Definition
Outside influences on a learner's body that affect their ability to perform and absorb instruction, including fatigue, hunger, thirst, illness, dehydration, lack of sleep, and the physical effects of the flight environment such as heat, cold, noise, vibration, and reduced oxygen at altitude.
Plain English
Things going on with the student's body — caused by their surroundings or condition — that make it harder for them to learn or fly well. A tired, hungry, cold, or airsick student cannot take in instruction the way a rested, comfortable one can.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation instruction when an instructor is trying to understand why a learner’s performance, attention, or mood changed during a ground or flight lesson.
Derivation
Physiological comes from the Greek 'physis' (nature, the body) and 'logos' (study). It refers to how the body functions. So 'physiological external factors' literally means outside influences acting on the body.
Why Pilots Care
These factors can slow reaction time, cloud judgment, and raise the chance of errors that lead to incidents or accidents.
Grounding Statement
A student who is tired, hungry, overheated, or affected by medication may understand the words being taught but still be unable to perform normally.
Intuition Check
Do not read external as meaning only outside the airplane. Here it means influences outside the lesson itself that affect the student’s body and ability to learn or perform.
Example Sentence 1
Before starting the lesson, the instructor checked for physiological external factors and discovered the student had skipped breakfast and slept only four hours.
Example Sentence 2
Before takeoff the instructor asked about any physiological external factors that might affect the pilot's focus that day.