The role of organizational and individual variables in aircraft maintenance performance

Aviation maintenance has been identified by the FAA as an area where better efficiency is needed to cope with ever increasing workloads. However, aviation maintenance has also been identified as one of the major causes of accidents. Consequently, if further efficiencies are to be achieved, they cannot come at the cost of reduced safety margins. The present study employed a safety climate approach to assist in the development of a model that can help to explain morale, psychological health, turnover intentions, and error in the aviation maintenance environment. An instrument called the Maintenance Environment Survey was developed and administered to 240 personnel responsible for maintenance of a large military helicopter fleet. Data collected through the survey were used to develop a structural model that predicted 45 per cent of the variance in psychological health, 67 per cent of the variance in morale, 27 per cent of the variance in turnover intentions, and 44 per cent of the variance in self-reported maintenance errors. The model shows the pathways through which organizational level and individual level variables can influence work outcomes and leads to suggestions for interventions that can help to improve maintenance efficiency

Response bias in computerized tests

[Abstract]: Choosing a response format is a problem when designing computerised tests. Programmers often solve this problem by highlighting a response option and allowing the user to select this option or choose another by using the cursor keys. It is possible that such well-meaning attempts to make computers more userfriendly may heighten response style tendencies. The two experiments to be reported in this study were designed to test the effect of cursor positioning in personality and ability tests. In the first experiment, sixty two Participants were randomly assigned to two groups and asked to complete computerised versions of Forms A and B of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. The position of the highlight was manipulated to produce a two-by-two factorial design with repeated measures on one factor. Results showed that there was evidence of a cursor effect but that it was confined to one of the conditions in the design. Experiment two employed the same sort of manipulation in a computerised version of the ACER Word Knowledge Test with another sample of 36 participants. Here, no evidence was found for any effect of cursor positioning. Overall, it was concluded that the highlighting technique itself is unlikely to have any effect on measures of cognitive ability but that it may have some effect in the more subjective personality testing domain

The war on error: psychology and aviation maintenance

[Conclusion]: [Looks at research that is best captured by the term 'Human Factors' - a branch of psychology that draws upon many other fields of psychology for its theoretical and methodological foundations. As stated in a popular introductory text to this field (Wickens, Lee, Liu, & Becker, 2004), the goals of human factors are to: reduce error, increase safety, increase productivity, and increase comfort. This particular research concentrates primarily on the area of maintenance error in the aviation industry.] The safety literature tends to be dominated by discussions of error taxonomies and descriptive models of accident causation, such as the Reason model. I see these contributions as valuable but I also believe that they must be supported by empirical research. Structural equation modelling is a technique that can be used to test assumptions embedded in popular descriptions of accident causation. Through these various studies, we have developed, tested, and cross-validated models that explain how errors can occur in safety-conscious industries. We have also shown how they are linked with violations. In ongoing research, we are seeking to extend the model to include incident reporting, another key psychological variable in the quest to achieve safer and more productive working environments. [In conclusion], one of the lessons we have learned is that human error cannot be eliminated but it can be reduced if we take the trouble to look beyond its immediate causes and study the complex set of circumstances that lies behind any accident or incident

Challenging the 'Law of diminishing returns'

[Abstract]: 'The Law of Diminishing Returns' (Spearman, 1927) states that the size of the average correlation between cognitive tasks tends to be relatively small in high ability groups and relatively high in low ability groups. Studies supporting this finding have tended to contrast very low ability subjects (IQ < 78) with subjects from higher ability ranges and to use tests that have poor discriminatory power among the higher ability levels. In the first study described in this paper, tasks that provide good discrimination among the higher ability levels were used. A sample of High ability (N = 25) and of Low ability (N = 20) 15-years old boys completed four single tests, two with low and two with high g saturations, and two competing tasks formed from these single tests. The results indicated that, contrary to the predictions of the Law of Diminishing Returns, the amount of common variance was greater in the High ability group. It is suggested that the Law of Diminishing Returns does not take into account the factor of task difficulty and that there are situations where the exact reverse of this law holds. A second study again compared correlations obtained with extreme groups (N=28 & N=29), this time on measures of Perceptual Speed, which are easy for all ability levels. Results indicated that correlations among the Perceptual Speed measures were the same for both groups. In neither of these studies was there any support for the Law, which seems to be dependent on the very high correlations obtained from samples at the extreme lower end of the ability continuum

