US AIR-FORCE PILOT SELECTION TESTS - WHAT IS MEASURED AND WHAT IS PREDICTIVE

Selection of military pilots has long included the use of multiple apt itude test batteries. Although the names and appearances of the tests used in pilot selection vary, most are to a large extent measures of g eneral cognitive ability, or g. This is consistent with the central ro le played by cognitive ability measures in the prediction of numerous job training (r = 0.43) and performance (r = 0.34) criteria. Measures of specific cognitive abilities (e.g., verbal, quantitative, spatial, perceptual speed) have shown little incremental validity beyond g (inc rease in correlation of about 0.02). The incremental validity, beyond g, of measures of pilot job knowledge (e.g., aviation concepts, instru ments, principles and terms; increase in correlation beyond g of about 0.08), psychomotor abilities, and personality scores (increase in cor relation beyond g between 0.02 and 0.04) also has been small, but sign ificant. The unavoidable requirement to reason in responding to test m aterial causes gto be measured. In broad-ability-range samples; the po sitive correlations of the measures demonstrate that general cognitive ability is always present as a higher-order factor. Future measures o f pilot aptitude may include tests based on cognitive components, chro nometric methods, neural conductive velocity, or Ether methods. These measures, despite their appearance, have been shown to mostly measure g. Subsequently, we expect that future U.S. Air Force pilot selection tests will mostly be measures of g and will, therefore, continue to be predictive of performance.