Development of a Test Battery and Rating Scale for Morse Intercept Operators

Abstract

In an effort to reduce attrition during basic morse code training required for the Military Occupational Speciality 05H (Morse Code Intercept Operators), new measures are being sought to improve present selection methods used at the US Army Intelligence School, Ft. Devens. A test battery was used to evaluate whether certain psychological attributes (e.g. musical ability, short-term memory, attention, perceptual speed) are related to job performance. A likert-type rating scale, using 05H critical behaviors, was developed to assess on-the-job operator performance. Results revealed that (1) portions of the test battery were correlated with successful 05H performance as measured by the rating scale, and (2) some tests which did not predict performance discriminated between 05H operators and the general population. Identification of potentially predictive tests from this effort will provide the basis for the construction of a test battery to supplement current selection techniques.