Critical Thinking

Copyright D Gurney 2006

C r i ti t i c al al T h i n k i n g A n I n t r o d u c t i o n t o S it i t u a ti t i o n A w a r en en e s s a n d D ec e c i s i o n M ak ak i n g

T h i n k i n g ab ab o u t t h i n k i n g


Introduction This self-study guide provides advice on how to improve your thinking and introduces the associated aspects of situation sit uation awareness and decision making. These activities are essential processes in threat and error management, which must be used in daily operations. Thinking is the core skill in these activities; critical thinking involves controlling your your thinking:- thinking about the quality of your thinking. The guide is in five sections: 1.

Threat and Error Management

2.

Situation Awareness

3.

Decision Making

4.

Critical Thinking

5.

Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced. Yet Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Poor thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, however, must be systematically and continuously cultivated.


T h r e at a t a n d E r r o r M a n a g em em e n t Threat and Error Management (TEM) is a major safety process in aviation. TEM consists of detecting, avoiding or trapping threats and errors t hat challenge the safety of flight operations. Where threats and errors are not contained the resulting conditions must be managed and their adverse effects reduced.

All flight and ground operations Threats

Detect Avoid / Trap Trap Mitigate

Errors

Undesired States

Situation Awareness

Resist Resolve Recover

Decision Making

Plane Path People

Fly the aircraft, Navigate, Communicate, Manage


S it i t u a t io i o n A w a r en en e s s Situation Awareness is having an accurate understanding of your surroundings, where you are, what happened, what is happening, what is changing, why, and what could happen. Good situation awareness requires: 1. 2. 3.

Gathering data (sensing, perception), seeking cues in the environment Assembling information to give understanding understanding (comprehension) (comprehension) and then thinking ahead (projection)

Thinking about situation awareness involves: –

directing your attention to seek data; scanning a range of sources

–

evaluating information without bias, for accuracy and relevance

–

understanding, using your knowledge and previous experiences

–

comparing and checking, visualising future events - ‘what if’

–

planning ahead, considering possible outcomes

Gathering

Situation

data Plane

Planning Understanding

Ahead

Path People

Now

Future


D ec e c i s i o n M ak ak i n g Decision making is about assessment and choosing a course of action Decision making requires an understanding of the situation and controlled thinking The situation determines the urgency of the decision, the risks, and actions Controlled thinking:

THINK

–

Reduces risk

–

Moderates behaviour

OODA

–

Manages time constraints

Observe

–

Uses knowledge; seeks options

Orient

–

Judges relevance and the quality of the choice

Deduce

–

Prepares for action, evaluates the outcome of planned action

Act

DECIDE

GRADE

Detect a change

Gather

Information

Detect

Estimate significance

Review

Information

Determine

Choose a safe outcome

5D

Analyse Alternatives

Decide

Identify possible actions

Decide

Do

Do take action

Evaluate Outcome of

Discipline

Evaluate the result

Action

Expertise involves knowing how to decide, grade, and think – – how how to use all of the elements


C r i t i c al a l Th Th i n k i n g Critical thinking provides the mental control and discipline required for situation assessment and decision making. It involves several skills; these can be learnt, practiced, and improved. Control your mind by: –

Seeking and understanding information, facts, and data

–

Effective planning, briefing, and communication

–

Increasing knowledge; gaining experience

–

Learning within a situation (context)

Critical Thinking is the skill of thinking about your thinking

Maintain discipline by: –

Being aware of how you think; hazardous attitudes

–

Evaluating your actions; having self regulation

–

Being aware of all available resources

–

Being sensitive to feedback

Thinking inside the ‘box’ before you think outside of the box

“Are you in charge of your thinking, thinking, or is your thinking thinking in charge of you?“


C r i t i c al a l Th T h i n k i n g - Self awareness Self awareness - self questioning, self monitoring Am I biased in my thinking thinking Have I made a plan for what I want to do Are my ideas or knowledge knowledge on this issue correct Am I aware of my thinking; what am I trying to do Am I using all of the resources for what I want to do Am I evaluating my my thinking, what I would do differently differently next time Am I aware of how well well I am doing; do I need to change my actions or intentions Monitoring is checking or testing the accuracy of a situation on a regular

basis. It is keeping a close watch over parameters and supervising the outcome of planned action. It is checking for threats and errors in our thinking


C r i t i c al a l Th Th i n k i n g - K n o w l e d g e Improving your thinking with Knowledge Knowledge of Yourself – – –

A Commitment to safety, not following feelings feelings or preference Positive Attitudes, persistence, resourcefulness, learning from failure Attention to detail and seeing the big picture; picture; determining relevance, assessing assessing risk

