Behaviour and Motivation		9

•Lack of situational awareness.

•Confirmation bias.

•Frequency bias (the tendency to call to mind frequently encountered experiences or scenarios and applying these to an inappropriate situation).

•Inference in accord with wishes, hopes or desires. In other words, deducing that a problem is one that is known and its solution is within the capabilities of the pilot - because that is what it is hoped to be.

The ability of the pilot to evaluate evidence and come to conclusions will, in future, be the only reason for keeping him on the flight deck.

Evaluating Data

A decision taken requires the use of mental models utilising all of the information available to the pilot from his environment. Evaluation of evidence is, however, not a straightforward process and the weight placed on individual items will be biased by a number of factors.

•The pilot will be heavily influenced by the probability of an occurrence. For example, a bang heard on take-off could be a tyre burst, a bird strike, or an engine failure. A burst tyre is the most probable cause of a loud noise at this stage. Thus pilots may carry out the initial drills for that event.

•The pilot will also be influenced by his/her previous experience. Therefore, if he/she has had a certain component failure recently, he/she may look immediately to that equipment for a source of warning.

•The incoming data may be ambiguous. The red light in the sky could be the setting sun reflecting off cirrus but it could also be the beginning of a volcanic eruption with the consequent danger of flying through volcanic ash.

•People are keen to structure information and to make inferences from it. Once a person has formed a theory as to what is happening he is reluctant to move away from this interpretation and start again with a new theory.

•Even if an individual is presented with contrary evidence he/she will tend to ignore that evidence, but will seize with alacrity any small detail which reinforces his original idea (Confirmation Bias). If an individual tries to test his hypothesis he will tend to try only those instances which may reinforce his original thoughts and not try negative instances.

•If we expect a stimulus and prepare a response, we will respond more quickly if the expected stimulus occurs. If, however, an unexpected stimulus occurs, we will be more likely under pressure to carry out the prepared response. For example, a pilot may have noticed engine instrument variations showing parameters approaching out of limits. He/she will mentally prepare the engine shut-down drills if the limits are exceeded. Any stimulus, perhaps as simple as the noise of a tray falling, may be sufficient for the pilot to shut down the engine. The error is known as error of commission and is also sometimes referred to as response error.

Behaviour and Motivation 9

171

9		Behaviour and Motivation

Motivation and Behaviour 9

•Perhaps most importantly, people tend to make inferences in accordance with their wishes, hopes, and desires. Everyone is happy if a reasonable, non-threatening explanation can be given. In an incident in Malaysia a Boeing 747 flew through the tops of rubber trees on the approach and the noise of the strike was interpreted as an engine surge by the pilots (a clearly less blameworthy event than the too low an approach). Only the subsequent demonstration of foliage in the undercarriage was accepted as proof that they may have been a little low.

Situational Awareness

Introduction

The last few pages have been concerned with trying to ensure that the pilot maintains an accurate mental model of his/her environment (perception matches reality) and this process is sometimes referred to as maintaining situational awareness. The degree of situational awareness depends upon the vigilance, alertness, communications, overall comprehension and briefing of the crew.

It is important to point out that situational awareness is not only the state whereby the crew are aware of the real situation both inside and outside the aircraft but also alert as to their own personal performance state.

Perception is very powerful whether correct or flawed. Cases have been documented where situational awareness was incorrect but was so overwhelming that pilots have actually ignored aircraft warnings informing them that their actions were wrong.

FactorsWhich Might Interfere with Situational Awareness

Among the most important factors which can interfere with situation awareness are:

•Stress.

•Interruptions to the thought process.

•Fatigue.

•Hopes, wishes and desires.

•Poor communications.

•Boredom.

Loss of Situational Awareness

Some of the cues indicating the loss of situational awareness are:

•Confusion.

•Fixed concentration on a single item or factor.

•Hurried speech or actions.

•Rushing checks or procedures.

•Straying from approved procedures.

•Taking short cuts.

•Abnormal impatience or mood swings.

•Sudden decline in flying skills.

•Tendency to ask leading questions of other members of the crew.

•Unexplained discrepancies between instruments.

•Unusual timing (20 minutes in advance of a waypoint).

•Unexpected results to actions.

•Small and unexplainable events seem to be incomprehensible.

•A sensation that “something feels strange” and a sense of unexplained concern or disquiet.

172

Behaviour and Motivation		9

Good Situational Awareness

The following are guidelines to ensure the best possible situational awareness is regained and maintained:

•Gather as much information as possible from every possible source before making up your mind.

•Take as much time as practicable to make up your mind. Rapid decisions are seldom necessary and are often erroneous.

•Consider all possible interpretations of the data, not just those which fit your ideas.

•Once started on a course of action, stop occasionally to take stock (feedback).

• Check your hypothesis still fits the data as events progress.

•Consider ways to test your actions to check the accuracy of your theory.

•If incoming data does not fit in with your thoughts, do not just disregard it but take time to reconsider the situation, if necessary going back to the first symptoms of the problem.

•Try to ensure that you interpret the world as it is, not as you would like it to be.

By all means:

HOPE FOR THE BEST

BUT

PLAN FOR THE WORST

Motivation

Introduction

The Oxford Dictionary defines motivation as “to cause (a person) to act in a particular way”. It can come in many guises. A painter may live in poverty, working long hours for the love of art. A politician will tolerate public attack and personal abuse in the quest for power. A business executive may forgo all family life in the pursuit of financial reward. Murder may be committed in order to survive or life lost in the attempt to save another’s life. We are all different and each of us are driven by individual motivational forces.

