Differences in spatial cognitive performance and cognitive load between pilots and student pilots in virtual reality environments.

PURPOSE: The factors underlying the differences in spatial cognition between pilots and flight trainees remain unclear; therefore, this study conducts an exploratory investigation into these differences and their relationship with cognitive load. This study compared experienced pilots and student pilots on two spatial cognitive tasks, examined associations among pilot status, task performance, and subjective cognitive load, and examined whether subjective cognitive load served as a statistical mediator of the association between pilot status and spatial performance. METHODS: Eighty pilots and 80 student pilots with no flight experience were enrolled. Participants completed a 6 × 6 virtual-reality maze navigation task and an R-letter mental rotation task. Subjective cognitive load was assessed using an adapted NASA-TLX questionnaire. RESULTS: Significant group differences were observed in task performance and subjective cognitive load. Higher subjective cognitive load was associated with longer maze completion time and lower mental-rotation accuracy. Regression analyses identified subjective cognitive load as the strongest statistical predictor of maze completion time and R-letter accuracy. Cross-sectional mediation analysis showed a significant indirect association between pilot status and maze completion time through subjective cognitive load. In the pilot subgroup, flight experience did not show a significant association with maze performance. CONCLUSION: Experienced pilots showed better performance on selected spatial cognitive indicators compared with student pilots, particularly during VR maze navigation. These group differences were statistically associated with lower subjective cognitive load in the experienced pilot group; however, causal inferences are limited by the cross-sectional design.