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This study examines the commonly held contention that test anxiety may serve as a source of bias in the scholastic aptitude test performance of gender and ethnic minority groups. In addition, this study examines sex and sociocultural group differences in the level and pattern of test anxiety among Israeli college students. The sample was composed of 163 male and 198 female students sitting for scholastic aptitude tests routinely administered to all student applicants as part of their college admissions procedures. About 67% were of Western cultural extraction whereas the remainder were of Eastern extraction. Significant differences in text anxiety scores for males and females were observed, with greater sex group differentiation on the Emotionality than on the Worry scale. Test anxiety scores were not discernible by ethnicity or social class. Furthermore, test anxiety was not differentially related to aptitude test scores by sex or sociocultural group membership. Thus, this study lends little evidence to the common contention that test anxiety differentially debilitates the aptitude test scores of females and ethnic minority student candidates.
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The EFCS/QUATE aptitude test is an important measure for evaluating quality in cervical cytopathology and for assessing the level of experience and competence in cervical cancer screening. The test, set up in the 1990s by the ECTP/CCS working party, has been performed since 1992 in several European countries: United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Hungary and Italy. In Italy, the test has been performed at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in 1992 and 1993 and in some Italian universities (Padua 1993, Turin 1994, Sassari 1995, Naples 1996, Messina 1998) and in one hospital (Genoa 1997). The minimum passing score is 60/100 (60% in all sections). The aptitude test for cytotechnologists includes: a written test (50 multiple choice questions); a practical test (screening 10 unmarked cervical smears; spot test of 20 slides with a fixed field of view); and an oral test, for borderline candidates when necessary (60%) or for the diploma with 'distinction' (95%). Successful candidates receive the Certificate of Aptitude in Gynecological Cytotechnology and are entitled to use the initials CT (EFCS-GYN) after their names for professional purposes. The aptitude test for anatomopathologists includes an oral test and a practical test (screening 5 unmarked cervical smears, spot test of 20 slides with a fixed field of view, and reading and diagnosing 3 complex cases). Successful candidates receive the certificate of gynecological cytopathology. The first aptitude test for anatomopathologists in Italy, organized and endorsed by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in collaboration with SIAPEC (Italian Society of Pathological Anatomy and Cytopathology) and in agreement with the European guidelines for cervical cancer screening, was performed on 18 December 1997 in Rome. The total number of aptitude tests carried out in Europe is 15 for cytotechnologists and 4 for anatomopathologists. A total of 317 cytotechnologists and 73 anatomopathologists has taken the test; the success rates are 77% and 70%, respectively.
BACKGROUND: Identification of the desired psychomotor abilities of optimal surgical performance, if possible, would be useful in the selection of surgical trainees. The aim of this study was to determine the level of these abilities among endoscopic consultant surgeons held in high regard by their peers. METHODS: Twenty endoscopic consultant "master" surgeons were tested on three aptitude tests: the Gibson Spiral Maze Test (error score measures eye-hand coordination), the Crawford Small Parts Dexterity Test (execution time indicates manual dexterity), and the Space Relations Test (correct scores reflect visuo-spatial ability). Their performance was compared with that of 20 medical students and the reference norm as provided by the tests' manuals. RESULTS: The median scores of master surgeons fell in the 20th, 24th, and 30th percentiles, whereas the scores of medical students fell in the 50th, 20th, and 65th percentile of norm reference for the Gibson Spiral Maze, Crawford Small Parts Dexterity, and Space Relations tests, respectively. The master surgeons enacted significantly fewer errors (Gibson Spiral Maze), had similar execution times (Crawford Small Parts Dexterity), and lower visuo-spatial scores (Space Relations) than medical students. CONCLUSION: The level of eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity of master surgeons was found to be higher than that of the average norm including medical students, while their visuo-spatial ability was lower.
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Recent interest in the selection of surgical trainees has been directed towards the use of aptitude tests. Using mainly senior surgeons' ratings of trainees' surgical ability for comparison, specific areas of objective investigation have included manual dexterity, spatial ability, personality, and decision-making ability. While certain spatial ability tests have been shown to correlate with ratings of surgical skill, tests of manual dexterity have not. Personality variables, specifically, show how surgeons deal with stress and decision-making ability, and are considered to be important within the profession. Although aptitude tests are being used in medical recruitment, there is still widespread disagreement over their inclusion and their validity. It is proposed that the use of aptitude testing in surgery is limited by three principal factors: there are too few well-designed studies investigating the basic psychological and psychomotor abilities considered to be specific to surgical skill; the use of subjective ratings of surgical ability as the independent variable in most studies; and the fact that, as yet, there is no working definition of superior surgical ability.
