A Methodology to Evaluate the Aptitude Requirements of Air Force Jobs,
Abstract
Aptitude requirements for entry into various Air Force career ladders are presently determined in part by the judgement of responsible personnel and in part by tradition or precedent. A precise correspondence between the aptitude scores of Air Force personnel and the aptitude requirements of Air Force jobs is extremely important since the Air Force recruits a fixed amount of talent every year and there is more demand for this talent than one might expect. There exists an additional requirement for contingency plans should the talent pool shrink or offer fewer highly talented individuals. Even assuming the current talent remains unchanged, it may be more cost effective to shed some specialties into jobs with varying aptitude requirements because of differences in the actual tasks performed. The Air Force Human Resources Laboratory (AFHRL) has initiated the first systematic study to fully evaluate the aptitude requirements of Air Force specialties. The approach uses measures of learning difficulty at the task level to infer aptitude. The methodology was developed in an evolutionary manner from research documented by Fugill (1972, 1973). Christal (1973) as well as Maginnis, Uchima and Smith (1975) have further described this technology. The present paper will describe the development of task difficulty benchmark scales, their application, and will include a brief discussion of the results.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 03, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA083788
Entities
People
- Lloyd Burtch
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory