PILOT CREWS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES EXAMINED DURING SYMPOSIUM MARCH 25-26

Issues facing airline crews from different cultures will be explored during a symposium on "Culture, Teams and Crew Resource Management" Monday and Tuesday, March 25 and 26, at Old Dominion University. The event is sponsored by NASA and organized by Old Dominion.

Guest speakers include Robert L. Helmreich, professor of psychology and director of the University of Texas Human Factors Research Project; Peter B. Smith, president of the International Association of Cross-cultural Psychology; and Dan Maurino, coordinator of the Flight Safety and Human Factors Programme of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal.

The symposium grew from the research of Donald Davis, associate professor of psychology at Old Dominion, who has been funded by NASA to examine the role of culture in shaping how pilots work together in the cockpit. Davis also will give a presentation at the symposium.

Crew resource management (CRM) has evolved into a powerful set of procedures for enhancing teamwork in aviation, Davis said, and national culture exerts an important influence on CRM. This symposium will examine how characteristics of national culture, including values, influence CRM practices such as leadership, communication and decision-making.

More information is available on the symposium's Web site at http://web.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/sci/colsciences.nsf/pages/culture or from symposium chair Donald Davis, (757) 683-4439 or dddavis@odu.edu.