The Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) were first published in 1947 and have undergone numerous revisions since then. The tests were standardised in Australia and New Zealand in 1983 and are widely used by guidance counsellors, vocational psychologists, schools and business organisations. This paper reports the findings of a study focusing on the validity of the DAT as a predictor of performance in a post-secondary technical training program. Four subtests from the eight-test battery were used to predict student performance in two electronic engineering units: Electronic Principles and Digital Electronics. The sample consisted of 213 electronic engineering students with a mean age of 21.4 years (SD = 9.5 years). Principal Components Analysis and unweighted least squares factor analysis suggested that the DAT measures general ability and that its differential nature is limited. Hierarchical multiple regression was performed to measure the strength of association between the predictor variables and the criterion measures. The regression analysis indicated that general ability accounted for most of the variance in the criterion measures, ranging between 37 and 41% while specific abilities added, at most, 4% to these figures.

中文翻译：

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在职业教育和培训中使用差异能力倾向测试进行选择和预测

差异能力倾向测试 (DAT) 于 1947 年首次发布，此后经历了多次修订。这些测试于 1983 年在澳大利亚和新西兰标准化，并被指导顾问、职业心理学家、学校和商业组织广泛使用。本文报告了一项研究的结果，该研究侧重于 DAT 作为中学后技术培训计划绩效预测指标的有效性。八项测试中的四个子测试用于预测学生在两个电子工程单元中的表现：电子原理和数字电子。样本包括 213 名平均年龄为 21.4 岁（SD = 9.5 岁）的电子工程专业学生。主成分分析和未加权最小二乘因子分析表明，DAT 衡量的是一般能力，其差异性是有限的。执行分层多元回归以测量预测变量和标准测量之间的关联强度。回归分析表明，一般能力占标准措施的大部分差异，范围在 37% 到 41% 之间，而特定能力最多增加了 4%。