Natural abilities are like natural plants that need pruning by study.
The Ball Foundation’s aptitude research program has two goals:
1) To maintain the current quality and relevancy of the Ball Aptitude Battery® (BAB™) and to explore ways in which technology can ease and expand access to aptitude assessments. The focus on the battery and delivery platforms also includes the discovery and addition of new aptitude measurements.
2) To conduct and share the results of the ongoing aptitude research data collected through the Foundation, Career Vision, and other collaborators.
To pursue these goals, the Foundation’s aptitude research program has involved both large and small scale research projects. The purpose of this aptitude research has been to gather additional data to examine aptitude talent ranges and performance in different types of environments (school, work, and leisure).
As part of our ongoing aptitude research, the Foundation has established relationships with high schools, community colleges, trade unions, and clients in the community. As a result, a wide variety of people have completed the BAB in an array of educational and work settings, and validity data has been collected and disseminated throughout the scientific literature.
The Foundation has published a significant number of technical reports, research articles in scientific journals (such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Journal of Vocational Behavior), and research presentations at professional meetings (APA, SIOP, AERA). See Selected Publications for a listing of some of these contributions.