Not being an expert in the application of examination techniques in this field, I did not know that the ATPL examinations were also MCQ.
I suspect, though, that the whole gamut of ATPL training would ensure that the assessment of communication and logical thinking abilities would be covered by other aspects of that training, etc.. I have in mind the selection procedures, ongoing assessment (I assume this takes place), MCC, etc..
PPL training does not have, I believe, any such formal provision for checking that a candidate can communicate effectively with others, can draw appropriate logical inferences, can restrict those inferences when data are incomplete or susceptible of reduced accuracy from normal, can judge whether the extent of restriction applied makes the inference suitable or unsuitable for inclusion in a logical sequence of inferences, etc.. This is, I believe, and I entirely praise the skill of the people doing it, assessed during training by their FI and finally by their examiner. My suspicion, though, is that a PPL candidate, who is not perforce surrounded by the world of professional aviation from which, almost by osmosis, he/she will absorb an appropriate way of thinking, is not given, formally, a set of techniques for making such thinking second nature. I wonder whether the nature and content of the examinations tests, sufficiently objectively, whether a candidate has such habits of mind.
As the correspondence on the Private Flying forum demonstrates, there are many for whom such thinking is, indeed, part of their personality. There may be others for whom this is not part of their mental make up. Does the system of PPL examinations and training sufficiently at present cater for detecting the difference and for compensating for the potential shortfall? Would such a formal recognition be desirable?