clerical reasoning test technical manual

thetechnicalmanual 7

THECLERICAL TESTBATTERY

Test Batteries

ONTENTS1 THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

2 THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CLERICAL TEST BATTERY

3 PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE CLERICAL TEST BATTERY

4 ADMINISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS

5 REFERENCES

c

31 CTB2 STANDARDISATION SAMPLES

2 GENDER DIFFERENCES ON CTB2

3 RELATIONSHIP WITH CTB2 SUB-SCALES AND AGE

4 COEFFICIENT ALPHA AS A MEASURE OF CTB2 INTERNAL CONSISTENCY

5 INTER-CORRELATIONS CTB2 SUB-SCALES

6 CORRELATIONS CTB2 WITH OTHER MEASURES.

7 CORRELATIONS CTB2 WITH PERFORMANCE FACTORS

LIST OF TABLES

1THE ROLE OFPSYCHOMETRICTESTS IN PERSONNELSELECTION ANDASSESSMENT

6

THE ROLE OFPSYCHOMETRIC TESTS INPERSONNEL SELECTIONAND ASSESSMENTOne of the main reasons for usingreasoning tests to aid selection deci-sions is that they can provideinformation which cannot beobtained in other ways. If such testsare not used then our knowledge ofthe applicant is limited to the infor-mation that can be gleaned from anapplication form or CV, an interviewand references. If we wish to gaininformation about a person’s specificaptitudes and abilities then we havelittle option but to use psychometrictests. But such tests can do morethan simply provide additional infor-mation about the applicant. Theycan add a degree of reliability andvalidity to the selection procedurethat is impossible to achieve in anyother way. How they do this is bestaddressed by examining the limita-tions of the information obtainedthrough interviews, applicationforms and references and exploringhow some of these limitations can beovercome by the use of reasoningtests.

While much useful informationcan be gained from the interview,which clearly has an important rolein any selection procedure, it doesnonetheless suffer from a variety ofweaknesses. Perhaps the mostimportant of these is that it is not areliable way to judge a person’s levelof reasoning ability. While the inter-view enables us to probe eachapplicant in depth and discover indi-vidual strengths and weaknesses itwill not enable us to objectively

assess an applicant’s aptitudes andabilities.

There are similar limitations onthe range and usefulness of the infor-mation that can be gained fromapplication forms or CV’s. Whilework experience and qualificationsmay be prerequisites for certainoccupations, in and of themselvesthey do not determine whether aperson is likely to perform well orbadly. Past experience and academicachievement is not always a goodpredictor of ability or future success.While such information is importantit may not be sufficient on its own toenable us to confidently choosebetween applicants. Thus aptitudeand ability tests are likely to play asignificant role in the selectionprocess as they provide informationon a person’s potential and not justtheir achievements to date.

While past performance can be agood predictor of future performancereferences may not be good predic-tors of past performance. If theapplicant supplies the referee then itis likely that they have chosensomeone whom they expect to speakhighly of them and have probablyavoided supplying the names ofthose who may have a less positiveview of their abilities. Aptitude andability tests, on the other hand, givean indication of the applicant’s likelyperformance, obtained under examconditions and are thus likely to bean objective, true reflection of theperson’s ability.

7So what advantages does the use of

reasoning tests have over these otherforms of assessment? The first advan-tage they have is that they arestandardised. That is to say the sametest is given to all the applicantsunder the same conditions and a stan-dard method is used for scoring andinterpreting the test results. Thus thetest should produce the same resultsno matter who administers and inter-prets it. Moreover, the test results canbe represented numerically making iteasy both to compare applicants witheach other, and with pre-definedgroups (e.g. successful and unsuccess-ful job incumbents). In addition, asnoted above, they provide a range ofinformation which is not easily andreliably assessed in other ways. Suchinformation can fill in important gapswhich have not been assessed byapplication forms, interviews andreferences and can also raise ques-tions which can later be directlyaddressed in the interview. It is forthis reason that psychometric tests arebeing increasingly used in personnelselection. Their use adds a degree ofobjectivity, reliability and breadth toassessment decisions which can not beachieved any other way.

