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Journal
of
Applied
Research
in
Memory
and
Cognition
9
(2020)
323–335
Journal
of
Applied
Research
in
Memory
and
Cognition
Improving
the
Validity
of
the
Armed
Service
Vocational
Aptitude
Battery
with
Measures
of
Attention
Control
Jessie
Martin∗,
Cody
A.
Mashburn
and
Randall
W.
Engle
Georgia
Institute
of
Technology,
United
States
We
evaluated
the
predictive
value
of
the
Armed
Services
Vocational
Aptitude
Battery
(ASVAB)
at
the
latent
level,
using
multitasking
as
a
proxy
for
real-world
job
performance.
We
also
examined
whether
adding
measures
of
attention
control
to
the
ASVAB
could
improve
its
predictive
validity.
To
answer
these
questions,
data
were
collected
from
171
young
adults
recruited
from
the
Georgia
Institute
of
Technology
and
the
greater
Atlanta
community.
Both
regression
and
latent
variable
analyses
revealed
that
the
ASVAB
does
predict
multitasking
at
the
latent
level
but
that
measures
of
attention
control
add
substantial
predictive
validity
in
explaining
multitasking
above
and
beyond
the
ASVAB,
fluid
intelligence,
and
processing
speed.
Theoretical
as
well
as
practical
applications
of
these
results
are
discussed
in
terms
of
theories
of
attention
control,
and
potential
cost
savings
in
selection
for
military
positions.
General
Audience
Summary
This
study
served
as
an
in-house
test
to
see
if
we
could
improve
the
prediction
of
the
Armed
Services
Vocational
Aptitude
Battery
(ASVAB).
A
total
of
171
individuals
came
into
the
lab,
completed
a
series
of
practice
tests
(due
to
the
propriety
nature
of
the
ASVAB),
some
basic
measures
of
cognitive
ability,
and
measures
focused
on
the
ability
to
control
ones
attention.
We
then
measured
the
degree
to
which
these
abilities
predicted
performance
on
a
complex
series
of
computer-based
tasks
designed
to
approximate
real-world
job
performance.
Our
results
showed
that
while
the
ASVAB
does
a
good
job
of
predicting
complex
task
performance,
prediction
rates
are
improved
when
measures
of
attention
control
are
included
as
well.
From
this
data
set
we
have
selected
a
series
of
tasks
that
are
easy
to
administer
and
understand
which
we
suggest
be
included
in
testing
active
duty
personnel.
Keywords:
ASVAB,
Attention
control,
Multitasking,
Fluid
intelligence
The
United
States
military
has
a
vested
interest
in
maximiz-
ing
the
validity
of
its
selection
instruments.
One
such
instrument
is
the
Armed
Services
Vocational
Aptitude
Battery
(ASVAB).
The
ASVAB
is
a
standardized
test
administered
to
all
individuals
enlisting
in
the
United
States
military.
The
test
and
its
derivations
(e.g.,
the
Armed
Forces
Qualification
Test)
are
used
to
screen
and
select
personnel
for
jobs
across
all
branches
of
the
military
Author
Note
Jessie
Martin,
Cody
A.
Mashburn,
&
Randall
W.
Engle,
School
of
Psychol-
ogy,
Georgia
Institute
of
Technology,
Atlanta,
GA
30313,
United
States.
This
work
was
supported
by
a
grant
from
the
Office
of
Naval
Research
(N00014-12-1-1011)
to
Randall
Engle.
∗Correspondence
concerning
this
article
should
be
addressed
to
Jessie
Mar-
tin,
School
of
Psychology,
Georgia
Institute
of
Technology,
Atlanta,
GA
30313,
United
States.
Contact:
jessie.martin@gatech.edu.
and
were
designed
with
these
utilitarian
goals
in
mind.
Although
performance
on
the
ASVAB
approximates
some
more
psycho-
logically
informed
tests,
including
the
SAT
(Frey
&
Detterman,
2004),
the
ASVAB
was
constructed
relatively
independently
of
psychological
theory
surrounding
general
cognitive
abilities
and
intelligence
testing
(Roberts
et
al.,
2000).
As
such,
we
believe
that
the
addition
of
metrics
grounded
in
psychological
theory
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