retained only the items over which the experts agreed that refer to the construct measured.
Correlations between evaluators for the items retained were higher than 0.90. Items,
which failed to meet the criterion, were either rewritten and reanalysed or removed from
the test. In addition, each test was submitted to content analysis in pilot studies and only
those items remained that had an acceptable discrimination and difficulty indices.
In using BTPAC for vocational counselling and guidance, we recommend that the user
bears in mind the following aspects:
- Aptitudes are not the only factor involved in career choice
Without going into details, we mention that repeated meta-analyses have revealed the
co-participation in career-related decision-making of three large factor categories:
a) career information;
b) information significance for the decision-maker, and
c) personal characteristics.Consequently, the information obtained as a result of aptitude profile evaluation, although
the most stable and with the highest prediction value, must be adequately used in
counselling by relating it to the other two factors. For example, people who have rather
poor aptitudes but a high motivation may partially compensate for the lack of aptitudes by
the volume of knowledge and skills acquired through learning and practice, as well as a
person greatly interested in a profession but with extremely poor aptitudes may fall into
unrealistic fantasies.
- Success (performance) in an occupation is based not on one single aptitude, but
a constellation of aptitudes
Combined, a person’s aptitudes are compensated and reciprocally enhanced in order to
ensure superior performance. The aptitude profile has much higher informative value than
each aptitude in part; this is why aptitudes have been treated in logical conjunction.
- The aptitude profile of occupations has been taken from The Romanian
Occupational Profiles (PO)
BTPAC offers the rigorous aptitude profile of an individual. We have assumed that the
same rigour characterized the occupation aptitude profile, but the responsibility for the
validity of those profiles does not lie with the authors at Cognitrom, but with the
Occupational Profiles (PO) team of collaborators.
- BTPAC must be client-centred
Automatically, BTPAC compares an individual aptitude profile to the profile of any
occupation. A professional user of BTPAC (vocational counsellor, psychologist,
psycho-pedagogist) must take into account that some clients may request evaluation for
other needs, such as: