Effects of Appraisal Salience on Immediate and Memory-Based Judgments

This study investigated the effects of appraisal task salience and retention interval upon the accuracy of performance ratings. Subjects viewed videotaped samples of employee performance and provided performance ratings of the behavior of the target individual depicted in the videotapes. Analyses of variance an followup t-tests indicated no main effects for appraisal salience or retention interval on overall accuracy of rating or elevation scores. A significant two-way interaction between appraisal salience or retention interval was observed for overall accuracy and elevation. Further investigation showed that subjects primed for the appraisal task were more accurate then subjects in the low appraisal salience condition, when ratings were made a week after observation of performance. The implications of the findings for performance appraisal and for the design of appraisal research are discussed. Prepared in cooperation with Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN.