Estimating AFQT by Telephone Using a Computer Adaptive Test

Peter J. Legree

Jan 1997 · U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, Organization and Personnel Resources Research Unit

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"A computer adaptive test was administered over the telephone by reading items and response alternatives to 144 individuals who had recently enlisted in the U.S. Army and had completed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Subject responses were entered into a computer by the telephone interviewer thereby allowing the adaptive test program to estimate aptitude with approximately 10 verbal items. Analyses indicate that the Telephone Test is highly correlated with the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) in the sample we tested, r = .66; the bivariate correction for range restriction estimated this population correlation to be .81. A confirmatory factor analysis produced a four factor solution with the Telephone Test loading at a very high level (.91) on a Verbal factor, which had a substantial loading (.72) on a higher order factor. The magnitude of the factor loadings and the administration time (5 to 10 minutes) indicate that the procedure provides an excellent measure of crystallized Verbal aptitude that can be incorporated into brief telephone interviews and used to estimate AFQT and general aptitude."--DTIC.