Conditional Reasoning Test Research Articles

Interaction between implicit aggression and dispositional self-control in explaining counterproductive work behaviors

Implicit component of aggression as a personality trait seems to be important for understanding aggressive behavior in different life domains, including counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). However, the expression of aggressive urges might depend on the level of self-control an individual possesses. In this paper we report the results of 2 studies that tested the interaction between implicit aggression, as measured with the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT-A), and dispositional self-control (DSC) in explaining counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). In Study 1, 333 employees completed a study package consisting of the CRT-A, a DSC scale, and a CWB scale. In Study 2, an additional sample of employees (n=341) completed a research battery consisting of the CRT-A, another DSC scale, and another CWB instrument. Additionally, in Study 2 we collected ratings about the participants' DSC and CWBs from their coworkers. The moderation analyses confirmed that high DSC buffers the effect of implicit aggression on self-reported CWBs in both studies, irrespective of whether self-control was self- or other-reported. However, the moderation effect was nonsignificant when other-reports of CWBs were used as the criteria.

Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression: Further evidence about incremental validity

The Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression has shown significant correlations with various counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) and seems to be potentially very useful for screening out applicants inclined to deviant behaviors at work. However, there is a lack of research testing its overlap with other personality determinants of CWBs. In this article, we report the results of three studies testing incremental validity of the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT‐A). Our results have shown that the CRT‐A was mostly unrelated to the Dark Triad traits (Study 1), the HEXACO traits (Study 2), or trait self‐control (Study 3). However, the CRT‐A score was still a significant predictor of CWBs‐related attitudes (Study 1) and self‐reported interpersonal and organizational deviance (Study 3).

Conditional Reasoning Test for Creative Personality: Rationale, Theoretical Development, and Validation

The innovations of creative individuals are regarded as vital for business functioning and survival. To this end, efforts have been made to design measures of creative personality in hopes of predicting creative performance. Current measures of creative personality all reside at the explicit level, yet theory and research both suggest that a large proportion of personality can also be conceptualized at the implicit level. We address this issue by presenting a theoretical basis for creative personality that operates on an implicit level. Using conditional reasoning methodology, we describe five cognitive biases that serve as justification mechanisms for creative personality. Next, we link implicit creative personality to creative abilities through a developmental process. We then test this model and our new measure of creative personality in five different studies. Our results provide evidence in support of an implicit component of creative personality and suggest that it is a substantial predictor of creative performance. Finally, we describe the management and human resources implications of the conceptualization of creative personality as an implicit construct.

An item analysis of the Conditional Reasoning Test of Aggression.

This manuscript uses item response theory (IRT) to estimate item characteristics of the Conditional Reasoning Test of Aggression (CRT-A). Using a sample size of 5,511 respondents, the present analysis provides an accurate assessment of the capability of the CRT-A to measure latent aggression. The one-parameter logistic (1PL) model, two-parameter logistic (2PL) model, and three-parameter logistic (3PL) model are compared before the item analysis. Results suggest that the 2PL model is the most appropriate dichotomous IRT model for describing the item characteristics of the CRT-A. Potential multdimensionality in the CRT-A is also examined. Results suggest that CRT-A items work as theoretically intended, with the probability of selecting an aggressive response increasing with latent trait levels. Information curves indicate that the CRT-A is best suited for use with individuals who are high on latent aggression. Exploratory analyses include an examination of polytomous IRT models and DIF comparing student and employee respondents. The results have implications for future research using the CRT-A as well as the identification of populations appropriate for measurement using this assessment tool.

Validity Evidence for a Croatian Version of the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression

The Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT‐A) is based on the idea that aggressive individuals use motive‐based cognitive biases to see their behavior as reasonable and that those biases can be measured with inductive reasoning tasks. Although the initial validation efforts for the CRT‐A in the United States have been reasonably successful, there has been no attempt to determine if the evidence of validity and reliability generalizes to other cultural contexts. In this paper, we describe four studies designed to systematically accumulate validity evidence for the CRT‐A using Croatian participants. Our analyses revealed that the Croatian adaptation of the CRT‐A yielded psychometric characteristics that were similar to those obtained on the US samples (Study 1). CRT‐A scores that predicted counterproductive work behaviors occurrence beyond self‐reported personality (Study 2) were independent from general mental ability as measured with an abstract reasoning test (Study 3), and not susceptible to faking (Study 4).

Justifying Counterproductive Work Behaviors and an Integrity‐based Conditional Reasoning Test: Back to the drawing board?

Conditional reasoning tests (CRT) were proposed as an innovative approach to implicitly measure the rationalizations toward counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) often associated with overt integrity tests. The authors first set out to map a typology of justification mechanisms for general CWB, and to then validate a new integrity‐based CRT in both honest and faking testing conditions. Unfortunately, while demonstrating encouraging construct and criterion validity in the honest testing condition, the test was less resistant to faking than originally anticipated, and ceased to be valid in the faking condition. Overall, the results provide theoretical insight toward understanding how employees justify CWB, but raise concerns regarding the potential operational limitations of at least some CRTs.

