Cognitive assessment of USAF pilot training candidates.

ABSTRACT

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.