FORMAL PAPERS A Framework for Understanding Crew Performance Assessment Issues

The focus of this special issue is on training pilot instructors to assess crew perfor-mance. In this opening article we attempt to set the stage for the other articles in this issue by introducing a framework for understanding crew-performance assessment. We use this framework to outline issues that should be addressed when training pilot instructors, and we point to specific articles in the special issue that begin to answer these questions. We also look to literature from domains outside aviation psychology for guidance. Research on performance appraisal in the field of indus-trial psychology provides techniques and knowledge relevant to training instructors to evaluate crews reliably and validly. We conclude with a series of research ques-tions that should be addressed. The focus of this special issue is on training pilot instructors to assess crew per-formance. This is a critical matter because few jobs are scrutinized as closely as that of an airline pilot (Goldsmith & Johnson, this issue). All pilots go through extensive qualification training initially and, at a minimum, return on an annual basis for recurrent training