Category-Based and Feature-Based Processes in Performance Appraisal: Integrating Visual and Computerized Sources of Performance Data

Recent developments in computerized performance monitoring (CPM) raise issues about how supervisors use monitored information. On the basis of theories of person perception that distinguish between category-based and feature-based information-processing strategies, the authors examined how raters integrate performance information from two sources: visual and computerized. Ss received positive or negative computerized data and viewed positive or negative episodes of a secretary's performance. Visual data were most influential in determining raters' processing strategies, suggesting that raters used category-based strategies when viewing positive performance and increased their use of feature-based strategies when viewing negative performance, regardless of the evalutive implications of the computerized data. Implications for performance appraisal and CPM systems are discussed.