RPTR EXPERIENCES MINDSET FOR WRONG RWY APCH.

Narrative

'FIXATION ON AN IDEA' IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN THINK OF TO DESCRIBE WHAT I WANT TO RPT HERE. FOR IT WAS JUST THAT; WHICH LED ME TO CONTINUE AN APCH TO RWY 25R DESPITE ALL INDICATIONS THAT IT WAS RWY 25L THAT I HAD BEEN CLRED FOR. APCHING LVK FROM THE S (SUNOL GOLF COURSE) I CONTACTED TWR ON 128.2 AFTER MONITORING ATIS AND RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS TO ENTER L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 25L (WITH HINDSIGHT I'M SURE THE INSTRUCTIONS WERE FOR RWY 25L) AND RPT ON THE 45 DEG. I'M SURE I HEARD AND REPEATED BACK RWY 25L; BUT I WAS THINKING RWY 25R. I THOUGHT AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS ODD BEING CLRED FOR RWY 25R ON 128.2 WHEN THE SECOND TWR POS IS OPERATING AT LVK; BUT I THOUGHT; 'OH WELL; I DON'T NEED TO REQUEST RWY 25R SINCE THEY'VE GIVEN IT TO ME ANYWAY.' THAT'S THE FIRST POINT AT WHICH I SHOULD HAVE QUERIED ATC ABOUT AN INSTRUCTION THAT SEEMED 'STRANGE' TO ME. I CONTINUED THE APCH; EVERYTHING 'NORMAL' FOR RWY 25R. AFTER TURNING L BASE TWR INFORMED ME THAT I WAS DRIFTING TOO FAR N FOR RWY 25L; BUT I WAS STILL THINKING IN TERMS OF RWY 25R AND ACKNOWLEDGED TWR; BUT WONDERED WHY THEY THOUGHT I WAS TOO FAR N. I WAS RIGHT ON COURSE; FOR RWY 25R. THAT'S THE SECOND POINT AT WHICH I SHOULD HAVE QUERIED TWR ABOUT A RADIO CALL THAT SEEMED 'STRANGE' TO ME. JUST BEFORE TURNING BASE TO FINAL I SAW ANOTHER ACFT ON A R BASE TURNING FINAL FOR RWY 25R; SO I TURNED R TO AVOID IT. TWR; UNDERSTANDABLY AGITATED; ASKED ME 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' I REPLIED; 'TURNING TO AVOID TFC.' TWR REPLIED; 'YOU'RE CLRED FOR RWY 25L.' ONLY AT THIS POINT DID I END MY FIXATION ON THE IDEA THAT I WAS LNDG ON THE R RWY. I REALIZED WHAT HAD HAPPENED; APOLOGIZED TO TWR FOR MY MISUNDERSTANDING (I THINK THAT'S THE WORD I USED) AND MADE A NORMAL LNDG ON RWY 25L. THE POINT IS HERE; THAT I WASN'T FIXATED VISUALLY ON ANYTHING. I WAS SCANNING; MY ACFT WAS PROPERLY CONFIGURED AND EVERYTHING IN ORDER. I WAS PICKING UP TFC OUTSIDE. I KNEW WHERE I WAS AND WHERE I WAS GOING (OR SO I THOUGHT). I WAS FIXATED ON THE IDEA THAT I WAS LNDG ON RWY 25R; THE MAIN RWY; THE ILS RWY; EVEN THOUGH I WAS IN VMC AND NOT ON INSTS AND HADN'T REQUESTED RWY 25R (WHICH I WOULD NORMALLY HAVE DONE WHEN INITIALLY ASSIGNED TO RWY 25L AT LIVERMORE). VISUAL FIXATION IS A WELL-KNOWN PROB; AND THE REMEDY IS ALSO WELL-KNOWN -- PROPER SCAN TECHNIQUE AND INTERP. BUT WHAT I EXPERIENCED HERE; 'CONCEPTUAL FIXATION;' IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE REMEDY IS; EXCEPT 'DON'T IGNORE ANY DATA COMING IN; NO MATTER HOW WELL THINGS SEEM TO BE GOING; OR HOW FAMILIAR EVERYTHING IS;' AND 'NEVER LET ANY ATC CALL GO UNQUERIED IF IT SEEMS STRANGE IN ANY WAY -- IT MIGHT BE AN ERROR ON THE PART OF ATC; OR AS IN THIS CASE; ON MY PART; BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO DETECT IT AND CORRECT AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.' ONE OTHER POINT THAT MIGHT BE OF INTEREST HERE: THIS OCCURRED ON THE SECOND DAY AFTER I ARRIVED ON A FLT FROM EUROPE; ALTHOUGH IT OCCURRED AT A LCL TIME OF DAY WHEN I DON'T NORMALLY EXPERIENCE ANY PROBS WITH WBOUND JET LAG. THAT'S ALL I CAN OFFER HERE AND HOPE IT WILL BE OF SOME HELP TO OTHERS.