THE CONSTRUCTIONOF THE CLERICALTEST BATTERY 2

1 THE COMPONENTS OF THE CLERICAL

BATTERY

bkThe growing awareness during the1970’s (cf. Schmidt and Hunter,1977) that psychometric tests whichwere valid for one job could also beshown to be valid for other similarjobs led to interest in the develop-ment of job specific test batteries.From this was developed the idea ofjob families; groups of jobs whichshare similar skill requirements,where performance on each jobcould be predicted from the sametest battery. Until the pioneeringwork of Schmidt and colleagues ithad been thought necessary todemonstrate the validity of a test foreach specific job, as validity wasthought to vary substantially fromjob to job, due to job specific factors(Ghiselli, 1966). The demonstrationthat many test batteries were validfor a whole job family encouragedthe development of test batteries forspecific occupational areas. TheCTB2 is one such test battery, whichhas been developed to assess theaptitudes which are predictive ofperformance in a wide range of cleri-cal jobs. Thus the CTB2 assessVerbal Reasoning, Numerical Ability,Perceptual Speed & Accuracy (cleri-cal checking) and Spelling Ability.

Research has clearly demon-strated that in order to accuratelyassess aptitudes and reasoningability it is necessary to develop testswhich have been specificallydesigned to measure that ability in

the population under consideration.That is to say, we need to be surethat the test has been developed foruse on the particular group beingtested, and thus that it is appropriatefor that group. There are a numberof ways in which this is important.Firstly, it is important that the testhas been developed or adapted forthe country in which it is intended tobe used. It is important that thecultural content in the items is rele-vant to the likely work context of therespondents who will complete thethe test. Cultural content should notinter-fere with a candidate's under-standing of the logic which underlieseach item. Secondly, it is importantthat the test is designed for theparticular ability range on which it isto be used. A test designed for thoseof average ability will not accuratelydistinguish between people of highability as all their scores will clustertowards the top end of the scale.Similarly, a test designed for peopleof high ability will be of little use ifgiven to people of average ability.Not only will it not discriminatebetween applicants, as all the scoreswill cluster towards the bottom ofthe scale, but also as the questionswill be too difficult for most of theapplicants they are likely to be de-motivated, producing artificially lowscores. Consequently the CTB2 wasdeveloped specifically for clericalstaff of general, as opposed to gradu-

blate level ability, who have received abasic level of education.

In constructing the items in theCTB2 a number of guidelines wereborne in mind. Firstly, and perhapsmost importantly, each item wasconstructed so that only a generaleducational level was needed inorder to be able to correctly solvethat item. Thus we tried to ensurethat each item was a measure ofaptitude, rather than being ameasure of specific knowledge orexperience. For example, in the caseof the numerical items the calcula-tions involved in solving each itemare relatively simple, with the diffi-culty of the item being due to thelogic which underlies that questionrather than being due to the need touse complex mathematical opera-tions to solve that item. Secondly, anumber of different item types (e.g.odd one out, word meanings etc.)were used to measure each aspect ofaptitude. This was done in order toensure that each subscale measures abroad aspect of aptitude (e.g. VerbalReasoning Ability), rather thanmeasuring a very specific aptitude(e.g. vocabulary). In addition, theuse of different item types ensuresthat the test is measuring differentcomponents of each aptitude. Forexample the ability to understandanalogies, inclusion/exclusion crite-ria for class membership etc.

bmNUMERICAL REASONING (NA2)

This is a measure of numericalability which has been isolated as acomponent of general reasoning.Additionally, routine computationalability is clearly relevant as ameasure of capacity to performcertain types of numerically basedclerical work.

VERBAL REASONING (VA2)

This is a standard verbal reasoningtest aimed at the general populationlevel of reasoning. While it assessesreasoning ability it also gives a guideto the relative level of literacy of acandidate. Thus, it will be of rele-vance in determining if the requisiteverbal skill is present.

FILING (FL2)

This test is composed of a verbal andnumerical filing operation. Itassesses the ability to file quicklyand accurately. Either an alphabeti-cal or a numerical test of filing canbe used depending on the job inquestion. The Filing test is onlyavailable for on-screen administra-tion using the GeneSys software.

SPELLING (SP2)

This test gives the respondent achoice of a number of differentspellings for a common Englishword. The ability to spell correctly isstill an important asset in a numberof clerical occupations.

THE COMPONENTS OF THECLERICAL BATTERY

bnCLERICAL CHECKING (CC2)

The Clerical Checking test assessesthe ability to check words andnumbers for accuracy. This is animportant clerical skill representingas it does the ability to quickly andaccurately check information foraccuracy.

