| Using the theoretical framework of distributed cognition I describe the cockpit of a SH-60B Seahawk as a cognitive system. Video recordings were made of pilots flying in a full motion flight simulator. I recorded cases when pilots crashed the simulator and compared them to cases when they recovered without incident. The empirical data included three cases of engine failure and four cases of tail rotor failure. Field notes from participant observations, interviews, and direct observations were analyzed with video transcripts to describe the cockpit as a cognitive system and to identify interaction patterns.;A trajectory of representation analysis was conducted to track the flow of representations through the system in the context of activity. A cross-case analysis of representation trajectories revealed system anatomy and critical computational pathways. When a disruption such as a mechanical failure was introduced into the system, successful systems adapted the flow of representations to meet the immediate processing demands of the system. Systems that did not adapt missed critical representations and formed processing bottlenecks that impeded representation flow. These were systems that did not recover. The division of cognitive labor that arose was largely determined by the trajectory of representations in the system.;An interaction analysis was developed to identify three system-level properties. These properties are emergent interaction patterns I named coaching, dominance, and intersubjectivity. These patterns emerged from individual interactions in the system and were not produced by a single pilot. The data suggest these patterns influence system performance and flight safety.;Interactive processes do not occur in isolation, they occur simultaneously across social, physical, and conceptual dimensions and shape system interactions. These findings have implications for display design, training, meaning construction, and crew coordination. |
