Application of multi-media technology to computer administered vocational personnel assessment

Abstract

A multi-media method and system performs psychological assessment of an individual for suitability for particular jobs, whereby the individual is shown and provided with discrete visual and auditory stimuli on a multi-media computer screen, so that the individual's responses can be monitored in conjunction with physiological responses received by biofeedback sensors. The computer tallies the test subject's recorded responses. Virtual work environments are optionally displayed, to enable the tested individual to simulate a real work environment. Unlike other job evaluation systems, the system evaluates a job candidate's ability to maintain task focus under pressure. It directly measures performance under pressure, rather than only inferring potential performance based upon selective input from a job candidate.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of my pending application Ser. No. 10 / 101,227 filed Mar. 18, 2002, which application is based upon provisional application No. 60 / 277,140 filed Mar. 19, 2001, and which application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 09 / 395,548, filed Sep. 11, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,525 dated Dec. 10, 2002, which application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08 / 829,488, filed Mar. 27, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,226 dated Feb. 29, 2000, which is based on Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 014,203, filed on Mar. 27, 1996. I claim benefit under 35 USC 120 for these examinable utility applications and claim benefit under 35 USC 119(e) for the aforesaid provisional patent applications.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention is related to interactive multi-media applications in psychological testing for vocational assessment, which evaluates a job candidate's ability to maintain task focus under pressur...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a battery of tests that can be administered to an individual by a computer using multi-media features. These tests can be used for various purposes such as screening job applicants for employment. The software application stores and evaluates all input data and includes one or more modules to monitor and re-scale non-truthful responses of prospective employees. The system can detect for untruthful responses and re-scale values of questions depending on the type of test and the job title. The software application also includes a database of field experience to continuously refine the norms and improve the accuracy of the tests. The system can be accessed through the internet and can perform pre-employment screening, pre-promotion evaluation, and performance evaluation applications. The computer administered multi-media stress tolerance test module compares a subject's performance on a visual matching task under two conditions, non-stress and stress. The system measures physiological parameters such as heart rate, EKG electrocardiogram responses, skin temperature, skin conductance, muscle tension, respiration rate, facial expressions, eye pupil dilation, and blood pressure to monitor and quantify an individual's reaction to stress. The system can also provide a detailed analysis of the reaction to stress based on the type of error made by the individual."

Problems solved by technology

In addition, it has been found previously in the prior art, primarily from testing for integrity on polygraph tests, that questions that take longer to answer and that exhibit more response time latency variability are not being answered truthfully.

However, these prior art patents and polygraph integrity testing do not disclose a multi-media method and system which performs psychological assessment of an individual for suitability for particular jobs, whereby the individual is shown and provided with discrete visual and auditory stimuli on a multi-media computer screen, so that the individual's responses can be monitored in conjunction with physiological responses received by biofeedback sensors.

These prior art patents and integrity testing also do not disclose display of virtual work environments, to enable the tested individual to simulate a real work environment, so that a job candidate's ability to maintain task focus under pressure can be measured, rather than only inferring potential performance based upon selective input from a job candidate.

Images