TYPING TEST (TY2)

This is a GeneSys-based on-screentest of typing speed and accuracy.There are several methods of assess-ing a candidate’s typing ability otherthan pure speed. For example onecan require that errors be correctedwhile copy typing or that a table bereproduced. Not all clerical positionsrequire typing ability and for thisreason the typing test is availablewithout the Clerical Battery and canstand alone with its own report beinggenerated.

PSYCHOMETRICPROPERTIES OF THECLERICAL TESTBATTERY3

1 STANDARDISATION

2 RELIABILITY

3 THE RELIABILITY OF THE CTB2

4 VALIDITY

5 THE VALIDITY OF THE CTB2

bqFor each of the sub-tests of theClerical Test Battery, information isprovided on age and gender differ-ences where they apply. Allnormative data is available fromwithin the GeneSys system whichcomputes for any given raw score,the appropriate standardised scoresfor the selected reference group. Inaddition the GeneSys™ softwareallows users to establish their ownin-house norms to allow morefocused comparison with profiles ofspecific groups.

The total norm base of the CTB2is based on a three different groups.These include clerical trainees,Customer Service Staff and ClericalStaff as detailed in Table 1.

CTB2 GENDER AND AGEDIFFERENCES

Gender differences on CTB2 wereexamined by comparing results ofmales and female trainees matchedas far as possible for educational andsocio-economic status. Table 2provides mean scores for males andfemales on each of the CTB2 scalesas well as the t-value for mean scoredifferences.

As a test of gender differences,scores differences between males andfemales from a sample of adminis-trative staff (N=125) werecompared.

With the exception of theNumerical test (NA2), the CTB2sub-scales showed no significantgender differences.

The effect of age on CTB2 scoreswas examined using the sample ofrespondents in Table 3. Only theSpelling test just reaches statisticalsignificance, suggesting that theCTB2 is not strongly subject to ageeffects.

STANDARDISATION

br

Table 1: GRT2 Standardisation Samples

Clerical Trainees

Customer Service Staff

Clerical Staff

101

115

54

23

28

14

78

87

40

18

26

25

16-22

19-50

18-45

2.3

7.61

7.19

Total N Males N Females N Mean Age Age Range SD Age

Mean F Mean M t-value p Std.Dev.F Std.Dev.M F-ratio p

Table 2: Gender Differences on CTB2

22.25

9.475

11.77

12.03

23.80

17.68

24.64

14.21

11.64

11.93

23.57

16.57

-1.29

-3.72

.164

.107

.137

.927

.203

.000

.871

.916

.892

.358

5.44

3.99

2.29

2.67

4.80

3.85

7.36

4.44

3.37

3.54

6.86

3.78

1.84

1.24

2.15

1.75

2.04

1.04

.142

.579

.065

.176

.087

.992

VER

NA2

CC2 Verbal

CC2 Numerical

CC2 Total

SP2

Table 3: Relationship withCTB2 sub-scales and Age

Verbal

Numerical

Checking

Spelling

-.01

-.04

.02

.24

AGECTB2

bsIf an aptitude test is to be used forselection and assessment purposesthe test needs to measure each of theaptitude or ability dimensions it isattempting to measure reliably, forthe given population (e.g.clerk/typists, personal assistantsetc.). That is to say, the test needs tobe consistently measuring each apti-tude so that if the test were to beused repeatedly on the same candi-date it would produce similar results.

TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY

Test-retest reliability statistics esti-mate the reliability of an aptitudetest by administering it repeatedly tothe same applicants. If a test is reli-able then we would expect it toproduce consistent results whenrepeatedly administered over shortperiods of time. Thus we would notexpect a reliable test to classifysomeone as having a high level ofaptitude on one occasion and a lowlevel of aptitude on another. Thusrepeated test administration canprovide an estimate of a test’s relia-bility.

INTERNAL CONSISTENCYRELIABILITY

Internal consistency statistics esti-mate the reliability of a test byexploring whether each of the itemswhich measure one ability or apti-tude combine to produce a consistentscale. That is to say, we would expectpeople of superior aptitude to do wellon all the items which measure thataptitude, and not simply on a subsetof these items. If the latter were thecase then we might suspect thatthose items which they did notperform well on were in fact notgood measures of the underlyingreasoning ability. These statistics arethe most commonly used ways toestimate a test’s reliability.

