Individual Differences and Age-Related Performance Assessment in Naval Aviators. Part 1. Battery Development and Assessment.
Abstract
This report describes the construction of a test battery to measure the functional age profile of Naval aviators as this impacts on their flight proficiency. In the first phase of this study, reported here a battery of 21 task configurations is developed. These consist of a series of Sternberg memory search tasks measuring processing speed, a running memory task, tracking tasks performed alone and with the memory tasks, a dichotic listening task, and a computerized version of three tasks of spatial ability. The battery was administered to 15 subjects in each of the four age decades between 20 and 60. Factor analyses and ANOVAs performed on the data revealed three main clusters of effects: 1) age-related reductions in processing speed appeared to emerge beyond age 40. This slowing was general, not reflecting specific processes more than others. 2) Age-related changes in spatial and perceptual-motor ability appeared to emerge during the first decade. 3) The present data suggested little evidence for any age-related reduction in time-sharing or dual task skill that was not evident in the single task components. Part 2 of this report describes the validation of the battery accomplished by predicting performance on a Gat 2 simulated flight task from battery components.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA175022
Entities
People
- Christopher Dow Wickens
- Rolf Braune
Organizations
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign