FLUID INTELLIGENCE AND SPATIAL REASONING AS PREDICTORS OF PILOT TRAINING PERFORMANCE IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN AIR FORCE (SAAF)
30 Apr. 2009

François De Kock
Department of Industrial Psychology
Stellenbosch University
South Africa

Anton Schlechter
Department of Industrial Psychology
Stellenbosch University
South Africa

Department of Industrial Psychology
University of Stellenbosch
Private Bag X17602MatielandSouth Africa

FLUID INTELLIGENCE AND SPATIAL REASONING AS PREDICTORS OF PILOT TRAINING PERFORMANCE IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN AIR FORCE (SAAF)
30 Apr. 20096B7673AD05607C0B45AC97A0E933141C10.4102/sajip.v35i1.753Received: 25 July 2008 Accepted: 02 Oct. 2008pilot selectionfl ight trainingintelligencespatial abilityincremental validity
Pilot selection is a form of high-stakes selection due to the massive costs of training, high trainee ability requirements and costly repercussions of poor selection decisions.This criterion-related validation study investigated the predictive ability of fl uid intelligence and spatial reasoning in predicting three criteria of pilot training performance, using an accumulated sample of South African Air Force pilots (N = 108).Hierarchical multiple regression analyses with training grade achieved as criterion were performed for each of the phases of training, namely practical fl ight training, ground school training, and offi cers' formative training.Multiple correlations of 0.35 (p < 0.01), 0.20 (p > 0.05) and 0.23 (p > 0.05) were obtained for fl ight, ground school and formative training results, respectively.Spatial ability had incremental validity over fl uid intelligence for predicting fl ight training performance.

INTRODUCTION

Military pilot selection has traditionally been heavily researched, in part because pilots play a key role in modern warfare and training them is costly in terms of both fi nances and time (Hunter & Burke, 1994).In the United Kingdom, the estimated unit cost of training a fast-jet pilot is more than £3.7 million.One fi ghter pilot in the South African Air Force (SAAF) takes at least 5 years to train, which makes training failures costly.Dropout rates are high in the United States Air Force (20%) and Australian and Canadian programmes (30%) (Bourn, 2000).Aircraft accidents are also expensive in human, fi nancial and psychological terms.Since choosing pilots represents such a high-stakes selection scenario, the military continues to research effective pilot selection measures.

Two issues seem to dominate current pilot selection research.Firstly, the fact that Spearman's general cognitive ability (g) plays such a central role in predicting pilot success has raised the question of whether it really makes sense to also assess specifi c intelligences (Carretta & Ree, 1989;Ree & Carretta, 1996;2002).Proponents of this argument argue that most specifi c intelligences are so saturated with g that it rarely adds any incremental validity to batteries already containing measures of g.This argument would make sense, assuming Carroll's (1993) model of cognitive ability of a hierarchy of factors with g at its apex and group factors at successively lower levels to be true.For purposes of this paper, fl uid intelligence and g were assumed to be theoretically congruent (for a summary, see Alderton & Larson, 1990) and, therefore, are used interchangeably as in other cited literature.The second issue relates to the so-called criterion problem.Most validity studies cite the lack of meaningful, quality criteria to validate predictors against a weakness (Hunter & Burke, 1994;Hunter & Schmidt, 1990).This problem is especially prominent in pilot selection research (Damos, 1996).Gaining a better exposition of the performance domain takes us some way towards a better understanding of ability-performance linkages (Schmitt & Chan, 1998).The present study sought to address both of these issues by assessing both measures of g and specifi c intelligences, and examining how well this combination predicts multiple criteria of pilot training performance.It also reports on the incremental validity of measures of specifi c intelligence over and above fl uid intelligence, which remains a contested topic in pilot selection research.

Validation

The validation of selection procedures is necessary for various reasons.The pragmatic perspective views human resources, where the individual and his/her output is key, as critical to success in any organisation.Gatewood and Feild (1998, p. 3) state that '…the performance of employees is a major determinant of how successful an organisation is in reaching its strategic goals and developing a competitive advantage of rival fi rms'.Selecting people that are likely to perform effectively is a key responsibility of the human resource function, which by implication includes developing and validating effective selection procedures (Campbell, McCloy, Oppler & Sager, 1993;Milkovich & Boudreau, 1997).

The selection process must be reliable and it needs to make valid claims.According to internationally accepted principles and guidelines (American Psychological Association, 2003;United States Department of Labor, 1978) a sound selection procedure is one that allows valid inferences to be made regarding future job behaviour from available measure scores.Likewise, the Guidelines for the Validation and Use of Assessment Procedures for the Workplace (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1998, p. 1) concur by stating that the evaluation of any assessment procedure should be 'based on the fact that suffi cient proof can be found that the procedures used are indeed relevant to the position or work concerned'.

The 'proof' referred to above can be termed 'validity', and it refers to the '…degree to which accumulated evidence and theory support specifi c interpretations of test scores entailed by proposed uses of a test' (American Educational Research Association, APA & National Council for Measurement inEducation, 1999, p. 184).Validation, therefore, involves the accumulation of evidence -content, criterion or constructrelated -to provide a sound scientifi c basis for the proposed score interpretations (APA, 2003).

From a legal perspective, validation is required by law in South Africa, as stipulated in the Employment Equity Act (RSA, 1998, p. 10): Psychological testing and other similar assessments of any employee are prohibited unless the test or assessment being used has been scientifically shown to be valid, reliable; can be applied fairly to all employees; and is not biased against any employee or group.

During the selection process a choice is made about desired qualities and traits.This choice rests upon a predictive hypothesis that is formulated after considering the demands and context of the job (Guion, 1965).The focus of selection research is then to test the predictive hypotheses that certain qualities and traits predict certain desirable behaviour.In this sense, validation is seen as a process of traditional hypothesis testing (Binning & Barrett, 1989;Landy, 1986).

Traditionally, validation research has received considerable attention in the military (Cook, 1999;Rumsey, Walker & Harris, 1994;Schmitt & Borman, 1993).A survey of contemporary literature (e.g., Hilton & Dolgin, 1991;Hunter & Burke, 1994) reveals a thorough understanding of the link between tasks, demands and knowledge-skills-abilities (KSAs) for the job of the military pilot, which is simulated fairly well in the training task.

Determinants of pilot training success

There is general consensus that the determinants of pilot success resort in three main domains, namely intelligence and aptitude, psychomotor coordination and personality (Carretta & Ree, 1989).A broad summary of research on each predictor area is provided next, even though not all of these were assessed in this study.Hilton and Dolgin (1991, p. 94) remark that '…there is little doubt that above average intelligence is necessary to master military pilot training.'They also characterise intelligence as the best and most stable predictor of flight training success, in their summary of pilot selection research during the last century.

Intelligence and aptitude

Intelligence is a broad concept, and is sometimes defined more specifically.For instance, Ree and Carretta (1996) make a useful distinction between two types of intelligence.They use Spearman's (1904) two-factor theory of cognitive ability and argue that intelligence can be seen as general cognitive ability (g) on the one hand, or in terms of specific abilities (s n ) on the other.The factor g is a general factor that is obtained through factor analysis and is thought to underlie most of the other intellectual abilities (Plug, Meyer, Louw & Gouws, 1989).The construct g is synonymous with fluid intelligence.

The predictive validity of these types of intelligence appears to differ.Hunter and Burke (1994), in their meta-analysis of predictors of pilot success, found that general intelligence was not generalisable across studies as a predictor; at most it had an influence moderated by other variables.However, general cognitive ability has consistently been shown to predict pilot training success, showing average statistically significant correlations of 0.33 (Ree & Carretta, 1996).

