PROBLEMS IN AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. VI. INTERACTION OF TRAINING-ENTRY AGE WITH INTELLECTUAL AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SPECIALISTS.

Abstract

P REVIOUS RESEARCH HAS conclusively demon strated that a substantial negative relationship ex ists between an individual's chronological age at entry into Air Traffic Control Specialist ( ATCS) training with the Federal .Aviation Agency (FAA) and subse quent performance in training and on the job. It has also been shown that chronological age at entry into ATCS training is related to performance on aptitude The present investigation represents an exploration of the interaction of training-entry age of Air Traffic Control Specialists with their intellectual and person ality characteristics as assessed by paper-and-pencil tests at the time of entry into training. Particular em phasis has been placed upon the identification of de crements in specific aptitudes, or cognitive abilities,· which may predispose the older trainees to less effec tive training and job performance. In order to present a more meaningful description of the various aptitude tests administered to over 900 Enroute and Terminal ATC trainees, the contents of the tests were examined and matched with the cogni tive faci:or areas described by French 4 and French, Ekstrom and Price. 5 Although some tests could not be matched and others were obviously poor measures of the factor area to which assigned, it was felt· that the results might have more usefulness and meaning for other investigators if reported in this frame of refer ence. In addition, the literature on aging, as represented, for example, by Dennis' survey 3 and the study of Glanzer, Glaser, and Richlin, 6 was utilized to predict the direction of the relationships expected to obtain between the cognitive factor areas and age. Predic tions could not be made for all factors and, for some, examination of the tests assigned to the factor areas suggested that different relationships might occur with-From