A Brief History

ARI, as do other psychologically oriented military research laboratories, traces its beginnings, and the advent of military psychology, to a meeting of experimental psychologists at Harvard University in 1917. They gathered to discuss how psychology and the application of its scientific methods could support national defense. In August 1917, the Secretary of War established the Committee on Classification of Personnel in the Army, which consisted of ten psychologists and two employment managers. The work of the committee was marked by notable achievements in developing many of the tools and procedures of scientific personnel management. World War I personnel research developed a complete selection and classification system, including oral trade (occupation) tests, performance trade tests, the soldier's qualification card, and trade and personnel specifications for enlisted men and officers.

Personnel testing had been a major accomplishment of military psychology during WW I. Between World Wars I and II, the Army made little use of scientific personnel research for selection and classification. However, personnel testing and test development flourished in industry and government civil service and, in this way, standardized personnel tests and procedures which could be applied to mass Army needs continued to be developed. For example the first SAT test given in 1926 was in essence a modified version of the Army Alpha. This was not surprising, since Carl Brigham, who was a key figure in developing the Army tests during WW I, was hired by the College Board to develop the first SAT.

ARI's heritage can most clearly be traced to the preparation for WWII and the establishment of the Committee on Selection and Classification of Military Personnel. This committee was created by the National Research Council at the request of the Adjutant General of the U.S. Army to act as its advisory committee on matters of selection and classification. The original committee members included many prominent psychologists of the day such as Walter V. Bingham, the chairman, C. L. Shartle, and L.L. Thurstone.

In 1939, the National Research Council appointed an Advisory Committee on Classification of Military Personnel at the request of the Adjutant General. Shortly afterwards, the Personnel Research Section, which later was renamed the U.S. Army Personnel Research Office was set up in the Adjutant General's Office. This was the direct ancestor of ARI.

The Personnel Research Section had the responsibility for "development, construction, validation, and standardization of all personnel screening test and interview techniques for the Army." The Army General Classification Test is the best-known product of the World War II personnel research organization. Among other products were: mental alertness tests for the Women's Army Corps, aptitude tests for specialized training, performance tests, trade knowledge tests, the West Point Qualifying Examination, and warrant officer tests.

During the post World War II period, ARI immersed itself in testing and test development and also took steps to expand its behavioral research into areas such as training, human engineering, social psychology, and physiological psychology. By the mid-1950's ARI began to conduct an integrated human factors system program.

During the 1960's and early 1970's research emphasis was on manned systems research designed to make soldiers more effective parts of Army weapon systems. It was also during this period that training research received greater interest with the formation of the Combat Arms Training Board and the Training and Doctrine Command. Recruiting and retention research were also major research concentrations at ARI, as the Army and other military services struggled to meet the manpower requirements for the All-Volunteer Force. The 1980's saw the quality of military accessions reach and an all-time high. The research provided by scientists at ARI assisted the Recruiting Command in devising marketing strategies and achieving accession goals. And Army leaders began to look to ARI for research in: developing new techniques for collective training in the field; designing realistic ways of training while fighting; forging cohesive and committed units; and, developing integrated leadership systems at all levels.

Based on a Strategic Plan developed in 2000, ARI now organizes its efforts along three broad lines of research: Leader Development, Training, and Soldier selection, assignment, and performance. It is through these lines of research that ARI will help the Army meet its human resource needs as it transforms to meet the challenges of new and more complex missions and battlefield environments of the future.

This brief history of ARI is by no means complete. A corporate history of ARI by Drs. Joseph Zeidner and Arthur Drucker is available in the ARI Library.