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PERSONNEL SELECTION* By Dr. Sohan Lall, Chief Psychologist, Ministry of Defence Historical From the earliest times somd kind of a test has always been used for selecting incumbents of certain posts. The oldest method of selection, known to us, was an examination in school or college sub- jects. When the number of candidates for any post was small the method employed was the viva voce examination. In this situation, the examiner combined the functions of testing the knowledge of the candidate in certain academic subjects and of assessing the traits of personality displayed by the individual during the examination. As the humber of candidates increased the viva voce examination was found time-consuming and inadequate. Public examinations were, consequently, organised. Written question papers were distributed and the candidates were required to write answers in note-books. The answer-books were subsequently scrutinized by the examiner. The testing of the standa.rd of achievement attained by a candidate in particular subject was thus accomplished, but the personal contact between the examiner and the examinee was lo&. The assessment of personality traits, which was one of the objects of the viva voce examination, could not be -achieved. To overcome this difficulty an interview with each candidate was considered necessary and the selection procedure came to have two steps in it; namely a written examination and an interview. This method has been in use for a long time now. A careful examination of this system of selection reveals that the written examination aims at measuring a candidate's abilities developed by the exercise of cognitive powers. The interview, on the other hand, attempts to assess the personality traits of the candi- date by observing his behaviour pattern in the interview situation and interpreting it in the light of the biographical data obtained during the' interview. In the past the selection of personnel in the Indian Armed Forces, particularly for the officer ranks, was made by this method. Before the war the officers of the Indian Armed Forces were selected by a written examination followed by qn interview. The introduction of psychological techniques in the process of selection is a development of this system. The psychological tests were first used for the selec- tion of personnel by the American Army in the year 1917. As a result of conscription ordered by the American Government during the first World War, thousands of young men were available for national service and it became rather difficult to use the ordinary method of selection for separating individuals who could-make good officers from those who would be good as Other Ranks. Psycho- logical tests were used to overcome this difficulty. They provided quick diagnosis. Large numbers could be handled and a verdict - *Paper read on April 28, 1952 at the Second Defence Science*Coq- ference. 103 L68Army 104 PERSONNEL SELECTION given on them in a short time. It has, however, to be remembered that the tests used by the Americans were only tests of intelligence. The American Psychologists at that time were making selection to the officer rank purely on the basis of the level of intelligence. This method provided a measure of the cognitive aspects of the mind of the candidates but made no attempt to assess the emotional and volitional aspects. In India during the second World War, with the expansion of the Army, a large number of candidates offered themselves for the commissioned rank. The increase in the number of recruits put such an amount of strain on the method of selection censisting of a written examination followed by an interview that it ultimately broke down. Under the stress of war, a method was needed which could finish the selection procedure quickly. It is common knowledge that if a written examination is conducted in two or three subjects, for a large number of candidates, it takes at least three months to announce the results. It was not possible during the operation of hostilities to wait for such a long time. The written examination, consequently, was given up and the candidates were selected on the basis of two interviews. ,The first interview was conducted by a Provincial Inter- view Board and the successful candidates were interviewed a second time by the Central Interview Board. This method which employed only the technique of a formal intervi*ew failed to give satisfactory results. The wastage at the Officers Training Schools increased to 40 per cent. Dissatisfaction was, therefore, expressed with this pro- cedure of selection. In 1941 Britain had evolved a system of selection for officers in which psychological techniques were employed. It was an improve- ment on the old American method used in 1917, in as much as it measured the intelligence of the candidates and also assessed their personalities. This method was adopted, after suitable modification. for the Indian Armed Forces in the year 1943. By July 1943 there were six Officers Selection Boards, as they were called in those days, functioning all over India. They were using a technique which considerably cut down the time of testing. Each Board could test about 400 candidates in a month. The new method gave better results which was indicated by the fact that during the period of 24 years the wastage rate at the Officers Training Schools came down from 40 per cent. to 9 per cent. The method in use at the present time has undergone a great deal of modification since 1943. THE PRESENT METHOD-OFFICER SELECTION It was said above that the traditional method of selection has generally been a written examination plus an interview. The present method used for the selection of officers for the Armed Forces is the same except in one respect. - The interview has been made more. elaborate, systematic, definite and accurate. In the present method the educational achievement which is largely a function of the cogni- tive processes is given equal weight with personality traits. The DEFENCE SCIENCE JOURNAL candidates have first to go through a written examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (U.P.S.C.). The subjects in which they are examined are English, Mathematics and General Knowledge. The total number of marks for the three subjects is 100. The candidates who secure 40 per cent. and above at the U.P.S.C. Examination are sent to the Services Selection Boards for psycho- logical testing. The candidate, in order to pass the psychological tests, must get 40 per cent. of marks. The marks of candidates who secure 40 per cent. and above at the Selection Boards are added to the marks obtained by them at the U.P.S.C. A list 'is prepared in which names are placed in order of merit on the basis of the aggre- gate of the marks scored by the candidates at the U.P.S.C. and the Selection Board. Candidates are then selected from the top of this list according to the number of vacancies existing for a particular course. The written examination conducted by the U.P.S.C. is of the ordinary type used by all the Universities except that the paper in General Knowledge takes the form of an Objective Test. The method employed by the Service Selection Boards may be explained in detail. Broadly speaking, an ordinary formal interview also uses the psychological technique for the assessment of personality. The beha- viour of the candidate in the interview is watched and conclusions are drawn about his mental make-up. There is one disadvantage in the formal interview, namely, that it may not be possible during the short time available to the iriterviewer to be able to pierce through the masked behaviour of a candidate. The candidate may display a superficial personality in the interview and his real innate mental structure may pass unobserved. The basic personality of a candidate can be seen either by a trained eye or +y putting the subject under an emotional stress or by administering Projection Tests. It is not suggested that the formal interview is not of any value. In fact in the hands of a mature, stable and experienced interviewer who has considerable knowledge of human nature, it can give good results. But when the numbers to be interviewed are large the provision of suitable interviews in adequate numbers becomes a problem. The S.S.Bs. use three methods of assessing a candidate's person- ality. The first is the method of formal interview. This is coqduct- ed by a senior officer of the Armed Forces who generally holds the rank of full colonel or above. It is reasonably correct to assume that an officer of that status has sufficient experience of service conditions and of human nature to be able to assess the suitability of a candi- date for a commissioned rank in the Armed Forces specially when he undergoes training for that purpose. The second method is that of putting a candidate in situations which are miniatures of those which he is likely to come across during his service career. These situations present a problem which is to be solved by a group of candidates. The group normally con- sists of 8 to 10 candidates. The problem is of a practical nature which generally takes the shape of taking an object over a number of obstacles under controlled conditions. The group is told that the problem is not solved by merely the object reaching its destination but that the complete solution requires the reaching of every member of the group to that destination. There are some situations in which the candidate has to work alone.

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