3-30  Fixation and Inattention  Distractions and Interruptions  Learning to Task Manage  Increased Workload, Diminished Quality  In the flight deck, a pilot is encumbered with any number competing events, tasks, and actions that each demand the attention of the  pilot. While the pilot may believe that he or she is successfully managing these many tasks at the same time, in actuality, it is difficult  to process more than one thought in congruence. This is especially true when one or more tasks go beyond perceived automation and  require cognitive effort. To help reduce the risk of information-processing bottlenecks, it may be necessary for the pilot to employ  attention switching.  Continuously switching attention back and forth between two or more tasks is attention switching. For example, when Beverly uses a  checklist to perform a preflight inspection, she continuously switches her attention between the checklist and the equipment she is  inspecting. She looks at the checklist to retrieve the next step in the procedure, and then looks at the equipment to perform the step.  There is a danger in task switching. The individual may decide that one task is less of a priority than another and choose to postpone  resolution of that task. In doing so, it is very easy to simply forget the deferred task completely. Or, should the pilot become  momentarily distracted, then effort should be made to remember what task to return to and at what stage of resolution that task was  left in. Even the act of managing such tasks is in and of itself a task.  A common response to an overwhelming workload is to reduce the level of standards for quality and achievement. Preemptively  evaluating an impending task list to then choose to reduce (or even remove) relatively unimportant tasks can be a safe and effective  action against the stresses that often comes with overburdened workload. However, it is not always the case that individuals have the  time (or cognitive discipline as referenced in Chapter 2, Human Behavior) to accurately predict what tasks should instead be focused  on. Sometimes the individual (especially those inexperienced or under high stress) reverts to a reaction-based response process. This  can create a negative environment that may actually induce more stress as the individual continually tries to respond to each task  without an overall plan.  Before learners are asked to perform several tasks at once, instructors should ensure that the learner has devoted enough time to study  and practice such that the individual tasks can be performed reasonably well in isolation.  Inexperience with an individual task can often hinder attempts to combine it with other tasks. For example, a learner distracted by  trying to interpret unfamiliar symbols on a sectional chart inadvertently deviates from assigned attitude or heading. An instructor  recognizes the need to spend more time with these skills in isolation. In this case, there is nothing about the experience of controlling  the aircraft that helps learners better understand chart symbols.  A distraction is an unexpected event that causes the learner’s attention to be momentarily diverted. Learners need to decide whether  or not a distraction warrants further attention or action on their part. Once this has been decided, the learners either turn their attention  back to what they were doing, or act on the distraction.  An interruption is an unexpected event for which the learner voluntarily suspends performance of one task in order to complete a  different one. Interruptions are a significant source of errors and learners need to be aware of the potential for errors caused by  interruptions and develop procedures for dealing with them. A classic example is an interruption that occurs while a learner is  following the steps in a written procedure or checklist. The learner puts down the checklist, deals with the interruption, and then  returns to the procedure—but erroneously picks up at a later point in the procedure, omitting one or more steps.  Since human attention is limited in focus and highly prone to distraction, people are vulnerable to two other types of problems:  fixation and inattention.  Fixation occurs when a learner becomes absorbed in performing one task to the exclusion of other tasks. Instructors see many  examples of this in learner performance. Beginning instrument pilots characteristically fixate on particular instruments, attempting to  control one aspect of their performance while other aspects deteriorate. Fixation on a task is often a sign that the task has not received  enough practice in isolation. That is, the learner has not yet mastered the task well enough to perform it in addition to other tasks.  Fixation can happen even when individual skills have been reasonably mastered, when learners have not yet learned the importance of  managing their own limited attentional resources. 