Researcher

Professor Brett Robert Charles Molesworth

My Expertise

Human Factors, Aviation Safety, Individual Risk Management (prediction, assessment, training), Cabin Safety, Personality, Abilities and Assessment, Perception and Performance, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Computer-Human Interaction

Fields of Research (FoR)

Personality, Abilities and Assessment, Sensory Processes, Perception and Performance, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Computer-Human Interaction

SEO tags

Biography

Brett Molesworth RPsych, PhD. 
Brett, a Professor in Human Factors and Aviation Safety has qualifications in both Aviation and Psychology. He is also a pilot, and holds a Commercial Pilot Licence with an advanced aerobatics rating. His research focus is on aircrew and cabin crew behaviour in both normal and abnormal situations. In terms of aircrew, Brett has developed a variety of tools designed to measure pilots’ propensity to engage in...view more

Brett Molesworth RPsych, PhD. 
Brett, a Professor in Human Factors and Aviation Safety has qualifications in both Aviation and Psychology. He is also a pilot, and holds a Commercial Pilot Licence with an advanced aerobatics rating. His research focus is on aircrew and cabin crew behaviour in both normal and abnormal situations. In terms of aircrew, Brett has developed a variety of tools designed to measure pilots’ propensity to engage in risky behaviour, as well as applied techniques to improve pilots’ risk management skills. Specifically, Brett developed an implicit association test for pilots that is able to predict individuals’ willingness to engage in risky flying behaviour, such as low level flying. He is currently developing other applied assessment techniques and tools, namely paper based surveys that are designed to capture a broader range of risky flying activities.

Brett also has a keen interest in the factors that adversely affect both pilots and cabin crew performance. One such factor, which is prevalent in aviation is aircraft noise. To this end, he examines, from a cognitive perspective the effect of aircraft noise on both pilot and cabin crew performance. This involves testing the effect of aircraft noise on communication, namely memory and recall of verbally presented information, as well as the effectiveness of various countermeasures such as noise cancelling headphones in mitigating the detrimental effect of noise on performance.

Brett’s application of his knowledge and expertise extends beyond the aviation industry and includes other modes of transportation, such as road, as well as other high consequence industries, such as medicine.


My Grants

Year

Funding Source

Lead Chief Investigator

Project Title

2022

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP)

Dr Molesworth

Improving novice drivers' speed and hazard management.

 

2021

Road Safety Innovation Fund

Dr Molloy

Improving young and novice drivers' speed management behaviour

2020

Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Dr Koo

VTC charts in 3D for RPAS Operations

2018

Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Dr Koo

Development of an online survey relating to remotely piloted aircraft

2018

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP)

Dr Molesworth

A New Training Approach to Address the Novice Driver Problem

2018

Australian Acoustical Society Education Grant

Dr Molesworth

Learned helplessness: How future performance in the presence of noise can be affected by negative past performance.

2016

Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP)

Dr Nguyen

Advancing Knowledge on Silence and Its Impact on Errors and Safety

2015

Australian Acoustical Society Education Grant

Dr Molesworth

The Impact of Babble on the Cognitive Performance of Office Workers.

2013

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP)

Dr Molesworth

Improving Young Drivers' Speed Management Behaviour

2009

Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP)

Professor Williamson

Human Factors and Patient Safety


My Awards

Year

Awards

2018

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Training Technical Group Best Student Paper Award. Oleksandra Krasnova, Brett Molesworth, Ann Williamson

2015

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Training Technical Group Best Student Paper Award. Oleksandra Krasnova, Brett Molesworth, Ann Williamson

2014

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Alan Welford Award (best paper in a peer reviewed journal within the calendar year period). Rebecca Mitchell, Ann Williamson, Brett Molesworth, Amy Chung


My Research Supervision


Supervision keywords


Areas of supervision

Human Factors

Aviation Safety

Risk Management 

Aviation Psychology

Mental Health

Communication

Road Safety

 

View less

Location

Room 205C
School of Aviation
Old Main Building
UNSW
Sydney
NSW 2052

Contact

+ 61 2 9385 6757
+ 61 2 9385 6637

Videos

This video provides a summary of a research project designed to gauge individuals’ willingness to fly on a commercial passenger UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). As part of this research, we developed and scientifically validated a new attitude scale called Remotely Piloted Commercial Passenger Aircraft Attitude Scale (RPCPAAS). The research was conducted by Brett Molesworth (PhD) and Tay Koo (PhD) from the School of Aviation at UNSW Australia.
This video provides a summary of a research project designed to investigate the relationship between mood and performance in a non-normal situation, specifically an aircraft emergency evacuation. The research was conducted by Morteza Tehrani and Brett Molesworth (PhD) from the School of Aviation at UNSW Australia.
This video provides a summary of a research project designed to investigate the relationship between attention and pre-flight cabin safety briefings. The research was conducted by Dimuth Seneviratne and Brett Molesworth (PhD) from the School of Aviation at UNSW Australia.
This video provides a summary of research examining communication errors with radio transmissions in general aviation. The research was conducted by Brett Molesworth and Dominique Estival. Brett Molesworth is from the University of New South Wales Australia and Dominique Estival is from Western Sydney University.
This video provides a summary of a research project designed to investigate the impact of noise in general aviation on pilot performance as well as the effectiveness of noise cancelling headsets in mitigating the noise effects. The research was conducted by Raymon Jang, Brett Molesworth, Marion Burgess, and Dominique Estival.
This video provides a summary of research comparing the predictive validity of a newly created Implicit Association Test for low-level flying with existing explicit measures of pilots’ risk-taking behavior. The research was conducted by Brett Molesworth and Betty Chang from the School of Aviation at UNSW Australia.
This video provides a summary of research comparing the effects of in-cabin aircraft noise at 75 decibels with the effects of alcohol on the same tasks. This research was conducted by Brett Molesworth, Marion Burgess and Annie Zhou from the School of Aviation at UNSW Australia.
This video provides a summary of a research project designed to investigate the effectiveness of various marketing techniques such as humour and the use of celebrities on individual recall performance for safety messages contained in pre-flight safety briefings. The research was conducted by Brett Molesworth (PhD) from the School of Aviation at UNSW Australia.
This video provides a summary of a research project designed to investigate the effectiveness of various cognitive-based training methods to improve young drivers' speed management. The research was conducted by Oleksandra Molloy (PhD), Brett Molesworth (PhD) and Ann Williamson (PhD) from the School of Aviation at UNSW Sydney.
This video provides a summary of a research project designed to examine commercial pilots trust in their organisations' 'Just Culture'. Specifically, the research investigates pilots' reporting behaviour, to determine if pilots selectively report information. The research was conducted by Kevin McMurtrie and Brett Molesworth (PhD) from the School of Aviation at UNSW Sydney.
Passenger UAVs- Remotely piloted commercial passenger aircraft
Cabin Safety Research – Mood and Performance in a non-normal situation.
Cabin Safety Research - Capturing and Maintaining Passengers' Attention
Miscommunication in General Aviation
Noise Cancelling Headsets in General Aviation
Predicting pilots' risk-taking behavior.
Effects of noise on workplace skills -Noise vs. Alcohol
Cabin safety research summary - Humour vs. Celebrity
Improving Young Drivers' Speed Management
Just Culture: Commercial Pilots' Reporting Behaviour