Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-77/25
Title and Subtitle: Development of new selection tests for air traffic controllers
Report Date: December 1977
Authors: Dailey JT, Pickrel EW
Abstract: This report describes the development of a new Multiplex Controller Aptitude Test for initial screening of FAA Air Traffic Controller applicants. Its content includes the traditional types of aptitude test items used for today's screening. In addition it includes measurement of the ability to identify potential conflicts in air traffic, a skill that has been demonstrated experimentally to have a significant relation to success in the ATC speciality.
Alternate forms of the test have been developed in a format that meets Civil Service test administration requirements. The test has been administered experimentally to groups whose abilities approximate those of the applicant population, and results indicate that it has satisfactory reliability characteristics. It has been administered experimentally to incoming students at the FAA ATC Academy and personnel on the job at operational facilities, and constantly produced higher correlations with ATC success than any other test used in the validation studies.
The available data indicate that this new and customized instrument promises to be a significant improvement over the existing battery for screening FAA Air Traffic Controller applicants.
Key Words: Selection, Air traffic controllers
No. of Pages: 12
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-77/25
Title and Subtitle: Development of new selection tests for air traffic controllers
Report Date: December 1977
Authors: Dailey JT, Pickrel EW
Abstract: This report describes the development of a new Multiplex Controller Aptitude Test for initial screening of FAA Air Traffic Controller applicants. Its content includes the traditional types of aptitude test items used for today's screening. In addition it includes measurement of the ability to identify potential conflicts in air traffic, a skill that has been demonstrated experimentally to have a significant relation to success in the ATC speciality.
Alternate forms of the test have been developed in a format that meets Civil Service test administration requirements. The test has been administered experimentally to groups whose abilities approximate those of the applicant population, and results indicate that it has satisfactory reliability characteristics. It has been administered experimentally to incoming students at the FAA ATC Academy and personnel on the job at operational facilities, and constantly produced higher correlations with ATC success than any other test used in the validation studies.
The available data indicate that this new and customized instrument promises to be a significant improvement over the existing battery for screening FAA Air Traffic Controller applicants.
Key Words: Selection, Air traffic controllers
No. of Pages: 12
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012