It is generally recognised thataptitude tests are more reliable thanpersonality tests and for this reasonhigh standards of reliability areusually expected from such tests.While many personality tests areconsidered to have acceptable levelsof reliability if they have reliabilitycoefficients in excess of .7, aptitudetests are not usually considered tohave acceptable levels of reliabilityunless they have reliability coeffi-cients in excess of .8.

RELIABILITY

btTable 4 presents alpha coefficients forfour of the sub-tests which form the CTB2.The data was collected on a sample of 126clerical staff attending an in-service train-ing course. Inspection of the above tablereveals that each of these four sub-testshave high levels of reliability.

THE RELIABILITYOF THE CTB2

Table 4 Coefficient Alpha as a measureof CTB2 internal consistency

VA2

NA2

CC2

SP2

0.83

0.83

0.90

0.81

Chronbach’sAlpha

CTB2 test

ckWhereas reliability assesses thedegree of measurement error of anaptitude test, that is to say the extentto which the test is consistentlymeasuring one underlying ability oraptitude, validity addresses the ques-tion of whether or not the scale ismeasuring the characteristic it wasdeveloped to measure. This is clearlyof key importance when using anaptitude test for assessment andselection purposes. In order for thetest to be a useful aid to selection weneed to know that the results arereliable and that the test is measur-ing the aptitude it is supposed to bemeasuring. Thus, after we haveexamined a test’s reliability we needto address the issue of validity. Wetraditionally examine the reliabilityof a test before we explore its validityas reliability sets the lower bound ofa scale’s validity. That is to say a testcannot be more valid than it is reli-able.

There are two main ways in whichwe can say that a test is valid. Wecall these Construct Validity andPredictive Validity. When tests areused for individual assessmentConstruct Validity is the moreimportant and when tests are used topredict performance the test’sPredictive Validity is the moreimportant.

Construct ValidityConstruct Validity assesses whetherthe characteristic which the test isactually measuring is psychologicallymeaningful and is consistent withthe scale’s definition.

Criterion-related ValidityThis assesses whether the test iscapable of predicting some real-world criterion; for example jobperformance. Thus while a test mayhave criterion-related validity it maynot have construct validity. That is,it may predict a given criterion butmay not be measuring the psycho-logical construct it purports tomeasure.

ASSESSING CONSTRUCTVALIDITY

Unlike reliability which can be easilymeasured, Construct Validity is amuch more difficult characteristic toassess. Rather than there being onegenerally agreed way to assess atest’s construct validity the validityof a test is usually established bypresenting a variety of evidencewhich converges to demonstrate thetest’s validity. For example, we willwant to know that the aptitudes orabilities which the test measures arestable over time and have intuitive,consensual meaning. Moreover wewill want to show that a variety ofstatistical properties hold for the test.These concern the test’s:

VALIDITY

cl

Internal StructureSpecifically we are concerned thatthe test’s sub-scales are correlatedwith each other in a meaningful way.For example, we would expect thedifferent sub-scales of an aptitudetest battery to be moderately corre-lated as each will be measuring adifferent facet of the general apti-tude. Thus if such sub-scales are notcorrelated with each other we mightwonder whether each is a goodmeasure of the aptitude. Moreover,we would expect different facets ofverbal reasoning ability (e.g. vocabu-lary, similarities etc.) to be morehighly correlated with each otherthan they are with a measure ofnumerical reasoning ability.Consequently, the first way in whichwe might assess the validity of anaptitude test battery is by exploringthe relationship between the test’ssub-scales.

Concurrent ValidityHere we are concerned to demon-strate that the test produces resultswhich are consistent with thoseproduced by other widely used,recognised, validated tests. Toexplore the concurrent validity of atest we might correlate the candi-dates’ scores on the test which isbeing validated with their scores on atest which is already known to bevalid.

Criterion ValidityHere we are concerned to demon-strate that the test discriminatesbetween criterion groups which wewould predict to obtain differentscores on the test’s sub-scales. Forexample, we might validate a testmeasuring verbal and numericalability by showing that graduatesperform better on the test than non-graduates, and that science studentsperform better on the numericalability test than arts students.

cmAs a demonstration of validity, anumber of studies have been under-taken. These includeinter-correlating the CTB2 sub-scales and correlating CTB2sub-scales with other recognisedmeasures of the same or similarcharacteristics and performanceratings in a work context.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE CTB2

The inter-correlations of CTB2 sub-scales are presented in Table 5below. These demonstrate that thesub-scales are fairly independent ofeach other. The highest inter-correla-tion of 0.55 between the verbal andnumerical reasoning tests, is in linewith expectations. The correlationbetween Spelling scores andChecking is 0.48 appears to indicatethat spelling ability may be animportant contributor to checkingability.

