ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIVE MOVEMENT TEST BY A METHOD OF INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to analyze performance on the Relative Movement Test, a part of the U. S. Navy Officer Classification Battery, in order to obtain a better understanding of what the test measures. More adequate information about the test should be of value in indicating how more effective measures may be produced for use by the Navy in selection and classification of personnel.A preliminary analysis of answer sheets for the Relative Movement Test revealed that under normal administration conditions the test is speeded. The proportion of items not reached was considerably greater for the Relative Movement Test than for the other tests in the battery.The analysis to be described here was based on data obtained from individual interviews. A sample of officer candidates, who had previously taken the test, were asked individually to do the problems aloud in an interview situation. Each subject described how he solved each of the group of selected items presented to him. All interviews were tape‐recorded.At a later date, six judges listened to the recordings for the first 20 items of the test, and each judge wrote a description of the mental process he thought was involved in each solution. These descriptions were then sorted into categories according to type of mental process described and also according to item number.The findings were as follows: The test seems to provide a measure of spatial and deductive ability. The element of speededness in the regular examination procedure very likely provides a modifying condition, however. Three groups of items were identified: (1) those judged to be primarily spatial, (2) those judged to be primarily deductive, and (3) those judged to be both spatial and deductive to an approximately equal extent. Items judged as primarily spatial were generally the ones that required course or bearing answers, whereas those judged as primarily deductive generally required relative speed answers. There was almost universal agreement among judges that spatial and deductive processes were involved in all but few of the reports. Judges differed among themselves with respect to the predominance of spatial and deductive processes. No subject showed a tendency to employ any one of the above‐mentioned processes consistently from item to item. Processes were found to vary more as a function of the item than as a function of the subject.It was recommended that studies should be performed in order to discover the relative validities of spatial items, deductive items, and items which involve both spatial and deductive ability, both under speeded and unspeeded conditions. Such studies would provide the final evidence regarding how best to use Relative Movement Test items in selection and classification of Naval personnel.