General intelligence in other guises has also been shown to predict pilot training success.Cattell's concept of fluid intelligence (Cattell, 1987;Raven & Court, 1998) is defined as intellectual abilities that are determined primarily by genetic factors, as opposed to cultural or environmental factors (Plug et al., 1989).Some evidence has been found that information processing capability, an important indicator of fluid intelligence, predicts pilot training success (Damos, 1996).A more recent South African study found that pilots could be differentiated from non-pilots on the grounds of rate of information processing (Barkhuizen, Schepers & Coetzee, 2002).It can be argued that fluid intelligence and information processing capability are two factors of intelligence that drive transfer and automatisation of learning during the flight training task.With regard to specific intelligence (s n ), a multitude of abilities have been found to predict pilot training success, among others verbal, quantitative, spatial, and mathematical ability, as well as perceptual speed and instrument comprehension (Burke, Hobson & Linsky, 1997;Carretta & Ree, 1996).

The relative importance of g and s n in predicting pilot training success remains a controversial issue.On the one hand, some authors (e.g., Burke, Hobson & Linsky, 1997;Carretta, Perry & Ree, 1996;Ree & Carretta, 2002) maintain that g remains a better predictor of pilot success than specific abilities.Other authors (e.g., Hunter & Burke, 1994;Martinussen, 1996) come to different conclusions and report -as a result of their metaanalyses -that measures of general intelligence had low mean validities compared to more specific measures of intelligence.Carretta, Perry & Ree (1996) shed light on this apparent contradiction with their view that the inclusion of specific abilities (s n ) adds little to the ability to predict criteria (see also Ree & Carretta, 1996), since many of the additional measures that are used are saturated with g and do not represent unique abilities.Some authors (e.g., Martinussen, 1996) disagree and demonstrate that the inclusion of specific abilities indeed had incremental validity over and above measures of g.Clearly, the debate on the role of intelligence and aptitude in the prediction of pilot training success is still very active and can be interpreted as an attestation of its dominance in pilot selection batteries.

Psychomotor coordination

Psychomotor skills research has a long history in pilot selection (Griffin & Koonce, 1996).The term 'psychomotor' denotes a combination of physical and psychological activities (Plug et al., 1989).

Measures of psychomotor coordination or hand-eye coordination as it is sometimes referred to are commonly included in selection batteries for two apparent reasons, being (a) they have an obvious relation to the task and (b) the results of validation research support their inclusion in selection batteries (Hilton & Dolgin, 1991).

In their study, (Burke, Hobson & Linsky, 1997) found that psychomotor tests were predictive of pilot training success and that its validity generalised across samples.They used Validity Generalisation Analysis (VGA) with three samples from different national air forces, with a large sample (N = 1760).A continuation of these authors' findings is the fact that various studies report that measures of psychomotor abilities were able to increase predictive validity of a battery already measuring g (Ree & Carretta, 1996).For instance, in one study when psychomotor tasks were added to a USAF selection battery already including the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) scores, the predictive validity of the battery increased from 0.168 to 0.207 (Damos, 1996).

New developments in psychomotor predictors also abound.Various studies have illustrated the role of situational awareness in pilot functioning (Carretta et al., 1996).Therefore, it can be expected that this construct might prove useful in future pilot selection batteries.

Personality

Personality can be defined as those aspects of individuals that make predictions about their behaviour in specific situations possible (Plug et al., 1989).Contrary to expectation, most studies report that personality adds little to the prediction of pilot success (Carretta, Perry & Ree, 1996;Hunter & Burke, 1994;Retzlaff & Gibertini, 1987;Turnbull, 1992).However, some studies did in fact report that certain aspects of personality had incremental predictive validity in traditional batteries, for instance attitude to risk (Ree & Carretta, 1996).In another study, 3 of 8 Carretta (2000) found that a measure of conscientiousness incremented the multiple correlation coefficient of a battery measuring general mental ability from 0.51 to 0.60.

Despite the generally weak ability of personality to predict pilot training success, it is often used in pilot selection.For instance, certain militaries use personality as a screening variable to identify clinical dysfunction and other undesirable traits.It also appears that personality is receiving increased attention in the important areas of stress tolerance and motivation (Hilton & Dolgin, 1991).

A study that compared the personality profiles of pilots to those of college students through cluster analysis, found that pilots had distinct personalities that distinguished them from non-pilots (Retzlaff & Gibertini, 1987).A similar finding was obtained by a study comparing the personality profiles of student naval pilots with normative data (Lambirth, Dolgin, Rentmeister-Bryant & Moore, 2003).Ashman and Telfer (1983) found pilots to be more achievement oriented, outgoing, active, competitive, dominant and less introspective, emotional, sensitive and self-effacing than a sample of non-pilots.

In another study, pilot trainees completed a personality inventory measuring five dimensions thought to be associated with flight training performance.After their training was completed, three of the measures were in fact related significantly to training outcome, namely hostility, self-confidence and values flexibility.Disappointingly, incremental validity analysis did not indicate that the inventory could enhance a selection model already containing traditional aptitude scores (Siem, 1992).

Meta-analyses of predictors of pilot training performance

The meta-analysis of Hunter and Burke (1994) of 68 published studies, with a total of 437 258 combined cases using the method proposed by Hunter and Schmidt (1990), concludes that not one predictor conclusively generalised in terms of predictive validity across samples.However, a number of variables had generalisable validity moderated by various factors, including decade of the particular study, aircraft type, arm of service and nationality.The variables that had generalisable validity (with mean sample-weighted correlations indicated) included job sample (0.34), gross dexterity (0.32), mechanical ability (0.29), reaction time (0.28), biodata inventory (0.27), aviation and general information (0.22), perceptual speed (0.20), spatial ability (0.19) and quantitative ability (0.11).Validities that could not be generalised across samples were verbal ability (0.12), fine dexterity (0.10), age (-0.10), education (0.06) and personality (0.10).

Similar results are reported by Martinussen (1996) in a metaanalysis of 66 independent samples from 50 studies (combined N = 17900) from 11 nations, also using the Hunter and Schmidt (1990) meta-analysis method.She found the best predictors of pilot performance to be -with mean corrected validities indicated -a combination of cognitive and psychomotor tests (0.37), previous training experience (0.30), cognitive abilities (0.24), psychomotor/information-processing abilities (0.24), aviation information (0.24) and biographical inventories (0.23).Similar to the findings of Hunter and Burke (1994), certain factors were found to have low mean validities, including personality (0.14), intelligence or g (0.16) and academic tests (0.15).

In a smaller follow-up meta-analysis of four studies (combined N = 973), again using the Hunter and Schmidt (1990) method, Martinussen and Torjussen (1998) found that the best predictors of success in pilot training were instrument comprehension (0.29), mechanical principles (0.23) and aviation information (0.22).

Clearly, predictors vary across time frames, technology and development in the nature of the task of the military pilot.This underscores the importance of validation within the particular context of use of a selection battery.As Huysamen (1994, p. 31) caveats, 'it is therefore more appropriate to refer to the validity of a test for a particular application than to speak of the validity of a test.'

There is general consensus that the ability to predict pilot training success is inadequate.Obtained multiple correlations are still low (Damos, 1996), largely because of the choice of criterion and unique problems associated with pilot selection research, such as small selection ratios and severe restriction of range (Burke, Hobson & Linsky, 1997;Carretta, 1992a;Hilton & Dolgin, 1991).More recently, it has been proposed that more valid and reliable criterion measures be developed and that research into new models of personality be conducted (Damos, 1996).