Measurement issues associated with conditional reasoning tests: An examination of faking

Conditional reasoning (CR) is a new item format that measures personality by indirectly assessing reliance upon the cognitive biases associated with specific traits (James et al., 2005). Previous research suggests that, relative to self-report measures, responses on CR-based measures are more difficult to distort (LeBreton, Barksdale, Robin, & James, 2007). The issue of response distortion in the context of CR-based measures was evaluated in two studies. Study 1 (within-subjects) and Study 2 (between-subjects) both investigated whether responses on a CR-based test of addiction could be faked when indirect assessment was upheld. Results of both studies indicated that, unlike a self-report measure of a similar construct, the CR-based measure was unaffected by response distortion.

Publication Bias: A call for improved meta‐analytic practice in the organizational sciences

Previous research has introduced the threat of publication bias to meta‐analytic reviews in management and industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology research. However, a comprehensive review of top‐tier journals demonstrates that more than two thirds of meta‐analytic studies in management and I/O psychology ignore the issue. Of the studies that do empirically evaluate publication bias, almost all use methods that are based on problematic assumptions (e.g., the Failsafe N and subgroup comparisons by source of data). The current paper reviews the issue of publication bias and introduces to management and I/O psychology new methodological techniques to assess this bias. To illustrate the methods, multiple publication bias methods are demonstrated in a meta‐analytic review of conditional reasoning tests for aggression. We offer specific recommendations that address both design and analysis issues to mitigate the existence and influence of publication bias.

Instrumenten om Personeel te Selecteren in de 21ste Eeuw:

Instruments for Personnel Selection in the 21st Century: Research and Practice Instruments for Personnel Selection in the 21st Century: Research and Practice This article presents an evidence-based overview of innovative selection techniques that were developed in the last years to provide an answer to key questions concerning the contemporary practice of selection. In addition, we aim to point out gaps in the current knowledge about these novel techniques to guide future research. The article shows that innovative selection instruments such as conditional reasoning tests, integrity tests, and implicit association tests might offer opportunities to measure value-based competencies, and maladaptive traits. Furthermore, contextualized personality questionnaires, business-related intelligence tests, situational judgment tests, and so-called serious games enable organizations to improve their image, which creates branding opportunities to promote the company as an attractive employer. Finally, we conclude by stating that practitioners and researchers face numerous selection challenges. Examples are the selection of a diverse as well as competent workforce and the reliable and valid implementation of unproctored Internet testing.

Identifying the Aggressive Personality

Acts of workplace aggression by coworkers take a tremendous toll on organizations and their employees. This paper explores the thought processes used by aggressive individuals to rationalize hostile behaviors and discusses various types of workplace aggression. This paper also presents a new personality test, the Conditional Reasoning Test of Aggression, which addresses some of the shortcomings of self-report personality tests that have traditionally been used to identify and screen out aggressive applicants.

Measurement issues associated with conditional reasoning tests: Indirect measurement and test faking.

Conditional reasoning is a new measurement technique used to measure cognitive biases associated with latent personality motives. The current article describes 3 studies examining 2 related measurement issues associated with conditional reasoning tests (CRTs). Study 1 examined the necessity of maintaining indirect assessment when administering CRTs. Results indicated that, compared with a control condition, 2 experimental conditions that disclosed the purpose of assessment yielded significant mean shifts on a CRT. Study 2 explored whether CRTs could be faked when the purpose of assessment was not disclosed. Results indicated that when indirect measurement was maintained, CRTs appeared to be resistant to faking. Study 3 compared scores on the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression across student, applicant, and incumbent samples. Results indicated no significant mean differences among these samples.

The Conditional Reasoning Measurement System for Aggression:An Overview

The Conditional Reasoning Measurement System is described. This procedure focuses on how people solve what on the surface appear to be inductive reasoning problems. The true intent of the problems is to determine if solutions based on implicit biases are logically attractive to a respondent. In this article, we focus on the types of implicit biases that underlie aggressive individuals' attempts to justify aggressive behavior. People who consistently select solutions based on these types of biases are scored as being potentially aggressive because they are cognitively prepared to rationalize aggression. Scores on the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT-A) have been shown to have acceptable psychometric properties and an average, uncorrected validity of .44 against behavorial criteria (in 10 studies).

