Application of artificial intelligence in military aptitude tests

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1 AARMS Vol. 6, No. 4 (2007) EDUCATION Application of artificial intelligence in military aptitude tests ATTILA KIRÁDY Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University, Budapest, Hungary The projective methods for the testing of personalities are useful means in meeting the requirements arising at military aptitude tests, such as indicating aggression, identifying stress tolerance, emotional instability, impulse control or aptitude to use weapons. Projective drawing tests, however, proved difficult to process but a computerised system has lately been developed that is capable of producing theoretical models of an expert's cognitive processes. As an important achievement of the research in artificial intelligence, the expert system has the fundamental objective to model human thinking as well as supplementing and assisting natural intelligence. The development of a special version of the expert system that can be applied in various areas of the military would introduce a completely new, modern testing method, currently in prototype state, which may significantly extend the range of testing opportunities used to date. Received: October 18, 2007 Application fields of projective tests in the aptitude tests used by the Hungarian Army Aptitude, as defined in psychology, means the total of the general and special abilities and skills required for the performance of the specific activity in the special position. The aim of the aptitude tests applied in the Army is to predict the expected performance; the category of predictive validity expresses the extent of this performance. The test aims to explore the causes and consequences of the differences between the individual characteristics from the aspect of the human and work factors. The tests can focus on the exploration of performance, skills or abilities, the last being the easiest factor to measure in practice. In aptitude tests, therefore, the different abilities and personal characteristics are analyzed and compared to the critical values typical of the specific work position. The requirements above are basically met by the various aptitude test procedures, including intelligence tests, attention test with instruments or paper and pen, personality questionnaire, aptitude tests for special positions, career motivation questionnaire, biography indicator, anamnesis, and exploration. There are, however, certain general Address for correspondence: ATTILA KIRÁDY Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University P. O. Box 15, H-1581 Budapest, Hungary attila.kirady@tv2.hu

2 and specific requirements (e.g. aggression detection, stress tolerance definition, emotional instability measurement, impulse control definition or aptitude to use weapons) which can be measured more efficiently with the use of other testing methods or which can be supplemented with other methods. Such procedures are the projective personality methods including projective drawing tests. As opposed to the scales used in questionnaires which always only show whether the given person is characterized by the given dimension (and thus are called narrow scale testing procedures), the projective drawings reveal certain characteristics which are not included in the questions, which were not even thought of by the examiners or known by the examined persons. The projective drawings, in many cases, open up windows to the deep layers of the personality, which suddenly reveal the deepest, most interior and most fundamental layers as well. The projective assessment method proves efficient, due to its non-verbal nature, with less educated persons and those with a low socio-cultural background, who often show weak performance on various aptitude test because of their poor ability of verbal expression. (As the sociological surveys find that the majority of the military personnel are mainly financially forced to join, a significant number of these persons are under-educated and the development of a new testing method may be an excellent solution for them.) The method can also be efficiently used to screen reserved and timid applicants. In these tests the generally resistant and defensive persons are also less able to conceal their real personality in their drawings. The reason is that verbal expression is easier to control than the projective level, the level of locomotors impulses, locomotors expression and formal-structural features of drawings. Theory of the Expert System for Projective Drawings (ESPD) The new heuristic analytic model has been developed by the research team led by Dr. Zoltán Vass (Károli University, Department of Psychology) to manage the complexity of drawing characteristics and to process and interpret the data obtained in the projective drawing tests. The most practical use of the model is to include it in a computerized expert system (ESPD) (Vass, 2000a, 2000b, 2001a, 2001c, 2002, 2004a, 2004b). The aim of the research above is to create the theoretical model of the expert cognitive processes. Although there are tests available which examine the typical cognitive faults of psychologists (e.g. inclination to respond, halo and Barnum effect, illusory correlations and perceptual illusions: Bingham, 1939; Meehl, 1960; Di Clementi and Handelsman, 1987; Chapman and Chapman, 1967; Lueger and Petzel, 1979; Kurtz and Garfield, 1978; Garb, 1989), the computerized model of the diagnostic 786 AARMS 6(4) (2007)

