1.
Definition of critical incident technique
Definition of critical incident technique (CIT model)
What is critical incident technique (CIT model)?
CIT model is method used for collecting observations of human behavior that are judged to be
“effective” or “ineffective” in work, activities.
Definition of critical incident by Computer Science at Virginia Tech
“Critical incident is an event that has a significant effect, either positive or negative, on task
performance or user satisfaction, thus affecting usability.”
Definition of CIT model by wikipedia:
“The Critical Incident Technique (or CIT) is a set of procedures used for collecting direct
observations of human behavior that have critical significance and meet methodically defined
criteria”
Definition of CIT method / technique by Flanagan, J. C. (1954).
“The critical incident technique of job analysis is used to identify work behaviors that classify in
good and poor performance“
Definition of CIT method / technique by Abbott & Schuster, 1984.
“Simply, critical incident involves the collection of observations of employee behaviors that are
both effective and ineffective”
Example of critical incident:
if a fashion salesman comments on the customer’s skin and the customer leaves the store in a
huff, the behavior of the salesman may be judged as ineffective in fashion company.
2. History of CIT method / technique:
This method was developed by Flanagan during World War II (Director of the Division of
Aviation Psychology, United States Army Air Forces).
He described critical incident technique as a set of procedures used to collect observations of
human behavior. These observations are used to solve practical problems and develop
psychological principles.
3. Application of CIT method / technique:
The critical incident technique has been applied in studying some sector as follows:
• Organizational development
• Large scale tasks and activity analysis of numerous occupations
• Health care.
• Market research etc.
4. Purpose of CIT method / technique:
• Built job descriptions, job specification and job standard.
• Create a list of good and bad behaviors which can then be used for performance appraisal.
• Testing the effectiveness of the job description and job specification.
5. Information source of CIT method / technique:
Sources for critical incidents include:
• Workers
• co-workers
• supervisors,
• managers,
• Customer
• External and internal suppliers
• And others.
After any accident or severe process upset occurs, an investigation is generally undertaken to
analyze the incident and determine its root cause. The collected information is generally
compiled into an accident or incident report. These reports are not ideal training material.
Reviewing accident reports, although valuable in itself, is not the same as training. There is no
way to know if all who could benefit from the information in the report have actually read it, let
alone understood it. Converting the report into a clear and concise training program, complete
with evaluative functions, assures that any lessons to be learned from an incident or accident are
successfully understood and applied by all who could benefit.
Praxis has explored many different methods for converting such reports into computer-based
training. The most successful method uses computer modeling and animation to visually show
people how a particular accident developed and occurred. The animation is coupled with a
timeline to show when certain events took place, as well as an on-going narrative that describes
the conditions of the accident and emphasizes the critical junctures at which it could have been
avoided. Praxis has developed a number of these accident animations for clients, including BP
and Lyondell.
Click here to view example incident animations
A second method involves the use of captured or reconstructed process data, either collected by a
DCS data historian, or based on information collected from operators. This data is then used to
create a simulation of an incident or process upset. Console operators can then be trained on this
simulation, allowing them to experience the conditions leading up to an incident, and take steps
to recover from it. Exercises can also be developed around this simulation. This allows trainees
to experience the incident dynamically, and gives them the opportunity to practice and hone their
skills. It is also important to recognize that communication between units and operators is a
critical part of successful operations, because of this, some sort of simulated communications
must be considered as part of an incident training simulator.
We have built simulations of this type based on reconstructed and captured process data,
although they have not been developed specifically for incident training purposes. They can be
run on an ordinary PC from a local drive, or over a network or the internet. Although the
simulations are not of the highest fidelity, they are more than accurate enough for training
purposes. An advantage of these simulations is that they can be controlled by a scripting
language to generate certain simulated events which form the basis of training exercises. These
event scenarios recreate the conditions of a particular incident but allow trainees to make control
moves freely. This gives trainees an opportunity to experience an incident or upset condition, and
also apply their own skills in order to recover from it. CBT-style training content can also be
integrated into the simulation, either before, during, or after a scenario, or it can be prompted by
user actions during a simulation. Additionally all of the trainees actions and control moves are
recorded by a data collection system. These results can be evaluated in a multitude of ways to
provide insights into a trainees strengths and weaknesses.
