Date of Award

3-1993

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Operational Sciences

First Advisor

Daniel E. Reynolds, PhD

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of mechanical aptitude and job experience on the job performance of 204 Air Force Aerospace Group Equipment (AGE) mechanics. Job performance was expressed as productive capacity (PC), which is derived from estimated performance times on job tasks. PC measures were derived for 50 tasks typically performed by airmen in the specialty. Aptitude measures took the form of Mechanical percentile composite scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). A second-order logistic model was used to regress PC on aptitude and experience at the task level and at the overall job, or aggregate, level. Model 2s were generally low. For the tasks, R2s ranged from .01 to .13, and for the aggregate model the R2was about .16. Generally, experience was a significant predictor but aptitude was not. There was also no indication of an aptitude/experience interaction. These results were verified through forward stepwise regression. There was some evidence that airmen may experience some skill degradation on production-type tasks at around the six year point as they transition to supervisory roles.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GOR-ENS-93M-05

DTIC Accession Number

ADA262391

Comments

The author's Vita page is omitted.

Download

Share

COinS