Completed: Understanding the Acquisition and Use of Tacit Knowledge for Military Leadership

Principal Investigator: R.J. Sternberg
Co-Principal Investigator: Jennifer Hedlund

Description: In this project, we examine how tacit knowledge for military leadership is acquired. Our past research has shown that tacit knowledge of military leadership predicts success at three levels of military leadership (platoon, company, and battalion commanders) and that it does so better than do conventional measures of IQ-related abilities or even than do measures of tacit knowledge for management. These results suggest that military leadership involves skills that go well beyond those associated with high IQ and even management skill. But how do military leaders acquire their tacit knowledge, and why do some acquire it at higher levels than do others? We shall be using the theory of successful intelligence -- and particularly the sub theory of knowledge acquisition embedded within it -- to address these questions. Thus, we look at the roles of selective encoding, selective comparison, and selective combination of information as bases for acquisition of tacit knowledge.

Funding Agency: U.S. Army Research Institute
IRB Approval by: Yale University Faculty of Arts and Science Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects
Funding Period:1999 - 2001
Award Amount: $149,486