A descriptive instrumental collective case study of the cognitive processes employed by professional pilots-in-command (PICs) during extended, extreme in-flight emergencies.

摘要

This paper is a report on research conducted to partially satisfy the requirements for earning the degree of doctor of philosophy in psychology. The subject research was a qualitative study. Specifically, it was a descriptive instrumental collective case study based on Robert Stake's 1995 research model. It includes eight applicable cases. The research focus was in the field of cognitive psychology. It examined the cognitive processes in general, and specifically the processes of risk assessment, problem solving, and decision-making, employed by professional pilots-in-command of aircraft during the experience of an extended, extreme in-flight emergency who ultimately successfully overcame those emergencies. In five chapters this research report provides the full study: an introduction to the problem; a description, explanation, and substantiation of the research design; a review of relevant existing literature on the subject of the research; a detailed description of the methodology employed; the results of the within-case and across-case analyses; a discussion of the results obtained, the conclusions drawn, and the path forward.