Does CRM training improve teamwork skills in the cockpit?: Two evaluation studies

Crew resource management (CRM) has been the most widely used instructional strategy to enhance teamwork skills within aviation. However, few studies h ave provided empirical evidence that this strategy results in increased Use of teamwork behaviors. The current paper describes 2 evaluation studies of CRM training that were conducted with 96 naval aviators and followed a mul tiple assessment approach. Results indicated that highly experienced aviato rs benefited from the training which focused on increasing the use of sever al critical teamwork skills. These rare evaluation data suggest that CRM tr aining is a viable strategy for improving teamwork in the cockpit. implicat ions for team training are discussed.