Differences between values of Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students

[Abstract]: In this study, the Values Questionnaire developed by Schwartz and Bilsky (1987, 1990) was used to examine differences in the values held by a group of Aboriginal university students (N=112) and a group of non-Aboriginal students (N=106) studying at an Australian university. Results indicated that the Aboriginal group placed greater emphasis on values associated with Tradition, Conformity and Security and significantly less emphasis on values associated with Achievement, Self-direction, Stimulation, Hedonism and Benevolence. These data, in conjunction with a separate analysis of the ten highest ranked values for each group, support the view that the main differences between the groups lie in values serving collective (Aboriginal) as opposed to individual (non-Aboriginal) interests. These findings are consistent with previous research (eg. Christie, 1987) on the world view of traditional Aboriginal people and suggest that even among younger, more 'Westernised', representatives of this culture, collective values are likely to be strong determinants of behaviour

A questionnaire to measure safety climate, fatigue, stress, violations and errors

This document contains psychometric data for an instrument that was used to measure safety climate, fatigue, stress, violations and errors in an aviation maintenance setting [Fogarty, G. J. & Buikstra, E. (2008). A test of direct and indirect pathways linking safety climate, psychological health, and unsafe behaviours. International Journal of Applied Aviation Studies, 8 (2), 199-210]. The document also contains the items used to form the various scales

Technology readiness and segmentation profile of mature consumers

Self-service technologies (SSTs) play a major role in enabling consumers to perform service delivery themselves. The purpose of this study was to test extensions of the original Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) aimed at predicting mature consumers’ attitude and behaviour towards using self-service banking technologies (SSBTs). A survey methodology was employed to gather data from 208 mature consumers on variables captured by the extended TAM. Path analysis indicated that self-efficacy, technology discomfort, perceived risk, and personal contact were determinants of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and also direct and indirect determinants of attitude towards and intention to use SSBTs. These findings have theoretical implications for models of technology acceptance and practical interventions designed at increasing use of SSBTs among mature consumers

Developing a model to predict aircraft maintenance performance

[Abstract]: A three-pronged approach was adopted to the investigation of causes of maintenance errors in army aviation. In the first phase of the research, analysis of maintenance incident reports suggested that individuals were mostly at fault, making errors because they failed to follow procedures and were inadequately supervised. Interviews with maintenance technicians, on the other hand, put the spotlight on organisational variables, such as pressures created by poor planning. In the third phase, a survey instrument administered to 448 maintenance workers was used to develop a structural model that predicted 34% of the variance in psychological health, 16% of the variance in turnover intentions, and 16% of the variance in self-reported maintenance errors. Implications of these findings are discussed

Assessing intonation skills in a tertiary music training programme

[Abstract]: Buttsworth, Fogarty, and Rorke (1993) reported the construction of a battery of tonal tests designed to assess intonation abilities. A subset of the tests in the battery predicted 36 per cent of final scores in an aural training subject in a tertiary music course. In the current study, the original battery of fourteen tests was reduced to six tests and administered three times throughout the academic year to a new sample (N = 87) of tertiary music students. Three research questions were investigated. Firstly, it was hypothesised that tests in the battery would discriminate among the different aural classes at USQ, which were grouped according to ability level. The results from discriminant function analyses provided strong support for this hypothesis. Secondly, it was hypothesised that students should improve their performance on the pitch battery across the three administrations. A repeated measures analysis of variance failed to find evidence of overall improvement. Finally, it was hypothesised that there would be significant differences on the intonation tests between musicians of different instrumental families. Again, no overall differences were found. The results indicated that intonation tests appear to tap an ability that (a) is not significantly modified by training, (b) is more or less the same across different instrument families, and (c) is related to success in music training programmes