Development and Validation of a Video-based Social Knowledge Test for Junior Commissioned Army Officers

Social knowledge/skill are increasingly critical to the success of U. S. Army officers. In this paper, we describe development and criterion-related validation of an experimental video-based social knowledge test (SKT) that uses an open-ended response format. This SKT, which measures social knowledge required for junior commissioned officers, overcomes important limitations inherent in other types of social knowledge measures. The limitations overcome by this experimental SKT include: (1) reliance on verbal stimuli that are not truly “social” in nature, and (2) specification of response options from which examinees must choose, thereby limiting ecological validity since effective social behavior usually requires people to generate their own responses. Our SKT was found to have excellent psychometric properties and to correlate at both statistically and practically significant levels with three out of the five dimensions that make up the social performance domain. This SKT, and others that may be developed using similar methodology but different content, shows great promise both for training and selection/classification applications.