Human Behavior

Definitions of Human Behavior

Human behavior can be defined in many ways:

• The result of attempts to satisfy certain needs.
• The product of factors that cause people to act in predictable ways.
• A distinct set of physical, physiological, and behavioral features associated with each phase of life.

Instructors study human behavior to understand learner actions and learning processes.

Personality Types

Personality is the embodiment of personal traits and characteristics of an individual that are set at a very early age and are extremely resistant to change. Personality types are a collection of personality traits that often occur together.

An individual's personality type can be categorized through a personality assessment, providing insights into the preferred style of learning.

Myers and Briggs Personality Assessment

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), developed by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers in 1962, is a widely recognized tool for assessing personality. The MBTI categorizes personalities into 16 distinct types, based on how individuals predominantly use perception and judgment.

The MBTI test can be taken online. Once the personality type is determined, the preferred learning styles can be assessed, enabling instructors to tailor their teaching methods for more effective education.

Links:

• https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/take-the-mbti-instrument/ (MBTI)
• https://www.psychologyjunkie.com/2018/01/12/learning-styles-every-myers-briggs-personality-type/ (interpretation)

Motivation

Motivation is the driving force that propels individuals toward their goals. It causes learners to engage in hard work and affects their success.

Types of Motivations

Motivations vary and can be categorized as:

1. Obvious or Subtle: Direct and easily recognizable or more understated.
2. Positive or Negative: Positive motivation comes from rewards, while negative motivation involves fear or threats, useful for addressing unsafe practices.
3. Tangible or Intangible: Physical rewards like money, or non-physical like satisfaction.

1. Intrinsic or Extrinsic: Intrinsic motivation is driven by internal desires, while extrinsic motivation is influenced by external rewards or pressures.

Methods of Maintaining Motivation

To maintain learners' motivation and dedication, instructors should:

• Present new challenges.
• Acknowledge and praise incremental achievements.
• Create a need to learn the material ("What's in it for me?").

Using Praise as a Motivator

Praise is the expression of approval. It stimulates the reward and pleasure centers of the brain, benefiting learners by providing feedback.

Tips for instructors:

• Comment favorably on learner progress.
• Connect daily achievements to the lesson objectives.
• Focus on the process rather than ability (e.g., Instead of saying, "You are a natural pilot," say, "I can tell you prepared.").

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa

Using Rewards as Motivators

Rewards can motivate learners who have a low interest in a subject, but their effect is often short-lived and doesn't boost intrinsic motivation. Rewards may demotivate if the learner feels coerced by them or if the subject is intrinsically motivating, and the reward is known ahead of time.

Tips for instructors:

• Seek alternatives that are more intrinsic.
• Only use rewards for a limited time and a specific purpose.

Overcoming Drops in Motivation

Drops in motivation can appear in various ways, such as learners showing up unprepared or indicating a diminished commitment to aviation training.

To boost motivation, instructors should:

• Explain that learning seldom proceeds at a constant pace.
• Reinforce learners' initial goals for pursuing aviation training.
• Assure learners that learning plateaus are normal and that improvement will resume with continued effort.

Human Needs

Human needs are the things humans require for normal growth and development. These needs can be basic, like the need for food and water, or more intricate, such as the need for recognition and acceptance.

Instructor Responsibilities

• Learner Readiness: Instructors should confirm that learners' fundamental needs are met before commencing a lesson.
• Learning Environment: A conducive learning environment minimizes frustrations for learners, enabling them to focus more effectively.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow developed a pyramid-style model to illustrate human motivations and needs. This model organizes motivations into distinct levels. As individuals fulfill the requirements of one level, they aspire to achieve the next level.

• Physiological (1): The need for air, food, water, and maintenance of the human body.
• Safety and Security (2): The need to avoid pain and injury.
• Love and Belonging (3): The need for social approval. This involves love, affection, and a sense of belonging.

• Esteem (4): The need for self-respect and respect from others. When met, the person feels self-confident and valuable. When unmet, the person feels inferior, helpless, and worthless.
• Self-Actualization (5): The desire to make the most of one's abilities. Maslow described it as "the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming."

