Transcript EVIDENCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

EVIDENCE-BASED ASSESSMENT
What 100 years of research can tells us of relevance to
vocational rehabilitation
Professor Robert Pryor
School of Education
Australian Catholic University
CONGRUENCE P/L
VOCATIONAL CAPACITY CENTRE
…ABOUT AS EASY
AS FALLING OFF A
TOBOGAN…….
THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
HUMAN
INTELLIGENCE
WORK VALUES
VOCATIONAL
INTERESTS
PERSONALITY
TRAITS
NARRATIVES
DON’T JUST STAND THERE – SAY SOMETHING!?

A Personal Perspective
 ….coming

clean……….
Principal achievement
 Taxonomic
 classifying
 describing
 correlating
 applying
HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
General
ability
Verbal :
Educational
Spelling
Arithmetic
Filing
Speed & accuracy
Decision making
Reading
Spatial:
Mechanical
Spatial
Mechanical
Dexterity
Psychomotor
Tech Info
GARDNER’S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
• LINGUISTIC
• sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meanings of words & languages
• MUSICAL
• abilities to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch, and timbre
• LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL
• sensitivity to, and capacity to discern, logical or numerical patterns
• SPATIAL
• BODILY-KINAESTHETIC
• abilities to control one's body movements and handle objects
• INTERPERSONAL
• capacity to discern and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments,
motivations, and desires of other people
• INTRAPERSONAL
• self awareness of strengths, weaknesses, feelings & motivations
• NATURALISTIC
• ability to recognize and classify minerals, plants, and animals
STERNBERG’S TRIARCHIC THEORY OF
INTELLIGENCE (1985, 1991)
• Analytical ability– Planning, monitoring, and evaluating
– Solving problems
– Knowledge acquisition
LOGIC
• Creative ability– Addresses the influence of task novelty on the process of
problem-solving
ARTISTIC
• Practical ability– Focuses on relation to the environment through
adaptation to the environment, alteration of the
environment, or selection of a different environment
STREET SMARTS
HUMAN INTELLIGENCE – SOME CONCLUSIONS
• A history of controversy – danger of misuse
• There is more to intelligence than just Abstract Problem Solving
• Ability tests are reliable
• Ability tests are valid
• Correlate with
• educational achievement
• Intellectual work performance
• G =/= statistical artifact
• Best single indicator of cognitive performance
• Predicts failure better than success – TWISTED PEAR
• Ability tests predict well generally but less so specifically
• Specific tests tend to become equivalent to criterion reference measures
VOCATIONAL INTERESTS
science
art
IDEAS
mechanical
caring
THINGS
PEOPLE
outdoors
service
DATA
organising
business
VOCATIONAL INTERESTS – SOME CONCLUSIONS
• Interests differentiate occupational choices
• Best single source of information about an individual’s choice of occupation
• Interests are rarely unitary
• Interpretation – look for patterns of interests (“codes”)
• Can indicate level of work orientation
• Sometimes reveal non-interest data
• Personal adjustment
• Unrealistic expectations
• Poor self awareness
• Motivation level
• Self esteem
• Gender/prestige differences persist – Cognitive Map of Occupations
Work values
Co-operative
Competitive
SEC
DET
Self
Others
Environment
MON
SD
SUR
PRE
CRE
LS
IND
COW
ALT
MAN
PA
SPECIFIC WORK ASPECT PREFERENCES
• RESEARCH FINDINGS (factor analysis)
MIQ
WIS
WAPS
Achievement
Utilitarian
Human/Personal
Comfort
Self-actualization
Concern
Status
Individualistic
Non-Work Orientation
Altruism
Social
Freedom
Safety
Adventurous
Autonomy
USING WORK VALUES
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Values – occupations are not as homogeneous for value orientation
as for interests
Assessment
 To identify aspects important to individuals in work and
occupations
 Prioritise among interesting possibilities
 Used in conjunction with interests (Pryor & Taylor, 1986)
 Can indicate
 Work motivation
 Work commitment
 Job satisfaction
 Aspects of work/life balance
PERSONALITY TRAITS
• Traits: Habitual or characteristic ways in which individuals think, feel
and act in response to their environment
• Person – Situation debate
• Remarkable trait consistency over time
• “Strong” situations
• “Weak” situations
• Broad vs Specific conceptualisation
• Occupational vs clinical uses
• Broad best for vocational rehabilitation
FIVE FACTOR MODEL
1. Extraversion – (Social Orientation)
1. gregarious, outgoing, talkative
2. Social component occupations
3. Sales & management
2. Openness to Experience (Cognitive Orientation)
1. Curiosity, imagination, innovation, broad-mindedness
2. Creative occupations
3. Success in training
3. Agreeableness (Interpersonal Orientation)
1. Cooperative, trusting, friendly
2. Interpersonal interaction occupations
3. Customer service & team environments
4. Conscientiousness (Task Orientation)
1. Responsible, persevering, achievement-oriented
2. Getting things done, a sense of duty, job search diligence
3. Job performance across most occupations
5. Neuroticism (Emotional Orientation)
1. Anxiety, vulnerability, self-consciousness
2. Emotional instability
3. Negatively related to stressful and team environments.
A TAXONOMY OF NARRATIVE
THE 7 ESSENTIAL PLOTS
Overcoming the
Tragedy
monster
Rebirth
Voyage and
return
Rags to
riches
Quest
Comedy
COUNSELING STRATEGIES WITH THE 7
PLOTS AND CHAOS THEORY OF CAREERS
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Changing plots
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Different perspectives
New strategies
Changing expectations about complexity
Process
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Constructing
Deconstructing
Co-constructing
SOME GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
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Abilities, interests, work values and personality traits
 Measurable with useful levels of validity and reliability for counselling purposes
 Value for effort in assessment
 Interests
 Abilities
 Personality traits
 Work values
Predictive validity is highest for general outcomes over short periods of time
In assessment you do not always get what you expect or seek
 E.g. assessing interests and you get an indication of self-esteem
 Avoid being too mechanical in assessment
 Look for patterns not just individual scores
Interpret data wholistically – integrate all of what you know and avoid privileging one
data source over others all the time
Look for themes in the stories clients tell
 What are they saying to themselves?
 How could the theme be changed constructively?
PROFESSOR ROBERT PRYOR
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
VOCATIONAL CAPACITY CENTRE
CONGRUENCE P/L
[email protected]