-30 .
Hearn , J. C. ( 1985,
March). W ho goes where?A study o f he postsecondary
destination of 1980 high school graduates. Paper pre se nte d a t the
meeting of the Associat ion for the Study of Higher Education, Chicago.
Herzog, E. , New comb , C. , Cis in, I . H. (1972). But some are mo re
poo r than others : SES differences in a prescho ol program .
American
Journal o f Orthopsychiatry, 42, 4-22 .
Hocevar, D. (1980). Intelligence, divergent thinking, and creativity.
In-
telligence, 4, 25-40 .
Horn, J . M. (1983) . The Texas adoption projec t : Adopted children and
their intellectual resemblance to biological and adoptive parents. Child
Development, 54,
268-275.
Howard, A. (1986) . College experiences and manageria l performance.
Journal ofApplied Psychology, 71, 530-552.
Huck , J . R. , Bray, D. W. (1976) . Ma nagem ent assessment center eval-
uat ion s and subsequent j ob p erform ance of W hite and Black females .
Perso nnel Psycholog2z 29,
13-31.
Hum p hre ys , L . G . (1988) . Tre nds in l e ve ls of a c a de m ic a c hieve m e nt of
Blacks and other minori t ies . Intelligence, 12, 231-260.
Hum phrey s , L. G. , Taber , T. (1973) . Abil i ty fac tors as a function of
advantaged an d disadvantaged groups.
Journal o f Educational Mea-
surement, 10,
107-115.
1 0 2 2 O c t o b e r 1 9 91 • A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i s t
8/17/2019 Una Revisión Del Testing for Competence de Mc Clelland
12/13
Hu nte~ J. E. (1983). A causal ana ly ~ o f cognitive ability , o b knowledge,
jo b perform ance, and superviso r ratings. In E Landy, S. Zedeek, &
J . C le v eland E ds .) , P e r for manc e me a s ur e m e n t and the or y (pp . 257-
275). Hi