I__. - International Military Testing Association

Purpose
ACCELERATED CAT-ASVAB PROJECT
The Accelerated CAT-ASVAB Project (ACAP) is designed to develop and field-test
CAT-ASVAB in the shortest time possible. The idea is to collect “lessons learned”
information about the new test battery, the delivery system (including both
hardware and software), and the testing environment. The information obtained will
be used to specify the functional requirements for the full-scale, operational system.
Delivery System
The Hewlett-Packard Integral Personal Computer (HP-IPC) was selected for the
ACAP System. The HP-IPC is a powerful microcomputer system which, for the
examinee testing station, includes: a Motorola 68000, 16/32 bit microprocessor; a
graphics co-processor; 1.5 megabytes of Random Access Memory (RAM); a built-in,
3.5-inch, 7 10K byte microfloppy disk drive; a g-inch amber, high-contrast
electroluminescent flat screen display, supporting a 255 by 512 pixel, bit-mapped
display, and a standard window size of 24 lines by 80 characters; a go-key, lowprofile,
detachable keyboard (which was modified by a template, leaving only the
necessary keys exposed); and a built-in inkjet printer. The entire computer has a 7
by 16 inch footprint, requiring less than one square foot of desk space. The software,
developed at NPRDC, is written in the C programming language, running under a
UNIX operating system (HP-UX).
Field Research Activities
The Accelerated CAT-ASVAB Project (ACAP) involves six field research
activities:
Pre-Test. The purpose of this research was to insure that examinees could
easily use the CAT-ASVAB System (including hardware and software). Military
recruits and students from high school special education classes were administered
CAT-ASVAB. In the aggregate, they represented the full range of mental ability.
Results were very encouraging. The examinees found CAT-ASVAB easier and faster
than paper-and-pencil tests that they had taken. They liked the fact that it was selfpaced,
and involved little writing. Some examinees expressed concern that they
could not skip over items, nor go back to previous items and change their answers.
Some examinees indicated that their eyes became tired, which emphasized the
importance of avoiding glare on the screens. Administration instructions were
revised, based upon information from questionnaires and interviews. This revision
reduced the reading grade level from the eighth to the sixth grade. The Pre-Test was
completed in November 1986.
Medium of Administration. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the
effect of the calibration medium of administration on score precision. The subjects
were from the Navy Recruit Training Center in San Diego. Forty-item conventional
tests were constructed for General Science, Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge,
Shop Information, and Paragraph Comprehension. Subjects were randomly assigned
to one of three groups. The first group took the tests on computer; these data were
used to obtain a computer-based calibration of items. The second group took the same
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