Multiplex Controller Aptitude Test and Occupational Knowledge Test: Selection tools for air traffic controllers.

Abstract

Abstract : The cost of training Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel has risen rapidly. Attrition of students prior to completion of the training results in loss of invested funds as well as a delay in providing a fully qualified ATC specialist to the field for both military and civilian agencies. Improved selection and prediction tests for ATC personnel have been recognized as essential to decrease attrition rates. This study examined the selection utility of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prototype ATC test battery. The test protocol consisted of the Multiplex Controller Aptitiude Test (MCAT), a job simulation test; and the Occupational Knowledge Test (OKT), a job knowledge specific test. Two-thousand four-hundred ninety-nine FAA/ATC Academy trainees from the 1978 through 1980 period had taken two versions of the Multiplex Controller Aptitude Test (MCAT1) and MCAT2) and one version of the Occupational Knowledge Test (OKT). Test score s for 1,954 of these subjects were merged with information concerning their sex, education, ATC experience, ATC option, and pass/fail status at the ATC Academy. Item analyses indicated the MCAT contained very difficult or very easy items in over 50 percent of the test questions. The OKT had acceptable levels of item difficulty at the 25 percent level.