A Cognitive Approach to Performance Appraisal is the account of a meticulous and extensive research program into rater cognitive processes and their effects on performance appraisal decisions. Angelo DeNisi has conducted over 30 experiments both in the laboratory and in real-life situations to investigate such important topics as the role of rater memory and the effect of liking some employees more than others. It is also the story of long-term research: the high and low points, the successes and the pitfalls, and the differences between work in the laboratory and the real world. A Cognitive Approach to Performance Appraisal is relevant to all those researching in organizational psychology, especially in the field of appraisal. It will also be of interest to all psychologists whose work in the lab is criticized as of little use in applied settings, as it shows how the move from lab to field may be successfully undertaken.

The benefits of performance appraisal in the business world have caused an upsurge of books and programs for use in management, but few of the methods described bother to verify that the underlying psychology on which they are based holds true. "A Cognitive Approach" "to Performance Appraisal" is a careful and thorough investigation of appraisal decisions. The evidence described will be invaluable to all those involved in assessing the validity of particular performance 'packages' for use by themselves or their clients and to other researchers in appraisal techniques.