3 thinking of psychologists is yet to be developed. The expert system is capable of reproducing at least a part of this complex process of perception and conclusion. The expert system belongs to the important achievements of the research for artificial intelligence, which is an interdisciplinary science with the basic aim to model human thinking and to supplement and assist natural intelligence. The current focus of the research for artificial intelligence is not on solutions to general problems but on the application of special heuristics and on solutions to problems requiring domain specific knowledge. Similarly to human experts, the expert (or advisory) systems use expert knowledge to treat a specific set of problems, provide intelligent advice or make and justify intelligent decisions. The expert systems are computer programs which can apply the definable rules of the problem solving strategy of human experts to solve certain specified tasks. The expert systems typically consist of a knowledge base (symbolic representation of the knowledge of the world), a conclusion machine (component to manage rules and recognize correlations) and a user interface (computer program). The benefits of the expert systems include reproducibility, objectiveness, unlimited knowledge representation capacity and transparent conclusion strategy; the limitations mainly include the lack of common sense, creativity and the problems of the recognition of its own limits of competence. The system performs the complete interpretation of the drawings, which means that it reproduces only the perceptive and cognitive processes which can be performed by human experts. The method is called heuristic analysis. Heuristics are generally defined in relation to algorithms. Algorithms are problem solving methods including clearly defined steps which are in a constant order and which must always be performed in an unchanged manner. In contrast, heuristics are problem solving methods in which the steps of the process can be changed; the order can be modified with certain sections omitted and new ones inserted. The advantage of the application of algorithms is high speed, reliability and the feature that they always and surely lead to the solution (in the case of tasks which can be solved using algorithms). The drawback, however, is that it cannot be applied in certain cases and that, in the case of a high number of possible solutions, the combinatory search of the specific possible solutions can be an extremely slow process. The advantage of heuristics is that it can immediately jump onto the solution; therefore it proves to be (especially in the case of complex problems) much faster than algorithms; in addition, there exist certain problems which can only be solved using heuristics for lack of applicable algorithms. The drawback of heuristics is that it is less precise and does not always lead to a solution. AARMS 6(4) (2007) 787

4 The knowledge base of the developed expert system contains 2055 psychological interpretations and 1613 diagnostic definitions. One part of the diagnostic definitions represents personal psychological knowledge (727 knowledge item); the other part represents specific clinical psychological and psychopathological knowledge defined according to the DSM-IV-R system of definitions (886 knowledge item). The ESPD system ensures psychometric reliability in a completely different manner from the traditional ways. This difference lies in the allowed errors made by the examiner in the selection of the relevant features for coding; the program is capable of correcting as high as 30 percent of coding errors. It is possible to correct coding errors as one coded item is in a very weak association relationship with the related psychological meaning: the strength of the specific associations can only be between 1 10%. As the threshold to the output (entry criterion) is 30 percent certainty at the very end of the analysis performed by the program, only the items whose certainty is higher than the threshold can remain; a meaning can only be above the threshold level if it appropriately fits the gradually built up total image, the semantic Gestalt. The heuristics of the program recognize and neutralize the items selected by error in certain phases of the analysis. The items which are contradictory or which are not in semantic relationship are filtered and their certainty factor is reduced. The analysis therefore is basically an analysis of patterns or configurations performed with the use of 1627 configurations, 122 counter indications, 34 pathogenetic causal relationships and 90 heuristic scales stored in the knowledge base. Each step of the development of the final semantic Gestalt is documented, transparent and controllable. The analysis of configurations also requires the anamnesis of the examined person. In the drawing analysis the following anamnesis variables are used to define the drawing characteristics in the context: General data of anamnesis (age, gender, general level of integration, socioeconomic status, artistic skills, width and intensiveness of the emotional spectrum); Observations on the examined person by the examiner concerning expressive behaviour (build, temper, appearance, non-verbal expression: voice, eye contact, handshake, posture, walk); Special features of case history (e.g. family, physical or sexual harassment, suicidal attempt or considerations, physical appearance, social behaviour, sexual behaviour, specific symptoms, psychiatric anamnesis); Previous diagnosis (if any). The expert system includes a total number of 145 anamnesis features with attributed meanings, it is however not possible to describe them in this summary. 788 AARMS 6(4) (2007)