CONSTRUCT VALIDITY

As a measure of construct validity,sub-scales of the CTB2 were corre-lated with other measures purportingto assess the same or similar charac-teristics.

The verbal and numerical sub-scales were correlated with the AHseries counter-parts, whereas theChecking tests was correlated withthe IPI series Perception measure.

Table 6 show good to excellentcorrelations with similar measures.

CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY

A sample of 125 customer serviceoperators with a High Street Bankcompleted the CTB2 Verbal,Numerical and Clerical Checkingtests and were concurrently rated on14 performance indicators (compe-tencies). These were factored andfour performance factors wereextracted and subsequently corre-lated with the CTB2 sub-scales.

The results in Table 7 show thatthe CTB2 sub-scales used were moreeffective in predicting the skill areasof Software and NumericalCompetency areas than the firstthree performance indicators.

THE VALIDITY OF THE CTB2

cn

1.00

.51

.37

.34

.51

1.00

.34

.31

.37

.34

1.00

.48

.34

.31

.48

1.00

Verbal Numerical Checking Spelling

Table 5 Inter-correlations CTB2 sub-scales

Subscale

VA2

NA2

CC2

SP2

Table 6 Correlations CTB2 with othermeasures.

NA2

CC2

VER

.76

.68

AH2 Numerical

IPI Perception

.63 AH2 Verbal

-.06

-.16

.03

.01

.02

-.09

-.08

.13

.11

.13

.08

.03

-.05

-.03

- .04

.14*

.31*

.28*

.34*

.32*

Factor IGeneral

Factor IIInterpersonal

skills

Factor IIIPlanning &Organising

Factor IVSoftware &Numerical

VA2

NA2

CC2 P1

CC2 P2

CC2 Total

Table 7 Correlations CTB2 with performance factors *p<0.05

CTB2 subscale

4ADMINISTRATIONINSTRUCTIONS

BEFORE STARTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Put candidates at their ease by giving information about yourself, the purposeof the questionnaire, the timetable for the day, if this is part of a wider assess-ment programme, and how the results will be used and who will have accessto them. Ensure that you and other administrators have switched off mobilephones etc.

The instructions below should be read out verbatim and the same scriptshould be followed each time the CTB2 is administered to one or more candi-dates. Instructions for the administrator are printed in ordinary type.Instructions designed to be read aloud to candidate incorporate a grey shadedbackground, italics and speech marks.

If this is the first or only questionnaire being administered give an introduc-tion as per or similar to the following example (prepare an amendment if notadministering all tests in this battery):

“From now on, please do not talk among yourselves, butask me if anything is not clear. Please ensure that anymobile telephones, pagers or other potential distractions areswitched off completely. We shall be doing four tests, verbalreasoning, numerical reasoning, clerical checking andspelling. The tests take 8, 8, 5 and 6 minutes respectively tocomplete. During the test I shall be checking to make surethat you are not making any accidental mistakes when fill-ing in the answer sheet. I will not be checking your respons-es to see if you are answering correctly or not.”

WARNING: It is most important that answer sheets do not go astray. Theyshould be counted out at the beginning of the test and counted in again at theend.

cqContinue by using the instructions EXACTLY as given. Say:

DISTRIBUTE THE ANSWER SHEETS

Then ask:

“Has everyone got two sharp pencils, an eraser, some roughpaper and an answer sheet.”

Rectify any omissions, then say:

“Print your surname, first name and title clearly on the lineprovided, followed by your age and sex. Please inserttoday’s date which is [ ] on the ‘Comments’ line”

Walk around the room to check that the instructions are being followed.

WARNING: It is vitally important that test booklets do not go astray. Theyshould be counted out at the beginning of the session and counted in again atthe end.

DISTRIBUTE THE BOOKLETS WITH THE INSTRUCTION:

“Please do not open the booklet until instructed.”

Remembering to read slowly and clearly, go to the front of the group and say:

“Please open the booklet at Page 2 and follow the instruc-tions for this test as I read them aloud.”

