Importance Of Cognitive Ability In The Military

The armed forces are very selective in their recruitment for soldiers for a reason. A certain degree of general cognitive ability is necessary for a successful soldier. There are lots of pre-test that have to be taken and passed for placement. This is one of the differences with the armed forces versus other career fields.

Often times leaders might not have a lot of general cognitive ability, but they do have a lot of crystallized cognitive ability. Most of the time businesses promote people based on experience, years worked, and personal relationships. This is a huge factor of why most people are not successful in the business field. Sometimes the need for general cognitive ability outweighs the need for crystallized cognitive ability. This is very similar to the armed forces. You have to start with general and as your time passes you earn crystallized cognitive ability. In other words you have to have the general ability to crawl before you start walking. Motivation in competitive fields such as collegiate sports, armed forces, arts, and scientific research is necessary for continued success.

Collegiate sports are very similar to the army in many ways, but
Not everybody is artistic or gifted. You have to have a beginning general ability and you get better with time. Anyone can practice, but that doesn't guaranteed they will get better. The arts are usually a starting ability and improves with time.

Scientific research I am sure to some degree would require general cognitive ability, but crystallized cognitive ability is the most appropriate in my opinion. From my understanding, trial and error is a huge part of the process with scientific research. As things might fail the first time this becomes a learned experience and a different approach is necessary. In the armed forces trial and error can result in death. These two in my opinion would be the most