Frank Hawkins summed it up when he wrote: “motivation reflects the difference between what a person can do and what he will do”. In other words, an airline may spend millions on selection, training and checking of aircrew to ensure they have the capacity to perform at the highest level of expertise but it is motivation that will determine whether they will do so.

Concepts of Motivation

At its most basic level motivation is driven by physiological needs. These may be hunger, thirst, pain or the need to survive. We are also driven by psychological or social needs. (see Figure 9.1).

However the situation is rarely quite so clearly defined. For example, a woman’s hunger drive may be modified by a conflicting motivation to remain attractively slim. This, in turn, may be

Behaviour and Motivation 9

173

9		Behaviour and Motivation

Motivation and Behaviour 9

modified - if dining out as a guest - by a desire not to offend the hostess by rejecting part of the meal. Thus it is important to understand that a single behavioural pattern may be governed by several, perhaps conflicting, motives.

We normally tend to associate motivation with the desire to achieve a certain goal or aspiration (goal-directed behaviour). A pilot may have an ambition to become a Check Captain and he/she will channel their efforts to achieve this goal which, in turn, will be reflected on behavioural patterns both at and away from the working environment. Technically this drive is known as “achievement motivation” however there are infinitely more. Power over others, competitiveness, gaining a reward, mastering a skill, self-edification are all part of an endless list.

Most people will possess many drives, depending on the situation, but the strength of any particular drive will vary with each individual so that the total combination of motive strength represents something of a personal signature.

Extreme “achievement motivation” may have spectacular results but, along the way, there may be many casualties. A commander who is determined to land at the destination airport, regardless of weather conditions, is the ultimate example.

An added danger is that if an individual is driven by extreme achievement motivation but meets an obstruction which prevents him/her from achieving the objective normally a whole range of emotions will be released (anger, frustration, stress etc.) - this is known as the “aggressive impulse”.

Finally it is important to point out that any case of excessive motivation may lead to stress in an individual which, in turn, normally has an adverse effect on performance.

Model of Human Needs

Maslow (1943) attempts to qualify motivation as the satisfaction of human needs which exists in a hierarchical form (Figure 9.1).

At the base of the needs are those that need to be satisfied first. From these the hierarchy rises to those needs related to the ego. Once a lower level of needs is satisfied, the needs of the next higher level assume priority. Self-fulfillment is the final stage of the motivational drive.

Figure 9.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

174

Behaviour and Motivation		9

At each stage in the hierarchy we can associate the relevance to flight safety. A mentally and physically satisfied pilot, who is confidently working as a member of a highly skilled team to achieve trouble-free and safe flight is one of the fundamental aims of flight safety.

The difficulty of the task and the arousal of the individual will both have an influence on a person’s motivation.

The Influence of Human Needs on Flight Safety

The goal of most airlines is to achieve a profit from the carriage of cargo and/or passengers safely. In order to do this, one of the many facets of the operation is the understanding of human needs in the realm of flight safety.

Passengers want to know that they will arrive safely on time at their destination with their baggage. In order to guarantee the ability to meet this requirement, the airline must provide a fully serviceable and correctly equipped aircraft.

The only way to do this is by having a well organized servicing schedule, crew rostering operation and good passenger/cargo facilities. All these factors should have an influence on meeting the human needs and, at the same time, providing greater flight safety.

Basic Model ShowingTwo Independent Sources of Motivation

The model can be used to illustrate the two independent sources of motivation. It also shows the relationship between motivational elements in a work situation and performance.

The two sources are:

•The perceived value of a reward

•The probability of its attainment

As already discussed, people place very different values on rewards. However if a person expects that his/her efforts for attaining a reward will pass unnoticed, then he/she may feel that the reward has little usefulness even though it is highly valued.

Two other variables have also to be included here. These are natural abilities and learned skills.

From performance we can see rewards emerging. These can be intrinsic (feeling of pride or achievement) or extrinsic (pay or promotion).

If rewards are tied to performance and are seen to be, higher job satisfaction will be achieved resulting in higher performance. Many people feel more content if they have clear targets to meet and, providing these are realistic, they too can contribute to job satisfaction.

Behaviour and Motivation 9

175

9

Behaviour and Motivation

Motivation and Behaviour 9

Figure 9.2 Basic model of motivation

Motivation and Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is measurable through specially designed questionnaires and interviews and it is recognized that there are many factors which may influence an individual’s overall attitude to the job. These include, among others, financial rewards, management policies, colleagues, the working environment, the nature of the task etc.

Increasing Job Satisfaction

The two main tools used to increase job satisfaction are:

Job enrichment

This mainly involves active participation of staff in policy and the decision-making process concerning their work. Thus airline cabin crew are involved in decisions as to the timing of meals and menus served on board company aircraft or flight crews take an active part in the layout of flight instruments used on aircraft in the fleet.

Job enlargement

Job enlargement increases the number and variety of tasks (horizontal enlargement) or increases an employee’s control of the routine planning of his/her task (vertical enlargement). A good example of “horizontal” enlargement is the delegation by a Commander of an aircraft of some of his/her tasks to the First Officer. Aircrew actively involved in their own rostering would be an example of “vertical” enlargement.

176