Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking
An Introduction to Situation Awareness
and Decision Making

Thinking about thinking

This presentation provides an overview of how to improve situation awareness. It is intended to enhance the reader's understanding, but it shall not supersede the applicable regulations or
airline's operational documentation; should there be any discrepancy appear between this presentation and the airline’s AFM / (M)MEL / FCOM / QRH / FCTM, the latter shall prevail at all times.
Copyright D Gurney 2006

Introduction

This self-study guide provides advice on how to improve your thinking and introduces the
associated aspects of situation 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 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 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, must
be systematically and continuously cultivated.

Speakers notes provide additional information, they can be selected by clicking the right mouse button in Slideshow View,
View, select Screen, select Speakers notes.
This presentation can be printed in the notes format to provide a personal reference document.
Copyright D Gurney 2006

Threat and Error Management

Threat and Error Management (TEM) is a major safety process in aviation.

TEM consists of detecting, avoiding or trapping threats and errors that 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 Errors Undesired States

Detect
Avoid / Trap Situation Awareness
Mitigate

Resist
Resolve Decision Making
Recover

Plane
Path Fly the aircraft, Navigate, Communicate, Manage
People

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Situation Awareness

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. Gathering data (sensing, perception), seeking cues in the environment
2. Assembling information to give understanding (comprehension)
3. 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 Now Future

data
Plane TE
AN CIPA
Planning SC AN
T I
Understanding
Ahead Path
TE ER
ID
L UA NS
A CO
EV
People

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Decision Making

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
Act
– Prepares for action, evaluates the outcome of planned action

DECIDE GRADE 5D
Detect a change Gather Information Detect
Estimate significance Review Information Determine
Choose a safe outcome 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 to use all of the elements

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking

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, or is your thinking in charge of you?“

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making
Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking - Self awareness

Self awareness - self questioning, self monitoring

Am I biased in my thinking
Have I made a plan for what I want to do
Are my ideas or 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 thinking, what I would do differently next time
Am I aware of how 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

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking - Knowledge

Improving your thinking with Knowledge

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

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking - Behaviour

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 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

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking - Personal Briefing

Improving your thinking - Briefing

Before flight, self briefing reinforces memory cues and knowledge, these aid the recall
of information for use in situation assessment and decision making.

Know on what, who, where, and when to prioritise you attention

Always brief routine operations – 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 your actions

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking - Personal 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 report (ASR)
Any issues for confidential reporting
Did you experience:-
High workload Plus
Poor attitudes Minus
Biased opinions Interesting
Mismanaged time
Unanswered questions
Debriefing

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Thinking about Situation Awareness

and Decision Making

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.

All flight
Value andability,
your ground use
operations
it wisely
Threats Errors Undesired States

Feedback
Senses: Situation
See Action

Hear
Awareness Decision Making
Response
Touch
Smell Monitor
Pattern recognition Choice
Taste
Comparison Selection Review
Working memory
Long term memory - knowledge, bias, beliefs

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking - for Situation Awareness

Critical thinking for Situation Awareness – 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 situation
– 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

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking - for Decision Making

Critical thinking for Decision Making – 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 outcome), information, and risks
– Ask, what does the evidence and information mean considering the objective?

Situation
Routine Needs Skill Almost automatic action; actions
have been thought-through during
training

Trained
Uses Rules Think about which action applies to
For
the situation, compare with training

Unusual
Novel
Think about the situation, compare with
Requires Knowledg standard actions, training, and previous
e experience

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Copyright D Gurney 2006

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is at the centre of all safety processes and human activity.

Threat and Error

Management

Critical Thinking

Situation Decision
Awareness Making

Critical Thinking - Situation Awareness and Decision Making

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