Assessing General Aviation Pilots\u27 Weather Knowledge and Self-Efficacy

While accident trends in General Aviation (GA) have decreased overall, accidents rates involving weather have remained relatively consistent over the past 10 years. An assessment was developed and validated to assess if GA pilots lack adequate knowledge of aviation weather concepts. The assessment consisted of a 95 question Aviation Weather Knowledge multiple-choice test covering weather phenomena, aviation weather products, and aviation weather product sources. 204 GA pilots completed the knowledge questions along with an aviation weather self-efficacy (confidence) survey. Results indicated that while instrument rated commercial pilots demonstrated the highest levels of knowledge, their scores were only moderate – around 65% correct. Private pilots had scores in the 60% range. These results may indicate that pilots flying in GA operations have a relatively low level of aviation weather knowledge. Weather self-efficacy was correlated positively with aviation weather knowledge

Evaluating GA Pilots\u27 Interpretation of New Automated Weather Products

Introduction: Over the past 30 years, General Aviation (GA) operations have incurred the majority of weather related accidents in civil aviation operations. Aviation weather knowledge and skills are imperative for hazardous weather avoidance and safe flight activity. Previous research suggests applying human-computer interaction (HCI) principles to weather products may promote better decision-making among pilots. Currently, the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) generates two forms of graphical weather products for reporting icing, turbulence, and visibility: traditional human-in-the-loop products (G-AIRMETs Ice, Tango, and Sierra) and the fully-automated products (CIP/FIP, GTG, and CVA). This study compares pilots’ interpretation of fully-automated products against their interpretation of human-in-loop products. Method: Participants (n=131) completed a series of weather product interpretation questions. Mixed ANOVAs were conducted to analyze the effects of pilot certificate and/or rating (Student, Private, Private w/Instrument, Commercial w/ Instrument) and product generation (traditional vs. automated) on product interpretation scores. Results: Regardless of product generation, pilots displayed similar levels of proficiency when interpreting the icing and ceiling/visibility products. However, pilots’ performed significantly better on the new fully automated turbulence product (GTG) than on the traditional human-in-the-loop turbulence product (AIRMET Tango). Discussion: Producing more user-friendly weather products may make weather product interpretation easier for novice pilots

Learner Centered Debriefing in General Aviation Training: Questions from the Field and Answers from Research

Recently, the “Learner Centered Grading” (LCG) debriefing strategy has been introduced to general aviation flight training. LCG includes two parts: learner self assessment and a detailed debrief led by the instructor. The purpose of the self assessment is to stimulate growth in the learner’s thought processes and, in turn, behaviors. Implementing a training strategy in the field, however, is different from laboratory tests. In an effort to see how the learner centered grading debrief was being used in the field, in-depth interviews with 10 certified flight instructors (CFIs) were conducted. Overall, the CFIs reported that the in-depth discussions were an improvement over traditional instructor-led debriefings. Difficulties, however, were also evident, and a variety of questions and observations were noted ranging from the varying accuracy of the self-assessments to issues with transitioning instructors to use this new style of debrief. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the learner centered grading style debrief, present findings from the interviews with CFIs, and offer recommendations drawn from research on selfassessment and metacognition, as well as applied research on debriefing accomplished in the U.S. Navy shipboard environments

Examining the Content Validity of the FAA Private Pilot and Commercial Pilot Practical Test Standards

The Practical Test Standards (PTS) were devised by the FAA to provide a standard format to evaluate the skills necessary for pilot certification. Both the private pilot and commercial PTS were generated years ago and, on a regular basis, are modified slightly. Despite these efforts, some aviators in the industry consider the PTS to be out of date. The purpose of this research was to examine the content validity of the private pilot and commercial pilot PTS items in order to assess the applicability to current general aviation practice. To accomplish this, a job-analysis style survey was developed and distributed to 139 flight instructors. The results indicate that considerable variance exists in perceived importance of the PTS skills in actual flight. Implications for general aviation flight training and assessment are discussed

Is Three A Crowd? Examining Rapport In Investigative Interviews

This research constitutes an initial empirical examination of how the introduction of a third party impacts interviewee rapport in an investigative interview setting. Whereas some have argued that employing two interviewers may be beneficial in an investigative interview setting, others have speculated that adding a third person in the communications loop (U.S. Department of the Army, 2006) during an investigative interview may negatively impact the establishment of rapport. This research draws on group dynamics research and adopts a content-analytic approach using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2007) to examine interviewee rapport in real-world investigative interviews. The comparison of dyadic interviews in which one interviewer was present and triadic interviews in which two interviewers were present revealed no significant reduction in interviewee rapport. These findings suggest that the anecdotal concern that three is a crowd and that the addition of a third party may result in decreased rapport may be unfounded. Further research on the group dynamics of the investigative interview is discussed. © 2012 American Psychological Association

Faster Than Light: Preliminary Review of a Complex GameBased Testbed

Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products allow researchers to conduct studies using readily accessible systems in order to save time, effort, and/or money that would otherwise be spent designing a custom product. In this article, we discuss the potential of a low-cost and commercially available video game, FTL: Faster Than Light, to be used as a testbed for research into complex or high-workload situations. In this preliminary review, we prototype a performance assessment tool for FTL, which we call FTL Score, and evaluate its ability to distinguish performances between a pilot sample of three participants. The results of this exploratory study showed that our measurement methods were able to distinguish between the performance of two novices and an expert. This suggests that a larger follow-up study is warranted, and lends some support to the hypothesis that FTL can be used as an easy-to-deploy and low-cost testbed for research into high-workload performance

Shared Expectations And Implicit Coordination In Tennis Doubles Teams

Very little of the existing research on team cognition has looked at sports teams. The purpose of this study was to extend previous research to the sports domain, and empirically test the relationship between one aspect of team cognition-shared expectations-and implicit coordination in 71 American tennis doubles teams. We tested a model hypothesizing a link between prior experience, shared expectations, and implicit coordination. Prior experience influenced implicit coordination directly, as well as through a positive relationship with shared expectations. The findings highlight the potential of using behavioral measures of team coordination in sport psychology. © Association for Applied Sport Psychology

Transfer of Training

Measure twice, cut once. Although applicable to all areas of human factors research, the old adage is especially relevant to simulation and training. As a tool, simulation is an aid to the imagination, however, if incorrectly or inadequately used, it can lead to inaccurate outcomes that not only limit the possibilities but potentially cause harm. A comprehensive overview of the topic from a human factor perspective, Human Factors in Simulation and Training not only reflects the state-of-the art but also integrates the literature on simulation into a cohesive resource.The editors have collected chapters on a wide variety of topics, beginning with theory and application in areas ranging from traditional training to augmented reality to virtual reality. This coverage includes surface ships, submarines, naval aviation, commercial aviation, space, and medicine. The theory based section focuses on human factors aspects of simulation and training ranging from the history of simulators and training devices, to future trends in simulation from both a civilian and military perspective. The chapters expand on concepts regarding simulator usage particularly with respect to the validity and functionality of simulators as training devices. They contain in depth discussions of specific issues including fidelity, interfaces and control devices, transfer of training, simulator sickness, effects of motion in simulated systems, and virtual reality.As more, and more sophisticated, simulation tools and training technologies become available, a complete understanding of how to use them appropriately will be even more crucial. Elucidating theory and application, the book addresses numerous issues and concepts pertaining to human factors in simulation and training, making this volume an important addition to the bookshelf of any human factors professional. --from publisher\u27s websit