Cognitive Abilities in Personnel Selection

Abstract

Cognitive abilities have been a cornerstone of research and practice in personnel selection from the field’s inception. This chapter defines cognitive abilities and provides frameworks for considering the nature of the vast number of different measures that have been developed. It then discusses their structure, discussing the current Cattell–Horn–Carroll model that encompasses abilities as a hierarchical domain ranging from a unitary construct down to highly specific abilities that are not universally observed in the general population. Having established the nature of abilities, the chapter reviews research on their usefulness for predicting job performance and training success, including new research that argues for or against a historical overestimation of criterion-related validity for job performance as well as evidence that general ability is less predictive of job performance now than in the past. The chapter then turns to new research on the potential importance of specific abilities and review research examining bias in testing across groups.