Attribute Requirements for a Simulated Flight Scenario Microcomputer Test

Eighteen subjects practiced a video game of bombing and air combat maneuvering, Phantoms Five®, on an APPLE® microcomputer for 10 minutes a day for 15 days. The dependent variable was the combined score for number of hits and number of targets. Performance stabilized from Days 8–15 with a pooled reliability of .904. Eight reference tests which theoretically measure cognitive, perceptual, quantitative, and motor skills were selected and used as independent variables. Stabilized performance on these tests was observed after a period of practice which was predetermined from previous experimentation. Attributes of the Phantoms Five® were isolated using a structured job analytic tool (Position Analysis Questionnaire, PAQ). A principal components analysis of the measures that correlated with the dependent variable resulted in a one factor solution explaining 66 percent of the variance. It was concluded that construct validity was established since there was a strong similarity between the attribute requirements attained by correlating the stabilized scores of independent and dependent variables and by the PAQ analysis of task functions.