Human Behavior & Effective Communication Flashcards
What is the definition of human behavior?
Human behavior is the product of factors that cause people to act in predictable ways. It can also be defined as a person’s attempt to satisfy certain needs.
What are the basic human needs?
Maslows Heirarchy of Human Needs :
- Physiological - The need for air, food, water. If these needs aren’t met, a person cannot concentrate fully.
- Safety & Security - If a student does not feel safe, they cannot concentrate on learning.
- Belonging - Students are usually out of their normal surroundings during training, and their need for association and belonging is more pronounced.
- Self-Esteem - Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based high level of self-respect and respect from others.
- Cognitive - Humans have a deep need to understand what is going on around them.
- Aesthetic - Needs connect directly with human emotions.
- Self-Actualization - A person’s need to be and do that which the person was “born to do”.
What are defense mechanisms?
Defense mechanisms are subconscious ego-protecting reactions to unpleasant situations.
What are 2 similarities between all defense mechanisms?
- They are subconscious
2. They distort reality in some way
What are the different types of defense mechanisms?
- Denial - Refusing to accept external reality because it is too threatening.
- Rationalization - Justifying unacceptable behavior / making excuses
- Displacement - Shifting negative emotions from the original object to a less threatening substitute.
- Reaction-Formation - Faking a belief that is opposite to your true belief because the true belief causes anxiety.
- Fantasy - Day dreaming about how things should be rather than doing anything in reality to change how things are.
- Compensation - Highlighting a positive to cover up a negative.
- Projection - Blaming others for your own shortcomings.
- Repression - Burying an uncomfortable thought or experience deep into an inaccessible part of the subconscious mind.
What is the definition of anxiety and why is a student’s anxiety a concern to an instructor?
Anxiety is a feeling of worry or nervousness, often about something that is going to happen where the outcome is uncertain. It may have a negative affect on actions and the ability to learn from perceptions.
How can an instructor help students counter their anxieties?
Anxiety can be countered by reinforcing the student’s enjoyment of flying and by teaching them to cope with their fears. Treat anxiety as a normal reaction instead of ignoring it. Introduce certain types of operations (stalls) with care, so that the students know what to expect and how to react.
What are several examples both of a students normal reactions and abnormal reactions to stress?
Normal Reactions - Responds rapidly and exactly within the limits of their experience and training; the student thinks rationally and acts rapidly.
Abnormal Reactions - Freezing, random/illogical response, extreme anger, mood swings, singing, laughing, extreme over cooperation.
What are the three basic elements of communication?
- Source - Speaker, writer or instructor
- Symbols - Words or signs
- Receiver - Listener, reader, or student
What are the 3 characteristics that the instructor must understand about their student before effective communication can take place?
- Abilities
- Attitudes
- Experiences
What are the barriers to effective communication?
- Confusion between the symbol and the symbolized object - When a word is confused with what it is meant to represent. Words and symbols do not always represent the same thing to every person.
- Overuse of Abstractions - Abstractions are words that are general rather than specific.
- Interference - Composed of factors outside the control of the instructor which include physiological (hearing loss, injury, illness), environmental (noise, etc.) and psychological (fear of a situation or mistrust between the student and instructor).
- Lack of Common Experience - The greatest barrier. Communication can only be effective when the experiences of the people concerned are similar.
How can a flight instructor develop their instructional communication skills?
- Role Playing
- Instructional Communication - Instructors must always determine whether the student has actually received and retained the knowledge. Instructors should not be afraid to use examples of past experiences to illustrate particular points.
- Listening - Instructor needs to listen as well as teach the student how to listen well.
- Questioning - Good questioning can determine how well the student understands what is being taught.
- Instructional Enhancement - The more the instructor knows about a subject, the better the instructor is at conveying that information.
Name several techniques instructors can use to become better at listening to their students?
- Do not interrupt
- Do not judge
- Think before answering
- Be close enough to hear
- Watch non-verbal behavior
- Beware of biases
- Look for underlying feelings
- Concentrate
- Avoid rehearsing answers while listening
- Do not insist on the last word
How do you measure how effective communication is?
The more similar the idea is understood between source and receiver, the more effective communication was.
