Two central constructs of applied psychology, motivation and cognitive ability, were integrated within an information-processing framework. This theoretical framework simultaneously considers individual differences in cognitive abilities, self-regulatory processes of motivation, and information-processing demands. Evidence for the framework is provided in the context of skill acquisition, in which information-processing and ability demands change as a function of practice, training paradigm, and timing of goal setting. Three field-based lab experiments were conducted with 1,010 U.S. Air Force trainees. In Experiment 1 the basic ability–performance parameters of the air traffic controller task and goal-setting effects early in practice were evaluated. In Experiment 2 goal setting later in practice was examined. In Experiment 3 the simultaneous effects of training content, goal setting, and ability–performance interactions were investigated. Results support the theoretical framework and have implications for notions of ability–motivation interactions and design of training and motivation programs.

The authors review the development of the modern paradigm for intelligence assessment and application and consider the differentiation between intelligence-as-maximal performance and intelligence-as-typical performance. They review theories of intelligence, personality, and interest as a means to establish potential overlap. Consideration of intelligence-as-typical performance provides a basis for evaluation of intelligence-personality and intelligence-interest relations. Evaluation of relations among personality constructs, vocational interests, and intellectual abilities provides evidence for communality across the domains of personality of J. L. Holland's (1959) model of vocational interests. The authors provide an extensive meta-analysis of personality-intellectual ability correlations, and a review of interest-intellectual ability associations. They identify 4 trait complexes: social, clerical/conventional, science/math, and intellectual/cultural.

An integrative theory that links general models of skill acquisition with ability determinants of individual differences in performance is presented. Three major patterns of individual differences during skill acquisition are considered: changes in between-subjects variability, the simplex pattern of trial intercorrelations, and changing ability—performance correlations with practice. In addition to a review of previous theory and data, eight experimental manipulations are used to evaluate the cognitive ability demands associated with different levels of information-processing complexity and consistency. Subjects practiced category word search, spatial figure, and choice reaction time tasks over several hundred trials of task practice. An air traffic controller simulation was used to show generalization to a complex task. Examinations of practice-related between-subjects variance changes and ability—performance correlations are used to demonstrate that an equivalence exists between three broad phases of skill acquisition and three cognitive—intellectual determinants of individual differences.

We describe a framework for understanding how age-related changes in adult development affect work motivation, and, building on recent lifespan theories and research on cognitive abilities, personality, affect, vocational interests, values, and self-concept, identify four intraindividual change trajectories (loss, gain, reorganization, and exchange). We discuss implications of the integrative framework for the use and effectiveness of different motivational strategies with midlife and older workers in a variety of jobs, as well as abiding issues and future research directions.

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