Communication as group process media of aircrew performance.
This study of group process was motivated by a high-fidelity flight simulator project in which aircrew performance was found to be better when the crew had recently flown together. Considering recent operating experience as a group-level input factor, aspects of the communication process between crewmembers (Captain and First Officer), were explored as a possible mediator to performance. Communication patterns were defined by a speech act typology adapted for the flightdeck setting and distinguished crews that had previously flown together (FT) from those that had not flown together (NFT). A more open communication channel with respect to information exchange and validation and greater First Officer participation in task-related topics was shown by FT crews while NFT crews engaged in more non-task discourse, a speech mode less structured by roles and probably serving a more interpersonal function. Relationships between the speech categories themselves, representing linguistic, and role-related interdependencies provide guidelines for interpreting the primary findings.
Kanki
B G
BG
NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035.
Foushee
H C
HC
D001359:Aviation; D003142:Communication; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D012919:Social Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis