Crew Selection for Uninhabited Air Vehicles: Preliminary Investigation of the Air Vehicle Operator (AVO)

Abstract

Because of the similarity of the AVO console to a desktop flight simulator, a preliminary idea of what aptitude factors would predict success in AVO training might be obtained through a validation study using a desktop flight simulator as the criterion task. In this study, 171 young men and women learned to fly a simulated light aircraft. The participants also took a comprehensive 8-hour battery of computer-based tests. Results indicated that learning was predicted well by general cognitive ability (g)/ working memory (WM) and multilimb coordination. When structural equation modeling was used to distinguish declarative and procedural learning, declarative learning was found to be strongly dependent on g/WM, which is consistent with previous research. That g/WM did not correlate with procedural learning explains why correlations of this ability with learning diminished as instruction moved from a declarative to procedural emphasis. Only multilimb coordination ability was strongly related to procedural learning.