R&D Brief Vol 5. Num. 12a    August 18, 2008   WSU offers new aerospace psych course   Dr. Udo Schultheis, a research scientist in the Human Factors Lab at the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University, will teach a new course at WSU this semester.   Aerospace psychology (PSY 546) will be offered Thursdays at 5:35 p.m. The course will introduce students to the key elements, models and theories of modern aerospace psychology. These key elements include questions to basic flight physiology, limits of mental performance, management of cockpit tasks, personality, human overloading and interference, automation, human error, living and working in space, etc. At the end of this class students will know about the important role of psychology in aviation and space flight, the currently applied psychological models and theories, and their practical application.   The students will have the chance to take part as an observer in an actual simulator session during the initial or recurrent training of air transport pilots in a full motion simulator. They will develop and introduce their own ideas in the creation of a “Crew Resource Management Course” as a work example in modern aerospace psychology.   Interest in aviation psychology has gained drastically in the past decades. Aviation psychologists are working on requirements profiles for flying jobs, developing testing methods for requirement orientated selection of pilot candidates and cabin crews, devoting  their energy to problems of teaching and instruction methods in aviation, designing cockpits in respect to information representation, design and order of instruments, displays and control elements, regulation of the degree of automation, etc.   Other scientific efforts obtain motivational and organizational psychological questions as well as behavior in operational teams.   The main goal of flight psychological work in the past years derived from the extensive preoccupation with the “human factor” and is recapped as “the establishment of the highest possible degree of flight safety”.   With the inclusion of psychological and psychiatric issues that affect air traffic control,  aerospace psychology deals with the common goal of safe operation of humans in aviation and space flight. The National Institute for Aviation Research is a prestigious state-of-the-art aerospace research and development laboratory with global reach and expertise in research, design, testing, and certification. The Institute’s clientele includes many of the world’s aerospace manufacturers, NASA and the FAA. It is the largest aviation R&D academic institution in America.  The National Institute for Aviation Research is an unincorporated division of Wichita State University.