The Importance of Specialized Cognitive Function in the Selection of Military Pilots.
Abstract
Visuospatial skills significantly distinguished student Naval aviators who dropped out of aviation training from those who received their wings. While both groups were better than average on these tests, the winged aviators were better than the dropout group by 0.25 standard deviation which is highly significant (P<0.0001) for the total sample of 600 subjects. Performance on verbal-sequential skills did not distinguish between the groups. Logistic regression not only confirmed the group difference but demonstrated an interaction with verbal-sequential skills. High performance on these skills helped the odds of being winged for aviators with low visuospatial ability but hindered those with high visuospatial ability. Distribution of visusopatial scores for the 2 groups demonstrated reasonable cut-off points at which considerably more drop-outs than winged aviators could have been eliminated. However, these data are relevant only for the selected sample of aviators accepted for the training programs. An additional study on the entire group of applicants including those rejected would allow comparison between the special cognitive tests used in this study and those already used as selection criteria. Keywords: Cognitive Asymmetry; Cognitive Performance; Cognitive Processes, Cognitive Style; Hemispheric Specialization; Laterality; Pilot Selection.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 19, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA165889
Entities
People
- Harold W. Gordon
- Robert Leighty
Organizations
- University of Pittsburgh