Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test

Purpose: Designed to measure abilities related to mechanical comprehension.

Population: Individual applicants for mechanically-related jobs or schooling.

Score: Percentile score based on the appropriate normative population.

Time: (30) minutes.

Author: George K. Bennett.

Publisher: The Psychological Corporation.

Description: The Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test (BMCT) measures a complex set of
abilities composed of three primary facets or constructs: 1) mechanical information, 2) spatial
visualization, and 3) mechanical reasoning or understanding. The knowledge measured by this
test is based on common experiences, and special training seems to have little effect on test
scores.

Scoring: The BMCT is scored by hand with a scoring template. The raw score is simply

the number correct. Raw scores are converted to percentile scores based on the appropriate
normative population. Scoring instructions for the BMCT are clear and easy to master. Scoring
the 68 items should take an experienced scorer no longer than 2 minutes. Interpretation of the
BMCT is based on an objective raw score (number correct) that is converted to a percentile
score. The percentile score represents the percent of a similar population that would have scored
at or below the raw score attained by the candidate.

Reliability: The manual for the BMCT presents split-half reliability coefficients (corrected by
the Spearman-Brown formula) of .81 to .93, with a median of .86. The standard errors of
measurement range from 3.0 to 3.8. The manual indicates that the reliability of the BMCT is low
because of the lower mean item intercorrelations, due to the variety of topics covered in the 68
items. Test-retest reliability data are not presented in the 1969 manual.

Validity: Content validity is not discussed in the manual because there is no specific job or
curriculum against which to compare the test items. Construct validity is also not specifically
addressed in the 1969 manual. A table of correlations of the BMCT with other standardized tests
from an industrial data base is represented. For applicants for skilled trade jobs in an automobile
company, the BMCT correlates .46 with the Personnel Test (mixed forms) and .55, .48, and .59
with the Wesman Personnel Classification Test (Forms A and B) Verbal, Numerical, and Verbal
and Numerical scores, respectively. For applicants for electrical inspector trainee jobs in an
aviation company, the BMCT correlated .57 and .68 with the Verbal and Numerical scales of the
Personnel Tests for Industry (Forms A and B) and .15 and .04 with the Numbers and Names
subtests of the Minnesota Clerical Tests.
Norms: To develop Forms S and T, 180 experimental items (95 existing items, 43 original items
that had been modified, and 42 new items) were administered to 706 male students in Grades 11
and 12 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Kansas City, Missouri.

Suggested Uses: Recommended uses include the prediction of job performance.