Call for Papers: “Insights Beyond g – Specific Cognitive Abilities at Work”

Abstract

In 1991, Ree and Earles concluded that ‘‘not much more than g’’ (p. 312) was necessary to predict performance criteria at work (in their case, training performance). This conclusion was echoed a decade later by Viswesvaran and Ones (2002) in their special issue: ‘‘All authors [. . .] agree that there is not much more validity to be gained from specific abilities than g’’ (p. 216). However, applying statistical advancements that were available another decade later revealed that specific cognitive abilities ‘‘also have an important role’’ (Lang, Kersting, H lsheger, & Lang, 2010, p. 626) and may even be of higher predictive validity than g. Specific cognitive abilities, broadly defined as abilities narrower than g, however, are not only worth examining with respect to their predictive validity on industrial-organizational-related criteria. More importantly, if specific cognitive abilities tap distinct cognitive processes, they have the potential of providing insights into the cognitive processes involved in executing work-related tasks, thereby increasing our knowledge as to why a particular job performance domain is contingent on g. Some authors have shown, for instance, that cognitive processes rooted in working memory are particularly important in multitasking and in solving complex arithmetic problems (B hner et al., 2006; Krumm et al., 2012). Those efforts are complemented by recent theoretical models focusing on workrelated activities and assuming specific cognitive processes as drivers of performance. The Search for Ideas in Associative Memory model (SIAM; Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006), for example, maintains that idea generation in groups is limited by the group members’ working memory capacity. Other models including cognitive processes are available for several work-related activities (team decision making, dual task performance, etc.). In sum, looking behind the scenes at both, the predictor side and the criterion side, has been a fruitful endeavor. This special issue of the Journal of Personnel Psychology aims to contribute to this growing body of research by presenting studies that: – Link specific cognitive abilities (such as domain-specific knowledge, working memory, executive functions, etc.) with specific performance domains in industrial-organizational psychology and explain variance beyond the g saturation of predictor and criterion. – Advance theories on and/or our understanding of cognitive processes involved in work-related performance domains. – Present methodological advancements in identifying broad and narrower cognitive abilities as predictors of industrial-organizational-related criteria. – Advance our understanding of when to use general and when to use narrower cognitive predictors.