Investigating the influence of multitasking and gender in visuomotor skills of 1578 pilot candidates

Because accurate eye-hand-foot coordination and the ability to simultaneously achieve several tasks are key for piloting, pilot selection typically involves dual/triple tasking in conjunction with visuomotor tests that rely on tracking a moving target with the hand and/or the feet. Because there is also a requirement to integrate more women in military jobs, here we examined the influence of gender over 1578 candidates who performed such tests during their application process for entry into the French Air and Space Force flight school. By means of a flight evaluation system, volunteers performed pursuit tracking tasks that required to move a control stick or rudder either separately (single tasking), conjointly (dual tasking), or conjointly while performing mental calculation (triple tasking). The flight simulator was designed such that maneuvering the stick (but not the rudder) dictated its inclination. Stick and rudder tracking performance were evaluated through the mean distance and lag between cursor and target. For all types of tests, the tracking scores of men outperformed those of women, especially when the flight simulator was oscillating. In contrast to stick tracking, rudder tracking suffered extensively from dual and triple tasking for all candidates. Although our findings align with other studies reporting gender differences in visuomotor tracking, they bring attention to known gender differences in the vestibular system. Moreover, under cognitive load, control of the stick is prioritized at the expense of the rudder control. This finding has practical implications for guiding assistance during delicate situations that require concurrent maneuvering of stick and rudder.