The Impact of Raters' Cognition on Judgment Accuracy: An Extension to the Job Analysis Domain

Eighty-six incumbents of three different jobs produced job-analytic ratings using either a decomposed (task-based) or a holistic (job-based) rating strategy. Approximately half of them received rater training in making inferential decisions. When tasks were less complex than the job as a whole, rating decomposition generally had positive effects on ratings' quality. Similarly, when the number of tasks rated was low to moderate, rater training was effective. A contingency approach, where limitations concerning the use of rating decomposition and inferential training were outlined, should serve to inform future uses and theories of rating aids in job analysis.