The SAAF, like other military and civilian organisations utilising pilots in their service, continuously attempts to improve its ability to predict successful pilot training performance (Aspeling, 1980;Croucamp & Bolton, 2002;Smit & Bielfeld, 2001).If so much rests upon the quality of decisions made in pilot selection, it is critical that the relationship between the constructs measured by the assessment battery and different criteria of flight training performance be investigated.Moreover, the additional gain in predictiveness from measures of special intelligence should be investigated.

Research objectives

In light of the above, the objectives and hypotheses of this study were formulated.In the first instance, to establish the extent to which the predictors in this study relate to pilot training performance, it was hypothesised that statistically significant relationships would exist between predictors and criteria of pilot training success.Secondly, in order to establish the extent to which a battery consisting of fluid intelligence and spatial ability is a valid predictor of multiple criteria of flight training performance, it was hypothesised that the pilot training performance of SAAF pilots could be predicted from a battery consisting of measures of fluid intelligence and spatial ability.Thirdly, to establish if adding a measure of specific intelligence to a battery already containing a measure of g, improves the ability to predict pilot flight training performance, it was hypothesised that spatial ability would have incremental validity over and above fluid intelligence for predicting pilot training performance.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Research method

A predictive criterion-related validity design was used to investigate the relationship between predictors and identified criteria (Schmitt & Chan, 1998).The adoption of quantitative methods and the use of statistical analyses allowed the researchers to compare results with earlier research findings.

Participants

The sample consisted of five full annual intakes of SAAF pilots (N = 108) who successfully completed officer's formative training, ground school training and practical flight training.In order to control for possible differences in training and evaluation content across training cycles, the researchers extracted data for the total population of pilots who qualified from 1997 to 2001, since training and evaluation was held constant in this period.Since foreign instructors were used to train and evaluate pilot trainees in training cycles after this period, the researchers decided to limit the analyses only to these comparable groups (i.e., 1997-2001).The annual intake sizes were relatively well distributed (e.g., 24.1%, 24.1%, 23.1%, 13% and 15.7%, from 1997 to 2001, respectively).The ranks of participants upon entering training ranged from candidate-4 of 8 officer to major, where most (85.1%)resorted in the former category.In terms of gender, 101 of the pilots were men and six were women.The pilots were all under the age of 25 upon entering the training programme.All pilots had completed at least Grade 12.The distribution of the gender and ethnic groups in the sample is shown in Table 1.

Measuring instruments

Criterion measures

The criterion for this study was subjects' performance during the total pilot training process.Therefore, instructors' ratings of practical flight performance, training grades for ground school flight training and scores on officers' formative training were considered as measures of the dependent variable.Evidence of construct validity of the three measures of training performance was found in the present study and is reported later.The reliability of the criterion measures could not be investigated, which is a common weakness of pilot validation studies (Hunter & Burke, 1994;Martinussen, 1996).One Norwegian study estimated the reliability of its criteria (theoretical tests and pass/fail measures of training success) to be 0.90 (Martinussen & Torjussen, 1998).

Predictor measures

The predictor measures used in this study were selected from a larger set of assessment instruments that are used by the SAAF for selection of military pilots.Due to the fact that the composition of selection batteries varied over the five-year period of this study, only the predictors included in all cycles were studied.

Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

The Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) is a nonverbal measure of general cognitive ability or g (Alderton & Larson, 1990;Jensen, 1998), as well as fluid intelligence (Cattell, 1987;Raven & Court, 1998).The APM was designed to differentiate between people of superior intellectual ability, such as students for advanced scientific or technical studies (Raven & Court, 1998).Various authors (e.g., Alderton & Larson, 1990;Arthur & Woehr, 1993) have confirmed that the APM measures g as a unidimensional construct.Reliability, construct and predictive validity of the instrument have been established in numerous studies (e.g., Bors & Stokes, 1998;Martinussen & Torjussen, 1998;Rushton, Skuy & Fridjhon, 2003).

Blox Test of Spatial Ability

The Blox Test (Lombard, 1980) is a test of spatial relations, orientation and visualisation, or spatial ability as it is commonly referred to in literature.This test assesses the ability to recognise three-dimensional objects which have been rotated in space and which are represented two-dimensionally, as in technical drawings.The Blox Test has been shown to yield acceptable reliability estimates of scores for various South African cultural groups, namely for Black Xhosa men (KR-20 = 0.89), Coloured Afrikaans Men (KR20 = 0.82), Indian Males (KR21 = 0.79) and Black Zulu Males (KR21 = 0.77).Studies in the engineering and trade environment illustrate adequate construct and predictive validity (Lombard, 1980).For instance, Van der Merwe (2002) showed that the Blox Test predicts success in skilled, technical jobs.

Procedure

The psychometric test scores of all participants were collected during their selection for the pilot training programme and combined with the training evaluation scores achieved after completion of training and subsequently screened for inadequate data.Cases with missing data on the primary criterion of flight training evaluation scores were excluded from the study.The validation design took the form of a predictive criterion-related validation study (Schmitt & Chan, 1998).In order to control for possible multi-year effects in criterion performance, the researchers compared the annual cycles in terms of the most important criterion measure for this study, namely flight training performance.An analysis of variance showed that the effect of year group was non-significant, F(4, 95) = 2.03, p = .096.Considering the minimum (65.9) and maximum (90.1) scores obtained on this criterion measure, the annual means ranged between 77.63 and 80.5.The Levene test for equality of variances between these groups was not significant for year group (p = .208).In addition to the fact that the content and method of flight training and evaluation remained constant, these results support the use of multi-year data in the subsequent analyses, since there is no indication of annual differences in average pilot flight training performance.

Statistical analysis

The statistical techniques included descriptive statistics, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Analysis and Hierarchical (Sequential) Multiple Regression Analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001).Correlation analysis was used to determine individual ability-performance relationships.Hierarchical Regression was used to determine if the addition of information regarding specific abilities such as spatial ability, improved prediction of criteria of pilot training success beyond that afforded by variance in fluid intelligence.Analyses were performed using SPSS REGRESSION and SPSS FREQUENCIES, by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), for evaluation of assumptions (SPSS, 2006).An alpha level of 0.05 was used for the determination of significance levels for all tests, unless stated otherwise.Using the tables of Cohen (1988), statistical power for this study was estimated at 0.87 (N = 108; estimated effect size d = 0.30).

RESULTS

Preliminary Analyses

Analyses were performed using SPSS REGRESSION, SPSS DESCRIPTIVES and SPSS FREQUENCIES were used for the evaluation of assumptions underlying the statistical techniques employed.These results led to transformations of the variables to reduce skewness and improve normality, linearity, and homoscedasticity of residuals.Inverse square root transformations were used on spatial ability, fluid intelligence and ground school performance scores.In most cases skewness was reduced with transformation, but normality was not significantly improved as judged by the respective Kolmogorov-Smirnov test statistics, which tests the hypothesis that a sample comes from a normal distribution.Therefore, transformations were not retained due to the consequent complication of interpretability of results and the fact that multiple regression analysis is believed to be fairly robust against moderate violations of the assumption of normality resulting from skewness (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001).With the use of a p < 0.05 criterion for Mahalanobis distance, no outliers among the cases   2 depicts correlations (Pearson) between the scores on predictor measures and the three measures of pilot training success.Based on the survey of literature and reasoning followed, it was expected that the first hypothesis would be supported, i.e. intercorrelations between predictors and criteria would be statistically significant (p < 0.05).

