A Study of Pilot Reaction Capability to Sound Stimulus

An experiment is described which was used to evaluate a typical pilot's ability to activate a switch in response to a sound stimulus. Regularly spaced voice countdown, irregular voice countdown, initiation of a tone, and termination of a tone were each used as the stimulus. The individual under test was given a task similar to that involved in maintaining accurate flight conditions to occupy his attention. The regular voice countdown is shown to be least accurate in defining the switching time, providing a mean delay of approximately -0.09 second (actually a stimulus anticipation) and a standard deviation of a bit more than 0.2 second. In each of the other cases, a mean delay of approximately 0.25 second and a standard deviation of approximately 0.09 second were obtained. This compares favorably with previous experimental results.