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Project A
Project A was the name applied by the U.S. Army to its contribution to the Joint-Service Job Performance Measurement/Enlistment Standards (JPM) Project sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD) in 1982. Lasting until 1989, Project A—which now also comprises the follow-on Career Force project (examining performance during soldiers' second tours of duty and spanning 1990–1994)—is arguably the largest selection and classification project ever conducted. Results from Project A continue to shape the way the Army selects, assigns, trains, and promotes its soldiers. Project A data remain a rich storehouse of information about individual differences and job performance. Project results and data have also had an impact on the field of industrial/organization (I/O) psychology at large, having sparked theoretical developments regarding models of job performance (contextual performance, determinants of relevant variance), a resurgence in interest regarding personality tests as selection tools, and development of models for setting recruit enlistment standards.
The Joint-Service Job Performance Measurement/Enlistment Standards Project
The JPM Project was a congressionally mandated multimillion-dollar effort that spanned 1982 to 1994. The impetus for JPM was the discovery of a scoring error that inflated the scores of lower-aptitude recruits on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). This miscalibration of ASVAB scores led to the enlistment of approximately 250,000 individuals who otherwise would not have qualified for entrance, and increased congressional concerns about recruit quality.
In response to the miscalibration, the DoD initiated the JPM Project. A primary goal of JPM was to determine if hands-on job performance could be measured. If so, the DoD could set enlistment standards on the basis of that job performance information. Previous standards were tied to training success rather than job performance, and the ASVAB was validated against training performance but not against performance on the job in the field.
The DoD encouraged each branch of the armed forces to conduct its own research for JPM. The U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI) sponsored the Army's effort. The Army's approach was ambitious, expanding the predictor and criterion domains by developing new entry-level selection and performance measures. The selection project was named Project A to distinguish it from the classification research effort Project B.
Study Design
Project A included both concurrent and longitudinal validation samples. The concurrent validation (CV) cohort included soldiers who enlisted during the 1983 and 1984 fiscal years. These soldiers completed the new selection and performance measures at the same time, approximately two years into their first tours of duty (CVI sample). Those soldiers who reenlisted were eligible to complete measures of second-tour (supervisory) performance (CVII sample). Soldiers in the longitudinal validation (LV) cohort enlisted during the 1985 and 1986 fiscal years. They received the Experimental Battery during their first two days in the Army (LVP sample), measures of training performance at the end of technical training for their jobs (LVT sample), and measures of job performance once in their units approximately two years after enlistment (LVI) and during their second tours (LVII).
The project collected data on soldiers from 21 military occupational specialties (MOS). The full complement of performance measures (written test of job knowledge and hands-on tests, in particular) was developed for 10 of these, which were deemed Batch A MOS. They tended to be high-density jobs of central importance to Army functioning such as infantryman, light wheel mechanic, and medical specialist. The other 11 Batch Z MOS reflected more specialized, lower-density occupations, including ammunition specialist, utility helicopter repairer, and intelligence analyst; they did not have hands-on measures developed for them.
