Evaluating the Appropriateness of the Numerical Operations and Math Knowledge Subtests in the AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification Test)

Maier, Milton H.; Hiatt, Catherine M.

doi:10.21236/ada180266

Cited by 3 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Specifically, Maier and Sims (1983) show that while potential recruits score higher on the speeded tests (i.e., coding speed and numerical operations tests) than the NLSY participants, they did worse on any other test. 23 The latter part was expected since the NLSY participants were more educated than potential recruits (Maier and Hiatt, 1986). 24 The former part was not.…”

Section: Indirect Evidence From the Armed Forcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 The former part was not. Maier and Hiatt (1986) suggest that the gaps on the speeded tests are the result of "test taking strategies" among which they count: "work as fast as possible" and "keep your attention focused on the problem" (Maier and Hiatt, 1986, p. 5). They add: ".…”

Section: Indirect Evidence From the Armed Forcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is 25 See Section A2 in Appendix A for the construction of this distribution. 26 Unfortunately, Maier and Hiatt (1986) do not provide any summary statistics on the IOT&E 1984 sample, so it is impossible to test whether the two distributions are equal.…”

Section: The Basic Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…56 However, Maier and Sims (1983) have shown that gaps in speeded tests' scores between the two populations actually decrease with GT. 57 Not surprisingly then, with the introduction of new ASVAB forms, the problems with the norming of the speeded tests got even worse (Maier and Hiatt, 1986), and resulted in the recommendation, that was accepted in 1989, to take the numerical operation test out of the AFQT.…”

Section: A11 Problem With Asvab Normingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The test score distribution for the 1984 male applicants for enlistment (IOT&E 1984), reported in Figure 2, was constructed using the data provided in Maier and Hiatt (1986). The authors provide, in Table A scores.…”

Section: A12 Armed Forces -Variable Construction For Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Motivation, Test Scores, and Economic Success

Segal

2008

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper argues that low-stakes test scores, available in surveys, may be partially determined by test-taking motivation, which is associated with personality traits but not with cognitive ability. Therefore, such test score distributions may not be informative regarding cognitive ability distributions. Moreover, correlations, found in survey data, between high test scores and economic success may be partially caused by favorable personality traits. To demonstrate these points, I use the coding speed test that was administered without incentives to National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY) participants. I suggest that due to its simplicity its scores may especially depend on individuals' test-taking motivation. I show that controlling for conventional measures of cognitive skills, the coding speed scores are correlated with future earnings of male NLSY participants. Moreover, the coding speed scores of highly motivated, though less educated, population (potential enlists to the armed forces) are higher than NLSY participants' scores. I then use controlled experiments to show that when no performance-based incentives are provided, participants' characteristics, but not their cognitive skills, affect effort invested in the coding speed test. Thus, participants with the same ability (measured by their scores on an incentivized test) have significantly different scores on tests without performancebased incentives.JEL Codes: J24, J31, C91

show abstract

Section: Indirect Evidence From the Armed Forcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Indirect Evidence From the Armed Forcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Basic Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A11 Problem With Asvab Normingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A12 Armed Forces -Variable Construction For Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Motivation, Test Scores, and Economic Success

Segal

2008

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Working When No One Is Watching: Motivation, Test Scores, and Economic Success

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper provides evidence that scores on simple, low-stakes tests are associated with future economic success because the scores also reflect test-takers' personality traits associated with their level of intrinsic motivation. To establish this, I use the coding speed test that was administered without incentives to participants in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). I show that controlling for cognitive ability, the coding speed scores are correlated with future earnings of male NLSY participants. I provide evidence that the coding speed scores relate to intrinsic motivation. I show that the scores of the highlymotivated, though less-educated, group (potential recruits to the US military), are higher than the NLSY participants' scores. I use controlled experiments to show directly that intrinsic motivation is an important component of the unincentivized coding speed scores and that it relates to test takers' personality traits.

show abstract

Assessment of Assembling Objects (AO) for Improving Predictive Performance of the Armed Forces Qualification Test

Anderson¹,

Hoffman²,

Tate³

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether the Assembling Objects test (AO) should be added to the AFQT predictor composite. The investigation included a literature review and analysis of data from Army Classification project. Analyses included regressions with 20 different criteria, subgroup analyses, and bias analyses. Findings suggest that the Army should consider including the AO subtest in the AFQT predictor composite. Adding the AO subtest to the AFQT composite would likely increase the prediction of performance and job knowledge, while potentially decreasing the subgroup predictor differences between Hispanic and white subgroups. Although adding the AO subtest to the AFQT composite may increase the subgroup predictor differences of female and black subgroups relative to their respective majority comparison groups, results suggest that any additional subgroup differences would be borne out in performance differences, and that the revised AFQT composite would thus be fair and unbiased to minority groups. Future research should examine the degree to which these findings differ across job clusters, where cluster members are similar in terms of abilities needed to perform the work.

show abstract

Evaluating the Appropriateness of the Numerical Operations and Math Knowledge Subtests in the AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification Test)

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Motivation, Test Scores, and Economic Success

Motivation, Test Scores, and Economic Success

Working When No One Is Watching: Motivation, Test Scores, and Economic Success

Assessment of Assembling Objects (AO) for Improving Predictive Performance of the Armed Forces Qualification Test

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About