Assessing the Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS) as an MOS Qualification Instrument

Abstract

This report examines whether the Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS) may be useful for selecting and classifying recruits into Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) and describes the two broad approaches that were taken to evaluate the measure for these purposes. TAPAS data for this research were collected from Army applicants at the Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) between May 2009 and June 2011. In addition, criterion data were collected in the Tier One Performance Screen (TOPS) program. The total sample size for this research was 151,625. With this data, we first examined the validity of TAPAS scales for predicting outcomes in four high density MOS including 11B, 31B, 68W, and 88M. Next, we examined whether the TAPAS scales could be used to differentiate high performers in each MOS from those that would perform better in a different occupation. Using composites of the TAPAS scales, results indicated that some individuals might perform better in an MOS other than the one they were assigned to. Therefore, TAPAS may be useful as a supplement to the current procedures for MOS qualification and classification.

Review of Item Response Theory Practices in Organizational Research

“…It is no longer just a tool for educational psychologists to assess right or wrong answers. For example, IRT has become ubiquitous in large-scale testing practices such as military selection (e.g., Nye et al, 2014) and is seeing growing use among clinicians (Reise & Waller, 2009). Additionally, a more unified framework for using IRT, namely, within the software R, is beginning to develop.…”

Military and Civilian Pay Levels, Trends, and Recruit Quality

“…Between 2006 and 2008, the Tier 2 Attrition Screen (TTAS) allowed for more tier 2 contracts (Heffner, Campbell, and Drasgow, 2011). TTAS was the forerunner to TAPAS, which aims to identify prospects with desirable attributes, such as commitment, drive, personality, and leadership, that are not measured solely by the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) or the AFQT, which is based on a subset of ASVAB scores (Nye et al, 2012). Initial operational test and evaluation of TAPAS began in 2009 on several large occupational specialties, including infantry, military police, combat medics, and motor transport operators.…”

Assessing the Use of Employment Screening for Sexual Assault Prevention

“…As noted in Section 2, the military services have begun to use TAPAS, a personality assessment that was originally developed for the U.S. Army Nye et al, 2012). This assessment contains 21 facets of the Big Five personality traits and may expand to include additional facets of interest to the U.S. military (see Table 3.2).…”

“…Specifically, Nye et al (2012) found that patterns across TAPAS scales differed across Army MOSs, suggesting that the TAPAS may help choose individuals for different MOSs (see also Drasgow et al, 2012). Nye et al also found that TAPAS scales were significantly associated with job knowledge, Army Physical Fitness Test scores, disciplinary incidents, and attrition.…”