Test Construction & Validation
The B-PAD Testing Procedure and Scoring
1. The Validity of B-PAD as a Measure of Problem-Solving Skills
2. The Validity of B-PAD as a Measure of Interpersonal Skills
3. The Validity of B-PAD as a Measure of Expected Job Performance
4. B-PAD and Adverse Impact On Women & Minorities
5. The Effect of Job Experience On B-PAD Scores
6. The Effect of Practice On B-PAD Scores
7. B-PAD's Correlation With Observed Competencies in the Police Academy
8. The Validity of B-PAD as a Measure of Supervision & Management Skills
9. The Validity of B-PAD as a Measure of Ability to Function As Part of a Team
10. The Effect of Fire/EMS Job Experience on B-PAD Scores
The B-PAD Testing Procedure and Scoring
A pplicants taking a B-PAD video test are seated before a video monitor and camcorder. After receiving instructions orally and in writing, they are presented a series of eight simulations selected from a larger pool of available scenes. At a particular point in each scene, the word "respond" appears on the monitor and the applicant then has 45 seconds to respond verbally, as if he or she were actually at the scene responding to real people in a real situation. At the end of 45 seconds, the scene fades out and the next scene begins. A video camera, placed next to the monitor, records the applicant's responses for later scoring by trained raters from the hiring agency. B-PAD requires less than 30 minutes to administer and can be scored in under ten minutes. Raters are not present during test administration. A practiced rating panel, usually three raters, can easily score 35-55 applicants per day. Because the applicants are on videotape, panels can be assembled at the convenience of the hiring agency.
The scoring of applicant responses to B-PAD video tests focuses on interpersonal competence as measured by two content scales: task orientation (a measure of the applicant's problem solving ability) and interpersonal skills (a measure of the behaviors used by the applicant to relate appropriately to the subjects in the scene), and a weighted scale, overall effectiveness (a unitary measure of interpersonal competence based on the scores assigned to the two content scales). Each scale is assigned a score of 1-4, with 4 reflecting the highest level of competence.
The panel scores may then be used in a variety of ways to select applicants for further screening. Typically, cut-off scores are established to screen out applicants scoring below the designated score. Alternatively, applicants may be rank-ordered for further consideration. the b-pad group offers expert consultation from its staff of licensed psychologists in establishing cut-off scores and other decision rules.