Citation

O'Hare DP, Mullen N, Rinaldi M. Int. J. Aviat. Psychol. 2008; 18(3): 225-236.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10508410802073384

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Pilots' ability to match relevant past aviation accidents and incidents to critical flight events depends on the effective indexing of those narratives in memory. This study examined the influence of format (i.e., headings and story structure) on memory for aviation occurrence briefs. In accordance with Seifert et al.'s (1994) predictive features model, it was hypothesized that participants who read occurrence briefs written in a predictive format (i.e., emphasizing the complication feature in heading and story layout) would have better memory for the briefs than participants who read briefs written in a standard format (i.e., similar to traditional occurrence briefs that emphasize setting and outcome features). Thirty-two nonpilot participants read either a predictive or a standard magazine reporting 5 occurrence briefs. Participants evaluated the magazines and completed a sentence recognition test. Although the magazines received similar evaluations, participants who read the predictive briefs had significantly higher recognition scores, but significantly lower confidence levels, than participants who read the standard briefs. These results suggest that occurrence briefs should be presented in a predictive format to enhance memory for reports.