The results show that the intercorrelation between the two predictors, namely fluid intelligence and spatial ability, was moderate, positive and highly statistically significant (r = 0.415; p < 0.001).

Fluid intelligence was positively associated with two (of three) criteria for pilot training performance, namely with flight and formative training performance (r = 0.248; r = 0.216 respectively; p < 0.05).On the other hand, spatial ability was positively associated with flight training performance (r = 0.336; p < 0.001), but not with ground school training performance (r = 0.138; p > 0.05) and officers' formative training (r = 0.033; p > 0.05).Judging by these correlations, the first hypothesis regarding predictor-criterion relationships was supported for fluid intelligence as a predictor of two of the three criteria of flight training performance, but for spatial ability, only in the case of actual flight training performance as a criterion.

Hierarchical Multiple Regression results (Hypotheses 2 and 3)

To determine the validity of the battery to predict pilot training success, the regression of the various measures of pilot training success on the scores on the psychometric instruments was computed.Hierarchical Regression Analysis was performed for each criterion, since they represent distinctly different aspects of the training process that were of interest to the researchers.Since theory suggests that general cognitive ability underlies measures of specific intelligence, fluid intelligence was entered into the equation first, followed by spatial ability (Carretta, Perry & Ree, 1996).Table 3 displays the correlations between the variables, the unstandardised regression coefficients (B) and intercept, the standardised regression coefficients (β), the semipartial correlations (sr i 2 ), and R, R 2 , and adjusted R 2 after entry of both IVs.

For flight training performance, R was significantly different from zero at the end of each step.After step 2, with both predictors in the equation, R = 0.354, F (2, 93) = 6.66, p < 0.01.After step 1, with fluid intelligence in the equation, R 2 = 0.061, F inc (1, 93) = 6.143, p < 0.05.After step 2, with spatial ability added to the prediction of flight training, R 2 = 0.125 (adjusted R 2 = 0.106), F inc (1, 93) = 6.799, p < 0.05.The addition of spatial ability to the equation with fluid intelligence resulted in a significant increment in R 2 .Collinearity diagnostics did not provide conclusive evidence of collinearity.Using the criteria for multicollinearity suggested by Belsley, Kuh and Welsch (1980), no roots had conditioning indices greater than 0.30 for a given dimension, although some dimensions had more than one variance proportion greater than 0.50.None of the tolerances (1 -SMC) approached zero.Coupled with low variance inflation factors (VIF), it indicated no serious cause for concern regarding multicollinearity (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001).

For the other two criteria of pilot training performance, R was not significantly different from zero.For brevity's sake, their results will not be reported in separate tables but only in the text.For ground school training performance it was found that, with both IVs in the equation, R = 0.196, F (2, 93) = 1.855, p > 0.05.After step 1, with fluid intelligence in the equation, R 2 = 0.038, F inc (1, 93) = 3.731, p ≤ 0.05 (obtained p was marginal at 0.056).After step 2, with spatial ability added to the prediction of ground school training, R 2 = 0.038 (adjusted R 2 = 0.018), F inc (1, 93) = 0.019, p > 0.05.The addition of spatial ability to the equation with fluid intelligence did not result in a significant increment in R 2 .Similar results were found for officers' formative training performance, where R was significantly different from zero only after step 1, with fluid intelligence in the equation, R 2 = 0.047, F inc (1, 88) = 4.327, p < 0.05.After step 2, with spatial ability added to the prediction, R 2 = 0.054 (adjusted R 2 = 0.032), F inc (1, 87) = 0.627, p > 0.05.With both IVs in the equation, R = 0.232, F (2, 87) = 2.468, p > 0.05.Although officers' formative training could be predicted from fluid intelligence, the addition of spatial ability to the equation did not result As is common in most pilot selection validation studies, due to range restriction (Thorndike, 1949), obtained correlations or validities will tend to underestimate the true validities of predictors in the battery simply because the full range of ability is not present in the validation sample (Hunter & Schmidt, 1990).Since selection data for the unselected group were not available, corrections for multivariate restriction of range and unreliability in the criteria could not be computed (Guilford, 1954).

Using the Cattin (1990) formula to estimate population crossvalidity, which is the value one could expect if an infinite number of samples were available upon which to estimate cross-validity and one computed the average value of crossvalidity across these samples for flight training performance, population cross-validity is estimated at 0.32 (Schmitt & Chan, 1998).

The relationship between the various criterion measures is depicted in Table 2. Criterion convergence is apparent in these correlations, since pilot flight training and ground school training were strongly correlated and highly statistically significant (r = 0.424; p < 0.001), which serves as evidence of construct validity of the criterion.On its part, officers' formative training was not related to the other two criteria, thereby indicating that it measures aspects of training performance that are not necessarily related to the flying task.

DISCUSSION

The primary aim of this study was to determine the regression of pilot training performance during flight, ground school and officers' formative training on the scores on the psychometric instruments.The researchers expected that individuals with higher levels of fluid intelligence and spatial ability would achieve better training scores in pilot training.It was hypothesised that a significant relationship exists between pilot training performance, fluid intelligence and spatial ability.Furthermore, it was expected that spatial ability would add incremental validity to fluid intelligence in predicting pilot training performance.Partial support was found for these hypotheses.

Interpretation

Two (of three) criteria of pilot training performance were significantly (positively) associated with fluid intelligence, in line with earlier research on the prominent role of general cognitive ability (g) in predicting pilot training performance (Damos, 1996;Hilton & Dolgin, 1991;Ree & Carretta, 1996).

Assuming that g and fluid intelligence are theoretically congruent, an explanation for this finding can be taken from Thorndike (1949Thorndike ( , 1986) ) and Schmidt and Hunter (1998), who stated that g is central in predicting training and job success across hundreds of occupations.

The association between spatial ability and flight training performance mirrored the results of Carretta, Perry & Ree (1996), which confirms that spatial relations and orientation play an important part in the actual task of flying an aircraft.Spatial ability was not related to ground school and officers' formative training; there is also no apparent theoretical link to be made between these constructs.

In general, the results of this study are consistent with previous research on the prediction of pilot training success in two ways: (a) fluid intelligence remains one of the best predictors of flight training performance, and (b) the obtained correlations between predictors and criteria are still only moderate at best (Burke, Hobson & Linsky, 1997;Carretta, Perry & Ree, 1996;Damos, 1996;Hilton & Dolgin, 1991;Hunter & Burke, 1994).

A unique finding of this study was that spatial ability could indeed add incremental predictive validity to a battery already containing a measure of fluid intelligence (or g), contrary to the results of previous studies (e.g., Carretta, Perry & Ree, 1996;Ree & Earles, 1991).Although not a unique finding (see Martinussen, 1996), it is generally believed that little value is gained from measuring anything else but g in pilot selection, which is obviously not a generalisable conclusion.Even though our data support the view of Carretta, Perry and Ree (1996) that specific abilities (e.g., spatial ability) are saturated with g, this study shows that in some cases measures of specific forms of intelligence (s n ) could significantly improve the ability to explain variance in pilot training success.

Conclusion and recommendations

Since we have shown that sometimes special intelligence (s n ) has incremental validity over g, the implication is that, practically, such an (small) increase in predictive validity translates into significant utility yields when considering the low selection ratios, high costs associated with training and low base rates typical in pilot selection (Murphy & Davidshofer, 2005).Moreover, selection decision-errors in pilot selection can be catastrophic and therefore these can be minimised by using more accurate selection procedures that capture more of the factors that 'cause' performance in the cockpit.

