title: Failure to detect critical auditory alerts in the cockpit: evidence for inattentional deafness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to test whether inattentional deafness to critical alarms would be observed in a simulated cockpit.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The inability of pilots to detect unexpected changes in their auditory environment (e.g., alarms) is a major safety problem in aeronautics. In aviation, the lack of response to alarms is usually not attributed to attentional limitations, but rather to pilots choosing to ignore such warnings due to decision biases, hearing issues, or conscious risk taking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight general aviation pilots performed two landings in a flight simulator. In one scenario an auditory alert was triggered alone, whereas in the other the auditory alert occurred while the pilots dealt with a critical windshear.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the windshear scenario, II pilots (39.3%) did not report or react appropriately to the alarm whereas all the pilots perceived the auditory warning in the no-windshear scenario. Also, of those pilots who were first exposed to the no-windshear scenario and detected the alarm, only three suffered from inattentional deafness in the subsequent windshear scenario.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings establish inattentional deafness as a cognitive phenomenon that is critical for air safety. Pre-exposure to a critical event triggering an auditory alarm can enhance alarm detection when a similar event is encountered subsequently.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Case-based learning is a solution to mitigate auditory alarm misperception.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dehais
authors.forename: Mickaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Causse
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vachon
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Régis
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Menant
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tremblay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001359:Aviation; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011603:Psychophysiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D016526:Workload; D055815:Young Adult