Human performance effectiveness and the systems measurement bed

Abstract

Discusses the way aptitudes, job demands, and surrounding conditions coalesce to yield varying levels of performance. The conceptual background includes (a) a taxonomy of jobs having cognitive variance (responses objectively characterized as right or wrong) and noncognitive variance (responses less objectively characterized as desirable or undesirable), (b) the ad hoc nature of values and goals, and (c) the variety of styles of behavior by which individuals and organizations seek to achieve and do achieve goals. To the extent that such variance enters into criterion determination, the criterion for many applied purposes, including systems development, should be explicitly specific by source of variance. The research framework in which this requirement can be met is the systems measurement bed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)