The theory of cognitive acuity: Extending psychophysics to the measurement of situational judgment.

Abstract

This article presents preliminary evidence for a theory of cognitive acuity (TCA), derived from psychophysical principles as a means for understanding and measuring an aspect of general mental functioning in the context of critical incident decision making on situational judgment tests (SJTs). Cognitive acuity is a new construct defined as the capacity to detect correctness and to distinguish between differences in correctness among simultaneously presented situation-specific response options. Borrowing from the WeberFechner law of stimulus and response, a method for measuring sensitivity to correctness signals (i.e., cognitive acuity) was tested on SJT item responses. TCA proposes measuring respondents’ sensitivity to the correctness signals emitted by ambiguously correct (or valent) response options using a two-parameter model of signal detection based on (a) the respondent’s level of signal sensitivity (i.e., cognitive acuity) and (b) the magnitude or level of that signal. The extent to which cognitive acuity is a direct determinant of SJT performance and an indirect determinant of observed on-the-job decision-making (OTJDM) performance was also examined. Results showed that both individual and contrasted response option signals are related to a respondent’s selection of a response option. Further, like sensory stimuli, SJT response option signals are logarithmically related to their detectability. Using this logarithmic function, just noticeable differences were estimated for each respondent and served as cognitive acuity measures, evidencing very small subgroup differences. Finally, using structural equation modeling, cognitive acuity was found to act as an initial variable in a fully mediated acuitySJTOTJDM performance relationship contributing indirectly to criterion-related job performance variance.