Effect of purpose of observation on accuracy of immediate and delayed performance ratings

Kevin R. Murphy, Theresa A. Philbin, Susan R. Adams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Cognitive research suggests that a rater's purpose for observing ratee behavior will affect the accuracy of both immediate and memory-based ratings of performance. To test this hypothesis, subjects (N = 182) viewed videotaped lectures either for the purpose of performance appraisal or for the purpose of learning the content of the lectures, and rated the lecturers either immediately or after delays of 1, 3, or 7 days. Both the Purpose of Observation and the Delay between observation and rating were shown to affect the accuracy of both behavior ratings and measures of recognition memory. Interactions between purpose and delay suggest that raters for whom performance appraisal was a secondary task gave more accurate ratings under long delay conditions than did raters for whom performance appraisal was the sole task. The use of on-line vs memory-based processing as a function of purpose of observation is suggested as a possible explanation for our results. Implications of these results for the design of future performance appraisal research are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)336-354
Number of pages19
JournalOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Volume43
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 1989
Externally publishedYes

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