Self-actualized people are characterized by:

• Having a deep concern for personal growth.
• Not being afraid of the unknown; rather, they embrace it.
• Incorporating an ongoing freshness of appreciation of life.

Needs Added in Later Years by Maslow

• Cognitive: The desire to know and understand. When learning occurs, the brain reinforces this need by releasing dopamine, resulting in a sense of reward.
• Aesthetic: The desire for things around the person to be aesthetically pleasing. Aesthetics can enhance positive motivation and contribute to a successful learning experience.

• Transcendence: Needs that extend beyond one's personal self, such as engaging in acts of service, pursuing scientific endeavors, or expressing faith.

Bodily Reward Systems

• Basic Needs: Meeting basic human needs brings about a sense of satisfaction, also known as satiation. For example, the motivation to eat arises from hunger. Once the need is fulfilled, motivation decreases.
• Growth Needs: Complex motivations, such as the desire for personal achievement, are rewarded by a release of dopamine in the brain. As growth needs are satisfied, motivation increases.

Human Nature

Human nature refers to the general psychological characteristics, feelings, and behavioral traits shared by all humans. Because it is human nature to be motivated, it is the instructor's responsibility to facilitate the realization of the learner's potential.

Fast Versus Slow Thinking

Two systems of thought constantly compete for control over human behaviors that affect decision-making. Familiarity with these systems can assist instructors in recognizing potential pitfalls learners may encounter.

System One (Fast)

The first system (fast) is the automatic reaction that individuals have developed through memory and experience. These are automatic "gut reactions" that require little thought or effort.

The average person can quickly and easily solve the following problem.

2 + 2 = X

System Two (Slow)

The second system (slow) relies on logic and reasoning. Individuals rely on System 2 less because it requires effort and time to calculate and reason through a problem. System 2 demands effort, so it is tempting to revert to the relative ease of System 1.

The average person needs to pause and consider an answer to the following problem.

48 × 76 = Y

Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are subconscious reactions that protect a person from anxiety arising from unpleasant situations. The reactions can be biological (due to fear) or psychological (due to unacceptable thoughts or feelings).

Defense mechanisms:

• Inhibit learning.
• Operate on an unconscious level.
• Distort, transform, or falsify reality.
• Alleviate symptoms, not causes.

A perceptive instructor can identify defense mechanisms and help a learner by discussing the problem. The goal should be to restore motivation and self-confidence.

Biological Defense Mechanisms

Biological defense mechanisms are physiological responses that protect or preserve life. They develop when adrenaline or other chemicals are activated, and physical symptoms such as rapid heart rate and increased blood pressure occur.

Psychological (Ego) Defense Mechanisms

Psychological defense mechanisms were introduced by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939).

Psychological defense mechanisms are unconscious mental processes to shield from anxiety and negative emotions. People use these defenses to prevent unacceptable ideas or impulses from entering the conscious mind.

Types of Defense Mechanisms

Denial: Refusing to admit the existence or truth about something.

Repression: Restraining thoughts or emotions by placing them into inaccessible areas of the mind.

Displacement: Putting unpleasant feelings somewhere other than where they belong (taking anger out on someone else).

Rationalization: A subconscious technique for justifying actions that otherwise would be unacceptable.

Compensation: Counterbalancing weaknesses by emphasizing strengths in other areas.

Projection: Blaming personal shortcomings, mistakes, and transgressions on someone else.

Reaction Formation: When a person fakes a belief opposite to the actual belief because the actual belief causes anxiety.

Fantasy: When a learner engages in daydreams about how things should be rather than doing anything about how things are.

Learner Emotional Reactions

Stress

Stress is the body's response to demands placed upon it. These demands can be either pleasant or unpleasant in nature.

Normal individuals react to stress by:

• Becoming extremely sensitive to their surroundings.
• Responding rapidly, often automatically, within their experience and training (this underlines the importance of proper training before emergencies).

Abnormal responses to stress include:

• An absent reaction to stress
• Severe anger at the instructor or others
• Inappropriate reactions (e.g., extreme over-cooperation or inappropriate laughter or singing)
• Marked changes in mood on different lessons (e.g., excellent morale followed by deep depression)

Anxiety

Anxiety is mental discomfort that arises from the fear of anything, real or imagined. It is arguably the most influential psychological factor impacting flight instruction.

