Basic Aviation Psychology: Information Processing, Perception, Attention and Memory
What the domain tests
Questions on information processing trace a failure from stimulus to response and ask you to name the stage: sensation, perception, attention, working memory or long-term memory.
Core rules
- Input passes through sensory registers; perception is an active, top-down construction using expectation and schemas, not a passive copy.
- Attention is limited: selective attention filters, divided attention is time-shared with a cost, and vigilance declines after 20–30 minutes on monotonous tasks.
- Working memory holds about 7±2 chunks for seconds; chunking and rehearsal extend it. Long-term memory is schema-based, so recall is reconstruction.
- Signal-detection theory separates sensitivity from response criterion: hit, miss, false alarm and correct rejection.
- Prospective memory ('remember to do X later') is fragile under interruption and is a classic source of omitted checklist items.
Worked example
During taxi, ATC interrupts the before-takeoff checklist after 'flaps'. The pilot resumes at 'trim' and omits 'flaps set'. This is a prospective-memory lapse caused by interruption, not a knowledge failure. The fix is a deliberate 'where was I?' re-read and a challenge–response flow; the mechanism is working-memory displacement.
Traps
Do not equate sensation with perception - the eye sees, the brain interprets. Do not claim attention can be fully divided. Do not say long-term memory is perfect. Do not confuse a slip (wrong action) with a lapse (omitted action). Do not ignore expectation bias: pilots see what they expect on displays.