Pause to allow booklets to be opened.

“This test is designed to assess your understanding ofwords and relationships between words. Each question hassix possible answers. One and only one is correct in eachcase. Mark your answer by filling in the number box onyour answer sheet that corresponds to your choice. Younow have a chance to complete the four example questionson Page 3 in order to make sure that you understand thetest. There is a section on the left hand side of your answersheet marked ‘Example’.”

Indicate section.

“Please attempt the example questions now.”

crWhile the candidates are doing the examples, walk around the room to checkthat everyone is clear about how to fill in the answer sheet. Make sure thatnobody is looking at the actual test items during the example session. Whenall have finished (allow a maximum of two minutes) give the answers as fol-lows:

“The answer to Example 1 is number 2, sick means thesame as ill.The answer to Example 2 is number 3, you drive a car andfly an aeroplane.The answer to Example 3 is number 5, wood is the odd oneout..The answer to Example 4 is number 5, dark means theopposite of light.

Is everyone clear about the examples?”

Then say:

“REMEMBER:

Time is short, so when you begin the timed test, work asquickly and as accurately as you can.

If you want to change an answer, simply erase your firstchoice and fill in your new answer.

There are a total of 35 questions and you have 8 minutes inwhich to answer them.

If you reach the end before time is called you may reviewyour answers if you wish.

If you have any questions please ask now, as you will not beable to ask questions once the test has started.”

Then say very clearly:

“Is everyone clear about how to do this test?”

Deal with any questions appropriately, then, starting stop-watch or setting acount-down timer on the word BEGIN say:

“Please turn over the page and begin.”

Answer only questions relating to procedure at this stage, but enter in theAdministrator’s Test Record any other problems which occur. Walk aroundthe room at appropriate intervals to check for potential problems.

csAt the end of the 8 minutes, say:

“Stop now please and turn to Page 12.”

NB: If this is the final test to be used in this battery, instead of the aboveline, please turn to the instructions in Ending Test Session on the final pageof this section. If you are skipping a test, please find the appropriate testbookmark for your next test in the margin of the page and replace the aboveline as necessary.

You should intervene if candidates continue after this point.

Then say:

“We are now ready to start the next test. Has everyone stillgot two sharpened pencils, an eraser, some unused roughpaper?”

If not, rectify, then say:

“The next test follows on the same answer sheet, pleaselocate the section now.”

Indicate section.

Check for understanding, then remembering to read slowly and clearly, go tothe front of the group and say:

“Please ensure that you are on Page 12 of the booklet andfollow the instructions for this test as I read them aloud.”

Pause to allow page to be found.

“This test is designed to assess your ability to work withnumbers. Each question has six possible answers. One andonly one is correct in each case. Mark your answer by fill-ing in the appropriate box that corresponds to your choiceon the answer sheet.

You now have a chance to complete the two example ques-tions on Page 13 in order to make sure that you understandthe test. There is a section on the left hand side of youranswer sheet marked ‘Example’.”

Indicate section.

“Please attempt the example questions now; use the blankpaper provided to assist in your calculations.”

ctWhile the candidates are doing the examples, walk around the room to checkthat everyone is clear about how to fill in the answer sheet. Make sure thatnobody is looking at the actual test items during the example session. Whenall have finished (allow a maximum of two minutes) give the answers as fol-lows:

“The answer to Example 1 is number 5, the total cost is£39.00.The answer to Example 2 is number 3, £20.00 discountedby 10% is £18.00.


Then say:

“Time is short, so when you begin the timed test work asquickly and as accurately as you can.

If you want to change an answer, fully erase your firstchoice and fill in your new choice of answer.

There are a total of 20 questions and you have 8 minutes inwhich to attempt them.

If you reach the end before time is called you may reviewyour answers to the numerical test if you wish, but do notgo back to the verbal test.




Deal with any questions, appropriately, then, starting stop-watch or setting acount-down timer on the word BEGIN say:

“Please turn over the page and begin”


At the end of the 8 minutes, say:

“Stop now please and turn to Page 20”

dkNB: If this is the final test to be used in this battery, instead of the above line,please turn to the instructions in Ending Test Session on the final page ofthis section. If you are skipping a test, please find the appropriate test book-mark for your next test in the margin of the page and replace the above lineas necessary.


Then say:




Indicate section.




