ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the evidence on General Mental Ability (GMA) and cognitive ability tests in connection with employment in the European Community (EC). It presents five themes: prevalence, applicant reactions, testing standards, criterion validity, and recent advances. The chapter shows that GMA and cognitive ability tests are used more often in Europe than in America. It argues that the studies carried out in the EC have shown that there are no differences between Europe and America. The chapter also shows that there is an initiative to harmonize the standards used across the European countries. It focuses on a validity generalization study carried out using the primary studies conducted in Great Britain and Spain. The chapter discusses recent developments in Europe concerning emerging media for assessing cognitive abilities, for example, video tests, and virtual reality tests. Various studies have recently been carried out into applicant reactions to personnel selection procedures in the EC countries.
