Critical Thinking for Analysis

How our minds can work for us and against us.

Course Description:

This course offers participants insight into how our minds work for us, and sometimes against us, in intelligence analysis. We will explore the mental shortcuts wired into our thinking, the logical fallacies that undermine our analysis, and how to mitigate the effects of these cognitive and logical challenges. We will also explore the impact of culture, upbringing, and one’s mental and physical environment on problem solving and analysis, and ways to recognize patterns and false patterns in our analysis.

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Recognize the cognitive biases and logical fallacies that undermine their analysis
Recognize the impact of cultural and environmental bias on their analysis
Identify strategies to minimize the impact of bias and fallacy on their analysis

Course Outline:

Day 1:

Cognition
Cognitive Biases
Culture and Environment

Day 2:

Logic
Logical Fallacies
Patterns
Mitigating Bias and Fallacy

Who this course is for:

This course is ideal for anyone seeking to improve their critical thinking skills and ability to effectively apply logic.

Course Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Duration:

In-Person Classroom Training: 2 Days, 7 hours of instruction per day*

Virtual/Remote Training: 2 days, 3.5 hours of instruction per day*

* We offer this class both as an in-person classroom event and as online, remote instruction. While the material and instruction is consistent between the two, we are able to offer practical exercises and personal instructor support to the training in-person that we are not able to offer remotely.