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Spatio-visual ability
: practical intelligence, non-verbal ability and creative ability 

Perceptual speed
and accuracy
: clerical ability 

Physical abilities
: mechanical, manual, musical and athletic 
8.1.4 Personality tests 
Personality tests may measure a variety of characteristics, such as an applicant's skill in dealing with 
other people, ambition and motivation, or emotional stability. Examples include the 16PF, the Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator
™
and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). 
The validity of such tests has been much debated, but it seems that some have been shown by research 
to be valid predictors of job performance, so long as they are used properly. 
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CHAPTER 12
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RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION 
 
337 
8.2 Limitations of testing 
Despite current enthusiasm for selection testing, it has its limitations. 
(a) 
There is not always a direct relationship between ability in the test and 
ability in the job
: the job 
situation is very different from artificial test conditions. 
(b) The 
interpretation of test results 
is a skilled task, for which training and experience is essential. 
It is also highly subjective (particularly in the case of personality tests), which belies the apparent 
scientific nature of the approach. 
(c) 
Additional difficulties are experienced with 
particular kinds
of test
. For example: 
(i) 
An aptitude test measuring arithmetical ability would need to be constantly revised or its 
content might become known to later applicants. 
(ii) 
Personality tests can often give misleading results because applicants seem able to guess 
which answers will be looked at most favourably. 
(iii) 
It is difficult to design intelligence tests which give a fair chance to people from different 
cultures and social groups and which test the kind of intelligence that the organisation 
wants from its employees: the ability to score highly in IQ tests does not necessarily 
correlate with desirable traits, such as mature judgement or creativity, but merely mental 
ability. 
(iv) 
Most tests are subject to coaching and practice effects. 
(d) 
It is difficult to exclude 
bias 
from tests. Many tests (including personality tests) are tackled less 
successfully by women than by men, or by some candidates born overseas than by indigenous 
applicants, because of the particular aspect chosen for testing.