One explanation for the imperfect prediction of criteria relates to the so-called criterion problem.Criteria in validation studies often do not receive the same attention as predictors, especially with regard to adequate choice, reliability and construct validity (Burke, Hobson & Linsky, 1997).Poor reliability of selection instruments affects predictive validity (Huysamen, 1996).Some American pilot selection studies (e.g., Carretta, 1989;1992b) show that using computerised psychometric testing tends to increase reliability and validity.

Limitations

There were limitations to this study.For one, the absence of psychometric data from non-successful applicants makes estimates of the population statistics impossible, which is a requirement for the computation of adjustments to the validity coefficients for restriction of range and unreliability in the variables.Most pilot selection studies, such as that of Burke, Hobson and Linsky (1997), report substantial improvements in validity coefficients when adjusted for restriction of range and unreliability of criteria.Secondly, the psychometric characteristics of the criterion measures could not be investigated, apart from some evidence of convergent validity in this study.It is suggested that future studies provide a detailed analysis of the reliability of instructors' ratings, training score results and cockpit ratings of flying performance.Thirdly, a reviewer of this paper suggested the possibility that a method effect, caused by similarity in presentation of stimuli in both predictor measures, may have confounded the results under review.Although this remains a possible explanation for the research findings, the fact that spatial ability could explain additional variance in flight training performance suggests that the measures did indeed measure distinct constructs.However, future studies should consider the possible confounding influence of method effects in predictor measure choice.

These shortcomings highlight the fact that selection programmes should include validation considerations 7 of 8 such initiatives.Validation is research and should not be seen as a statistical post-mortem, but rather as an integral part of any personnel selection project.

Suggestions for further research

The results of a local validation study should be interpreted with caution, as validity coefficients can fluctuate from one sample to the next, especially where sample sizes are small (APA, 2003).Therefore, the results of this study should be cross-validated in a future study.Since sufficiently-sized validation samples in the SAAF must accumulate with time to allow for appropriate statistical analyses, collaboration with similar institutions in the private and non-governmental sectors should allow sharing of data for validation purposes (Sackett & Arvey, 1993).

However, a stamp-collecting approach to validation that exaggerates emphasis on statistical validities obtained is also undesirable (Landy, 1986).Unfortunately, most selection procedures involve small N-settings, which mean that a reliance on empirical results is not always an option when deciding on the suitability of a predictor measure.Sometimes, professional judgement should serve as sufficient evidence for a predictor's inclusion in a selection procedure, followed by a long-term effort aimed at subsequent empirical investigation (Schmitt & Chan, 1998).

An analysis of the criteria in pilot training selection in terms of relevancy, deficiency and contamination is essential to future pilot selection studies.It is clear that the current battery is deficient in the sense that it does not include personality, as suggested by the literature study.A promising research avenue is an investigation of the incremental validity of measures of personality in pilot selection, such as the five-factor model of personality (Costa & McCrae, 2003), since dimensions such as conscientiousness could be expected to relate to success in pilot training.Whether personality would help to explain pilot performance better than measures of g already do, is surely an important question to consider.

In summary, this research confirms the widely-held belief that measures of general cognitive ability remain as stalwarts in any selection programme for military pilots.The unique contribution of this study to aviation psychology in South Africa is twofold.Firstly, it was shown that spatial ability can significantly enhance the ability to predict pilot flight training success.Measures of specific forms of intelligence (s n ) such as spatial ability could have incremental validity over g and should therefore not be discarded in favour of measures of general cognitive ability or fluid intelligence.Other measures of s n should be investigated in terms of their possible incremental validity.Moreover, it was shown that the use of multiple criteria of performance has value since it provides broader evidence of criterion construct validity and it facilitates a more complete understanding of ability-performance relationships (Schmitt & Chan, 1998).

Table

Summary of hierarchical regression analysis for variables predicting flight training performanceNote.N = 96.In tables, values were rounded to the second decimal, but in the text, the third decimal was used.*p<0.05.**p<.01(2-tailed)in a significant increment in R 2 .The results indicate that the second hypothesis was supported in the case of flight training performance, but not for the other criterion measures.Similarly, the third hypothesis -that spatial ability has incremental validity over and above g -was supported only in the case of the prediction of flight training performance.
Article #753SA Journal of Industrial PsychologyVariaBle Intercorrelations (Pearson) between predictor variables and criteria of pilot 1 2 3 4 5 taBle 2 training performance1.Fluid intelligence-0.42** 0.22* 0.200.25*2.spatial ability-0.030.140.34**3.Officer's formative training-0.130.054.Ground school training-0.42**5.Flight training-Note. In tables, values were rounded to the second decimal, but in the text, the thirddecimal was used. *p < .05. **p < 0.01 (2-tailed).taBle 3VariaBleMeanSDBβSr 2tpFluid intelligence29.762.930.220.130.06*1.240.22Spatial ability37.933.870.350.280.06*2.610.01Flight Training Performance (DV)78.564.84Intercept = 58.85analysis oF Variancesourcedfsum of squares Mean squareMultiple R0.35**Regression2278.92139.46R 20.13Residual931947.3620.94Adjusted R 20.11Total952226.28SE of Estimate4.58F (2, 95) = 6.66; p < 0.01.36SA Tydskrif vir BedryfsielkundeVol. 35 No. 1 Page6 of 8http://www.sajip.co.za(page number not for citation purposes)
(page number not for citation purposes)
De Kock & Schlechter Vol.35 No. 1 Page SA Tydskrif vir Bedryfsielkunde http://www.sajip.co.zaSA Journal of Industrial Psychology Article #753 8 of 8
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Looking forward towards peace by remembering the past: Recycling war and lived histories in contemporary Mozambican art

Amy Schwartzott
Amy Schwartzott lectures in Non-Western Art History at Coastal Carolina University
ConwaySouth CarolinaUSA

Looking forward towards peace by remembering the past: Recycling war and lived histories in contemporary Mozambican art
013E2CEB652FC76A710D218844E2BF3210.4314/tvl.v51i2.12detritus as artworksMozambican artrecyclingTransforming Arms into Plowshares/Transformação de Armas em Enxadas (TAE)
Looking forward towards peace by remembering the past: Recycling war and lived histories in contemporary Mozambican art Contemporary Mozambican artists who use detritus as media create artworks that chronicle their culture through bits and pieces of its discarded histories.By using culturally specific and symbolically charged recyclia, these artists create art that is quintessentially Mozambican, as the materials they use become potent signifiers of Mozambique.Contemporary artists' use of recycling, in particular the recycling of weapons in the Transforming Arms into Plowshares/Transformação de Armas em Enxadas (TAE) project allows recycling to emerge as a paradigm in contemporary African art, and as a potent tool for cultural investigation.Utilizing recycling as a tool develops a broad, cross-cultural, interdisciplinary framework to investigate complex issues within divergent African and global societies.Artists in Mozambique who recycle are not only connected to cultural and artistic practices of the past, they continue these traditions within contemporary contexts.By creating artwork from cast-off materials, artists who utilize unwanted debris in Mozambique illustrate how recycling permeates all levels of society, including its broad expansion into art making, and how the use of reprocessed materials by artists both inspires and instills a sense of pride in artistic practices.

Contemporary Mozambican artists who use detritus as media create artworks that chronicle their culture through bits and pieces of its discarded histories.By using culturally specific and symbolically charged recyclia, these artists create art that is quintessentially Mozambican, as the materials they use become potent signifiers of Mozambique.Several artists equate their artwork with distant lives and cultural remnants, linking their contemporary art with past narratives and commemorated identities.

