HYBRID METHOD FOR ASSESSMENT OF COGNITIVE REHEARSAL PROFICIENCY MAINTENANCE.

WE PROPOSE TO IDENTIFY THE EFFECT OF COGNITIVE REHEARSAL ON REGAINING AND MAINTAINING FLYING SKILLS. BY COGNITIVE REHEARSAL (CR) WE MEAN ACTIVITIES PERFORMED BY THE FAA INSPECTOR DURING FLIGHT PROFICIENCY CHECKS SUCH AS CHECKLIST VERIFICATION, VERIFICATION OF ABNORMAL PROCEDURE EXECUTION, AND THE LIKE. PRECISE DATA ABOUT THE TYPES OF SKILLS MAINTAINED VIA CR, THE RATE OF DECAY OF THE SKILLS NOT MAINTAINED (E.G., SENSORIMOTOR SKILLS), AND THE SPECIFIC PRACTICE SKILLS REQUIRED TO REGAIN PROFICIENCY WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE LEVEL AND TYPE OF PRACTICE REQUIRED TO REGAIN/MAINTAIN FLIGHT PROFICIENCY AMONG FAA INSPECTORS NOT ACTIVELY FLYING. WE PROPOSE A HYBRID APPROACH, WITH AN INITIAL EMPIRICAL STUDY TO COLLECT THE REQUIRED DATA, FOLLOWED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF PILOT PROFICIENCY. THE EMPIRICAL STUDY WILL ASSESS A RANGE OF FLYING SKILLS TO DETERMINE RETENTION AND DECAY RATES, OCCURRING FOR DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CR, ENGAGED IN BY BOTH ACTIVE AND INACTIVE PILOTS. THESE DECAY CURVES WILL THEN BE USED TO CONSTRUCT A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT COMPUTATIONAL MODEL TO PREDICT PILOT PERFORMANCE OUTSIDE THE TEST ENVIRONMENT AND TO DETERMINE TRAINING SCENARIOS AND ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES TO ENSURE MAINTAINED FLIGHT PROFICIENCY DURING NON-PILOTING PERIODS.