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Expanding the Nexus of Cognitive and Psychomotor Abilities
Author(s) -
Carretta Thomas R.,
Ree Malcolm James
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of selection and assessment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.812
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1468-2389
pISSN - 0965-075X
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2389.00055
Subject(s) - psychomotor learning , psychology , cognition , aptitude , confirmatory factor analysis , nexus (standard) , cognitive test , psychomotor disorder , developmental psychology , structural equation modeling , psychiatry , engineering , statistics , mathematics , embedded system
A study was conducted to expand the nexus of cognitive and psychomotor abilities. A cognitive aptitude battery and a psychomotor battery were administered to 429 military recruits. A confirmatory factor analysis yielded higher‐order factors of general cognitive ability ( g ) and psychomotor/technical knowledge (PM/TK). PM/TK was interpreted as Vernon's (1969) practical factor ( k : m ). In the joint analysis of these batteries, g and PM/TK each accounted for about 31% of the common variance. No residualized lower‐order factor accounted for more than 7% PM/TK influenced a broad range of lower‐order psychomotor factors. The first practical implication of these findings is that psychomotor tests are expected to be at least generally interchangeable. A second implication is that the incremental validity of psychomotor tests beyond cognitive tests is expected to be small. These findings should help guide test developers and inform personnel selecting agencies regarding the expected utility of psychomotor tests.