The Aviation Psychologist: His Place in Aeronautics to Aid in the Design of Equipment as well as in Selecting Personnel and Investigating Accidents

AERONAUTICAL psychology has been haphazardly applied in the past, but the increased complexity of modern aircraft demands a scientific approach to the problems. Psychiatrists are mainly concerned with curing abnormal conditions of patients and are mostly drawn from the medical profession, but the psychologist has to apply his specialized knowledge to the normal person who is living and working under a given set of conditions whether it be piloting an aircraft or riveting the skin of the Brabazon I. Indeed, the person inserting rivets may have been ‘studied’ by a time and motion engineer who is in fact applying a part of the technique of the psychologist. Wherever the human being has to operate mechanical equipment there is scope for the psychologist to contribute towards increased efficiency.