Automation of Psychological Selection Procedures for Personnel to Specific Activities

The article presents a universal method for determining the professional suitability (PS) of a candidate and an algorithm for forming a psychological profile for a specific profession based on determining the psychological potential of personality. The developed method is based on the use of automated support systems. Based on the obtained value of the integral indicator, a decision is made on the PS group of this candidate. This method adapts to the requirements of the profession to candidates, taking into account changes in the conditions of activity by adjusting the typical psychological profile of the personality. The developed method for determining a candidate’s PS has been brought to practical implementation in the form of an Automated Psychodiagnostic Complex (APDC) “Psychodiagnostics.” APDC has been tested on the example of the psychological selection procedures of personnel for military service in units with law enforcement functions. APDС allows to reduce the time and labor costs for conducting psychodiagnostic studies, increases the reliability of tests due to a higher degree of standardization of the testing procedure, increases the accuracy of assessing psychological characteristics, and reduces the likelihood of errors in the processing of test results. APDС can be used for recruiting in various sectors of the economy, education, and military sphere.

Stratified Ranked Set Sampling (SRSS) for Estimating the Population Mean With Ratio-Type Imputation of the Missing Values

In this chapter, the authors develop stratified ranked set sampling (RSS) under missing observations. Imputation based of ratio rules is used for completing the information for estimating the mean. They introduce the needed elements on imputation and on the sample selection procedures. They extend RSS models to imputation in stratified populations. A theory on ratio-based imputation rules for estimating the mean is presented. Some numerical studies, based on real-world problems, are developed for illustrating the behaviour of the accuracy of the estimators due to their proposals.

On the Use of Gradient Boosting Methods to Improve the Estimation with Data Obtained with Self-Selection Procedures

In the last years, web surveys have established themselves as one of the main methods in empirical research. However, the effect of coverage and selection bias in such surveys has undercut their utility for statistical inference in finite populations. To compensate for these biases, researchers have employed a variety of statistical techniques to adjust nonprobability samples so that they more closely match the population. In this study, we test the potential of the XGBoost algorithm in the most important methods for estimation that integrate data from a probability survey and a nonprobability survey. At the same time, a comparison is made of the effectiveness of these methods for the elimination of biases. The results show that the four proposed estimators based on gradient boosting frameworks can improve survey representativity with respect to other classic prediction methods. The proposed methodology is also used to analyze a real nonprobability survey sample on the social effects of COVID-19.

Legume Breeding for the Agroecological Transition of Global Agri-Food Systems: A European Perspective

Wider and more profitable legume crop cultivation is an indispensable step for the agroecological transition of global agri-food systems but represents a challenge especially in Europe. Plant breeding is pivotal in this context. Research areas of key interest are represented by innovative phenotypic and genome-based selection procedures for crop yield, tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses enhanced by the changing climate, intercropping, and emerging crop quality traits. We see outmost priority in the exploration of genomic selection (GS) opportunities and limitations, to ease genetic gains and to limit the costs of multi-trait selection. Reducing the profitability gap of legumes relative to major cereals will not be possible in Europe without public funding devoted to crop improvement research, pre-breeding, and, in various circumstances, public breeding. While most of these activities may profit of significant public-private partnerships, all of them can provide substantial benefits to seed companies. A favorable institutional context may comprise some changes to variety registration tests and procedures.

Refined cut selection for benders decomposition: applied to network capacity expansion problems

In this paper, we present a new perspective on cut generation in the context of Benders decomposition. The approach, which is based on the relation between the alternative polyhedron and the reverse polar set, helps us to improve established cut selection procedures for Benders cuts, like the one suggested by Fischetti et al. (Math Program Ser B 124(1–2):175–182, 2010). Our modified version of that criterion produces cuts which are always supporting and, unless in rare special cases, facet-defining. We discuss our approach in relation to the state of the art in cut generation for Benders decomposition. In particular, we refer to Pareto-optimality and facet-defining cuts and observe that each of these criteria can be matched to a particular subset of parametrizations for our cut generation framework. As a consequence, our framework covers the method to generate facet-defining cuts proposed by Conforti and Wolsey (Math Program Ser A 178:1–20, 2018) as a special case. We conclude the paper with a computational evaluation of the proposed cut selection method. For this, we use different instances of a capacity expansion problem for the european power system.

