Effects of appraisal purpose and rating format on performance appraisal accuracy

The principle of encoding specificity states that effective information retrieval relies upon consistency of encoding and retrieval cues. The present study generalized this principle to a complex social interaction in order to investigate the relation between certain combinations of pre- and post-observational cues and their effects on information categorization, recognition accuracy, and judgment accuracy. It was hypothesized that two experimental factors, appraisal purpose and rating format categorization, would influence organization, retrieval, and judgment of performance information. Specifically, consistent encoding (purpose) and retrieval (format) cues were expected to result in the most efficient retrieval of information, and consequently in more accurate performance ratings.