New Directions in Assessing
Performance Potential
of Individuals and Groups
WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Robert Pool, Rapporteur
Committee on Measuring Human Capabilities:
Performance Potential of Individuals and Collectives
Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. W-911NF-12-1-0504 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of the Army. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2013). New Directions in Assessing Performance Potential of Individuals and Groups: Workshop Summary. R. Pool, Rapporteur. Committee on Measuring Human Capabilities: Performance Potential of Individuals and Collectives, Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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COMMITTEE ON MEASURING HUMAN CAPABILIITES: PERFORMANCE POTENTIAL OF INDIVIDUALS AND COLLECTIVES
Jack W. Stuster (Chair), Anacapa Sciences, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA
Georgia T. Chao, Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University
Randall W. Engle, School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Leaetta Hough, Dunnette Group, Ltd., Saint Paul, MN
Patrick C. Kyllonen, Center for Academic and Workforce Readiness and Success, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ
John J. McArdle, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California
Stephen Stark, Department of Psychology, University of South Florida
Cherie Chauvin, Study Director
Tina Winters, Associate Program Officer
Renée L. Wilson Gaines, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON BEHAVIORAL, COGNITIVE, AND SENSORY SCIENCES
John T. Cacioppo (Chair), Department of Psychology, University of Chicago
Linda M. Bartoshuk, Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Florida
Richard J. Bonnie, Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, University of Virginia
Jennifer S. Cole, Department of Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Alice H. Eagly, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University
Susan T. Fiske, Department of Psychology and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Daniel R. Ilgen, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University
Nina G. Jablonski, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University
James S. Jackson, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Jonathan D. Moreno, Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy and Department of History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania
Michael I. Posner, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon (Emeritus)
Marcus E. Raichle, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis
Valerie F. Reyna, Human Neuroscience Institute, Cornell University
Richard M. Shiffrin, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
Jeremy M. Wolfe, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Departments of Ophthalmology and Radiology, Harvard Medical School
Barbara A. Wanchisen, Director
Jatryce Jackson, Program Associate
Acknowledgments
This workshop summary is based on the proceedings of a public workshop held on April 3-4, 2013, convened by the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, and planned by the Committee on Measuring Human Capabilities: Performance Potential of Individuals and Collectives. The planning committee members identified research areas of interest and specific presenters, organized the agenda, and facilitated roundtable discussions; however, they did not participate in the writing of this summary. Its contents reflect their diligent planning efforts, the insightful presentations of invited experts, and the thought-provoking roundtable discussions of all invited participants as well as the general audience.
The workshop, and the larger study for which it is a part, was sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI). In particular, the committee wishes to thank Gerald Goodwin, chief of foundational science at ARI, and his entire research team, for their support and guidance throughout the planning process.
Among the National Research Council (NRC) staff, special thanks are due to Barbara A. Wanchisen who provided oversight to the process of planning and hosting the workshop. Additionally, special thanks to Tina Winters, associate program officer, who was in many ways the life of this workshop. She dedicated countless hours to organizing this large public event, including working extensively with each presenter and panelist to refine their planned remarks in light of the event’s goals and the planning committee’s intentions. Renée L. Wilson Gaines, senior program assistant,
also provided critical logistical and administrative support to the event, including coordinating the details of the event’s special location. We also thank NRC consultants Robert Pool for his assistance in drafting the summary and Robert Katt for final editing of the manuscript. And finally we thank the executive office reports staff of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, especially Kirsten Sampson Snyder, who managed the review process, and Yvonne Wise, who oversaw the final publication process.
This summary has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published summary as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this summary: Jennifer S. Cole, Department of Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Neal W. Schmitt, Department of Psychology and Management, Michigan State University; Robert Sternberg, Department of Psychology, Yale University; William J. Strickland, president and chief executive officer, Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, Virginia; and Mary D. Zalesny, office of the Chief of Staff of the Army Strategic Studies Group, Arlington, Virginia.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Nancy T. Tippins, senior vice president and managing principal, Valtera Corporation. Appointed by the NRC, she was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this summary was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this summary rests entirely with the rapporteur and the institution.