These laws are not specific to flight instruction. They apply to learning in all types of environments, whether you're learning to drive, fly, or water ski. But there are many examples in flight training that illustrate these laws, and it all begins with the law of primacy.

Have you flown with another pilot and noticed that they perform tasks differently than you do? Some pilots say each checklist item out loud, others might fly a wide traffic pattern or use improper phraseology on the radio. The reason for those habits, good or bad, is most likely because that's how the pilot in question learned it the first time as a student. The law of primacy states that what is learned first is what the student is most likely to remember.

That initial learning experience, regardless of what the task is, creates a strong foundation for future tasks that will be built upon it. And if it wasn't taught correctly the first time, it becomes more time-consuming—not to mention frustrating and confusing—for the student to later unlearn what they were taught and then relearn it the correct way.

I learned to fly at a small rural nontowered airport, and each takeoff required short-field procedures. I was accustomed to performing takeoffs by first extending flaps and applying brakes at the end of the runway while adding full power. When I started flying from a larger airport, it was unnatural to me to fly a "normal" takeoff.

There wasn't anything wrong with what I learned in my initial training—quite the opposite. But since it was the first type of takeoff I learned, the law of primacy kicked in, and I had to later unlearn what I thought was a "normal" takeoff and relearn the correct procedure.

A common example of the law of primacy is that most people learn to drive before they learn to fly. Because of that, they learn to steer with a steering wheel. And when they step into an aircraft, it's understandable that students taking their first steps in aviation often forget to step on the rudder and try to steer the airplane on the ground with the control wheel, yoke, or stick rather than with their feet.

What are some examples of the law of primacy that you can think of from your own flight training experience?

More information about the laws of learning can be found in Chapter 3 of the FAA Aviation Instructor's Handbook.