Pilot Selection Methods

This report consists of eight parts. The first part is concerned with describing pilot selection, why it is important, and the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics typically considered during selection. Part two introduces the concept of validity and the steps involved in doing a validation study. Part three reviews some common methodological issues that make the interpretation of pilot selection studies more difficult and offers "best practices" advice for researchers and practitioners. Part four describes several common criterion measures of pilot training and job performance and research regarding the development of models of performance. Parts five and six review military and commercial pilot selection practices. Where available, information about the construct and predictive validity of the selection methods is provided. Part seven examines future trends in the measurement of pilot aptitude. Finally, part eight provides recommendations for pilot selection researchers and practitioners. Most important in conducting pilot selection research is scientific rigor. Without scientific rigor, results may be worse than meaningless leading to counterproductive practice. Before setting out to develop a pilot selection system, it is imperative to have a firm foundation in the published literature of human abilities, reliability, validity, job performance measurement, and meta-analysis. Cumulative research results should guide practice. The military has a long history of research in the selection of pilots and other aviation occupations. In general, they have used both paper- and-pencil tests and apparatus tests such as psychomotor. Cumulative results suggest that general cognitive ability (g) has been a mainstay of military testing and will likely remain so. Measures of pilot job knowledge and psychomotor ability have demonstrated incremental validity when used with measures of g.Air Force Research Lab Wright-Patterson AFB OH Human Effectiveness Directorate is the author of 'Pilot Selection Methods', published 2000 under ISBN 9781423551379 and ISBN 1423551370.