How We Think and How We Operate: Training Our Brains

This blog is the second in our series on improving situation awareness. The first blog, Training for Situation Awareness: 5 Ways to Use the EnVision Platform, defined situational awareness (SA) and how the features of EnVision simulation can help train operators to overcome some common types of SA errors.  This time, we will delve deeper into how we think and how the thinking process affects how we react to situations at work. By understanding how we might jump to conclusions, we can challenge ourselves to evaluate situations more critically.

While automation has significantly impacted the industrial workforce, it has not necessarily reduced the number of operators. Still, it HAS changed their role – from one of many routine tasks to process troubleshooting. Plant Services has published the Operators Guide to Successful Troubleshooting, which defines troubleshooting as 1. Defining the problem (e.g., using alarm information to localize and identify possible causes), 2. Collecting data and turning it into useful information, and 3. Analyzing to find the root cause.

A few concepts are important for this journey:

• Priming Thoughts and Their Effect on Decision-Making
• Fast vs. Slow Thinking
• Using your simulator to overcome Priming Thoughts and Fast Thinking

What are Priming Thoughts?

People evaluate situations based on recognition of similarities to previous situations, and evaluate ideas serially, using the first idea that suffices.¹ Priming Thoughts are where exposure to one stimulus in the past influences a response to a stimulus later on, without conscious guidance or intention.  Layer that with neuroscience research that indicates we do not see with our eyes but with our brains.  Our eyes and our brains are more likely to see what we expect to see rather than reality². To overcome Priming Thoughts, we must expand the experience model and show the brain possible conflicts that will force us into what Nobelist Daniel Kahneman calls Slow Thinking.

What is Slow Thinking, or System 2?

In his book Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahneman described how the brain processes information in two vastly different ways and the challenges those processes create. Kahneman calls them System 1 (fast) thinking and System 2 (slow) thinking. System 1 thinking is linked to our survival instincts as certain situations require an automatic response; this happens with cognitive ease and without consciousness. However, it is important to note that not all first impressions are correct. Without explicit context, the brain creates context from previous experiences and associations.

Here is an example Kahneman uses to illustrate fast thinking and context;

Fill in the missing letter in this word: SO_P

The answer will depend upon whether the context is about food or washing.

One of the big problems with fast thinking is it seeks to quickly create a coherent, plausible story or explanation for what is happening, relying on associations and memories, pattern matching, and assumptions.  System 1 will default to that plausible, convenient story, even if that story is based upon incorrect information.

For a plant operator, incorrect first impressions can lead to faulty diagnosis and troubleshooting. One way to overcome that is through exposure to a vast array of “experiences” that force the mind into System 2, slow, effortful, and deliberative thinking.  In the world of process troubleshooting, that is where we want to spend more of our time.

Here is an entertaining video that demonstrates fast and slow thinking that will trick your brain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiTz2i4VHFw

Most of the time, we go with our System 1 recommendations because of cognitive ease. Sometimes, we evoke System 2 (analysis, problem-solving, deeper evaluation) when we see something unexpected or consciously slow down our thinking to take a critical view.  The challenge is developing enough experience such that our System 1 responses are more likely to be correct, or we are aware enough to transition into System 2 thinking.

Recommendations on Simulator Use

So, how do we train our brains to overcome these biases and tendencies, jump to conclusions and illusions of competence, and evoke System 2 evaluation skills? Here are a few recommendations on using your EnVision simulator to build up the experience needed to overcome biases.

1. Build up a broader experience bank from which the brain draws upon. i.e., introducing malfunctions that present themselves similarly but with different root causes.  Take a low flow indication as an example.  It could be caused by a variety of different root causes, requiring different actions:
   • Pump degradation
   • Equipment Fouling
   • Leak in the system
   • Transmitter error

Similarly, changing battery limit conditions will teach the operator how system dynamics change even though the plant and equipment operate normally.  Common battery limit changes include:

• • Ambient Temperature
  • Cooling water supply temperature and pressure
  • Fuel gas Composition
  • Feed pressure, temperature, and composition

Exposing operators to different failure types and operating conditions will build their bank of experience.  This encourages a more critical evaluation of the information presented by the DCS and field operators, to prevent jumping to conclusions.

Finally, expose your operators to systems and unit operations that may not represent their daily tasks. Learning a new system means core concepts and fundamental operating theories are stored in the bank rather than memorizing a system.

2. Challenge the Time Horizon
   • Malfunction severity and ramp time manipulation can build awareness of how event horizons and the time available for correction are affected. This allows an operator to evaluate the information available more fully so that actions are both timely and well-considered.
   • Create a cognitive overload environment for more seasoned operators. Introduce multiple failures or a failure during operationally intensive exercises such as a start-up.

3. Experiment with failure
   • Simulators are the perfect tool to learn from mistakes and correct an operator’s mental plant performance model. The snapshot function allows students to reset the simulation to a critical time before an operating error is made.  Trainees can then try a different approach, compare results, confirm expectations, and optimize performance.

Contact GSE and let our experts help you develop a curriculum that will improve the critical thinking skills of your plant operators with our EnVision simulation and tutorial platform.

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1. (G. Kline, A and R. Calderwood 1991) Situation Awareness Systems, States and Processes.: A holistic framework, Jonas Lundberg, Linkoping University.
2. (Susan L. Koen PhD Safety Leadership: Neuroscience and Human Error Reduction.)