Functional Fidelity, Context-Matching, and Individual Differences in Performance

Abstract

Conventional personality questionnaires are often only weak predictors of operational performance. A major problem is that personality effects are moderated by contextual factors which may be mismatched across laboratory and real-world studies. Context mismatch threatens the ‘functional fidelity’ of laboratory performance tasks; the extent to which the individual behaves as they would in the operational environment. Three research strategies for enhancing the functional fidelity of laboratory studies of individual differences are proposed. First, contexts relevant to specific personality traits may be developed in the laboratory. For example, socially threatening environments may be necessary to find meaningful effects of neuroticism. Second, traits linked to a specific performance context may be employed. The validity of traits for driver stress vulnerability supports this approach. Third, psychophysiological responses to simulations of the cognitive demands of the work environment may be used. Our recent work shows that stress and hemodynamic responses to short high-workload tasks predict longer-duration sustained performance.