FAA Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI)Human Behavior and Effective CommunicationHard
A flight instructor consistently gives a student high marks across every area of a stage check because the student is always punctual, well-spoken, and professionally dressed, even though the student's actual stick-and-rudder proficiency is only mediocre. This grading bias is best known as the:
- ARecency effect
- BHalo effect
- CCentral tendency error
- DPrimacy effect
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Halo effect
The halo effect occurs when one favorable trait (punctuality, professionalism) unfairly influences an evaluator's rating of unrelated performance areas, leading to inflated scores that don't reflect actual skill level.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The recency effect concerns the most recently learned or observed item being remembered best.
- C. Central tendency error is rating everyone near the middle to avoid extremes, not inflating scores due to one trait.
- D. The primacy effect concerns what is learned or presented first being remembered best, not a general positive bias.
Halo Effect
A rating bias in which an evaluator's overall impression of a person, formed from one notable trait, unfairly influences judgments of unrelated skills or performance.
- Can inflate or deflate grades across unrelated skill areas
- Instructors must evaluate each skill objectively and separately
- Distinct from primacy, recency, and central tendency biases
Memory trick: 'One shiny halo trait can blind the grader to real weaknesses.'