The WOMBAT Situational Awareness and Stress Tolerance Test is
a modern psychological assessment tool for selecting complex-system operators
such as pilots, air traffic controllers, ship and train operators, anesthetists,
nurses, paramedics, 9-1-1 dispatchers, nuclear-plant operators, in fact
anyone in charge of complex operations involving multiple concurrent inputs
and response alternatives. The concept of situational awareness was
introduced to the aviation community in the late 1970s by Dr. Stanley N.
Roscoe of the University of Illinois Aviation Research Laboratory, only
in those days he called it "residual attention." Research
by Roscoe and his students and associates led to the development of the
WOMBAT Test.
To some, WOMBAT may have the look and feel of a video game. However, it
is much more than a complex game; it is a powerful, culture-independent
PC-based system for measuring situational awareness under stress. A recent
study by Dr. David O'Hare of the University of Otago in New Zealand and
published in the Human Factors Journal (Abstract
|| AeroNews 1/97) provided strong evidence that
the test does in fact measure "an individual's ability to maintain
situational awareness and that this ability is found in high levels in elite
pilots." When high levels of situational awareness are demonstrated
on the test, individuals can be expected to perform well on complex jobs.
The reverse is also true. When a low level of situational awareness is indicated
by WOMBAT, the risk of hiring that job applicant is dangerously high, translating
into greater costs of training for specific jobs, with higher
attrition rates, and more operational failures on the job. Training
directors around the world have learned that the surest way to overrun a
training budget is to incur a high attrition rate, and the surest way to
stay under budget is to invest in a two-hour test to identify recruits with
low situational awareness.
No computer experience is required to take the
test. In experiments at George Mason University near Washington, DC, (AeroNews 3/94), and at the University
of Otago in New Zealand (Abstract ||
AeroNews 1/97), computer and computer-game experience
have been shown to have only brief, transient effects during the first few
minutes of testing. By the end of the test, those with minimal computer
experience cannot be distinguished from the computer literate. Furthermore,
in all experiments to date, no bias has been shown attributable to the gender
or race of the testees.
The testing process could not be simpler. The applicant sits in front of
a desktop computer and interacts with it using a special WOMBAT console
(shown left). The console has two standard joysticks and a custom keypad.
The testee first goes through a time-limited, step-by-step instruction and
practice period to learn the rules of the test. Once the rules are all clearly
understood and the testee has reached near-asymptotic performance on every
element of the various subtasks, the test phase begins and normally lasts
for 90 minutes, although it can be shortened as determined by the needs
of the organization.
The results are stored on the computer's disk and do not require expert
knowledge for analysis; only one important number, the final score,
is normally used to compare testees. Alternatively, the rate of scoring
during the final 30 minutes can be used to assure that all testees have
reached their individual limits on the test. The higher these numbers are,
the better is the testee's ability to maintain situational awareness under
prolonged stress. For more detailed study of a testee's performance, and
particularly for research purposes, a complete record of scoring during
each ten-minute segment of the test is recorded and can be printed out on
request.
Users of the WOMBAT test worldwide have consistently
reported more than a 100% return on investment during the first few months
from the reduction in trainee attrition alone, something no other selection
device has been able to demonstrate. Today's managers readily understand
the value of such an investment and no longer think of an effective selection
device as just another unnecessary expense. They have come to appreciate
the cost both in short-term money and long-term reputation incurred by poor
trainee selection, whether in ab initio training or subsequent operational
hiring. The cost of such selection-related failures will always exceed an
investment in WOMBAT many times over.
There are currently two versions of WOMBAT and another on the way. WOMBAT-CS
is designed to select operators of complex systems (CS) who will be directly
involved (hands-on) in the action of the system, such as pilots, drivers,
paramedics, anesthetists, and police officers, for example. The WOMBAT-FC
is designed to select those who will monitor complex operations remotely
and be responsible for the flow control (FC) of machines and people, such
as air and surface traffic controllers, 9-1-1 dispatchers, fire chiefs and
other disaster-control directors, battlefield commanders, and even offensive
and defensive coordinators for football teams. An extension of the concept,
the DuoWOMBAT-CS, is being developed to measure and enhance team performance
through effective team resource management.
Click here to:
... Test Drive a WOMBAT for One Year!
... read more on the WOMBAT-CS Test Scenario
... read more on the WOMBAT-FC Test Scenario
... read more on DuoWOMBAT
... read the Technical Specifications of WOMBAT
... know the price structure of WOMBAT
... download free books on WOMBAT
... read the Frequently Asked Questions page
