Article ID: CBB001214333

The Psychologist and the Bombardier: The Army Air Forces' Aircrew Classification Program in WWII (2014)

unapi

During World War II, psychologists in the Army Air Forces were given an unprecedented opportunity to showcase their discipline by developing examinations to test the aptitude of aviation cadets as pilots, navigators, or bombardiers. These psychologists enjoyed success in classifying pilots and navigators, but became quickly frustrated by their results for bombardiers. The trouble lay not in their choice of tests but in their performance measures for bombardiering, a difficulty that came to be known as `the problem of the criterion.' This episode in the history of military mental testing exemplifies the challenges faced by psychologists at the moment they were poised to gain the support of the armed services, and highlights how these new hazards shaped postwar military psychology.

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Authors & Contributors
Edward P.F. Rose
Hubbard, Katherine
Schilling, Rebecca
Palter, David
Levit, Georgy S.
Williams, Kathleen Broome
Concepts
World War II
Science and war; science and the military
Psychology
Psychological tests
Testing
Psychiatry
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century, late
20th century
Places
United States
Germany
Great Britain
Canada
United Kingdom
Leningrad (Soviet Union)
Institutions
Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory
Great Britain. Royal Air Force
Stanford University
University of Minnesota
Universiteit Leiden
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