How Expert Pilots Think Cognitive Processes in Expert Decision Making

摘要

This report is the second in the investigation or the role of expert cognitiveprocesses in Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM). The first report defined the differences between expert and novice decision makers and correlated the development or expert pilot cognitive processes with training and experience. This volume continues the research into the understanding of how pilots think by examining human information processing and expert problem solving characteristics. From this analysis: the mental attributes critical to developing expert decision making are explained, and three basic limits on decision making are identified. These are attention span, short term memory and long term memory. Next, the analysis examines the development of Expert Decision Making (EDM) from the comparison or how novices and experts perceive, store, organize and use their knowledge. This analysis shows that high levels or competence result from the interaction between knowledge organization and processing abilities. Experts are round to possess the abilities of rapid access to, and efficient utilization of a highly organized body of conceptual and procedural knowledge. That is, an elaborately structured set of associated concepts, procedures and events based upon many years or study, training and experience in a aviation. The use of this knowledge base is described in terms of the characteristics of EDM related to perception, attention, memory, creativity and superior situational awareness. Since the speed and accuracy of expert cognitive processes make them take on the characteristics of insight or intuition, the role of intuition in decision making is the next analytical part of the investigation.