Air Force Officer Training School selection system validation

Cowan, Douglas K.; Barrett, Linda E.; Wegner, Toni G.

doi:10.1037/e534622009-001

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Clearly, it is these composite scores, rather than the individual test scores, that are most important for recruiting centers and that are used for making overall assessment and selection decisions (e.g., Cowan, Barrett, & Wegner, ). The TBs' composite scores have more potential for comprehensively representing individuals' latent abilities, and therefore warrant at least as much attention as that given to the individual ability scores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To illustrate the typical mixed structure of composite test scores, we present two examples from military and civilian settings. The Pilot composite of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Officer Qualification Test (AFOQT; Form S) was constructed using five tests from several ability domains (Barron, Carretta, & Rose, 2016) Clearly, it is these composite scores, rather than the individual test scores, that are most important for recruiting centers and that are used for making overall assessment and selection decisions (e.g., Cowan, Barrett, & Wegner, 1990). The TBs' composite scores have more potential for comprehensively representing individuals' latent abilities, and therefore warrant at least as much attention as that given to the individual ability scores.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Multiple test batteries as predictors for pilot performance: A meta‐analytic investigation

ALMamari

Traynor

2019

Int J Selection Assessment

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Test Batteries (TBs) have a long history of use in pilot selection. The extent to which TBs predict future pilot performance has important implications. The existing pilot‐related psychometric meta‐analyses have focused primarily on scores of individual ability tests, rather than the combined scores composited from multiple ability tests. The objective of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of TBs' composite scores for several criteria of pilot performance. Informed by the Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory, we proposed a classification scheme of six categories representing the most common composite scores in selection assessment: Acquired Knowledge, Perceptual Processing, Motor Abilities, Controlled Attention, General Ability, and Work Sample. For overall pilot performance, based on 267 correlations from 118 independent samples, results showed that the six categories of TBs are valid predictors (Meanr = .10–.34), and at least five of them have validity that is likely to generalize across selection contexts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Multiple test batteries as predictors for pilot performance: A meta‐analytic investigation

ALMamari

Traynor

2019

Int J Selection Assessment

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“…Navigator trainees also participate in the Enhanced Flight Screening Program, the course that trainees were enrolling in when they took the NEO-PI-R. According to Cowan, Barrett, and Wegner, 1990, the Air Force trains a bit under four times as many pilots as navigators, so we used the same ratio and estimated that the Army trains approximately 25 navigators per year. Therefore, the sample size for analysis is 108 pilots plus 25 navigators, or 133 trainees.…”

Section: Rand Arroyo Center Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used the average across all three years (DA, 2018). (Cowan, Barrett, and Wegner, 1990) Description of the Study…”

Section: Rand Arroyo Center Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the DA FY 2019 budget estimates, average number of students entering advanced graduate flight training for fixed-wing aircraft in FYs 2017-2019 was 108 (DA, 2018). Cowan, Barrett, and Wegner, 1990, had a sample of 1,124 UPT completions and 282 UNT completions. Therefore, approximately one-quarter as many people completed navigator training as completed pilot training.…”

Section: Pilot Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying Potential Cost Avoidance Implications of Outcomes Reported in Behavioral and Social Science Research

2023

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This report documents research and analysis conducted as part of two projects entitled Quantifying the Value of Behavioral and Social Science Research and Quantifying the Value of Behavioral and Social Science Research Follow-On, both sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. The purpose of the first project was to develop utility functions that translate the incremental effects of outcome criteria often used in behavioral and social science research results into estimates of the value of those changes, such as cost avoidance or other benefits. The purpose of the second project was to continue and expand on the work of the first project.This research was conducted within RAND Arroyo Center's Personnel, Training, and Health Program. RAND Arroyo Center, part of the RAND Corporation, is a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) sponsored by the United States Army.RAND operates under a "Federal-Wide Assurance" (FWA00003425) and complies with the Code of Federal Regulations for the Protection of Human Subjects Under United States Law (45 CFR 46), also known as "the Common Rule," as well as with the implementation guidance set forth in DoD Instruction 3216.02. As applicable, this compliance includes reviews and approvals by RAND's Institutional Review Board (the Human Subjects Protection Committee) and by the U.S. Army. The views of sources utilized in this study are solely their own and do not represent the official policy or position of DoD or the U.S. Government. AcknowledgmentsWe appreciate the guidance that we received throughout the two projects from our project monitors, Tonia Heffner, Gerald (Jay) Goodwin, and Len White, of the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. We are grateful to COL Robert Montz at the Office of the Surgeon General for data he supplied for our analysis. We want to acknowledge the important contributions of our current and former RAND colleagues, Christopher Maerzluft, Andrew Naber, Joachin Rubalcaba, Cameron Wright, and Blake Cignarella, who provided earlier drafts of many of the study write-ups and made methodological contributions. We also wish to thank

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Predictive Validity of the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) for Pilot Performance

ALMamari

Traynor

2020

Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors

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Abstract. The Air Force Qualifying Test (AFOQT) has been the primary selection test battery for officer candidates in the US Air Force since 1953. Despite a wealth of literature on the validity of the AFOQT in predicting pilot performance, there is less evidence on its validity generalization. This study investigated the predictive validity of 16 AFOQT subtests and its Pilot composite via psychometric meta-analytic procedures. Based on 32 independent samples from 26 studies, results indicated that pilot performance is best predicted by subtests indicative of perceptual speed, aviation-related aptitude and knowledge, and quantitative ability constructs, and least predicted by subtests indicative of verbal ability construct. Evidence for validity generalization of AFOQT subtests is presented, and implications for practical use are discussed.

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Air Force Officer Training School selection system validation

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Multiple test batteries as predictors for pilot performance: A meta‐analytic investigation

Multiple test batteries as predictors for pilot performance: A meta‐analytic investigation

Quantifying Potential Cost Avoidance Implications of Outcomes Reported in Behavioral and Social Science Research

Predictive Validity of the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) for Pilot Performance

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