Pilot Skill Development with Implicit and Explicit Learning: Considerations for Task Complexity

摘要

The focus of the present study was to evaluate aspects of the learning process that aid expertise development for aircraft pilots. Research in learning strategies has recently focused on implicit and explicit learning to determine if it is more important to focus on conscious facts or unconscious procedural performance during the learning process. Of particular concern for the current investigation was to determine if explicit knowledge is necessary for automatic performance of complex cognitive motor skills such as flying. Several recent studies have proposed that explicit knowledge may be detrimental for performance under the cognitive loads of stress. This study therefore examined groups of novice pilots who learned how to fly a flight simulator either implicitly or explicitly to see what effect the learning process had on performance during stress and a subsequent retention test. Participant scanning patterns were also analyzed using an infrared eye tracker to determine which group would exhibit superior attentional control.