A COMPARISON OF 2 US AIR-FORCE PILOT APTITUDE-TESTS

Background: The Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) and Multidim ensional Aptitude Battery (MAB) were administered to 2233 U.S. Air For ce pilot candidates to investigate the common sources oi valiance in t hose batteries. The AFOQT was operationally administered as part of th e officer commissioning and aircrew selection testing requirement. The MAB is a clinical test battery and was administered to provide an int ellectual baseline to assist clinicians when it becomes necessary to e valuate pilots with cognitive referral questions. Results: A joint fac tor analysis of the AFOQT and MAB revealed that each battery had a hie rarchical structure. The higher-order factor in the AFOQT previously h ad been identified as general cognitive ability (g). The intercorrelat ion between the higher-order factors from the batteries was 0.981, ind icating that both measured g. Although both batteries measured g and i ncluded verbal, spatial, and perceptual speed tests, the AFOQT also in cluded tests of aviation knowledge not found in the MAB. Conclusion: A dditional studies are required to evaluate the utility of the AFOQT fo r clinical assessment and the MAB for officer and aircrew selection.