I have been investigating contemporary African artists' use of recycling materials as media since 2007.Beginning in Senegal, I have been developing my understanding of recycling as a paradigm in contemporary African art, and its potency as a tool for cultural investigation.Utilizing recycling as a tool develops a broad, cross-cultural, interdisciplinary framework to investigate complex issues within divergent African and global societies.Working in Mozambique intermittently since 2008, my longest uninterrupted tenure included fifteen months of fieldwork, which I completed in Mozambique in 2010-11, with funding from a Fulbright-Hays DDRA grant.This research has enriched, solidified and broadened my engagement with contemporary African art as well as providing fertile research foundations.

While artists in Mozambique utilize many different types of media, I have discovered that a majority of artists choose to work with pre-used materials.My investigation is founded on a series of interrelated themes and concepts that are difficult to unwind.These connected ideas include object materiality, recycling, art making in urban Africa, and post-conflict resolution.Artists in Mozambique who recycle are not only connected to cultural and artistic practices of the past, they continue these traditions within contemporary contexts.By creating artwork from cast-off materials, artists who utilize unwanted debris in Mozambique illustrate how recycling permeates all levels of society, including its broad expansion into art making, and how the use of reprocessed materials by artists both inspires and instills a sense of pride in artistic practices.

Many creative, environmental, and financial factors-including the impact of past wars, and the subsequent development of the Transforming Arms into Plowshares/ Transformação de Armas em Enxadas (TAE) project-illustrate how recyclia provides an advantageous art medium.Because of Mozambique's protracted history of warfare, the TAE project was established as a peacekeeping tool to heal, memorialize, and prevent further wars through the promotion of peace by collecting and destroying left over artillery.This project, described more fully below, serves as an impetus for catharsis, grieving past violence and deaths resultant of past Mozambican wars.The project has had an unexpectedly fortuitous result in its significant contribution to the growth and ensuing popularity of recycling as an artistic practice in Mozambique.I would like to focus on the importance of this influence, as well as briefly summarizing other creative, environmental, and financial factors that have contributed to a widespread use of recycled materials as media by contemporary Mozambican artists.

The Mozambican "civil" war (1976/7-92), almost directly followed the nation's battle for independence from Portuguese colonial rule .Due to the complexities of this conflict and the fact that both sides received considerable external support, referring to this war as "civil" is widely contested among scholars, and it is often referred to as Mozambique's post-independence war.This war was fought between the ruling party, Frente de Liberação de Mocambique (Frelimo, The Liberation Front of Mozambique), founded in Tanzania in 1962 to fight for the independence of Mozambique, and the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Renamo, Mozambican National Resistance).Renamo was founded in 1975 following Mozambique's independence as an anti-Communist resistance movement.

Whereas scholars debate the extent to which external aggressors initiated Mozambique's last war, the larger point of importance most central to this investigation is the aggregate damage, violence, and overall destruction caused by this conflict.

Social anthropologist Bjørn Bertelsen, who focuses on Mozambique and Southern Africa, succinctly captures the totality of the powerful impact of violence on Mozambican culture following its wars: "sketches of colonialism and postindependence civil war in a country in which relations between state and violence, however one might conceive of these entities, have been crucial, visible, and tangible from the liberation struggle onward" (Bertelsen 216).Mozambique's postindependence conflict precipitated economic collapse, famine, nearly one million war-related casualties, and the internal and external displacement of several million civilians.

Past wars and the TAE project have dramatically inspired a definitive Mozambican style of art characterized by its pervasive medium of pre-used materials, and its primary technique of recycling.The TAE project developed by Bishop Dom Dinis Sengulane as a mechanism for peacebuilding, peacekeeping, and post-conflict resolution, has made a great artistic contribution, as an impetus and didactic force by introducing artists to recycled materials as media to create art, beyond its aim to remove weapons from the landscape of Mozambique.Furthermore, The TAE project reveals the potency of recycling as an artistic tool in post-conflict resolution.Bishop Sengulane, who retired in March 2014 after nearly 40 years of service as Mozambican Anglican Bishop, founded the TAE project in 1995.TAE originated in the context of workshops within the aegis of non-governmental organization Conselho Cristão de Moçambique (CCM, Christian Council of Mozambique's) project, aimed at establishing peace and democracy following Frelimo/Renamo negotiations and the General Peace Agreement signed in Rome in 1992 (Sengulane interview).

Bishop Sengulane initially viewed TAE as a tripartite process: it consisted of collecting weapons, making them non-usable, and providing an instrument of production as an incentive in exchange for the collected weapons.Following TAE's establishment, it has provided incentives to individuals referred to as "informants," who hand over guns and other military hardware to the organization in order for the weapons to be destroyed.Artists have participated in the TAE project and transformed destroyed weapons of war into memorial sculptures since Bishop Sengulane first introduced an art component to TAE in 1997 at A Associação Núcleo de Arte.TAE's transformative process is inextricably linked to Mozambican wars, aiming to eradicate weapons left behind following these wars and provide efforts to achieve memorialization, post-conflict resolution, and to promote peace.

My research on TAE contextualizes the materiality of the weapons transformed by artists and the crucial fact that these artistic media were originally artifacts of Mozambique's extended conflicts.TAE artists use recyclia both literally and conceptually, creating evocative art while deconstructing Mozambican history.TAE's transformative process utilizes past histories of recycled materials to inscribe meaning as these objects are transformed into art.TAE's purposeful destruction and transformation of recycled weapons of wars enables these arms to make visible the invisible concept of peacethrough the compelling symbolism of artworks composed of former tools of killing.The sublime visual power of TAE artworks engages viewers to remember the violence and destruction of war and strive for this never to happen again.

The theoretical framework for investigating recyclia as media draws largely from social anthropology and visual culture studies, specifically the writings of Igor Kopytoff and Nicholas Mirzoeff.Kopytoff's seminal essay, "The Cultural Biography of Things," focuses on an object's transformation from its initial use through its many lives.Centrally, I argue that the life of an object (such as a weapon) does not end when it is decommissioned, destroyed, and recreated artistically.Rather, in its reincarnation as a recycled material it gains more expressive power as it is transformed into art.I focus on how Kopytoff 's emphasis on the object is rooted in the importance he gives to its original identity and how this intrinsic meaning is maintained.Whereas TAE physically cuts weapons to prevent their further use, the recognizable shapes of the parts of the guns remain, reminding viewers of their original identity, or history of the object.The iconic symbolism of the weapons as they are transformed is essential for understanding the meaning of the TAE arts.

Mirzoeff 's assertion of "the visual as everyday life" (76), informs this exploration, by linking how daily recycling extends to the practice of art making, through the widespread use of recycled materials in the creation of contemporary art in Mozambique.Artists who transform tools of destruction into tools for peace are also recycling objects into art.Artist Titos Mabota made an astute observation during one of our conversations about the TAE project and its popularity among artists.He explained that a major appeal of the project is its provision of materials (Mabota interview).

Artists who work with TAE gain access to materials at no cost, as well as learning about the advantages of choosing recyclia as a medium.In addition to the project's important message of peace, by taking part in TAE, artists receive first hand experience working with recycled materials.TAE has made a great impact in the artistic community of Maputo particularly, where its headquarters is based.Because of its influence, artists have become engaged with a project promoting peace that also inspires them to seek pre-used materials in their art making practices.

