Define Judgement?

[Chopper Jog]

To all pilots, aircrewmen, flight attendants, operations staff, engineers and other professionals operating in complex socio-technical environments (that is where there is a close interaction between humans and machines):

I am in the process of doing a PhD in Judgement - referring to the cognitive processes human utilise in formulating a decision. Part of this study is to ascertain the understanding of judgement by professionals (not only within aviation, but also in other industries where people have to select from a range of options to choose the best course of action) and how it applies to your particular role/function within your organisation.

To assist me in achieving this, please define judgement in your own words and highlight the factors/conditions that may impact on the quality of your decision-making and judgement process. Also, in your opinion, what role does Situational Awareness (SA) play in making the best judgement? When we have poor SA, can we still have sound (good) judgement of a particular situation?

Once I have completed this research, I will post the results back on this forum. Thank you for participating in this project.

Regards,

CJ

[fireflybob]

Good judgement often comes as a result of experience. Experience often comes as a result of bad judgement!

[Human Factor]

A superior pilot uses his superior judgement to avoid using his superior skill.

...or something like that.;)

[DBate]

Two books I can really recommend to you are (and in fact to any pilot who takes his profession serious):

'Redefining Airmanship' , and
'Flight Discipline'

both by Tony Kern.

Following I will post a passage about the definition of judgement wich I found in the first book, and which I think to be quite true.

Quote:
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Webster defined judgement as 'the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning or comparing' (Webster's 1990 ). For the purpose of aviation decision making, however, we must go beyond this basic definition. The Federal Aviation Administration uses a more detailed definition that hints at several aspects of the arimanship model:

Pilot judgment is the process of recognizing and analyzing all available information about oneself, the aircraft, the flying environment, and the purpose of the flight. This is followed by a rational evaluation of alternatives to implment a timely decision which assures safety. Pilot judgment thus involves one's attitudes towards risk-taking and one's ability to evaluate risks and make decisions based upon one's knowledge, skills, and experiance. A judgmental decision always involves a problem or choice, an unknown element and usually a time constraint and stress (FAA 1988).

Even this expanded definition may not totally capture the complexity of judgment, because it fails to adequately incorporate the team into the process and leaves one with the feeling that judgment is exclusively an individual act. This would be the wrong message. In aviation, judment is the process of comparing and evaluating courses of action - as identified by the individual flyer and the extended flight team. These courses of action are partially developed long before they are actually needed and involve preparation, communication, knowledge, and skill aquisition to make the most appropriate decision when the time comes. Good judgement tips the scales of chance and probability in your favour. The 'appropriateness' of the decision is determined by the objectives of the flight and the flyer.

In most cases, safety is the most important factor in good jedgment and decision making. But flyers - especially commercial and miltary flyers - cannot always take the mos conservative approach to all situations. In fact, in some military decisions, safety may well be a secondary concern behind mission accomplishment, but these type of missions are few and far between. The benefits of solid decision making and good judgment hold across the spectrum of aviation, whether you are a general aviation pilot trying to determine if you should chance a takeoff under deteriorating weather conditions or an F-15 driver weighing the pros and cons of a one-versus-four fight. As mystical as the process seems, there has been a great deal of excellent research accomplished in the past two decades, and several pieces of solid information and guidance have emerged to aid our understanding and self-improvement. The crucial first step towards consistent good judgement is to effectively asses each situation.

---------------------------------------------
Unquote
(From T. Kern, 'Redefining Airmanship', P. 258, Judgment defined).

As said before, I can really recommend both books.

Hope this helped.
So long,
DBate

[GlueBall]

Besides relying on substantial depth of experience in the decision making process, core judgement values are always ruled by the overriding "instinctive" survival mode of "staying alive."

[surfnsun]

CJ, I use a simple one when involved in aircrew safety related training.

Simply put, it is the product of skill and experience.

No amount of skill will guarantee an appropriate result. Conversely, no amount of experience can make up for a lack of adequate skill or proficiency. Both go hand in hand.

As an aside, I dislike referrals to a negative outcome as, 'He/she exercised poor judgement'. A persons decision, actions, or inactions are based or exercised on their perceptions, correct or incorrect, at a particular moment in time.

'Poor' judgement is subjective. Monday moring quarterbacks are always blessed with hindsight.

As a very wise Captain says, 'There but for the grace of god go I...'

For what its worth.

...by the way...

I, too, recommend Tony Kern's books....

