An analysis of the effect of frequency of task performance on Job Performance Measurement

• Main Author: Reece, Rick L.
• Other Authors: Johnson, Laura D.
• Published: Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School 2013
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/34857

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. === This thesis explores the effect of frequency of performance on the Congressionally mandated Job Performance Measurement, specifically the Marine Corps' portion of the study. The initial portion of the project involved the hands-on performance testing of the infantry specialities. The purpose of this thesis is to validate the use of the general technical (GT) composite of the ASVAB test as a predictor of performance in the infantry specialty and to provide recommendations to revise training priorities. Our approach in analyzing the problem included the following: (i) computing the correlation between aptitude and performance, then investigating any degrading or moderating effect that frequency might have on this relationship, (ii) an investigation into the performance of high aptitude personnel versus low aptitude personnel across frequency categories, and (iii) the relative effect of frequency on the maintenance of proficiency in each task. We have validated the use of the GT composite as an effective predictor for hands on performance by performing analysis of variance. An interesting result was the determination that frequency is the major predictor for performance based tasks requiring continual practice for the maintenance of skill levels, while recency is the major factor in predicting tasks that are more knowledge based and require the recall of detailed procedures.