IMPORTANT!

• These slides are provided free of charge to law enforcement officers by Commander Sid Heal of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.  They may be used for training, court room presentations, and similar purposes, including distribution to other law enforcement officers.  They may not be republished or used for profit, including training or presentations, without Sid's express permission. 

• These slides are designed to be augmented by qualified instruction and are in a near constant state of revision to ensure they represent the cutting edge of what is known on the subject.  Consequently, future iterations of specific subjects are not only possible, but probable. They closely follow the book, Sound Doctrine: A Tactical Primer and are part of a comprehensive course on tactical science designed to provide students a fundamental but thorough understanding of tactical concepts. 

Tactical Science Course

Crisis Decision MakingPrinciples and Precepts

Crisis Decision Making• U.S.S. Vincennes (CG-49)

•State of the art ship•Equipped with Aegis electronic battle management system

•Top Notch Captain and Crew

• July 3, 1988• Patrolling Strait of Hormuz• Iran Air Flight 655 shot down

•290 civilians killed

How Could it Happen?How Could it Happen?

TADMUS Study• Fogarty Report recommended

Chief of Naval Operations to examine stress factors on human decision making

• TADMUS study began in 1990• Lasted 9 years• Opted for actual field conditions

rather than laboratory analysis

• Studied both individual and team decision making

Human Decision MakingWhat do we know about it?

• Not entirely a rational process• Brain is a multiprocessor• Requires both short-term and long-term

memory• Expertise counts• Perceptual information is not processed

simultaneously• Stressors will impede it• Training will improve it

Three Factors Present in all Human Decision Making

• Rational• Logical and methodical process

• Emotional• Dispositions, Biases, Prejudices

& Paradigms• The truth is not enough, we

must also believe it!

• Perceptional• How the information is received

Perceptional Priorities

• Brain processes visual cuesfaster than auditory• Motion processed before

Color• Color is processed before

Shape• Color yellow is processed

faster than other colors• Auditory - Frequency processed

before direction(Sometimes called the “Cocktail Party Effect”)

Native Thinking Format

Pink ElephantPink Elephant

Which would you rather have?Get on the on ramp heading Southeast out of the airport. Make sure you’re in the extreme right lane or you’ll have to completely circle the airport again. Merge onto Sepulveda Blvd. for about a half-mile and take the Imperial Hwy west ramp. Stay in the left lane and merge onto I-105 heading East. Take this freeway clear to the 710 freeway (about 13 miles) and head north to the 3rd St. exit.This exit is the next one after the 60 Fwy. Get off the Fwy. and turn left to 3rd St. and then right toMednik. Turn left on Mednik to thefirst right after the big multi-coloredbuilding on your right. After turningright, stay straight and drive into thedriveway into the Special EnforcementBureau. If you are in the right place,you’ll notice the 60 Fwy. on your immediate right. Call 323-264-7084if you get lost.

It was invented in 1938 by the Hungarian inventor, Georg Biro. While they come in many styles, colors and configurations, they are easily reloaded by anyone who can use one. Simply pick up the device and grasp the lower barrel firmly between the thumb and forefinger of either hand and twist counter-clockwise while holding tightly to the upper barrel in a similar manner with the other hand. Slowly twist the two components counter-clockwise while applying slight pressure between the barrels to avoid dropping any internal components. The refill is located inside the hollow cylinders of the upper and lower barrels and held between the front spring and the back spring, which in turn is held under a plunger. To reload the device, simply pull the upper and lower barrels apart while carefully avoiding dropping any internal component. Avoid contact with the point of the refill to prevent permanent stains of clothing and other absorbent materials. Slide the upper barrel assembly away from the remaining components and place aside. Remove the old refill component and discard. Insert a fresh refill into the lower barrel and repeat the steps in reverse order to reassemble.

What is it?

Transferring InformationI didn’t say she stole your money.

1. I didn’t say she stole your money.2. I didn’t say she stole your money.3. I didn’t say she stole your money.4. I didn’t say she stole your money.5. I didn’t say she stole your money.6. I didn’t say she stole your money.7. I didn’t say she stole your money.

Multi-Processing• Humans can simultaneously

think and do severalthings

• Brain does not giveequal attention to alltasks

• Two demanding tasks can not be equally shared!

Limited Short Term Memory• Brain processes about

one symbol in25 milliseconds

• Maximum retentionof about seven items

• Without reinforcement,brain forgets in about30 seconds.

• Examples includetelephone numbers, social security numbers, addresses, names, etc.• (323) 526-5541, 123-45-6789, 36-15-45

• Takes much longer to acquire but there is nearly an unlimited capacity and they are retained for life

• Examples include experience, training, and education

• Where meaning is attached• Where understanding occurs

Long Term Memory

Expertise and Experience Count!

• Experts work, not by seeking the relevant, but by eliminating theirrelevant

• They don’t startfrom scratch,they start wherethey left off

Pattern RecognitionCritical for expertise

How Many Orange Balls?

19

Pattern Completion

•?—L—M—N—?

•?— 19—20—?

•?— 7—9—11—?

•1—2—3—5—8—13—?• Fibonacci Sequence

•Shave and a haircut

Pattern Correction

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the only iprmoetn tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit mcuh porbelm.

The Power to See the InvisibleCharacteristics of Expertise

• Pattern Recognition• Anomalies (even subtle)

• Situation Awareness (big picture)

• Understanding of the Way things Work (Mental model of functions, coordination, mechanisms, etc.)

• Opportunities and Improvisations (leverage points)

• Fine Discriminations (Significance missed of/and events that will happen)

• Experiences the Past and the Future (Flying behind the plane, Event Horizon)

• Understands and manages their own limitations• Memory, Situation Awareness, Self-Critiques, Strategy Selection

Stressors• Multiple Information Sources• Incomplete, unreliable, confusing or

conflicting information• Rapidly changing, evolving scenarios• Requirement for coordination• Adverse physical conditions• Time pressure• High work or information load• Auditory overload or interference• Physical threat

Training Works! • As high as 78% improvement

in TADMUS experiments• Automated and Controlled

Processing• Software for the Brain

• Stress Inoculation• Recognitional Primed

Decision-making• Pattern Recognition• Pattern Correction• Pattern Completion

• RPD Model is descriptive, not prescriptive• You can’t decide to use it, you can’t avoid using it

• Expertise can’t be trained, it must be learned!• Some Things have to be learned but can’t be taught!• Engage in deliberate practice• Compile an extensive experience bank• Obtain feedback that is accurate, diagnostic and reasonably

timely• Enrich experiences by reviewing prior experiences to derive

new insights and lessons

• There’s nothing more practical than a good theory.(Scientific Adage)

Training Expertise

So what are the Implications?