What Does an Aviation Psychologist Do?

Aviation psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the relationship between the aerospace environment, personnel flight capabilities, and psychological qualities. Its task is not only to study aerospace-related psychological issues, to select and train pilots and astronauts from a psychological perspective, but also to make requirements for aerospace engineering from a psychological perspective.

Aviation psychology

The psychological qualities of the flight crew include factors such as perceptual judgment, attention distribution and transfer, reaction speed, coordination of hand and foot movements, memory, imitation, and emotion. In the field of aerospace, perceptual judgments include flight personnel's judgments of flight status such as altitude, distance, and speed. Whether it is the maneuvering and landing of an aircraft, or the docking of a spacecraft and landing on other planets, it is required that pilots have a good sense of perception. A driver with a wide range of attention and agility can not only focus on the instructions of all the instruments at the same time, but also quickly shift the attention center from one instrument to another. During the flight, the pilot should use both eyes and eyes, and operate with hands and feet at the same time, which is very coordinated. Good pilots, especially astronauts, must not only have proficient driving skills, but also have a wealth of scientific knowledge, good understanding, memory and imitation, and they must maintain a stable mood. For example, being in a lonely environment for a long time in aerospace will produce a suffocating loneliness. Any impatience, frustration, and lack of confidence will adversely affect flight. The psychological qualities of pilots and astronauts can be improved in practical exercises: exercise flexibility through physical activities; exercise coordination through other professional work; and improve adaptability through special environmental training. ^[1]

From a psychological point of view, the requirements for aerospace engineering are: how the cockpit flight display system and control system can adapt to people's psychological state, such as the reasonable setting of instrument positions and instructions, the use of clear scale length, thickness, and graduation units, Easy to recognize the shape and color of the pointer, pleasing signal brightness, considering the impact of vibration on the display system, and properly setting the operating system, such as the operation form, amplitude, and simplicity. ^[1]