Priming in a Simulated Assessment Center Environment: Can Behavioral Observation Training Overcome the Effects of Prior Information?

Two studies were performed to investigate how behavioral observation training helps assessors handle the information processing demands of the assessment center. In Study 1, the effects of potentially biasing prior information (priming) on the behavioral observations and rating judgments of 90 untrained subjects were determined. Priming was operationalized as one of three sets of information (positive, negative or neutral) that subjects received prior to observing, and rating a designated target individual. Results showed that both the observations and ratings of untrained subjects were influenced by priming. Study 2 investigated the effects of prior information on the observations and ratings of 115 trained and untrained subjects. The trained subjects made significantly more accurate observations and ratings than the untrained subjects. Also, priming was found to influence subjects' judgmental evaluations (ratings), but not their behavioral observations. These findings suggest that priming biases may be relevant to the assessment center context, especially with regard to the evaluative rating aspect of that process. Support was also found for the notion that the observation and rating tasks required of assessors may involve two distinct cognitive processes.