Integrating and Evaluating Performance Information

This chapter presents a critical examination of performance evaluation processes, particularly those related to the integration of information to form judgments about job performance. It traces the evolution of performance appraisal research, highlighting the shift from developing rating scales to understanding cognitive processes involved in judgment formation. The chapter provides a critique of traditional rating scales and the four-step judgment model, suggesting that evaluations are continually revised rather than formed at the point of appraisal. The chapter argues for a quasi-Bayesian model for information integration, where initial impressions, influenced by various biases, guide the integration of new information, leading to stable yet potentially flawed performance evaluations. The chapter concludes by discussing the implications of these ideas for research and practice in performance evaluation and suggests future studies to explore this integration process further.