Being a psychologist myself, I felt I had to respond to Hugo's posting.
I see a potential for trouble here, especially when I read the
following:
"In the Introduction the authors state, under the title "Ideological
Frame" (sic), concepts like "accidents are meaningful acts, unconscious
constructs, just like lapsus linguae, etc... They occur in personal
crisis contexts... Normally the individual remain unaware of the hidden
meaning of these events". And so on."
Phrases like "unconscious constructs" and "the individual remain unaware
of the hidden meaning of these events" are taken from the language of
psychodynamic theory and therapy. Being a trained therapist myself, I
have no problems with psychodynamic theory in the therapy-room. But - I
see a lot of problems in transferring this kind of theory, this kind of
phrases and this way of thinking from the clinical setting and into the
operational environment.
My first and biggest concern regards the scientific basis: How do we
know that "accidents are meaningful acts, unconscious constructs"? In
other words, how do we know that an accident occurs as a result of
different intrapsychic forces struggling for control inside the pilots
head? My answer is that we don't know, and we would probably never find
out even if we tried - psychodynamic theory is very difficult to
verify. In the therapy room, this does not necessarily pose a problem.
The psychologist uses the theory to create ideas and hypothesis, and
examine these together with his client. But the way I see it, you can
not use psychodynamic theory as a basis for a CRM program, we simply do
not now if the theory is correct.
My second concern is: Okay, you have a CRM program founded on
psychodynamic theory. How do you transfer this theory into meaningful
and useful learning-experiences for the pilot? I find it extremely
difficult to use this kind of theory as a guiding line for designing a
training program.
My third concern is: Okay, you have actually managed to create
good-learning experiences for the pilot, helped him or her to become
more self-aware, aware of "the hidden meaning" behind different events
going on in the cockpit. How do you know that this actually leads to
increased safety? My answer is that you don't know, because you don't
know if your theory is right in the first place.
In sum: Psychodynamic theory is quite useful as a foundation for
therapy, but it is not useful as a foundation for a CRM-training
program. Hugo asks what he should do with this program - I think recent
postings on this topic is a good answer. Try to make the submitters
expand on what skills they want to develop, and how they would evaluate
the results. I would also suggest talking to them to understand why they
have choosen this spesific "ideolocial frame" instead of more
conventional CRM-paradigms.
If you have followed my "psycho-babble" this far - well done!
Best regards
Jens
-----------------
Jens Rolfsen
Psychologist
Braathens
Training Department
PO BOX 55
1330 OSLO AIRPORT
NORWAY
Jens.rolfsen_at_Braathens.no