Objective and bias-free measures of candidate motivation during job applications

Society suffers from biases and discrimination, a longstanding dilemma that stems from ungrounded, subjective judgments. Especially unequal opportunities in labor remain a persistent challenge, despite the recent inauguration of top-down diplomatic measures. Here we propose a solution by using an objective approach to the measurement of nonverbal behaviors of job candidates that trained for a job assessment. First, we implemented and developed artificial intelligence, computer vision, and unbiased machine learning software to automatically detect facial muscle activity and emotional expressions to predict the candidates’ self-reported motivation levels. The motivation judgments by our model outperformed recruiters’ unreliable, invalid, and sometimes biased judgments. These findings mark the necessity and usefulness of novel, bias-free, and scientific approaches to candidate and employee screening and selection procedures in recruitment and human resources.

Two provably consistent divide-and-conquer clustering algorithms for large networks

In this article, we advance divide-and-conquer strategies for solving the community detection problem in networks. We propose two algorithms that perform clustering on several small subgraphs and finally patch the results into a single clustering. The main advantage of these algorithms is that they significantly bring down the computational cost of traditional algorithms, including spectral clustering, semidefinite programs, modularity-based methods, likelihood-based methods, etc., without losing accuracy, and even improving accuracy at times. These algorithms are also, by nature, parallelizable. Since most traditional algorithms are accurate, and the corresponding optimization problems are much simpler in small problems, our divide-and-conquer methods provide an omnibus recipe for scaling traditional algorithms up to large networks. We prove the consistency of these algorithms under various subgraph selection procedures and perform extensive simulations and real-data analysis to understand the advantages of the divide-and-conquer approach in various settings.

Dear Computer on My Desk, Which Candidate Fits Best? An Assessment of Candidates’ Perception of Assessment Quality When Using AI in Personnel Selection

Recently, with the increase in technological capabilities and the need to reduce bias in candidate selection processes, artificial intelligence (AI)-based selection procedures have been on the rise. However, the literature indicates that candidate reactions to a selection process need to be considered by organizations that compete for employees. In this study, we investigate reactions to AI-based selection procedures in a three-dimensional vignette study among young adults in Germany. By investigating the effects of the dimensions of AI complexity, intangibility, and reliability on the perceived quality of assessment of potential candidates, we found that AI complexity and intangibility impact the perceived quality of assessment negatively when the candidates’ knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses should be assessed. We also found interactive relationships of all three dimensions for the assessment of motivation. In sum, results indicate that candidates are skeptical toward the assessment quality of AI-intense selection processes, especially if these assess complex assessment criteria such as personality or a job performance forecast. Hence, organizations need to be careful when implementing AI-based selection procedures. HR implications are made on the basis of these results to cope with negative candidate perceptions.

Differential anchoring effects of vaccination comparator selection: characterizing a potential bias due to healthcare utilization in COVID-19 versus influenza

IntroductionObservational data enables large-scale vaccine safety surveillance but requires careful evaluation of potential sources of bias. One potential source of bias is an index date selection procedure for the unvaccinated cohort or unvaccinated comparison time. Here, we evaluate different index date selection procedures for two vaccines: COVID-19 and influenza.MethodsFor each vaccine, we extracted patient baseline characteristics on the index date and up to 450 days prior and then compared them to the characteristics of the unvaccinated patients indexed on an arbitrary date or indexed on a date of a visit. Additionally, we compared vaccinated patients indexed on the date of vaccination and the same patients indexed on a prior date or visit.ResultsCOVID-19 vaccination and influenza vaccination differ drastically from each other in terms of populations vaccinated and their status on the day of vaccination. When compared to indexing on a visit in unvaccinated population, influenza vaccination had markedly higher covariate proportions and COVID-19 vaccination had lower proportions of most covariates on the index date. In contrast, COVID-19 vaccination had similar covariate proportions when compared to an arbitrary date. These effects attenuated but were still present with a longer lookback period. The effect of day 0 was present even when patients served as their own controls.ConclusionPatient baseline characteristics are sensitive to the choice of the index date. In vaccine safety studies, unexposed index event should represent vaccination settings. Study designs previously used to assess influenza vaccination must be reassessed for COVID-19 to account for a potentially healthier population and lack of medical activity on the day of vaccination.