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- Foundations: History
- Army Alpha/Army Beta
- Hawthorne Studies/Hawthorne Effect
- History of Industrial/Organizational Psychology in Europe and the United Kingdom
- History of Industrial/Organizational Psychology in North America
- History of Industrial/Organizational Psychology in Other Parts of the World
- Human Relations Movement
- Project A
- Scientific Management
- Scientist-Practitioner Model
- Unions
- Foundations: Ethical and Legal Issues
- Adverse Impact/Disparate Treatment/Discrimination at Work
- Affirmative Action
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications
- Civil Rights Act of 1964, Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Comparable Worth
- Corporate Ethics
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- Ethics in Industrial/Organizational Practice
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- Family and Medical Leave Act
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- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health/Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Race Norming
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- Stereotyping
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- Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
- Workplace Accommodations for the Disabled
- Foundations: Research Methods
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- Industrial Psychology: Understanding and Assessing Individual Differences
- Affective Traits
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- Letters of Recommendation
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- Optimism and Pessimism
- Personality
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- Practical Intelligence
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- Self-Esteem
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- Trainability and Adaptability
- Type A and Type B Personalities
- Work Samples
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- Industrial Psychology: Employment, Staffing, and Career Issues
- Dictionary of Occupational Titles
- Applicant/Test-Taker Reactions
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- Employee Selection
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- Expatriates
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- Job Advertisements
- Job Analysis
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- Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
- Older Worker Issues
- Person–Environment Fit
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- Placement and Classification
- Prescreening Assessment Methods for Personnel Selection
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- Recruitment
- Recruitment Sources
- Retirement
- Selection Strategies
- Selection: Occupational Tailoring
- Succession Planning
- Underemployment
- Industrial Psychology: Developing, Training, and Evaluating Employees
- 360-Degree Feedback
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- Distance Learning
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- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Pygmalion Effect
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- Withdrawal Behaviors, Turnover
- Workplace Incivility
- Industrial Psychology: Motivation and Job Design
- Action Theory
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- Empowerment
- Expectancy Theory of Work Motivation
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- Job Characteristics Theory
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- Job Sharing
- Need Theories of Work Motivation
- Path–Goal Theory
- Positive Psychology Applied to Work
- Self-Concept Theory of Work Motivation
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Regulation Theory
- Social Cognitive Theory
- Telecommuting
- Theory of Work Adjustment
- Two-Factor Theory
- Work Motivation
- Workaholism
- Industrial Psychology: Leadership and Management
- Abusive Supervision
- Behavioral Approach to Leadership
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- Employee Grievance Systems
- Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Project
- Implicit Theory of Leadership
- Judgment and Decision-Making Process
- Judgment and Decision-Making Process: Advice Giving and Taking
- Judgment and Decision-Making Process: Heuristics, Cognitive Biases, and Contextual Influences
- Leader–Member Exchange Theory
- Leadership and Supervision
- Least Preferred Coworker Theory
- Life-cycle Model of Leadership
- Normative Models of Decision Making and Leadership
- Reinforcement Theory of Work Motivation
- Situational Approach to Leadership
- Spirituality and Leadership at Work
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- Trust
- Industrial Psychology: Groups, Teams, and Working with Others
- Conflict at Work
- Conflict Management
- Diversity in the Workplace
- Group Cohesiveness
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- Group Decision-Making Techniques
- Group Development
- Group Dynamics and Processes
- Groups
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- Intergroup Relations
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- Justice in Teams
- Meetings at Work
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- Networking
- Social Exchange Theory
- Social Loafing
- Social Norms and Conformity
- Social Support
- Team Building
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- Team-Based Rewards
- Virtual Teams
- Workplace Romance
- Industrial Psychology: Employee Well-Being and Attitudes
- Affective Events Theory
- Attitudes and Beliefs
- Boredom at Work
- Emotional Burnout
- Emotional Labor
- Emotions
- Eustress
- Job Satisfaction
- Job Satisfaction Measurement
- Job Security/Insecurity
- Mood
- Morale
- Organizational Commitment
- Organizational Cynicism
- Organizational Justice
- Psychological Contract
- Quality of Work Life
- Role Ambiguity
- Role Conflict
- Role Overload and Underload
- Stress, Consequences
- Stress, Coping and Management
- Stress, Models and Theories
- Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior
- Union Commitment
- Work–Life Balance
- Industrial Psychology: Organizational Structure, Design, and Change
- Attraction–Selection–Attrition Model
- Automation/Advanced Manufacturing Technology/Computer-Based Integrated Technology
- Balanced Scorecard
- Compressed Workweek
- Downsizing
- Entrepreneurship
- Flexible Work Schedules
- Globalization
- High-Performance Organization Model
- Learning Organizations
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- Organizational Behavior
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- Organizational Change
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- Organizational Climate
- Organizational Communication, Formal
- Organizational Communication, Informal
- Organizational Culture
- Organizational Development
- Organizational Image
- Organizational Politics
- Organizational Sensemaking
- Organizational Structure
- Outsourcing
- Shiftwork
- Sociotechnical Approach
- Strategic Planning
- Survivor Syndrome
- Terrorism and Work
- Theory of Action
- Total Quality Management
- Virtual Organizations
- Workplace Injuries
- Workplace Safety
- Professional Organizations and Related Fields
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