Beginning in the early 1980s and continuing through the middle 1990s, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) sponsored a comprehensive research and development program to evaluate and enhance the Army's personnel selection and classification procedures. This was a set of interrelated efforts, collectively known as Project A. Project A had a number of basic and applied research objectives pertaining to selection and classification decision making. It focused on the entire selection and classification system for Army enlisted personnel and addressed research questions that can be generalized to other personnel systems. It involved the development and evaluation of a comprehensive array of predictor and criterion measures using samples of tens of thousands of individuals in a broad range of jobs. The research included a longitudinal sample--from which data were collected at organizational entry--following training, after 1-2 years on the job and after 3-4 years on the job. This book provides a concise and readable description of the entire Project A research program. The editors share the problems, strategies, experiences, findings, lessons learned, and some of the excitement that resulted from conducting the type of project that comes along once in a lifetime for an industrial/organizational psychologist. This book is of interest to industrial/organizational psychologists, including experienced researchers, consultants, graduate students, and anyone interested in personnel selection and classification research.

"The Army faces a number of personnel needs as it transforms to meet the challenges of today and the near future. To meet these challenges, the Army is seeking recommendations on predictor measures, in particular measures of noncognitive attributes (e.g., interests, values, and temperament), that could be administered to enhance Soldier selection and classification decisions. The U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) conducted a Concurrent Validation (CV) research effort to advance this objective. The objectives of this research were twofold: (1) to examine the value of using new, experimental predictor measures to select recruits into the Army; and (2) to investigate the potential of new, experimental predictor measures to enhance the classification of recruits into entry-level jobs. Criterion measures and experimental predictors were administered to 424 first-term Active Army Soldiers representing five military occupational specialties (MOS): (a) 11B Infantryman, (b) 19K Armor Crewman, (c) 25U Signal Support Systems Specialist, (d) 63B Light Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic, and (e) 68W Health Care Specialist. The value of the experimental predictor measures to enhance recruit selection and classification were examined. Overall, the results indicate that the experimental predictors show potential to increment the existing Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) for the purposes of selecting recruits into the Army and classifying them into entry-level jobs"--P. i.

This report describes research during the fifth year (FY87) of Project A, the Army's long-term program to develop a complete system for selecting and classifying entry-level enlisted personnel. During the fifth year, data obtained from administering experimental predictor and criterion measures to 9,500 soldiers in the project's concurrent validation stage was used to consider alternatives to the current Aptitude Area composites, evaluate methods for weighting criterion components in a composite index, and estimate the utility of various MOS/performance level combinations. Job analysis of second- tour performance was begun in preparation for future second-tour testing. Beginning the longitudinal validation stage, predictor tests were administered to approximately 48,000 1986/87 accessions in 21 MOS; samples from each MOS will subsequently be tested on first-tour and second-tour performance. This report is supplemented by a U.S. Army Research Institute Research Note (in preparation), which contains technical papers prepared during the year on specialized aspects of the project. Keywords: Aptitude areas; Army-wide measures; Criterion measures; First-tour evaluation; Longitudinal validation; MOS utility; Performance utility; Personnel classification; Personnel selection; Predictor measures; Project A; Rating scales; Second-tour evaluation; Soldier effectiveness; Weighting criteria.

The Army needs the best personnel to meet the emerging demands of the 21st century. Accordingly, the Army is seeking recommendations on new experimental predictor measures that could enhance entry-level Soldier selection and classification decisions, in particular, measures of non-cognitive attributes (e.g., interests, values, temperament). The U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) is conducting a longitudinal criterion-related validation research effort to collect data to inform these recommendations. Data on experimental predictors were collected from about 11,000 Soldiers. Training criterion data were collected for differing subsets of the predictor sample in the first of three planned criterion measurement points. Soldiers were drawn from two samples: (a) job-specific samples targeting six entry-level Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) and (b) an Army-wide sample with no MOS-specific requirements. In the analyses reported here, the value of the experimental predictor measures to enhance new Soldier selection was examined. Overall, many of the experimental predictors significantly incremented the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) in predicting Soldier performance and retention during training. In addition, the experimental predictors generally exhibited smaller subgroup mean differences (by gender, race, and ethnicity) than the AFQT.

U.S. Army leadership recognizes first and foremost the importance of its people - Soldiers - to the effectiveness of transformation to the Future Force. Preparing for this future will affect all aspects of the Soldier management system - selection, job classification, training, and leader development. This research effort is concerned with Soldier accession and job classification and is titled New Predictors for Selecting and Assigning Future Force Soldiers (Select21). The Select21 goal is to ensure the Army acquires Soldiers with the knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSAs) needed for performing the types of tasks envisioned in a transformed Army. The objectives of the project are to (a) identify Future Force job demands and the pre-enlistment KSAs required to meet them, (b) develop measures of job performance and critical KSAs, and (c) validate the experimental predictor (KSA) measures in a concurrent criterion- related validation. This report documents efforts to develop Select21 predictor and criterion measures. The predictor set includes measures of cognitive ability, temperament, psychomotor skills, values, expectations, and experience. Performance criteria include rating scales to be completed by supervisors and peers, technical knowledge tests, a situational judgment test, and indicators of personal environment fit (e.g., job satisfaction).