Uplinker # 97
A safety issue in modern communication is in the use and intended meaning of words. Also, with some forms of training - define something, then that is what it is; no need to consider alternatives.
Surprise involves the unexpected; part of normal human activity which enables learning - ‘I didn't expect that’; thence evaluation, action, refection, experience. Surprise is within the process of awareness, and involves situational risk assessment and decision making; our reactions, activities align with the perceived risk.
As posted elsewhere, surprise can be ‘fundamental’, an exceptional situation which cannot be comprehended, unimaginable; a rare but not impossible situation.
Startle is generally accepted as an outward reaction, often physical, sometimes automatic depending on the extent of surprise.
Startle is often misused as something to avoid, like ‘error’, inappropriate action, judged after the fact.
In the 777 event or similar, crews might be surprised at the aircraft’s response to an activity.
No response to a manual input is surprising. Such situations require concentrated effort for evaluation and understanding, more often with time pressure.
A reaction (or not) to a button press or mode change might not be so surprising, even if not seen before or available from memory based on training or someone else's experience. A typical automatic reaction is to reverse the last action - backspace, undo, Ctl Alt Del, but even these should be done consciously.
Conscious activity is critical, this requires mental effort to change the mode of thinking; this is often lacking because of the surprise and demand for mental resource.
Training:
- “sit on your hands, count to four” this requires a change of thinking mode - slow down, a forced change to a conscious thinking mode.
- improving situational experience in simulation to develop agility and flexibility in situations without SOPs; unfortunately when surprised in our SOP dominated world, the activity is more often to search for an SOP (or something similar) before fully understanding the situation.
Some deeper / associated reading below; - also note the indications as to why CRM and monitoring might be less effective than we believe or rely on.
‘The Impact of Styles of Thinking and Cognitive Bias on How People Assess Risk and Make Real-World Decisions …’
https://www.spe.org/media/filer_publ..._179197-pa.pdf