The transformation of Mr. Heckman's career has its roots in a study he undertook in the late 1990s on the General Educational Development program, better known as the GED, which was at the time becoming an increasingly popular way for high-school dropouts to earn the equivalent of high-school diplomas. The GED's growth was founded on a version of the cognitive hypothesis, on the belief that what schools develop, and what a high-school diploma certifies, is cognitive skill. If a teenager already has the knowledge and the smarts to graduate from high school, according to this logic, he doesn't need to waste his time actually finishing high school. He can just take a test that measures that knowledge and those skills, and the state will certify that he is, legally, a high-school graduate, as well-prepared as any other high-school graduate to go on to college or other postsecondary pursuits.

赫克曼职业领域的这一转变源于他在上世纪90年代末承担的一项有关普通教育发展项目(General Educational Development，其“GED”的名称更为人熟知)的研究。当时，该项目逐渐成为一个越来越受到高中退学学生欢迎的用以获得一份等同高中毕业文凭的证书的方式。GED的发展以认知假设的某个版本为基础，以认为学校培养的以及高中文凭认证的就是认知技能的观念为基础。如果一个十几岁的青少年已经具备从高中毕业的知识与头脑，那么依据这种逻辑，他就不必把时间浪费在实实在在读完高中上。他可以参加一项检验那些知识和技能的考试，通过考试的话，国家会认证他是一个合法的高中毕业生，与其他高中毕业生一样做好了准备继续读大学或者在中学毕业后从事其他职业。

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