Citation

Kanki BG, Foushee HC. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1989; 60(5): 402-410.

Affiliation

NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Aerospace Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2730482

Abstract

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.

Language: en