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. Angelo DeNisi has spent 10 years conducting research into cognitive processes, particularly those of the rater, in performance appraisal. A Cognitive Appraisal is a careful and thorough investigation of appraisal decisions. Based on experiments conducted with over 300 participants, Angelo DeNisi presents results from both the laboratory and real life settings into this vital area. 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. It is also an excellent guide for all psychologists who wish to verify their results in the field as it contains the story of a long term research program encompassing the move from lab to field, successfully.