Chapter 1. Automatic Skills: Disrupting a Pilots Performance

Short Description

Flight simulators are typically used for training purposes. In this video, researchers use a simulator to assess how interference with pilots' unconscious thought processes affects their performance. Novice as well as veteran pilots serve as research participants in the study.

Long Description

In the first part of the study, the novice pilot flawlessly handles a routine run. Next, he is asked to perform the same task while counting backwards to the tick of a metronome. In spite of the additional mental load, he flies well and reports that the task was not as difficult as he had anticipated. The conscious task of counting did not seriously interfere with the unconscious task of flying. In the next assignment, the novice pilot must fly the plane while describing what he is doing that is, he must describe his automatic, unconscious thought process. This task proves more disruptive than the one in which he had to count backwards. It interferes with his unconscious processing. Interestingly, when the experienced pilot attempts to explain what he is doing while flying, he finds the task even more distracting and disruptive. After 11 years in the cockpit, his flying skills are so imbedded in his unconscious mind that explaining what he is doing significantly slows him down. However, this is precisely what makes him a great pilot. To veteran fliers, piloting a fighter aircraft is like driving a car.

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