The Validation of a Domain General Systems Thinking Assessment Test for Personnel Selection and Classification

Abstract

The goal of this research was to develop a domain independent measure of systems thinking (ST) and to collect preliminary construct and content validation evidence for the model. An extensive literature search identified four sub constructs of systems thinking: holistic thinking, adaptability, forecasting, and closed-loop thinking. Measures of these four ST constructs were developed and refined by modifying a version of the Air Force Multi-Attribute Task Battery (MATB). The criterion-related validity of two existing measures of ST (an ability/skill measure and a dispositional tendency/preference measure) via job performance ratings was assessed. A small-sample validation study showed that the four ST subconstruct operationalizations demonstrated adequate variability, were often moderately positively correlated with each other, and were related to several conceptually relevant skill/ability and dispositional variables. Findings from a larger-sample criterion-related study using previously existing measures of ST are also discussed. Directions for future research and additional refinements to the existing ST model are discussed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 05, 2019
Accession Number
AD1074135

Entities

People

  • Amanda Harwood
  • Dean Cisler
  • Jake Quartuccio
  • Maryjo Kolze
  • Reeshad S. Dalal
  • Sam Monfort
  • Samantha Dubrow
  • Stephen J. Zaccaro
  • Tyler H Shaw
  • Wenmo Kong
  • William Miller

Organizations

  • George Mason University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Applied Psychology
  • Classification
  • Cognition
  • Cognitive Workload
  • Delphi Method
  • Descriptive Analytics
  • Education
  • Information Processing
  • Literature Surveys
  • Military Research
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Personnel Management
  • Personnel Selection
  • Psychology
  • Reasoning
  • Regression Analysis
  • Resource Management
  • Situational Awareness
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Sciences
  • Statistics
  • Students
  • Surveys
  • Systems Engineering
  • Thinking
  • Training

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Hydrologic Risk Analysis and Mitigation.
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.