The Predictive Stability of Ability Requirements for Task Performance: A Critical Renalysis

The traditional tenet of the stability of measured ability requirements for task performance has been challenged by a changing-abilities-requirements view. This view, based largely on interpretations of Fleishman's research, holds that systematic changes in the abilities contributing to performance occur relative to a variety of criterion tasks, as practice on those tasks continues. Previous criticisms of Fleishman's experimental-factor analytic approach are summarized and extended in this article. A reanalysis of %4 pairs of rs reported in Fleishman's studies and in a replication study by Hinrichs showed that the incidence of significant change in rs was within the range of chance expectation. Factor analytic studies by Fleishman and others that do not support the changing-abilities-requirements view are reviewed. The practical implications of Fleishman's research are discussed. It is argued that the data cited in support of the changing-abilities-requirements view require examination of external validity beyond laboratory practice tasks. Judgment on the issue of the stability of ability requirements should be withheld until more appropriate studies are conducted.