Topic > Aviation Decision Making - 1083

Pilots generally don't think about the decision making model they want to follow when they're at the controls. Instead, they are concerned with key issues that have a direct correlation to the safety of the people on board and the safety of the aircraft. In this article, O'Hare is concerned that much effort has been made to educate and train pilots to make the right decision, but very little or none has been done for aeronautical decision making (ADM). This stems from the fact that as an aviation community we do not fully understand the ADM process, although we understand “prescriptive ADM models” quite well and can effectively train ourselves to use them (O'Hare, 1992, p. 175). To explore this gap in knowledge, O'Hare reviews numerous completed studies of ADM, as well as "examples of naturalistic decision making in complex, dynamic environments" (O'Hare, 1992, p. 176). This decision-making method resembles that of a pilot. The outside world and the cockpit present numerous challenges and sometimes present conflicting manifestations that require challenging decisions. O'Hare's overall goal is to provide a framework model that can serve as a basis for "future research on ADM and a basis for further prescriptive efforts" (O'Hare, 1992, p. To guide him in this task, O 'Hare relied largely on the research of Jensen and Benel, who found that most fatalities are caused by decisions rather than errors in perception or action (O'Hare, 1992, p. 175). Trained pilots have a great ability to react to the sensations they perceive, but have difficulty making decisions in a dynamic environment where the response may not be obvious. can be further described using the three basic models of decision making: normative, prescriptive and descriptive (…… half of the document…… no decision was required the Mimic system used its semi-qualitative, non-numerical reasoning method to suggest actions to the pilot (O'Hare, 1992, p. 186). This is comparable to decisions made by artificial intelligence in today's aircraft. Conclusion Human performance, especially in an aircraft, is a complex world. Many narrow-range models are available to explain a pilot's cognitive processes, models that encompass the entire picture of decision making and problem solving are lacking. There are multiple models that examine the pilot's ability to recognize a problem and solve it, but there is not one that conceptualizes the entire problem-solving practice. O'Hare's framework model provides us with an understanding of how pilots make decisions and should therefore provide a more solid basis for the development of future prescriptive WMD models..