Knowledge about the Thinking Processes –

Knowing the facts necessary to do a task by seeking information

–

Knowing how to do a task, how to scan, understand, and think ahead

–

Knowing why certain strategies work, when to use them, why one is better than another

Knowledge to control your Thinking –

Self evaluation, assessing current technical knowledge, setting objectives, selecting resources

–

Self regulation, checking progress; reviewing choices, procedures, and objectives

–

Planning, choosing and evaluating a path to the objective

Planning is the process of thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening or not happening


C r i t i c al a l Th Th i n k i n g - B e h a v i o u r Improving your thinking by changing behaviour Changing your thinking habit requires effort; clear thinking is an essential part of airmanship, which has to be developed throughout your career. Basic training only provides those skills necessary to be safe. Safe:

Continuation training and experience enables an effective operation.

Effective: More technical knowledge, practiced skills, and more more experience experience leads to an efficient operation. Efficient:

Skilful command in controlling the aircraft and team leadership adds experience and moves towards an expert operation.

Expert:

An operator who has gained and who maintains a high standard of technical and non-technical skills as a result of great personal effort.

Expert thinkers Focus on relevant issues Identify essential information Consider information on merit Test and check the basis of their awareness and decisions


C r i t i c al a l Th T h i n k i n g - P er er s o n a l B r i e f i n g Improving your thinking - Briefing Before flight, self briefing reinforces memory cues and knowledge, these aid the recall of information for use in situation situat ion assessment and decision making. Know on what, who, where, and when to prioritise you attention Always brief routine operations operations – – repetition repetition aids memory Structure the briefing along the intended flight path Visualise your actions (plane, path, people) Consider the significant threats Recall lessons from training Refresh SOPs Questions

Do not rush: Your thoughts control cont rol your actions


C r i t i c al a l Th T h i n k i n g - Person al Debrief Debrief Improving your thinking - Debrief After each flight consider the following points; Plus, Minus, Interesting (PMI) Plus:What was good What went according to plan

Minus:What was not so good, and why What didn’t you know, find the answer before the next flight

Interesting:Have you changed the way in which you see things; threats, risks, people or procedures What did you learn, why, and where did the information come from Will you share this with others, if not why not Anything for a safety event event report (ASR) Any issues for confidential confidential reporting Did you experience:High workload Poor attitudes Biased opinions

Plus Minus Interesting

Mismanaged time Unanswered questions

Debriefing


T h i n k i n g a b o u t S i t u a ti t i o n A w a r en en e s s e c i s i o n M ak ak i n g a n d D ec Situation Awareness and Decision Making depend on our ability to think. Thinking enables humans to be very successful, but this ability also enables errors, which if not controlled increase the risks in our daily activities.

Value your it wisely All flight andability, grounduse operatio operations ns Threats

Senses: See Hear

Errors

Undesired States

Feedback

Situation

Action

Awareness

Decision Making Response

Touch Smell Pattern recognition

Taste

Comparison Working memory Long term memory - knowledge, bias, beliefs

Monitor Choice Selection

Review


C r i t i c al a l Th T h i n k i n g - f o r S i t u a t io io n A w a r e n e s s Critical thinking for Situation Awareness – Awareness – seeking seeking information Essential components: –

Accuracy; is the information true

–

Clarity; is the information understood

–

Precision, seek detail to understand the situation

–

Relevance, is the information connected to the situation

–

Depth, does the information address the complexity of the sit uation

–

Breadth, are there other points of view or other ways to consider this situation

–

Logic, does your understanding of the situation make sense

Whenever you don’t understand something, ask yourself a question for clarification

?


C r i t i c al a l Th Th i n k i n g - f o r D e c i s i o n M a k i n g Critical thinking for Decision Making – Making – the the choice of action Essential components: –

What are the immediate risks

–

What is the time available for the decision

–

State the objective of the decision to be made

–

Identify information to be used in making the decision

–

Gather the evidence and information required to make a decision

–

Make a decision based on criteria (a safe out come), information, and risks

–

Ask, what does the evidence and information mean mean considering the objective? objective?

Situation Routine

Trained For

Needs

Skill

Almost automatic action; actions have been thought-through during training

Rules

Uses

Think about which action applies to the situation, compare with training

Unusual Novel

Requires

Knowledge

Think about the situation, compare with standard actions, training, and previous experience


C r i t i c al a l Th Th i n k i n g Critical thinking is at the centre of all safety processes and human activity.

Threat and Error Management

Critical Thinking

Situation

Decision

Awareness Awaren ess

Making

Critical Thinking

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