Updating the Direction Orientation Task: An Aviation Selection Tool

Military branches rely on selection and placement testing to help identify individuals who will be well-suited for jobs that they likely have little exposure to or experience with. The goal for this research was to update the Direction Orientation Task (DOT), which is used by both the United States Navy and Air Force as part of their aviation selection batteries. The current version of DOT has limitations such as ceiling effects in some populations and a restriction of range within test scores. We created a new version (DOT2) that attempted to increase the difficulty and variance of the test (among other things discussed in the paper). Ninety-five student Naval Aviators completed an experiment where they completed DOT1, DOT2, and the operation span. Results showed that DOT2 was significantly more difficult and had increased variance compared to DOT1. Scores on DOT1 were highly related to scores on DOT2, both were similarly unrelated to scores the operation span, and both were similarly related to the number of math errors made on the operation span. These preliminary data suggest that DOT2 may be a viable upgrade to DOT1.

Validation of a Computer-Based Aviation Secondary Selection System for Student Naval Aviators

This report describes the validation of an automated aircrew selection test battery that measures cognitive processes, psychomotor skills, and time-sharing abilities. Results indicate that performance-based test measures can be used to predict flight training performance.

Simulator Design and Instructional features for Air-to-Ground Attack: Transfer Study

A transfer-of-training experiment was conducted to provide guidelines for simulator design and training procedures for air-to-ground attack. Two levels of scene detail (complex day scene versus a low detail dusk scene), three levels of field of view (160H X 80V, 135H X 60V, 103H X 60V), and three levels of simulator training trials (24, 48, 72) were tested in the experiment. Student Naval Aviators (SNAs) were trained in the Visual Technology Research Simulator (VTRS) in 30-degree bombing prior to their standard weapon training phase. Other students, not pretrained in the VTRS, were used for control comparisons. Training in the VTRS helped SNAs use their weapons flight time in the TA-4J more effectively. Forty-eight simulator trials were recommended as adequate pretraining for 30-degree bombing. There was no evidence of differential transfer for the scene detail and field-of-view factors. The least expensive field of view option tested was recommended. However, there were methodological problems with the scene type comparison and the apparent transfer equivalence of the two scenes may not fully indicate their relative training effectiveness. Data from other VTRS experiments suggest the superiority of the day scene and it was recommended.

State and Trait Anxiety in Voluntary Withdrawal of Student Naval Aviators from Flight Training

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was administered to 316 student naval aviators, 68 of whom dropped out of the flight program within the first 6 mo. of their training. These students who dropped out of the program were significantly more anxious as measured by the STAI A-State and A-Trait scales; the higher the A-State score, the earlier the students dropped.