Since collaborating with TAE, many artists have been inspired to work with diverse recycled materials, as well as engaging in varied techniques, which include unraveling canvas, tearing newspapers, and stitching together bottle caps.Other methods comprise welding destroyed weapons, gouging boat hulls, carving dead trees, and pounding pots and pans.Each of these different techniques facilitates the transformation of recycled materials into art.

Object materiality has been a fundamental focus of my investigation, as it elucidates the selection of specific media used by artists.This inquiry develops a greater understanding of artists' conceptual methodologies, and individual styles.My analysis of the use of diverse recyclia by artists remains strongly rooted in Igor Kopytoff 's "Cultural Biography of Things," which inspired my subsequent inquiry into the history of the objects and the artists who use them.Regardless of whether the object is significantly altered in its adaption to become part of an artwork, each of these objects become disengaged from their past uses.Recently, fear of war between Frelimo and Renamo in Mozambique has been exacerbated by the latter's unilateral annulment of its 1992 Peace Accord with Frelimo on October 22, 2013.Renamo's actions are a response to Frelimo's attack and seizure of its military base in Santunjira, near Gorongosa in the Sofala province.Daily accounts by national and international news agencies report continuing violence between Frelimo and Renamo.Armed attacks have escalated since fall of 2013, resulting in loss of life on both sides of the conflict.

Increasing tensions between Frelimo and Renamo indicate the return to war as a real possibility.Looking beyond the terror of recent events in Mozambique, it is necessary to recognize an important concept that resonates through this uncertainty: War continues to influence the lives of Mozambican artists and is manifested through their artistic expressions.A new sculpture by Jorge José Munguambe (Makolwa), o medo de voltar a guerra ("The fear of returning to war "), is a vivid commentary on the precarious situation in his country at the present time (see figure 1).

Constructed of recycled materials, the work combines a pan with plastic handles, kettle, the inner part of a spotlight, copper and aluminum wire, and nails.Makolwa in personal communication, described the sculpture, explaining how it expresses his fears that his country may soon return to war: Makolwa's sculpture portrays a young, helpless individual who is especially vulnerable to the threat of impending war.The dull, dented surface combined with the wiry, stringy hair, and placid expression on its upturned face reveals inconsolable sadness.The combination of Makolwa's artwork with his narrative defining his fear of renewed war is powerful.Together they underscore the continuing impact of war and its importance among Mozambicans.

Makolwa's sculpture is a watershed artwork, because it directly illustrates the influence of past wars and the TAE project on contemporary artists.Furthermore, this work underscores the move from recycling weapons of war under TAE's influence, to personal selections of distinct and varied recyclia that define individual artistic practices.TAE was influential in defining Makolwa's use of recycled materials as media in his art making.He became affiliated with TAE in 2001 when he first began creating art that promoted peace from recycled weapons of war.

While many TAE artists struggled though the war with families that were torn apart by members aligned with both Frelimo and Renamo memberships, Makolwa's personal connection to TAE differs.His family sent him out of the country to improve his chances to survive the war as a young man.He left his country in 1986 and spent seven years living in apartheid-era South Africa.Makolwa became a shoemaker while in South Africa in order to make money to live (Makolwa interview).He subsequently returned to Mozambique in 1993 following the end of the war.Makolwa's motivations to create art for TAE, as well as the desire to create art from recycled materials in general, are intrinsically linked to his connections to his country: I began making art primarily to deal with my responses to the civil war.At this time I was creating art for myself as a means of catharsis.I started to realize this was also something I could do to give back to my country-an act of creation to counter the destruction that had taken place.As I realized that my art provided something for people other than myself, I knew that I could offer a visual means to share my experiences and emotions with others.(Makolwa interview)

Beyond producing art from weapons recycled from the wars that ravaged Mozambique, artists have a wide range of motivations for using recycled materials, which include economic, ecological, and creative concerns.Most artists I have observed cite the possibility of expanding their creativity as their foremost impetus for selecting recycled materials as media.Artists' accounts of how they are able to develop creatively by using recyclia are linked to the diversity of materials they select.I would like to provide a brief overview of the varied materials, techniques, and aims of a sample of artists with whom I have worked in Mozambique that illustrates the widespread use of recyclia as media that defines a particularly Mozambican style of art.

These artists include Domingos W. Comiche Mabongo (Domingos), who uses recycled materials as a didactic tool to instruct viewers on widely varied social issues such as recycling practices, the dangers of drinking and driving, and public protests.Domingos is currently working on an artwork titled Manifestação.He will recycle objects he has collected-remnants of social unrest-specifically, riot gear, including incapacitating agents such as aerosols, grenades, bullet casings and cartridges from guns and grenade dischargers.These objects are discarded remnants of tools used by Mozambican police and armed forces.They were used to quell public demonstrations during what is popularly referred to as the Manifestação ("Demonstrations" or "Bread Riots").These events took place for three days in early September 2010, when public protests broke out in response to government proposals to raise utility prices.Many people were injured and some deaths resulted from the ensuing events connected with these protests.The demonstrations during the Bread Riots effectively shut down Mozambique's capital city of Maputo.By utilizing recycled materials discarded by police to maintain order, Domingos will make a bold commentary on social issues specific to Mozambique, by utilizing the very same elements that were used to maintain public order in the construction of his art.

Mussagy Narane Talaquichand (Falcão) stitches together twisted and tied bits of canvas to create his "modern stitched canvases," as a solution to his lack of canvases for painting.In these artworks, Falcão physically expands the limited surface area of canvas scraps he has access to, as well as dynamically altering the customary single surface of an artist's canvas.Falcão described how the development of his stitched paintings was due to necessity, "I had no canvas.I had to paint-so I started to join scraps.I used the waste of canvas.I sewed it and I connected it."(Falcão correspondence) The canvases Falcão creates are not merely cobbled together; they create multiple surfaces on which he portrays vivid imagery that incorporates figures within a cityscape that populate his urban environments.In these paintings, Falcão creates imagery that captures the "day to day of the Mozambican population, the everyday life of people in Mozambique." (Falcão correspondence) Zeferino Chicuamba (Zeferino), bases his creation of pots and pans with individual expressions on traditional Makonde masking traditions.Zeferino explained the origins of his artistic development of these pots, establishing their connections to Mozambican Makonde masks:

For me I use faces more because of their connection to masks.[I want to] showidentify-that they are like Makonde masks.The thing that I'm using [to create these faces are recycled pots and pans]-we have to take care of the environment.I'm recycling.I'm using for the face the characteristics that [the] material has-

[that] determines the form it takes.(Zeferino interview) Zeferino's connection between his recycled cookware faces and Makonde masks becomes increasingly apparent after scrutinizing the various physiognomies he creates.In the same way, Makonde masks display diverse expressive and individualized features, some of which include human hair.Makonde masks are distinct among African masks because of the uniqueness among them.The many diverse pots in varied states of disrepair, discoloration, torn surfaces, and blackened edges, reveal the many different personalities Zeferino has given these faces.Each of the unique identities Zeferino creates with these pots has been directly inspired by the materiality of its form.As Zeferino asserts, he relies upon the characteristics of the pot to determine how it becomes transformed into a face.

Nelson Augusto Carlos Ferreira (Pekiwa) selects damaged boats to define cultural histories and social issues of Mozambican fisherman; Intrinsically, Pekiwa maintains the materiality of the form's original use, or history of the objects in the creation of his artworks as he integrates his designs to their recognizable forms (see figure 2, Sem Titulo, ["Untitled"]).

