Felixthecat
SalNichols…..When we are overloaded the brain cannot do anymore it is overloaded so it starts to filter. One of the first seances it filters is the sense of hearing. It can be seen in the simulator when everything is going to hell and the alarms are not cancelled even though they are blaring away in the background, the other pilot will give you an instruction and you may not even register it. It was taught to me in Human Factors during my ATPLs way back when and also demonstrated in CRM classes. I don't know the reference but Im sure someone here will….I'm not making it up…and I am far from a great pilot.
Felix you are right, the effect is called 'cognitive tunneling' and it can also affect vision as well as the mind concentrates on a particular item of concern/interest. This is often called colloquially 'tunnel vision' but hearing and comprehension of what is being said tends to go first. The one sense that breaks through this tunneling is 'haptics' the sense of touch. This explains the extraordinary efficacy of the large manual applied with force to the back of the head.
