Robert P. Meyer

An Experience-Judgement Approach to Tactical Flight Training:

Due to the critical role which vision plays in tactical operations, the experience-judgement approach emphasized visual cues and referents. A theory of internal pilot performance provided the framework for this approach. Visual referent details were carefully defined in their relationship with complex performance. An expanded surface task analysis which stressed cues and cognitive activity started the process of categorizing flying tasks into behavioral components. Visual cues and their referents were further analyzed to develop environmental background scenes for each task through an intermediate word to picture conversion. Behavioral components were structured into instructional procedures from which behavioral goals were specified. The resulting goals and background scenes were integrated to form a phased learning plan that included event requirements, instructional techniques, and instructional features. These procedures are also applicable to other advanced training situations which have complex visual perception, decision making, and motor output requirements.

Left Out “Lefties” in Design

Many minority groups such as the handicapped, blind and hard-of-hearing pose special consumer design problems. One minority which has received minimal attention in the United States is the 22 million lefthanders. These people have either had to adapt or suffer in silence. Problems peculiar to left-handers need not occur as they are correctable through proper design. There is little human factors data, however, to provide guidance for proper design. A task analysis approach, based on force utilization, overcomes many of these obstacles by considering in detail the way tasks are performed. In a systems approach such as this, the required actions and the ways they can be performed by both the righty and lefty are defined. The right- and left-handed modes can be compared and contrasted and recommendations made for (1) no product modification (2) modification to make the product left- and right-hand compatible, or (3) total redesign. While the approach has been applied only to consumer products, it has the potential for extention to more complex situations.

Development and Application of a Task Taxonomy for Tactical Flying

The data base for this taxonomy was obtained from the task analysis of sixteen basic fighter maneuvers. The next step was the development of nine classification rules designed to process these analyses into usable data for the taxonomic system. The taxonomic system allowed the task and skill information within the structure to be sorted, organized, and compared in a variety of combinations which can be useful to the training specialist. The taxonomic system thus permitted a number of applications. Basic skill comparisons were made across tasks and permitted the identification of skill criticality for specific training objectives. The frequency, complexity, and sequencing of specific skills required for various selected maneuvers were also compared and common elements identified. The system was also used to analyze the skills within a given group of tasks in order to design a single standard task which would contain a high percentage of skills identical to those of a given task group.

Behavioral Taxonomy of Undergraduate Pilot Training Tasks and Skills

The analysis and specification of fundamental flying abilities which comprise the training objectives of Air Force undergraduate pilot training (UPT) was performed. The taxonomy of UPT tasks and skills is an analytical tool of considerable generality that can be used to aid in understanding the essential requirements of flying training. Surface analyses of fifty UPT maneuvers generated task element descriptions subdivided into a series of cue, mental action, and motor action sequences. The resulting task information was used to identify the pilot skills required to execute the flying tasks described. A set of classification rules organized the skills into a taxonornic cubic concept in which cues, mental actions, and motor actions represented cube faces. The classification rules were validated empirically and used to verify all surface analyses. The required task skills were then organized into a matrix system for simple data retrieval operations.

A Methodology for Child Safety Seat Design

Government legislation, with greater emphasis on product safety especially in childrens products, has brought about a need for a better understanding of the product development cycle. The distinctions among the disciplines in product design no longer have relevance when a product such as a childrens safety seat for automobiles must meet both federal safety requirements and consumer acceptance. In using a systems approach not only was the anatomy and well being of the child considered, but the driving and seating habits of the parents were also studied. This information coupled with an anthropometric survey of children provided significant design information. The results of this design process was a single childs safety seat which can accommodate children from six months to forty-two months as opposed to current models which can accommodate only a portion of this age span.