Tier One Performance Screen Initial Operational Test and Evaluation: Early Results

Abstract

Along with educational, medical, and moral screens, the U.S. Army uses a composite score from the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) to select new Soldiers. Although the AFQT is useful for selecting new Soldiers, other personal attributes are important to Soldier performance and retention. Based on the U.S. Army Research Institute's (ARI) investigations, the Army selected one promising measure, the Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS), for an initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), beginning administration to applicants in 2009. Criterion data are being collected at 6-month intervals from administrative records, from Initial Military Training (IMT), and from schools for eight military occupational specialties (MOS) and will be followed by two waves of data collection from Soldiers at first unit of assignment. This is the first of six planned evaluations of the IOT&E. This report documents the early analyses from a small sample of Soldiers who completed the TAPAS and completed IMT. Similar to prior experimental research, our early evaluation suggests that several TAPAS scales significantly predicted a number of criteria of interest, indicating that the measure holds promise for both selection and classification purposes. 15. SUBJECT TERMS behavioral and social science, personnel, manpower, selection and classification SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF 19.

Assessing Competencies and Proficiency of Army Intelligence Analysts Across the Career Life Cycle

“…As a result, it is particularly useful for high-stakes contexts, such as preemployment screening, in which candidates might be particularly motivated to present a favorable impression. Although TAPAS is relatively new, some validation has been conducted (e.g., Knapp and Heffner, 2010;Knapp, Heffner, and White, 2011). 10 With these results, the developers determined that, when combined with current measures, TAPAS scores could contribute meaningfully to soldier placement into an MOS .…”

Non-Cognitive Personality Assessment and Risk of Injuries Among Army Trainees

“…Non-cognitive personality assessments have been studied as predictors of job performance and as tools for personnel selection in civilian and military work settings. [9][10][11][12][13] Non-cognitive attributes such as personality, interests, and values have been shown to be significantly associated with entry-level soldier performance and retention. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] The Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS) was created for use by the U.S. Army to measure personality dimensions that could predict motivational outcomes such as job effort, physical fitness, and drive to perform at a high standard among military applicants in order to improve selection of new recruits and increase personnel management flexibility.…”

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] The Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS) was created for use by the U.S. Army to measure personality dimensions that could predict motivational outcomes such as job effort, physical fitness, and drive to perform at a high standard among military applicants in order to improve selection of new recruits and increase personnel management flexibility. 9,10,17 Based on broad dimensions of normal personality, 21 TAPAS measures narrow personality dimensions as well as dimensions of special interest to the military, which include a propensity to engage in physical conditioning. A version of the physical conditioning dimension has been used in other non-cognitive tests used by the U.S. military.…”

“…Personality measures often have limited use in high-stakes testing situations, such as personnel selection, owing to the desire of respondents to answer questions favorably and to increase their likelihood of acceptance. 9,10,17 Individuals taking TAPAS are asked to choose between two statements that are matched on social desirability and endorse the statement that is most like him/her. Each statement measures a different personality dimension important to job performance, thus making it difficult to simply choose the "correct" statement and the probability of "falsely representative" answers.…”

“…pairwise preference algorithm that has been validated and deemed reliable. 10 Each pairwise statement addresses one of the 15 different personality dimensions (Appendix A). 17 Specifically, TAPAS measures: achievement, attention seeking, cooperation, dominance, even temperedness, generosity, intellectual efficiency, non-delinquency, optimism, order, physical conditioning, sociability, tolerance.…”