“This is a test of your ability to quickly perceive details inwords and numbers and to recognise likenesses and differ-ences rapidly. In this test you will be presented with onecorrect item made up of words and / or numbers and achoice of four alternatives, only one of which has beentranscribed correctly.

Your task is to select the numbered alternative which is anexact match to the item in the box. Now look at Example 1on the next page. The only possible answer is 2 as this is anexact match to the item.

Mark your answer by filling in the appropriate box thatcorresponds to your choice on the answer sheet.

You now have a chance to complete the next three examplequestions on page 21 in order to make sure that you under-stand the test. There is a section on the left hand side ofyour answer sheet marked ‘Example’.”

dlIndicate section.


While the candidates are doing the examples, walk around the room to checkthat everyone is clear about how to fill in the answer sheet. Make sure thatnobody is looking at the actual test items during the example session. Whenall have finished, (allow a maximum of two minutes) give the answers as fol-lows:

“The answer to Example 2 is number 4 as this is an exactmatch.The answer to Example 3 is number 3.The answer to Example 4 is number 2.


Then say:

“Time is short, so when you begin the timed test, work asquickly and as accurately as you can.

If you want to change an answer, fully erase your firstchoice, and fill in your new choice of answer.


If you reach the end before time is called, you may reviewyour answers to the clerical checking test but do not goback to the previous tests.




Deal with any questions appropriately, then, starting stop-watch or setting acount-down timer on the word BEGIN say:

“Please turn over the page, ensuring that you are on Page22, and begin.”


dmAt the end of the 5 minutes, say:

“Stop now please and turn to Page 32.”

NB: If this is the final test to be used in this battery, instead of the aboveline, please turn to the instructions in Ending Test Session on the final pageof this section.


Then say:




Indicate section.




“This is a test of general spelling ability. Each question hassix possible answers. One and only one is correct in eachcase. Mark your answer by filling in the appropriate box onthe answer sheet that corresponds to your choice.. You nowhave a chance to complete the two example questions onpage 33 in order to make sure that you understand the test.There is a section on the left hand side of your answer sheetmarked ‘Example’.”

Indicate section.


dnWhile the candidates are doing the examples, walk around the room to checkthat everyone is clear about how to fill in the answer sheet. Make sure thatno-one is looking at the actual test items during the example session. Whenall have finished (allow a maximum of two minutes) give the answers as fol-lows:

“The answer to Example 1 is number 1, as this is the cor-rect spelling.The answer to Example 2 is number 4, as this is the correctspelling.

Is everyone clear about the examples.”

Then say:

“Time is short so when you begin the timed test work asquickly and as accurately as you can.

If you want to change an answer, fully erase your firstchoice, and fill in your new answer.


If you reach the ‘End of Test’ before time is called you mayreview your answers to the spelling test if you wish, but donot go back to previous tests.




Deal with any questions appropriately, then, starting stop watch or setting acount-down timer on the word BEGIN say:

“Please turn over the page, ensuring that you are on Page34, and begin”


At the end of the 6 minutes…

doENDING THE TEST SESSION

Say:

“Stop now please and close your booklet’


COLLECT THE ANSWER SHEETS AND THE TEST BOOKLETS, ENSUR-ING THAT ALL MATERIALS ARE RETURNED (COUNT BOOKLETS AND ANSWER SHEETS)

Then say:

“Thank you for completing the Clerical Test Battery.”

REFERENCES5Ghiselli E. E. (1966) The Validity ofOccupational Aptitude Tests, NewYork: Wiley

Gould, S.J. (1981). The Mismeasureof Man. Harmondsworth, Middlesex:Pelican.

Heim, A.H. (1968). AH5 Group Testof High-grade Intelligence; Manual.Windsor: NFER-Nelson

Heim, A.H. (1970). Intelligence andPersonality. Harmondsworth,Middlesex: Penguin.

Heim, A.H., Watt, K.P. andSimmonds, V. (1974). AH2/AH3Group Tests of General Reasoning;Manual. Windsor: NFER Nelson.

Industrial Psychologists Inc. (1981)Perception. Test Examiner’s Manual,Test Agency, Bucks.

Schmidt F & Hunter J (1977)Development of a General Solution tothe Problem of ValidityGeneralisation. Journal of AppliedPsychology, 1977, 62, 529-540

clerical reasoning test technical manual

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