The Critical Incident Technique: when human behaviours determine psychological categories

During 1940s a psychologist, John Flanagan from the American Institute for Research and the University of Pittsburgh and several collaborators designed and used a special way of collecting data. They have called it The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) which consists of a set of procedures for registering direct observations of human behaviour. Thus, the information collected makes it useful to solve specially practical problems and developing broad psychological principles. As Flanagan (1954) describes, an incident is any human activity that can be observed in such a way one is able to make inferences and predict about the person performing the act. It is so called critical because it occurs in a situation where the purpose of the act is very clear to the observer and its consequences leave little doubts as regards its effects.

The Critical Incident Technique was firstly used to analyse specific reasons for failure in learning to fly reported for pilot candidates eliminted during training in the US Army Air Forces in 1941. Later, its use extended to manufacturer companies where foremen observed and registered activities performed by the production operators. So, later they could formulate requirements to be achieved to recruit personnel. The American psychologist suggests that objectivity should be one of the main features to guarantee the information -gathered by the application of this technique, be relevant enough for potential uses. By objectivity Flanagan (1954) means to get the same report by a number of independent observers who, in order to provide specific and detailed descriptions, will have to limit their observation to the general aim.

As Flanagan (1954) explained, determination of the general aim of the activity -one of the five steps in the CIT (Critical Incident Technique), should be a brief statement made by an authority in the field. Once the fundamental orientation has been marked, the development of plans and specifications should be traced. They will be precise instructions given to the observers. These instructions as well as the group to be studied need to be as specific as possible. These aspects will facilitate greatly the third step in the procedure since the data collection phase will be simplified.

There are four procedures to collect data. The first one is interview, a specilist in a field explains to the observers precisely what data are desired. The specialist is told what the purpose of the interview is, why he/she has been selected and must be told that his/her identity will not be revealed. Questions must be as precise and clear as possible so as not to lead to misinterpretations. Other ways to collect data are: group interviews, questionnaries and record forms. The first two ones differ in the number of interviewees, questionnaries are performed when the group becomes large.

Analysis of the data is the fourth step involved in the CIT. Its purpose is to summarize and describe the information in an efficient manner so that it can be used for various practical purposes. The last step is interpretation and reporting. The author suggests that reporting facts about behaviour is better than the collection of interpretations, ratings and opinions based on general impressions. He also adds that reporting should be limited to those behaviours which make an important contribution to the activity.

This technique can be applied to measure typical performance. An individual’s performance can be objectively evaluated and recorded if an observational check list includes all of the important behaviours for the activity. It can also be useful to measure proficiency. Training field, some way, the first application of the technique, can be greatly benefited. Indeed, from the very beginning, many of the applications in this field were carried out for the military in special situations and for specific types of maintenance mechanics. Similarly, to select and classify applicants or employees, CIT is appropriate. They are given a short time to study the job then a wide variety of selection procedures are administered to gather some data later.

As far as operating procedures are concerned, the Cirtical Incident Technique can be valuable to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations where detailed factual data on successes and failures are analyzed systematically. Even equipment design may be improved if this technique is used. Since the collection of large numbers of critical incidents representative of operating experience provides a sound basis for modifying existing equipment and designing new models. To go further in exploring different fields for the application of Flanagan’s (1954) technique, motivation and leadership can also be studied. Its main goal here is to gather factual data regarding specific actions involving decisions and choices. Counseling and psychotherapy are other examples of the vast use of this interesting and worthy procedure.

As Flanagan (1954) states “the critical incident technique, rather than collecting opinions, hunches, and estimates, obtains a record of specific behaviours from those in the best positions to make the necessary observations and evaluations” (p. 31). Taking into account the author’s words mentioned above, this technique can be also applied to the educational field. It can be a useful tool for teachers to reflect upon their work. It would help them to analyse different situations encountered and learn from them so as to correct some mistakes or just to think over certain decisions probably wrongly made.

To conclude, the Critical Incident Technique as an interesting pshycological tool to determine activity requirements with objectivity has made important contributions to different fields. Its applications and results provide the basis for making inferences in terms of aptitudes and training, characteristics that are necessary to find in human behaviours in order to take advantage of their proficiency in solving practical problems.












































Reference

Flanagan, J. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin,
51-4. Retrieved January 2008, from http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/special/cit-article.pdf