Author Description

The Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), a composite of math and verbal scores, is used to determine eligibility for entry into the Armed Services. The goal of this project was to identify characteristics of individuals scoring below average on this test which differentiated those who can or cannot perform successfully in various jobs in the Army. The AFQT is part of a test battery known as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). When the ASVAB was put into place in 1976, there were undetected flaws in the method used to determine appropriate percentile scores in reference to the normative population. Because of this "misnorming," many recruits were accessed who, if the misnorming had not taken place, would have been identified as belonging in below average AFQT categories. This misnorming continued until it was discovered and corrected in 1980. This project examined data on over 150, 000 soldiers who were accessed during the misnorming period. Predictor variables examined included ASVAB subtest scores, interest measure scores, educational background, and demographic variables. These were linked to the following outcome measures: attrition, reenlistment eligibility, performance on a written job knowledge test, the Skill Qualification Test (SQT), and junior grade (to E- 4) promotion rate. Analyses focused on the relationship between predictors and outcome for those identified as below average scorers on the AFQT. Major findings included these: diploma status was best at predicting attrition and also tended to be the best predictor of promotion. A group of cognitive ASVAB subtests were superior predictors of performance on the job knowledge test.