Training Pilots to Prioritize Tasks

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a technique to help pilots prioritize tasks. A part-task simulator experiment was conducted in which three groups of general aviation pilot participants flew pre-and post-training flights. Participants in two groups received task prioritization training between the flights while those in a control group did not. Task prioritization error rates and prospective memory error rates from pre-and post-training flights were compared. Task prioritization and memory error rates improved in the training groups and did not improve in the control group. However, these findings must be considered preliminary, as several issues remain to be resolved by follow-on studies.