Supporting decision making by a critical thinking tool

Kees van Dongen; Jan Maarten Schraagen; Aletta Eikelboom; Guido te Brake

Supporting decision making by a critical thinking tool

Kees van Dongen^*, Jan Maarten Schraagen, Aletta Eikelboom, Guido te Brake

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Building up situation understanding is one of the most difficult tasks in the beginning stages of largescale accidents. As ambiguous information about the events becomes available, decision-makers are often tempted to quickly develop a particular story to explain the observed events. As the accident evolves, decision-makers can fail to revise their initial assessments despite contradicting information. Our approach is to reduce fixation errors and confirmation bias by providing critical thinking support. In a laboratory experiment with 60 participants, we compared the effect on decision making of a critical thinking tool, which requires the explication of evidence-conclusion relations in situation assessment, with two control conditions. Participants acted as crisis managers determining the likely cause of accidents. The results show a positive impact of the tool on both the decision-making process and decision making effectiveness. Participants did, however, take more time to arrive at a conclusion using the tool.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 49th Annual Meeting, HFES 2005
Publisher	Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Inc.
Pages	517-521
Number of pages	5
ISBN (Print)	9780945289265
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2005
Externally published	Yes
Event	49th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, HFES 2005 - Orlando, United States Duration: 26 Sept 2005 → 30 Sept 2005 Conference number: 49

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting
Publisher	Human Factors & Ergonomics Society
Volume	2005
ISSN (Print)	1071-1813

Conference

Conference	49th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, HFES 2005
Abbreviated title	HFES 2005
Country/Territory	United States
City	Orlando
Period	26/09/05 → 30/09/05

Keywords

Confirmation bias
Crisis management
Critical thinking
Decision support
Fixation errors
Framing
Information order
Story building

Cite this

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title = "Supporting decision making by a critical thinking tool",

abstract = "Building up situation understanding is one of the most difficult tasks in the beginning stages of largescale accidents. As ambiguous information about the events becomes available, decision-makers are often tempted to quickly develop a particular story to explain the observed events. As the accident evolves, decision-makers can fail to revise their initial assessments despite contradicting information. Our approach is to reduce fixation errors and confirmation bias by providing critical thinking support. In a laboratory experiment with 60 participants, we compared the effect on decision making of a critical thinking tool, which requires the explication of evidence-conclusion relations in situation assessment, with two control conditions. Participants acted as crisis managers determining the likely cause of accidents. The results show a positive impact of the tool on both the decision-making process and decision making effectiveness. Participants did, however, take more time to arrive at a conclusion using the tool.",

keywords = "Confirmation bias, Crisis management, Critical thinking, Decision support, Fixation errors, Framing, Information order, Story building",

author = "{van Dongen}, Kees and Schraagen, {Jan Maarten} and Aletta Eikelboom and {te Brake}, Guido",

year = "2005",

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language = "English",

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series = "Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting",

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pages = "517--521",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 49th Annual Meeting, HFES 2005",

address = "United States",

note = "49th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, HFES 2005, HFES 2005 ; Conference date: 26-09-2005 Through 30-09-2005",

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van Dongen, K, Schraagen, JM, Eikelboom, A & te Brake, G 2005, Supporting decision making by a critical thinking tool. in Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 49th Annual Meeting, HFES 2005. Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting, vol. 2005, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Inc., pp. 517-521, 49th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, HFES 2005, Orlando, Florida, United States, 26/09/05.

Supporting decision making by a critical thinking tool. / van Dongen, Kees; Schraagen, Jan Maarten; Eikelboom, Aletta et al.
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 49th Annual Meeting, HFES 2005. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Inc., 2005. p. 517-521 (Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting; Vol. 2005).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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AU - van Dongen, Kees

AU - Schraagen, Jan Maarten

AU - Eikelboom, Aletta

AU - te Brake, Guido

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N2 - Building up situation understanding is one of the most difficult tasks in the beginning stages of largescale accidents. As ambiguous information about the events becomes available, decision-makers are often tempted to quickly develop a particular story to explain the observed events. As the accident evolves, decision-makers can fail to revise their initial assessments despite contradicting information. Our approach is to reduce fixation errors and confirmation bias by providing critical thinking support. In a laboratory experiment with 60 participants, we compared the effect on decision making of a critical thinking tool, which requires the explication of evidence-conclusion relations in situation assessment, with two control conditions. Participants acted as crisis managers determining the likely cause of accidents. The results show a positive impact of the tool on both the decision-making process and decision making effectiveness. Participants did, however, take more time to arrive at a conclusion using the tool.

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KW - Framing

KW - Information order

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BT - Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 49th Annual Meeting, HFES 2005

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ER -

Supporting decision making by a critical thinking tool

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

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