B-PAD: Behavioral Video Testing

Test Construction & Validation

B -PAD video tests assess an applicant's interpersonal skills and judgment. Scenarios portraying difficult interpersonal challenges are used to elicit a rich and wide variety of behavior. Behavioral responses to standardized, realistic, job-relevant situations provide for the most valid prediction of future work behavior. Eight scenarios/role plays from a larger pool of scenes are presented to ensure that each applicant's competence is assessed across an appropriate range of situations. In testing parlance, B-PAD is referred to as a high fidelity test because it uses realistic representations of task situations and provides applicants with an opportunity to respond as if they were actually facing the situation on the job.
     B-PAD's rationale and construction is based on the model of test construction developed by Goldfried and D'Zurilla (1969) called the Behavioral-Analytic Model for Assessing Competence. According to this model, the preferred goal of assessment is the appraisal of competence rather than the presence or absence of more global attributes or traits.
     Toward the goal of creating a video test that samples an adequate range of job-relevant competence, the construction of each B-PAD video test began with the collection of numerous problematic vignettes, obtained from a variety of sources. Scenarios were gathered from a diverse group of subject matter experts (SMEs) including women, ethnic minorities, professionals with urban and rural experience, line employees, supervisors and administrators. Additional SMEs were then used to rate written scripts of the various scenarios on the basis of realism, importance and difficulty. The final decision about which scenes to videotape was made by considering SME input and the need for a representative range of situations. Each vignette, however, reflects a job function regarded by the SMEs as essential.
     Once the scenes were selected, their scripts were refined, story boards were developed, actors and actresses were chosen, and the scenes were professionally produced. The eight scenes contained in each version of a B–PAD video tests are configured to allow for a sampling of an adequate depth of competence across an adequate breadth of situations. Promotional video tests are often customized, allowing SMEs from each agency to select the specific eight scenes most appropriate for the particular position and agency.
     The validation and reliability-testing procedures used by the B–PAD Group are conducted in accordance with the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" published jointly by the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education. In addition, the procedures comply with the "Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures" published by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.Links to selected research briefs addressing validity, reliability, adverse impact, and other issues are are to the left and under "Validation Research."

Back to top.