In order to provide a context, he focuses on connections to the social aspects of these materials.Pekiwa commented on these ideas: I'm enjoying materials that were used before-domestic objects-materials that have some story.When I'm working with these pieces I'm not going to give up its meaning from before.So I respect the meaning, and its functions.But if I transform it, I keep its meaning-I give the art texture […] Well even now I try to preserve [its meaning] because it has a social context.This is why it's important for me is to try to preserve the object.(Pekiwa interview) Each of the wooden materials Pekiwa obtains to recycle into his art becomes associated with their former uses, creating a connection between these objects and a social history of Mozambique.

Ana Vilankulos (Matswa) uses capulanas to identify gender in connection with Mozambican identity.Capulanas are brightly colored machine produced fabrics with bold designs, typically cut in lengths measuring six feet by three feet.Similar to African printed fabrics including Kanga, Chitenge/Kitenge, and Dutch Wax Cloths, they are primarily worn as wrappers by Mozambican women and used to secure babies to their mother's backs.Matswa explained her preference for using capulanas and the specific appeal these Mozambican cloths held for her: Matswa continued, defining the role capulanas play in her art, "I am someone explaining to them [viewers] the story of capulanas.I remind them of the story if they don't know how to see capulanas.I don't know if they know the meaning-it is my story."(Matswa interview) She uses capulanas symbolically as a didactic tool in her art.She expands the diversity of their uses while instructing viewers about their meaning related to Mozambican identities, as she focuses on this particular boldly printed cloth's implicit gender connections.

Henrique Vicente Calisto (Calisto) appropriates Mozambican political heroes such as Eduardo Mondlane and Samora Machel in his graphic designs for posters promoting varied social causes such as HIV-AIDS awareness and preventing public urination (see figure 3, Evite HIV-SIDA ["Avoid HIV-AIDS"]).

Calisto chooses to use pizza boxes as printmaking templates because "recycled materials allow more flexibility and force us to open our minds."(Calisto interview) Calisto's art is largely dependent on the recycled cardboard he uses as a tool in his printmaking.He uses cardboard as a matrix, replacing standard supports of silk, metal, or woodblocks to create prints.He explained how he obtains his materials: "I go to the community-like barracas [small shanty bars/restaurants] and to the garbage.I use pizza boxes to create a printing plate.People save pizza boxes for me, such as my sister."(Calisto interview) Calisto is distinct among artists I have interviewed because he utilizes cardboard as a tool for producing multiple artworks, while other artists use recyclia as media to be included within a single artwork.He creates a twist on the use of recycled materials as merely part of an artwork, as he relies on cardboard to develop several new artworks.(Calisto).Cardboard Printmaking matrix.

Each of the artists discussed here purposely selects pre-used materials as media in the creation of their artwork.Whether they select riot gear, pots and pans, canvas, boats, capulanas, or cardboard, these artists consider the importance of the materiality and/or history of objects' past lives in the inclusion of their art.By choosing materials that relate to specifically Mozambican identities and histories, these artworks tell stories about their makers and their culture.Art making has become a site of expansion of recycling in Mozambican contemporary art, recalling theoretical connections to Kopytoff 's history of the objects "life," and Mirzoeff 's focus on the everyday aspect of visual culture.

In this research I have linked a number of artists based on their use of pre-used materials, disparate motivations, and proposed outcomes for their artworks.Because of these connections, I believe I have been observing the development and diffusion of a contemporary art historical movement in Mozambique.This movement of artists using recycled materials has evolved and continues to attract artists based on the broad scale of its popularity.Furthermore, the widespread use of recycled materials as media is supported, exhibited, and disseminated by the discursive spaces of contemporary art in Maputo.

Through the presentation of diverse artists I have identified links that illustrate how their art may be defined as distinctly Mozambican.Not only are artists using objects from Mozambican society in their art (perhaps best exemplified by TAE's art made from weapons), but this art also focuses on defining a particularly Mozambican identity based both on its media and its themes indigenous to Mozambique.Recently I received an email from the artist Domingos.I include it here because it underscores the current situation in Mozambique and it makes an important statement about its artists:

Are you all right?Here we are in a state of planning due to the confrontations of the army with the forces of RENAMO in the center of the country, particularly in Sofala.This stems from the stalemate in conversations there have been between FRELIMO and RENAMO and the result of the arrogance President Guebuza finds with the RENAMO leader Afonso Dhlakama.However life goes on and as artists we continue to produce our artwork.Good night.(Domingos personal correspondence) Domingos's email included an image of the shell of a bus that was charred black and destroyed (see figure 4).

This bus represents one of the many attacks that have occurred as a result of the escalating violence between Renamo and Frelimo.This incident and others like it occurred on the main north-south highway between the Save River and the town of Muxungue in the central province of Sofala, roughly 380 miles (about 610 km) from Maputo.Due to this violence, armed military convoys have been necessary to ensure safe passage through this section of the highway (Noticias 2013).

In this case, Renamo gunmen stopped the bus, looted its passengers, killed the driver, and injured nine others (four seriously), and then set bus on fire.Supposedly the bus had been traveling without escorts (Noticias 2013; BBC News 2013).Linking the image with Domingos's words creates a frightening idea of what life must be like now in Mozambique.After receiving Domingos's email I had conflicted emotions.Despite feeling saddened, upset, and helpless about Mozambique's unknown future, I was moved by the poignancy of the fact that he believes life will go on and artists will continue to create art.I hope this is true and the artists and others will remain safe.The artists addressed here as well as many others tell the stories of their culture by transforming recycled mementos of their country's lived histories into artworks.One of the most important ideas these artists continue to demonstrate through their words and art is their ability to recognize the tremendous power of art and its ability to perpetuate inspired acts of creation.Photographer unknown Acknowledgements I must thank Kathleen Sheldon and Bjørn Bertelsen for pointing out the necessity of drawing attention to subtle complexities lost with the often over-simplified terms used to describe the history of Mozambique's conflicts.This also includes determining when the wars actually began, as some scholars state as early as 1974, with Mozambican associations with Rhodesia and South Africa.Thanks also to Bertelsen for sharing the scholarship of those who directly address this issue, notably Alpers, Dinerman, Mateus, Nwafor, and Opello.

Works Cited

Figure 1 :
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I

fear that I have to go back to war (me and the remaining young Mozambicans) because of the political situation in the country we live-Mozambique and the world, between Renamo and Frelimo, because war is something that has to exist in the world.War leaves the poor without knowing what will happen and leaves the children with no future.I hate people who make war, especially those who make weapons.

Figure 2 :
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I

am interested in showing the different things they [capulanas] are used for, we can do more things [with them], not just to carry babies and cover our bodies-[these are] gender connections.It is traditional woman's wear.As you know, capulanas are used for different purposes-to use them for an art piece is to use them in a different form.The capulana is a symbol of an African lady-a Mozambican lady.It reminds me of my mother because she wears capulanas.From when I was young our mothers used to carry us in capulanas, cover us.When you reach five yearsold, your first present is a capulana.We grew up giving capulanas as presents to our mothers.If you get married it is a symbol.The capulana is a symbol of the progression of life.The story of the capulana means so many things: lady of today, yesterday, and future lady.(Matswainterview)

Figure 3 :
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Figure 4 :
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RENAMO attacks in Mozambique. Postcolonial In, Mozambique, Bruce Kapferer and Bjørn Enge Bertelsen2009. 22 Oct. 2013. 24 Oct. 2013Berghahn BooksNew YorkBBC News online

The Curse of War in Angola and Mozambique: Lusophone African Decolonization in Hishers2014. 2013tory