Pre-employment assessments must accurately simulate job tasks and demands and select appropriate personnel to be considered effective. This study focussed on the perception of NSW fire-fighters in relation to the validity of the NSW Fire Brigade's pre-employment assessment, the Physical Aptitude Test. A qualitative method was used to gain a precise understanding of fire fighters' opinions of the accuracy of the Physical Aptitude Test. Information letters and consent forms were sent to an urban fire station with interested participants replying via the university. Six participants, who met the inclusion criteria were randomly selected for the study and in-depth, ethnographic, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The fire fighters believed in order for the Physical Aptitude Test to accurately simulate job demands and select the most capable fire fighters', it needed to be more physically demanding. However, participants believed that the "work-simulating" nature of the Physical Aptitude Test provided an accurate indication of the job tasks.
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BACKGROUND: Although a controversial topic in medical education, the selection of aspirant surgical trainees is a subject that needs to be addressed. In the view of preventing surgical trainee drop-outs and of appropriate allocation of limited resources, it is an issue critical to the profession. Traditional methods of selection are often subjective, and do not seem to correlate with skill needed for surgery. Standardized neuropsychometric test batteries may be useful in helping to select aspirant laparoscopic surgeons. Our study attempts to link surgical novices' psychometric ability test battery data with actual performance outcome on an objective, validated, and reproducible surgical laparoscopic task using virtual-reality simulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three novices with no laparoscopic surgical experience participated. Each participant performed the Xitact LS500 Virtual Reality cholecystectomy clip-and-cut module 30 times. Individual learning curves were computed and patterns were assessed. Participants were examined using the aptitude test battery including the Abstract Reasoning test, the Space Relations test, the Gibson Spiral Maze test, and the Crawford Small Parts Dexterity tester. RESULTS: Over 900 virtual-reality simulation tasks were generated and assessed. Of the participants, 93.3% were able to complete the virtual-reality simulation 30 times and all elements of our aptitude test battery. The abstract reasoning test is the only test correlating significantly to Xitact test outcome. This test is highly correlated to the space relations test. Both tests have discriminative power, comparing groups of performers. CONCLUSIONS: The present study addresses the concurrent validity in aptitude testing, comparing scores of surgical novices on the Xitact LS500 laparoscopic cholecystectomy virtual-reality simulation with performance scores on a battery of standardized psychometric aptitude tests. The abstract reasoning and the space-relation test have predictive and selective value, identifying individuals who have good laparoscopic surgical virtual-reality performance. Aspiring laparoscopic surgeons who score below 25 on either test, that is, an expected 36%, would have to be further assessed using Xitact surgical task performance. The group of participants scoring above 35 on the Abstract Reasoning test and above 45 on the Space Relations test, that is, an expected 18% of the population, is unlikely to mal-perform on Xitact. The other 46% could very well benefit from Xitact simulation and assessment when the opportunity is present.
A medical reasoning aptitude test (MRAT) was designed to assess aptitude for clinical problem-solving in medical school applicants. The purpose of the study reported here was to determine whether the information provided by this test, when used in conjunction with college grade-point averages (GPAs) and scores on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), would improve the prediction of medical school performance. Specifically, the authors investigated the incremental predictive value of the MRAT relative to students' overall performance in medical school and, more specifically, to their knowledge and clinical reasoning during preclinical years and clinical performance during the clerkship year. Overall, it was found that, with the exception of the first year, the addition of MRAT scores to the GPAs and MCAT scores increased precision in identifying students who performed poorly or exceptionally well in the second year and the clinical clerkship year. This last finding is especially useful, since few other tests have provided that information. On the basis of the preliminary findings, the authors propose further use and validation of the MRAT.
This paper discusses the problems involved in the selection of dental students and the need for some form of aptitude testing. It describes the situation in the United Kingdom both in the past and the present, and then describes in detail the situation in North America (both in the United States and Canada). The Dental Admission Test, its history and the research into its development are described with particular emphasis on the dexterity, perceptual and aptitude components of the test. More recent research into dexterity and aptitude testing of dental students is also covered. However, it is apparent that many questions remain unanswered.