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Using an improved version of the Bayesian validity generalization model presented in Schmidt and Hunter (1977), this study showed that most of the between‐study variation in observed validity coefficients of various aptitude and ability tests for two types of clerical work and for the job of first‐line supervisor is artifactual in nature. These results cast additional doubt on the traditional belief that employment test validities are situationally specific. In addition, the results showed that generalization of validities to new settings was justified even where the hypothesis of situational specificity could not be rejected under the standards used in this study. Implications for the use of aptitude and ability tests in selection and for theory development in industrial‐organizational psychology are discussed.
Schmidt et al. (1979) studied this question.