ABSTRACT
As noted in Chapter 1, for many years the research in performance appraisal tended to focus upon rating scale formats and rater training-usually aimed at reducing psychometric errors. The rater was viewed as a fairly passive participant in this process, or so it would seem most researchers assumed. The relevant information was based on the performance of the ratee, and the rater was simply the depository of this information. Furthermore, for the most part, the information that was acquired by the rater was seen as being an accurate representation of the behavior exhibited by the ratee. Finally, the rater was viewed as being motivated to be as accurate as he or she could be in the evaluations provided, and so willing to exert effort to improve rating accuracy. No other specific goals were attributed to the rater in the appraisal process.