The use of drawings as concrete referents in conditional reasoning problems

AbstractA mixed group containing university students, mostly studying mathematics, and some senior school pupils took two paper‐and‐pencil conditional reasoning tests in varying order with a one‐week interval between the tests. One test consisted of five problems presented entirely in written form. The second test took one of two forms, both identical to the first test except that in the first form inessential drawings were added to the presentation of four of the problems and in the second form drawings, which acted as concrete referents and were essential, were added to the same four problems. Irrespective of the order of testing, subjects' performance on the problems with drawings used as concrete referents was significantly worse than on the corresponding problems presented in written form. Furthermore, the results of the initial testing session showed the school group performed significantly worse on both the form of test with inessential drawings and the form with concrete referents than on the written form. In addition, a group of students with recent training in reasoning significantly outperformed all others. Finally, negative conclusion bias was only observed for the Modus Tollens inference. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The curious effect of using drawings in conditional reasoning problems

College level students were given two paper and pencil conditional reasoning tests in varying order. The first test consisted of three problems presented entirely verbally. The second test was identical to the first except that two of the three problems made use of line drawings as concrete referents. Performance on the problems with drawing was significantly worse than for purely verbal presentation. In addition, interaction effects between the two forms of presentation were observed over the one-week interval between the two tests.

Incorrect conditional reasoning among adults: Competence or performance?

Two groups of university students were given paper‐and‐pencil conditional reasoning tests. One group received problems based on a simple pr̊q relation, while for the second this relation was embedded in a paragraph describing other relations of the form ar̊q. Results showed that overall performance was better for the second group, confirming previous studies. However, detailed analysis of response patterns indicated that the effect of adding information of the form ar̊q varied according to performance on an initial problem used to evaluate spontaneous conditional reasoning. These results are consistent with the idea that incorrect conditional reasoning in adults may be at least partly due to a basic lack of competence.

Awareness of the ‘possible’ as a mediator of formal thinking in conditional reasoning problems

This study attempted to test the hypothesis that formal reasoning on conditional logic problems of the form pr̊q is mediated by awareness of the existence and pertinence of possible relations of the form ar̊q. A paper‐and‐pencil test consisting of three conditional reasoning problems and a fourth question designed to measure subjects' awareness of alternate possibilities within the context of a given conditional relation was administered to 239 post‐secondary students. Of these subjects, 143 were also given an individual conditional reasoning test using an apparatus with visible and invisible trajectories. The results indicated that, while individual performance on the two tests varied greatly, it remained correlated with subjects' awareness of the ‘possible’. In addition, analysis of non‐formal responses produced in both tests indicated that certain of these could be reasonably categorized as intermediate or transitional responses between concrete and formal levels.

Using Observation and Action Instruction to Facilitate Conditional Reasoning Performance in Early Adolescents

Early adolescent students (mean age=ten years, two months) received two 50-minute periods of instruction designed to increase their conditional syllogistic performance. The instructional method incorporated a logic board utilizing a Venn diagram format, blocks, and cards which illustrated all 16 conditional syllogisms. The study elaborated on an earlier work which had successfully utilized the instructional method. The action group children moved the block themselves into the correct areas of the logic board while the observational group children moved no blocks. Shortterm, longterm, and transfer performances were assessed using written 16-item conditional reasoning tests; performance of instructed children was compared to a group of non-instructed children. Results again confirmed that the basic instructional method is a viable way to positively affect early adolescents' reasoning performance. The differences between the action and observational groups' performance were not siginificant suggesting that moving blocks is not an important aspect of the instructional method. Because research indicates that conditional reasoning is difficult for children to master, these results take on practical significance.

Effects of Reading Comprehension on Conditional Reasoning from Connected Prose Passages

Summary A conditional reasoning test and a reading comprehension test were administered to 300 Ss in Grades 5 through 8. Each item on the conditional reasoning test consisted of (a) a prose passage containing the premises of a two-premise deductive argument embodying a basic principle of conditional reasoning and (b) a question that called for a judgment about a conclusion drawn from these premises. Analyses of correct responses for the conditional reasoning test showed that grade level, level of reading comprehension, and principle of conditional reasoning each had a significant influence on Ss' performance. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the teaching of reading comprehension and the assessment of Ss' propositional reasoning abilities.

Characteristics of the Conditional Reasoning of Educable Retardates

A pictorial conditional reasoning test was administered to three cross-sectional groups of educable mentally retarded (EMR) children and adolescents. The test items varied according to principle of inference and type of content. An analysis of variance of the number of correct judgments showed a significant main effect for principle of inference. On the other hand, the expected differences for age group and type of content were not found. An examination of the explanations associated with correct and incorrect judgments revealed that retardates’ reasoning strategies were congruent with those reported for younger normals in previous studies. The results are discussed in terms of contemporary conceptions of mental retardation and education for the retarded.

Sex Differences in Conditional Reasoning

Summary Two conditional reasoning tests were administered to 34 students (17 males and 17 females) at each of four grade levels (i.e., 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th). Both tests contained conditional reasoning arguments which assessed students' comprehension of five basic principles of inference. However, they varied systematically according to the sex typing of the content (i.e., masculine or feminine). The results indicated that there were no significant sex differences according to grade level, type of content, or principle of inference. On the other hand, at each grade level, there were consistent differences among the mean scores for the five principles, and valid principles were significantly easier than invalid principles. The implications of these findings for future research were discussed.