Understanding and Improving the Assessment of Individual Motivation (AIM) in the Army's GED Plus Program

Abstract : The Assessment of Individual Motivation (AIM) test was developed by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) to assess work-related temperament characteristics. In February 2000, the Army implemented AIM as a new market-expansion enlistment screening tool under the "GED Plus" program. Under this program, no%high school diploma graduates who might otherwise be ineligible for military service can enlist if they score sufficiently high on the AIM and meet other program requirements. This project addressed several operational issues pertaining to AIM's ongoing use in the GED Plus program. Post-implementation investigations have included (a) a preliminary examination of the operational AIM's validity against attrition under the GED Plus program, (b) the scaling of AIM alternate forms, (c) an examination of variables that might be used to supplement AIM in the prediction of first-term attrition, (d) fairness analyses, and (e) efforts to develop improved ways to score the AIM.