A cognitive view of the performance appraisal process: A model and research propositions

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Abstract

This paper presents a model of performance appraisal which focuses on the cognitive processes employed by a rater attempting to form an evaluation. The model describes the method by which a rater collects, encodes, stores, and later retrieves information from memory, and the method by which he or she weights and combines this information to form an evaluation which is converted to a rating on a scale. The model is based on diverse bodies of literature which share a social-cognitive orientation, and it forms the foundation for a number of testable research propositions.

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    Support for, this research was provided by the National Science Foundation under Grant BNS-8023252 to the authors. We express our appreciation to Allyn Blencoe, Jennifer Crocker, Jack Feldman, Dean McIntosh, and Kevin Williams, as well as to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

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