Clinical, psychometric, and work-sample approaches in the prediction of success in Peace Corps training

Abstract

A STUDY TO DETERMINE WHETHER FAILURE TO BE SELECTED FOR OVERSEAS ASSIGNMENT COULD BE PREDICTED PRIOR TO PEACE CORPS TRAINING. 178 PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS, ASSIGNED TO 3 PROGRAMS, REPORTED PRIOR TO TRAINING FOR A WK. OF ASSESSMENT, WHICH INCLUDED INDIVIDUAL SITUATIONAL TESTS, PAPER-AND-PENCIL PERSONALITY TESTS, PROJECTIVE TESTS, AND WORK-SAMPLE LANGUAGE TRAINING. PREDICTIONS OF NONSELECTION WERE MADE BY CLINICAL METHODS, FROM LANGUAGE SCORES ALONE, FROM A COMBINATION OF PAPER-AND-PENCIL PERSONALITY TEST SCORES ALONE, AND BY ASSESSMENT BASED ON THESE LAST 2 SETS OF SCORES. ALL 4 SETS OF PREDICTIONS HAD SIGNIFICANT VALIDITY. HOWEVER, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES OCCURRED AMONG METHODS, THE SIMPLEST AND CHEAPEST APPROACH BEING AS EFFECTIVE AS THE MOST COMPLEX AND COSTLY. (16 REF.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)