Information Processing, Human Error and the Learning Process — Page 147, Lesson 233

I want to walk you through the start of a new topic: Information Processing, Human Error and the Learning Process. This is the foundation for understanding how we, as pilots, take in the world around us, make decisions, and—critically—where things can go wrong. Let’s begin with the introduction. We receive information from the world through our five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. When you’re flying an aircraft, you have to observe and react to events both inside the cockpit and outside in the environment. That raw sensory data isn’t enough on its own—it has to be interpreted so you can make decisions and take actions that keep the aircraft on a safe path at all times. Now, the core of this chapter is a basic system for how we receive and process information, how we make decisions, and where errors in that system can lead to accidents. At the very end, we’ll also briefly touch on the learning process. Let’s move into Basic Information Processing. We know that thought and decision-making happen through electrochemical currents within the brain. But here’s the key point: we cannot precisely map each stage of thinking to a specific anatomical structure in the brain. So instead, we build what’s called a functional model—a conceptual framework of the stages of reasoning. These stages are: - Detection – information is received. - Perception – the information is interpreted. - Decisions are taken – you choose what to do. - Action – responses are selected and executed. - Feedback – you get information about the result of your action. This model is of great importance when we consider errors. It lets us determine whether an error came from a failure of perception, a failure of memory, or—even if you correctly interpreted the information—you failed to take the correct action. The functional model also helps us understand other factors, like stress, that can influence your performance. It’s built on a series of stages that occur between receiving information and making a response. That figure shows a typical functional model, and we’ll discuss each section both individually and as part of the full mechanism. So, to start: detection is the raw input stage—your senses pick up a signal. Perception is where that signal gains meaning. Then you decide, you act, and finally feedback closes the loop, telling you whether your action worked or if you need to adjust.