The efficacy of using a taxonomic approach in predicting performance of Navy tasks

The objective of this research was to validate the use of Fleishman's human abilities taxonomy approach in predicting human performance in loading the U.S. Navy's Close-In Weapon System (CIWS). An experiment was conducted that compared actual and predicted performance of CIWS loading operations. Twenty-one male students and staff from the Close-In Weapon System School, Fleet Training Center, were participants in the experiment. They ranged in age from 20 to 35 years (mean = 27.2, standard deviation = 4.88) with an average of 81.1 months (standard deviation = 51.83) of military experience and 23.95 months of CIWS loading experience. Each participant was tested in the human abilities identified for CIWS loading operations, and the test results were correlated with recorded times of the loading tasks. Correlations were performed using bivariate regression analysis. The results of the experiment showed high linear relations between human abilities scores and CIWS loading times. The results show that the participants who scored highest on the human abilities tests completed the loading tasks in the shortest time.