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Changes in Factor Structure of a Complex Psychomotor Test as a Function of Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Edwin A. Fleishman  and
Walter E. Hempel Jr.
Edwin A. Fleishman
Affiliation:
AF Personnel and Training Research Center* Lackland Air Force Base San Antonio, Texas
Walter E. Hempel Jr.
Affiliation:
AF Personnel and Training Research Center* Lackland Air Force Base San Antonio, Texas
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Abstract

Scores obtained at eight different stages of practice on the Complex Coordination Test together with scores on 18 reference tests were subjected to a Thurstone Centroid Factor Analysis. Nine meaningful factors were identified in the experimental battery. The results indicated considerable, but systematic, changes in the factor structure of the Complex Coordination Test as practice on the task was continued. The test became less complex (factorially) as practice was continued. Moreover, there was a change in the nature of the factors contributing variance at early and later stages of practice. Implications of the findings are related to certain problems of learning theory, psychomotor test development, and criterion analysis.

Type
Original Paper
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , September 1954 , pp. 239 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © 1954 The Psychometric Society

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Footnotes

*

Skill Components Research Laboratory. The opinions or conclusions contained in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or indorsement of the Department of the Air Force.

The writers are indebted to Dr. Jack A. Adams for the basic data on which this analysis is based.

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