This is the fifth of a series of articles which will look at Command Judgement and Decision Making. (Part 4 – Perception) is here.
Each part needs to be read in the sequential order presented, as this is the way I believe you mentally go about using your judgement to make a decision. There is no point in reading Part 5 before Part 4.
Recognition
The story so far…
We sense a massive amount of a variety of inputs using both our near and far senses. These sensory inputs are “filtered” by our brains, usually entirely unconsciously, to prevent sensory overload. This filtering process goes through two stages. The first is our “physiological sensory filter” where the raw data is filtered by our sensory system. The second (and possibly more important due to the potential to introduce errors into the Judgement and Decision Making process) is our “perception filter” where we view the world as we think it is (perceived reality) and not as it actually is (reality).
(Click on...you know what to do).
The next step in the Judgment chain is to RECOGNISE, have an awareness of, or a realisation, that this sensed information is relevant, important and something that we should or need to take notice of. Sounds a bit like Situational Awareness doesn’t it?
As we discussed in Recognise & React, without recognition there can be no reaction. If you do not recognise that the incoming sensory information is relevant, then the Judgement and Decision Making process ends right there, and you are usually quite oblivious that you have missed an important fact or significant sign.
Remember that you can only make accurate and correct decisions with accurate and correct information. Garbage In – Garbage Out. This “perceived” information is what you use your Judgement on to arrive at a decision.
Improving Recognition
That’s all well and good – but how do you improve your recognition skills?
Recognise & React has some pointers on how to increase and improve your situational recognition skills. So have a read of that article.
Experience is also a big factor in being able to recognise pointers that a particular situation is developing. Experience is one of the biggest differences between Experts and Novices. Experts have a much larger and more richly developed “knowledge bank” of past experiences and situations (both personal and through discussing things with others) to draw upon and so are normally able to spot impending problems or situations well before a Novice. Usually Experts are able to say to themselves “I’ve seen this before…and this is what I need to do to deal with it”. If it is a problem situation they may even be able to think “I’ve seen these signs developing before…before it gets any worse I’m going to do this…” The really good Experts are…well expert…at recognising developing situations and being proactive to sort any problems out early before they increase in scope to major hassles.
You are most likely in the category of “Novice Captain” and you may miss recognising things that your Training Captain will easily spot while under training. To build up your individual “knowledge bank” and vicariously increase your personal experience, talk now with your current Captains, discuss scenarios with your peers and play out “what if…” scenarios to their logical conclusion. Try to focus on the first warning signs that you can recognise that something is occurring.
Like they say “forewarned is forearmed”. The earlier that you are able to recognise a situation, the more likely and more successfully you will react to and resolve it.
Recognition of signs or a situation is probably the second conscious step in the whole Judgement and Decision Making process (after Perception). What you do after you have recognised a developing situation is the subject of further riveting articles – so stay tuned (we’ll get there eventually!)
Judgement and Decision Making (Part 6 – Define The Problem)
This is only MY attempt at analysing Judgement and Decision Making – I’m just a professional aviator, not a psychologist so my thoughts may not conform with academia, but it is based on a real pilot’s perspective. What would you rather have; a psychologist explaining aviation or an aviator explaining psychology?
I welcome any feedback about this article. Please add YOUR pilot input (or if any psychologists read this, your thoughts) by using the COMMENTS link below.
Each part needs to be read in the sequential order presented, as this is the way I believe you mentally go about using your judgement to make a decision. There is no point in reading Part 5 before Part 4.
The story so far…
We sense a massive amount of a variety of inputs using both our near and far senses. These sensory inputs are “filtered” by our brains, usually entirely unconsciously, to prevent sensory overload. This filtering process goes through two stages. The first is our “physiological sensory filter” where the raw data is filtered by our sensory system. The second (and possibly more important due to the potential to introduce errors into the Judgement and Decision Making process) is our “perception filter” where we view the world as we think it is (perceived reality) and not as it actually is (reality).
(Click on...you know what to do).The next step in the Judgment chain is to RECOGNISE, have an awareness of, or a realisation, that this sensed information is relevant, important and something that we should or need to take notice of. Sounds a bit like Situational Awareness doesn’t it?
As we discussed in Recognise & React, without recognition there can be no reaction. If you do not recognise that the incoming sensory information is relevant, then the Judgement and Decision Making process ends right there, and you are usually quite oblivious that you have missed an important fact or significant sign.
Remember that you can only make accurate and correct decisions with accurate and correct information. Garbage In – Garbage Out. This “perceived” information is what you use your Judgement on to arrive at a decision.
Improving Recognition
That’s all well and good – but how do you improve your recognition skills?
Recognise & React has some pointers on how to increase and improve your situational recognition skills. So have a read of that article.
Experience is also a big factor in being able to recognise pointers that a particular situation is developing. Experience is one of the biggest differences between Experts and Novices. Experts have a much larger and more richly developed “knowledge bank” of past experiences and situations (both personal and through discussing things with others) to draw upon and so are normally able to spot impending problems or situations well before a Novice. Usually Experts are able to say to themselves “I’ve seen this before…and this is what I need to do to deal with it”. If it is a problem situation they may even be able to think “I’ve seen these signs developing before…before it gets any worse I’m going to do this…” The really good Experts are…well expert…at recognising developing situations and being proactive to sort any problems out early before they increase in scope to major hassles.
You are most likely in the category of “Novice Captain” and you may miss recognising things that your Training Captain will easily spot while under training. To build up your individual “knowledge bank” and vicariously increase your personal experience, talk now with your current Captains, discuss scenarios with your peers and play out “what if…” scenarios to their logical conclusion. Try to focus on the first warning signs that you can recognise that something is occurring.
Like they say “forewarned is forearmed”. The earlier that you are able to recognise a situation, the more likely and more successfully you will react to and resolve it.
Recognition of signs or a situation is probably the second conscious step in the whole Judgement and Decision Making process (after Perception). What you do after you have recognised a developing situation is the subject of further riveting articles – so stay tuned (we’ll get there eventually!)
Judgement and Decision Making (Part 6 – Define The Problem)
This is only MY attempt at analysing Judgement and Decision Making – I’m just a professional aviator, not a psychologist so my thoughts may not conform with academia, but it is based on a real pilot’s perspective. What would you rather have; a psychologist explaining aviation or an aviator explaining psychology?
I welcome any feedback about this article. Please add YOUR pilot input (or if any psychologists read this, your thoughts) by using the COMMENTS link below.
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