We feel anxiety so that we don't have to feel pain. We feel pain to help avoid bodily damage. Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

Some people affected by anxiety react appropriately, adequately, and more rapidly than they would without a threat. Others may become hesitant to act or be compelled to do something quickly, even if it is wrong. In more severe cases, chronic anxiety or other anxiety disorders can impair a person's ability to function.

Adverse responses to anxiety can be countered by:

• Reinforcing the learner's enjoyment of flying.
• Treating fears as a normal reaction rather than ignoring them.
• Completing manageable yet challenging tasks to build confidence over time.
• Introducing learners to maneuvers with care so that the learner knows what to expect.

Impatience

Impatience leads learners to overlook necessary preliminary training and focus only on the end goal. Instructors can correct this by presenting training in incremental steps with clearly defined objectives.

Worry or Lack of Interest

Emotional distress or disinterest obstructs readiness to learn. Concerns specific to flight training should be addressed by instructors.

Physical Discomforts

Temperature, noise, illness, fatigue, or dehydration can distract learners, slowing down their learning rate.

Apathy from Inadequate Instruction

Poorly prepared or contradictory instruction can lead to learner disengagement. Instructors should deliver well-planned instruction that aligns with the learner's level, avoiding distracting mannerisms and condescending behavior, which can hinder learning.

Seriously Abnormal Learners

If an instructor suspects that a learner may have a disqualifying psychological issue, it is advisable to seek a second opinion. Arrangements should be made for another instructor who is unfamiliar with the learner to conduct an evaluation flight. If both instructors believe the learner has a psychological deficiency, endorsements and recommendations should be withheld.

Serious Psychological Abnormalities

A flight instructor who believes a learner may be suffering from a serious psychological abnormality must refrain from instructing that person. Instructors should contact their local FSDO to report hazardous behaviors that affect airmen certification.

Signs of serious psychological abnormalities include:

• Talks of suicide
• Excessive anger, hostility, or violence
• Detachment from reality (e.g., paranoia or hallucinations)
• Conditions that interfere with the learner's ability to learn or operate the airplane safely
• Mental disorders that would disqualify the learner from obtaining a medical certificate (e.g., psychosis or bipolar disorder)

Link: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/

Teaching the Adult Learner

As individuals grow and develop, they transition from dependence to self-direction in their approach to learning. Since the age of learners can vary, instructors should address the varying levels of self-direction.

The average age of a student pilot is 34.

Adult learners:

• Rely on internal rather than external motivation.
• Bring a wealth of experience to the learning process.
• Want to solve problems rather than memorize facts.
• Want to learn things that they can put to immediate use.
• Need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.

When training adults, instructors should:

• Challenge them (avoid "spoon-feeding").
• Set a cooperative learning environment.
• Frequently use scenario-based training (SBT).
• Help them integrate new ideas with what they already know.
• Recognize their need to control the training pace and start/stop time.
• Provide an organized training syllabus with clearly defined objectives.

The Instructor-Learner Relationship

The professional relationship between the instructor with the learner should be based on a mutual acknowledgment that both are important to each other and are working toward the same objective.

True teaching grows out of the development of an instructor-learner relationship. Mike Thompson (Telling is Not Teaching)

Core Principles of the Instructor-Learner Relationship

• Fairness: Instructors should not treat learners unfairly or in a way that favors some over others.
• Consistency: Instructors should be steady in their actions, principles, and standards of performance.
• Approachability: Instructors should be approachable and accessible, but not necessarily friends. Certain boundaries must not be overstepped.

Best Practices for Building Professional Relationships

• Add Value: Go in to give, not to receive.
• Be Positive: Show respect and portray a positive attitude.
• Be Authentic: Be open about your goals and mistakes.
• Attend: Be an active listener and show interest.
• Give Praise: Recognize effort and progress, no matter how small.
• Show Empathy: Put yourself in their shoes.

• Adapt: Avoid a lock-step approach to teaching. Consider the learner's personality and preferred learning style.