Human Factors & Pilot Performance Flashcards
Your ‘time of useful consciousness’ at 22,000 feet is approximately?
5-10 minutes.
Which of the following lists of signs and symptoms would suggest to you that carbon monoxide poisoning was a possibility?
Headache, dizziness and feeling slightly sick.
What is described by the visual illusion seen at night, known as autokinesis?
When a stationary light appears to move when you stare at it.
If unaffected by external stimuli, body rhythms such as the temperature and the sleep/wake cycle will have a natural length of?
25 hours.
When you are trying to look at an object at night, the best technique is to?
Look slightly to the side of the object.
You are on a collision course with another aircraft that is dead ahead of you at a range of 2.5 nautical miles. How long is there before impact if the other aircraft is travelling at 360 kts, and you are travelling at 90 kts?
20 seconds.
What does the middle ear contain?
Air, and the three ossicles that transmit sound
What is the atmosphere composed of?
78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% other gases
When approaching a runway with a marked downward slope, the visual illusion caused by this situation might cause you to:
make a higher and steeper approach than is required
In terms of the human body and brain, what is a reflex?
A response that is made with little or no involvement of the brain
The use of the memory aid or mnemonic ‘FREDA’ to help you remember what to include in your routine cockpit checks is an example of what memory related phenomena?
Chunking
Which of the following conditions is the most common form of sudden pilot incapacitation?
Gastroenteritis
How long does it take for the eye to become fully adapted to conditions of darkness?
30 minutes
Where in the ear is sound converted into nervous impulses for transmission to the brain?
Cochlea
What is the name of the sensory illusion which gives a false sense of pitching forwards when you rapidly decelerate?
The somatogravic illusion
Which of the following identified parts of the arousal & performance curve depict a state of arousal that is having an adverse effect on performance?
Both A and C
At what time on your ‘body clock’ is your performance usually at its lowest level?
Between 0400 and 0600
Digital displays of numeric values are less good at:
indicating rates of change
A visual illusion caused by haze can mean that you are ______ the runway than you appear to be. What are the missing words?
nearer to
Sounds are stored in a sensory memory, and are available for recall (approximately) up to:
5 seconds later
What is presbycusis?
Deterioration in hearing acuity with increasing age
What name is given to the condition where the lens of the eye is not perfectly round?
Astigmatism
Which of the following would not be considered to be an environmental or physical stressor?
Anxiety
A problem is worked on by a group of people. Which of the following statements is correct?
The group result is not likely to be much better than that of the most able contributor
Which of the following body mass index (BMI) ranges would be considered to be in the normal weight range?
21-25
What is the eye’s ability to focus on near and then far objects known as?
Accommodation
How could you treat someone suffering from hyperventilation?
Encourage them to talk to slow down their breathing rate, or give them a task to distract them
A problem is worked on by a group of people. Which of the following statements is correct?
The group result is not likely to be much better than that of the most able contributor.
Body temperature is linked to alertness and performance. Which of the following body temperatures correlate to good performance capability?
The peak of the normal body temperature cycle
The retina contains two types of light sensitive cells. Which type is responsible for sensing colour and sharpness of an image (visual acuity)?
The cones
In general terms, what period of wakeful activity does one hour of sleep provide?
2 hours
Approximately how long can the human brain survive without severe damage after being totally deprived of oxygen?
4 minutes.
What name is given to the condition where the eye has trouble focusing on near objects?
Hyperopia (also called hypermetropia)
What would your body mass index be considered to be, if you were 5 ft 7 inches tall, and weighed 180 lbs?
Overweight
Flickering lights can bring on an epileptic type of fit in people who are susceptible. Which of the following flicker frequencies would be most likely to cause this?
8 Hz
Under normal conditions, the need to breathe:
is primarily controlled by the build up of carbon dioxide in the blood
Why is carbon monoxide so dangerous?
It is colourless, odourless and tasteless
Approximately what percentage of the atmospheric air is carbon dioxide?
0.03%
Where in the ear is sound converted into nervous impulses for transmission to the brain?
Cochlea
How long can an item of information be retained in your short term memory for?
About 15 seconds
How many inches in a foot?
12
How to calculate BMI?
Multiply weight in pounds by 0.45, metric conversion.
Multiply height by 0.025, remember to 12 inches in a foot.
Square the awnser from height.
Divide the weight over the squared height.
What name is given to the condition where the eye has trouble focusing on distant objects?
Myopia
What term is given to the situation when a person gives in to the wishes of a group?
Conformity
How is night vision affected by increasing altitude?
Night vision is adversely affected by low oxygen levels at altitude.
What memory process is being supported by ‘chunking’ and ‘rehearsal’?
Longer retention in the short term memory.
After making a full 360 degree medium rate turn, you level the wings. The reduced g-force loading may lead you to momentarily think that you are now:
commencing a descent.
As your aircraft climbs, your susceptibility to carbon monoxide poisoning will:
increase
How long should you wait before flying after SCUBA diving to a depth of less than 30 ft?
12 hours
Risk shift?
The tendency of a group to make more risky decisions than a single person would.
What are the risks you might encounter when flying with an upper respiratory tract infection (such as a common cold/flu)?
If you take medication, it may interfere with your ability to safely fly the aircraft.
The semi-circular canals (organs of balance) can respond to:
both acceleration and deceleration
What is the sound level, that above would be considered a level that would damage human hearing.
80 db
