Relationship of General Aptitude Test Battery scores to successful employment for epileptics in a rehabilitation setting.

Abstract

The US Employment Service's (USES) General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), when used with USES-developed cut-off scores, has been found to be an accurate predictor of successful job performance. In the present study, results of the GATB scores obtained by vocational rehabilitation clients (n = 15) who were successfully placed into permanent employment were evaluated with reference to published GATB norms and cut-off scores. The major finding of this study was that the scores were not accurate predictors of successful employment for this population. Subjects' subtest scores averaged between 1/2 and 2 SD below the published means, with scores on subtests measuring motor speed and dexterity producing the lowest values. Subtests measuring verbal and visual--spatial ability produced relatively higher values. In only 3 instances was successful employment predicted by the cut-off scores. For the entire sample, GATB scores were frequently low enough to indicate poor job performance in nearly all occupations covered by published cut-off scores. Based on the results from the present study, and considering the wide-spread use of the GATB in the United States, a more comprehensive research project is being implemented to adapt GATB material for use with the targeted population.