Review of psychomotor skills in pilot selection research of the US military services

This review provides an historical perspective of the use of psychomotor, perceptual-cognitive paper-and-pencil, and automated tests for the selection of pilot trainees by the U.S. military services. Automated versions of vintage psychomotor tests (developed in the 1930s and 1940s) seem to be as predictive of military pilot/aviator performance today as in the past. The psychomotor tests receiving the most attention today are the Complex Coordination and Two-Hand Coordination tests originally developed by Mashburn and colleges before World War II (Mashburn, 1934). These tests were significant predictors of Air Force and Navy pass-fail criteria in the past, and automated versions are similarly predictive today. The U.S. Army and Air Force are now using a combination of paper-and-pencil and automated psychomotor-cognitive tests for initial selection (Air Force) or helicopter assignment (Army). It appears that the Navy is considering the use of automated cognitive and psychomotor tests in a selection battery of the future.