[john_tullamarine]

.. and, after one has considered all the things mentioned in previous posts ... a good final check is along the lines of "if I do it (whatever "it" may be) and it turns to custard, do I have a sensible and peer-accepted argument to present to the inquiry ?" .. anything less and one is sticking one's neck on the chopping block.

[safetypee]

“… avoiding the ‘can-do’ attitude, which also has the downside of leading to a mindset of ‘How do I do this?’ when perhaps a more appropriate question might be ‘Should I be doing this?’ … "
from 'Vector', New Zealand CAA Safety Magazine

[cavelino rampante]

in my humble opinion Tony Kerns books are by far the best thats been written on the subject, "Redefining Airmanship" is a masterpiece

[Chopper Jog]

Judgement versus Situational Awareness

To further prompt additional responses to this topic, here is an additional question that will assist in defining judgement.

What is the relationship is between the Level of Situational Awareness (High vs Low) and the quality of Judgement?

Thank you for your participation.

Regards,

CJ

[Mel Effluent]

Surfnsun

You are right that both skill and experience are prerequisites for good judgement, but I would argue that knowledge is also crucially important. Knowledge and skill are very different; would you trust someone who had only read and absorbed the flight manual to fly your aircraft? Both knowledge and skill can be taught (if you are lucky!), but experience can not.

Mel

[surfnsun]

Mel,

Fair enough, but I use the product of skill and experience as the simplest form of explanation. Knowledge has to be gained as a prerequisite of developing the skill.

As to judgement vs situational awareness...

A low level of individual or collective situational awareness places an individual or crew in a position where they are not in receipt of all of the cues to fit in with the true state of events. Thus, an erroneous mental model may be formed. Decisions are then made based on this erroneous mental model. These decisions may be correct given the mental model formed, but in reality are incorrect. Rule based mistake.

If other cues exist which would normally raise some 'red flags', but are overlooked, the bias of hindsight would suggest that 'poor' judgement was exercised. Of course, criticism here aimed at the individual or crew discounts other factors which may have precipitated the false mental model, i.e., high workload and associated load shedding, etc.

Sorry about the waffle, but, once again, for what it is worth...

[Rananim]

Loss of situational awareness is always inadvertent and will therefore not affect judgement.Without a recognition of a need to change the status quo,how can judgement which involves a conscious decision-making process play a part?Rather,it is judgement that affects situational awareness,not vice-versa.Cognitive biases set the trap and pilots are no different to anyone else;they fall right into them.Peer pressure and optimism along with selective perception are probably the big killers.

btw,SA is something you either have or you dont have;there are no degrees of SA.

[AirRabbit]

I believe this is a really important question – and I think you’re asking it of a group who probably should reflect on the answer more than just a little. I’d like to take a stab at providing you an “off-the-cuff” response for you and maybe revise it later depending on the time frame you have to gather this portion of your data.

I think that “judgment” is recognition of circumstances, a conclusion reached and a decision made, leading to an action, or a series of lesser such “recognition – conclusion – decision – action” processes. I think this process involves routinely and regularly utilizing all of the knowledge, skills, and experience gained up to a given point (where the “judgment” is necessary); bringing these factors into focus and allowing the recognition to take place; utilizing conscience thought to examine the appropriateness of the contemplated action – willing to accept “good” as a quick and effective alternative to “perfect” – and initiating the action. And, I believe that the discriminator is conscience thought – not reflexive action.

I would be curious to see what your research reveals. Best of luck.

[SkySista]

Totally agree on the Tony Kern books - I own Flight Discipline and kick myself I never got it years ago!! Should be a must read for every PPL!! :ok:

Just wanted to say thanks for this info everyone - it's quite timely and handy for a current assignment of mine - very CRM and Human Factors-ish, involving communication but this 'judgement' stuff is useful too!

PPRuNe, the first place I go to research! ;)

[RMC]

Rananim,

re your ....SA is something you have or dont have?? comment.

Too black and white a statement. You have to work at SA every day ...if you dont put effort into reading the TAFs,sig wx charts, notams etc you can get caught out.

SA is also closely related to good judgement. You cannot make a good decision without good awareness of the situation. Garbage in garbage out.

[You Gimboid]

Good judgement is a result of combining knowledge and wisdom.

If you're not sure of the difference, well put it like this:

KNOWLEDGE is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable.

WISDOM is knowing not to put a tomato in a fruit salad.

:}