The assessment laboratory is a full-day program devoted to evaluations of the candidates during various exercises. The test involves participation by the candidates in an in-basket exercise; a leaderless group exercise; a 5-minute oral presentation; an unstructured group discussion requiring solutions and consensus; and one requiring recommendations and consensus. The exercises were designed to elicit certain behavioral characteristics which were predetermined to be essential for success as a fire captain. The candidates' demonstrations of these characteristics were rated by specially trained raters. (NTIS)