The Mobilization Base for AFQT Norms
Abstract
The primary mental screening test used in determining whether Selective Service registrants and applicants for enlistment meet standards for military service is the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). The AFQT, developed through the joint efforts of all the services, is administered to potential enlisted input for all the services. Prospective inductees and enlistees examined in any given period are drawn from the total mobilization population of the nation. All screening tests--and classification tests used for screening--have been geared to this mobilization population. Theoretically, the term refers to the total population of young men available for service under conditions of full mobilization (as occurred in World War II) including individuals who may later by disqualified. Recent standardization studies have indicated the need to review the definition of the population base for which screening tests for military service are designed. The sampling basis for establishing percentile scores on the Armed Forced Qualification Test (AFQT) was reviewed in detail as background for a statement of problems involved in arriving at the most realistic definition of the mobilization population in view of the manpower demands of current and future warfare. The conclusion was that the assumption that the distribution of general aptitude for military service in the mobilization population is the same now as when the standardization base was established in 1944 merits reexamination.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- ADA079227
Entities
People
- A. G. Bayroff