5 After the collection of the required information the next step of the interpretation is the search for the configuration of variables. The configuration definition used in the analysis was developed by the author in the research activity carried out between 2000 and 2004 (Vass, 2004a, 2004b). The configuration was defined as a variable pattern, with a certainty factor, attributed to a specific psychological meaning. The value of this certainty factor can range between 0 and 100, the meaning is similar to a percentage but the applied mathematical function is different (the total of two certainty factors, for example, will not increase in a linear manner). The certainty factor used in the research shows the strength of the interpretation, or in other words, the likelihood that the given psychological meaning is really characteristic of the examined person. The most important feature of the configuration operated as above is that it only begins operation, that is it only increases the initial certainty factor, if at least three items are simultaneously displayed from the pattern of variables attributed to the specific meaning. It is a general rule that the higher number of items is perceived in a given configuration, the higher is the certainty factor of the pattern meaning. The findings revealed that the configurations defined as above allow efficient operation in a computerized model. The combination of the information contents of several configurations is possible using defined algorithms and heuristics. Practical application of the ESPD system in military aptitude tests In practice this means that after the anamnesis is recorded and the projective test is performed, the examiner selects the items from a list which he considers important to characterize the examined person. The list used to characterize the examined person includes the programmed variables in a logically transparent hierarchic classification. Each drawing feature includes one definition and 20 sample drawings by various other persons (currently a total of 5343 sample drawings). If the examiner has previously studied the system, our findings show that about 4 5 minutes is required to analyze the items in 5 6 drawings (drawings by the same person of a house, a tree, and an animal, a human and free choice). Summary The development of a special version of the expert system that can be applied in various areas of the military would introduce a completely new, modern testing method, currently in prototype state, which may significantly extend the range of testing opportunities used to date. AARMS 6(4) (2007) 789

6 References BERKY, T. (2002): Drawing Tests in Consultancy, unpublished university thesis, BOLGÁR, J.: Issues of Quality Assurance of Human Resources from the Aspect of Psychology, Humán Szemle, XIV/1: BOLGÁR, J.: Aptitude Testing of Military Leaders at the Zrínyi Miklós National Defense University, Humán Szemle, XII/1-2: GÁL, A. (2001): Harmony of Human Needs and Organizational Requirements, Hadtudomány. CSIRSZKA, J. (1985): The Psychology of the Working Activity of the Personality, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. HÁRDI, I. (1983): Dynamic Drawing Tests, Medicina, Budapest. JAKAB, I. (1998a): Visual Expression in Psychiatry. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. JÓZSEF, I.: Psychological aptitude, Humán Szemle, XVIII/2: KLEIN, S. (2001): Labour Psychology I II, Gondolat Kiadó, Budapest. KIRÁDY, A. (2006): Configurative Analysis of Projective Drawings Made by Schizophrenic Patients, VI. International Congress of the Hungarian Psychiatric Association, Budapest. SEHRINGER, W., VASS, Z. (2005): Dynamics of Spiritual Processes, Budapest. VASS, Z. (1995): Formal Analysis of Drawings. Unpublished university thesis. Budapest: Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem. VASS, Z. (1996): Advantages, Problems and Research Outlook of Projective Drawings, Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle, 52: VASS, Z. (1998a): Methodology Problems of Drawing Tests. International Congress of the Hungarian Psychiatric Association, Budapest, January 1998, Abstracts p. 44. VASS, Z. (1998b): Levels of Personality in Drawings by the Average Person. Lecture in the joint conference of the Psychiatric and Psychotherapic Clinic of the Pécs University of Medicine, the Expression Pathology and Art Therapy Section of the Hungarian Psychiatric Association, the International Expression Pathology and Art Therapy Association and the Albert Sweitzer Music Therapy Association; Art Therapies and the Perspectives of the Psychopathology of Expression, Sept 1998 (manuscript). VASS, Z. (1998d): Computerized Analysis of Projective Drawings Using Algorithms. IV. International Congress of the Hungarian Psychiatric Association, Budapest, January Abstract Book p. 39. VASS, Z. (1999): Toward the More Objective Projective Drawing Testing: Analysis Using Algorithms (Configurative Analysis of Tree Drawings by Schizophrenic Patients). Pszichológia, 19: VASS, Z. (2003): Psychological fundaments of Drawing Tests, Flaccus, Budapest VASS, Z., BERKY, T. (2002): Artificial Intelligence in Pscycho-diagnostics: Reliability and Validity Results of the ESPD 2002 program. Szeged, 29 May June Abstracts Book, p. 56. Internet source: AARMS 6(4) (2007)

The Author s Summary of his Doctoral (PHD) Thesis about

ZRÍNYI MIKLÓS UNIVERSITY OF DEFENSE Doctoral School of Military Sciences The Author s Summary of his Doctoral (PHD) Thesis about The Possible Use of an Artificial-Intelligence-Based Computer-Aided Expert