RESUMO
The neuropsychological assessment of U.S. Air Force pilots presents several unique problems given their relatively high cognitive functioning. The U.S. Air Force currently has a baselining procedure whereby student pilots undergo computerized cognitive assessment. The intent of this assessment is to archive premorbid data against which to compare potential future postinsult performance. The current work provides the background, clinical methods, and data needed to assess pilots who have suffered cortical insult such as trauma, disease, or exposure to toxins. Methods are delineated for pilots with premorbid testing and for pilots without such testing.
Assuntos
Medicina Aeroespacial , Testes de Aptidão , Transtornos Cognitivos/diagnóstico , Diagnóstico por Computador/métodos , Programas de Rastreamento/métodos , Militares/psicologia , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Adulto , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Encaminhamento e Consulta , Estados UnidosRESUMO
The study of pilot personality characteristics has a long and controversial history. Personality characteristics seem to be fairly poor predictors of training outcome; however, valid personality assessment is essential to clinical psychological evaluations. Therefore, the personality characteristics of pilots must be studied to ensure valid clinical assessment. This paper describes normative personality characteristics of U.S. Air Force pilots based on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory profiles of 1,301 U.S. Air Force student pilots. Compared with male adult norms, male student pilots had higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of agreeableness. Compared with female adult norms, female student pilots had higher levels of extraversion and openness and lower levels of agreeableness. Descriptive statistics and percentile tables for the five domain scores and 30 facet scores are provided for clinical use, and a case vignette is provided as an example of the clinical utility of these U.S. Air Force norms.
Assuntos
Medicina Aeroespacial , Militares/psicologia , Inventário de Personalidade , Adulto , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Personalidade , Estados UnidosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) and Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB) were administered to 2233 U.S. Air Force pilot candidates to investigate the common sources of variance in those batteries. The AFOQT was operationally administered as part of the officer commissioning and aircrew selection testing requirement. The MAB is a clinical test battery and was administered to provide an intellectual baseline to assist clinicians when it becomes necessary to evaluate pilots with cognitive referral questions. RESULTS: A joint factor analysis of the AFOQT and MAB revealed that each battery had a hierarchical structure. The higher-order factor in the AFOQT previously had been identified as general cognitive ability (g). The intercorrelation between the higher-order factors from the batteries was 0.981, indicating that both measured g. Although both batteries measured g and included verbal, spatial, and perceptual speed tests, the AFOQT also included tests of aviation knowledge not found in the MAB. CONCLUSION: Additional studies are required to evaluate the utility of the AFOQT for clinical assessment and the MAB for officer and aircrew selection.
Assuntos
Medicina Aeroespacial , Testes de Aptidão/normas , Militares , Adulto , Análise de Variância , Cognição , Análise Fatorial , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Modelos Estatísticos , Desempenho Psicomotor , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Estados UnidosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Most intellectual and cognitive assessment of pilots is done with locally developed assessment devices. The United States Air Force currently uses the recently developed CogScreen (Aeromedical Edition) to assess these areas. HYPOTHESES: There will be differences on the CogScreen across USAF student pilot candidates and commercial pilots. METHODS: This paper presents the test scores of 512 USAF pilot training candidates who were tested with this commercially available, "off-the-shelf" product. Comparison data was abstracted from the test manual on commercial pilots. RESULTS: Data from the new CogScreen (Aeromedical Edition) is provided and shows consistent differences between pilot training candidates and commercial pilots across reaction time, accuracy, throughput, and process measures. DISCUSSION: The new CogScreen appears to be an appropriate device for the assessment of pilot candidates, student pilots, and pilots.
