Continual use of name
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 1
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From: In a piece of cheese
Continual use of name
Interesting little topic (well to me!)
Just completed sim recurrent with a colleague I have never flown with before. He used my name in virtually every sentence - in fact twice on some occasions.
I have some thoughts on this, but would be interested first to hear any other opinions.
Regards.
Just completed sim recurrent with a colleague I have never flown with before. He used my name in virtually every sentence - in fact twice on some occasions.
I have some thoughts on this, but would be interested first to hear any other opinions.
Regards.
Joined: Oct 2007
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 1,027
Likes: 120
From: Wherever I go, there I am
It’s probably nothing. I’ve had the same experience a number of times. Sometimes that’s just how the person talks, while other times it’s their way of remembering your name. Sometimes the person has taken the knowledge that we listen more when we hear our name to an extreme, and for a very small subset of pilots it could indicate a tendency towards micromanaging. It’s my experience that most airline pilots are the opposite - we don’t use each others names often, if at all, and many have to check the flight plan or write it early in their logbook to remember who they’re flying with. At least until they’ve flown with the person a few times. That’s why it stands out so much when you have a pilot who does regularly use your name, especially in this case where it was multiple times in a sentence.
Tipping into my old instructor bag for a second, I could also see someone doing that to prevent a build up of stress or tunnel vision during sim training. By using your name, they’re reminding themselves there is someone else in the box with them - a type of self-soothing if you will. Doing so could allow them that moment to step back and see the situation from a wider view point. That may sound crazy at the outset, but the sim does strange things to otherwise intelligent people, and it could be a learned behaviour that only presents in the simulator.
Or, from a speech standpoint, what you think is a single sentence is a run-on or two different sentences. Take for example a situation where a decision has to be made. The person grabs your attention, for example “OK, John, we have ABC going on, and I’m going to do XYZ.” Then, they ask for your input, for example “Do you have anything else to add John?” To them they’re including you in the decision making process, and has included your name in two sentences where placing a persons name is not uncommon, yet to you you’ve heard your name twice in quick succession, which feels unnatural. Unnatural, but harmless.
I’m Interested to hear what you and others have to say, because it is an interesting topic on a number of different fronts.
Tipping into my old instructor bag for a second, I could also see someone doing that to prevent a build up of stress or tunnel vision during sim training. By using your name, they’re reminding themselves there is someone else in the box with them - a type of self-soothing if you will. Doing so could allow them that moment to step back and see the situation from a wider view point. That may sound crazy at the outset, but the sim does strange things to otherwise intelligent people, and it could be a learned behaviour that only presents in the simulator.
Or, from a speech standpoint, what you think is a single sentence is a run-on or two different sentences. Take for example a situation where a decision has to be made. The person grabs your attention, for example “OK, John, we have ABC going on, and I’m going to do XYZ.” Then, they ask for your input, for example “Do you have anything else to add John?” To them they’re including you in the decision making process, and has included your name in two sentences where placing a persons name is not uncommon, yet to you you’ve heard your name twice in quick succession, which feels unnatural. Unnatural, but harmless.
I’m Interested to hear what you and others have to say, because it is an interesting topic on a number of different fronts.
Joined: Jun 2026
Aviation Qualifications: ATCO
Posts: 9
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From: Ireland
At a guess I would say they were trying to use repetition to embed your name in their long term memory. Probably terrible at remembering names and would be too embarressed to ask it again. That or a nervous habit
