Generalizability Test of a Physical Ability-Job Performance Model.
Abstract
Models of U.S. Navy physical task performance can be used to improve job design, physical fitness standards, and wargaming verisimilitude. Generic models of human capabilities, limitations, and performance are needed for simulation and modeling (Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology), 1995). Vickers (1995) provided a simple, potentially useful model, but the empirical basis for the model left uncertainty about how broadly it applied to different people and tasks. One concern was that a model based solely on data from males would not generalize to females. A strength-performance model developed from male data was generalized to female data reported by Robertson and Trent (1985). Structural equation modeling demonstrated that: (1) male and female correlation matrices could be represented by a single model, and (2) the initial male model could be simplified from two strength dimensions and two performance dimensions to one strength dimension and one performance dimension. Those strength and performance dimensions were highly correlated (r = .953). The specific model developed here may apply only to physical tasks of relatively brief duration, but this first approximation can be useful because it covers a wide range of common Navy physical tasks. Structural modeling provides a tool for refining this initial model to represent a wider range of tasks or to produce higher fidelity in the prediction of specific tasks.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 04, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA317422
Entities
People
- Ross R. Vickers
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center