Critical Thinking, Cognitive Skills, Problem Solving, and Root-Cause Analysis

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering critical thinking definitions, Bloom's Revised Taxonomy in engineering, deductive/inductive/abductive reasoning, working memory models, problem-solving heuristics and algorithms, problem classification, 5 Whys root-cause analysis, Fishbone 6Ms, and Pareto Analysis.

How did Peter Facione (1990) define critical thinking?

Critical thinking is purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, together with explanation of the evidence, concepts, methods, criteria, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based.

What is the definition of critical thinking in engineering?

In engineering, critical thinking is the deliberate, self-directed process of analysing, gathering, evaluating, and applying information to solve problems safely, efficiently, and ethically.

What are the characteristics and advantages of routine thinking?

Routine thinking relies on habits and previously learned procedures. It is automatic, fast, requires little effort, and is used for familiar tasks (e.g., driving the same route daily). Its advantages are saving time and reducing mental effort.

What are the four steps of analytical thinking?

1. Gather information.
2. Separate facts from opinions.
3. Identify relationships.
4. Draw logical conclusions.

What is passive thinking, and what is a typical example?

Passive thinking is accepting information, ideas, or opinions without actively questioning, analyzing, or evaluating them. An example is: "Okay, if the professor/engineer says it is the best, then it must be the best."

What three evaluation questions characterize reflective thinking after completing a project?

1. What worked well?
2. What challenges occurred?
3. What improvements can be made?

How does a critical engineering mind-set differ from a passive mind-set regarding formulas, data interpretation, and handling failure?

• Approach to Formulas: A passive mind-set plugs numbers into standard formulas without question; a critical mind-set evaluates boundary conditions, variable validity, and units. • Data Interpretation: A passive mind-set assumes software output is always correct; a critical mind-set validates results against hand calculations and physical intuition. • Handling Failure: A passive mind-set hides or penalizes failure as a mistake; a critical mind-set views failure as vital data for root-cause analysis and system improvement.

What are the six steps of the critical thinking process?

1. Identify the issue (Problem)
2. Gather information
3. Analyze evidence
4. Evaluate alternatives
5. Make decisions
6. Reflect on outcomes

What are the nine intellectual standards that guide critical thinking?

Clarity, Accuracy, Precision, Relevance, Depth, Breadth, Logic, Significance, and Fairness.

What eight barriers hinder effective critical thinking?

1. Confirmation bias
2. Emotional reasoning
3. Overconfidence
4. Peer pressure
5. Time constraints
6. Lack of information
7. Cognitive overload
8. Stereotyping

In Bloom's Revised Taxonomy applied to engineering, what are the cognitive operations and engineering applications for Remembering, Applying, and Evaluating?

• Remembering: Recalling facts, formulas, and standards (e.g., rules, material properties, or thermal coefficients). • Applying: Executing procedures in standard scenarios (e.g., calculating stress using standard Finite Element Analysis [FEA]). • Evaluating: Judging solutions against criteria and constraints (e.g., trade-off analysis between cost, reliability, efficiency, and safety).

What is deductive reasoning, and what is an example using Kirchhoff's Current Law?

Deductive reasoning is top-down logic moving from general, proven physical laws to specific conclusions where the conclusion must be true if premises are true. Example: General premise states $\sum I = 0$. If $5\,\text{A}$ enters node A and $2\,\text{A}$ leaves via Branch 1, exactly $3\,\text{A}$ must leave via Branch 2.

What is inductive reasoning, and what is its primary risk in engineering?

Inductive reasoning is bottom-up logic that makes broad generalizations based on specific observations or test data (e.g., testing 100 concrete samples with Additive X shows a $15\%$ increase in compressive strength, leading to the rule that Additive X improves strength). Its primary risk is concluding a general rule based on insufficient or biased data samples.

What is abductive reasoning in engineering diagnostics?

Abductive reasoning starts with an incomplete set of observations (symptoms) and infers the simplest, most likely hypothesis (e.g., an electric motor overheating and tripping after 10 minutes is likely caused by bearing failure or electrical overload). Hypotheses are tested systematically, starting with the most probable and least invasive.

What are the four types of attention, and how do alternating and divided attention differ?

The four types are selective attention, sustained attention, alternating attention, and divided attention. Alternating attention is the ability to rapidly switch focus between tasks requiring different cognitive skills, while divided attention is the ability to focus simultaneously on two or more tasks (e.g., driving while holding a conversation).

According to the cognitive working memory model shown, what are the four sub-components coordinated by the central executive?

1. Central Executive: Controls attention, focuses the mind, and handles information.
2. Phonological Loop: Stores and rehearses speech and sound-based information.
3. Visuospatial Sketch Pad: Holds and manipulates visual and spatial images.
4. Episodic Buffer: Combines information from different sources into a single sequence or story.

In logical analysis, how are consistency, soundness, and clarity defined?

• Consistency: Ensuring parts of an argument do not contradict each other. • Soundness: Ensuring an argument is both logically valid and built on factual, true premises. • Clarity: Stripping away ambiguous language or hidden assumptions to expose the exact factual claim (e.g., stating a design "reduuces stress by $20\%$ compared to the previous design" instead of "the design is better").

What is cognitive flexibility, and what are its three key characteristics?

Cognitive flexibility is the mental ability to switch between different concepts, adapt thinking strategies, and adjust behavior to unexpected changes in the environment. Its key characteristics are:

1. Task Switching: Rapidly shifting focus between distinct rules or activities.
2. Perspective Shifting: Evaluating ideas from multiple viewpoints.
3. Error Correction: Recognizing when an approach fails and updating strategies based on feedback.

What are systems thinking and interdisciplinary skills in environmental problem solving?

• Systems Thinking: The ability to understand a system as a whole by identifying components, interactions, dependencies, and how changes in one component affect the overall system. • Interdisciplinary Skills: The ability to integrate knowledge, concepts, methods, and techniques from two or more different disciplines (e.g., combining biomedical engineering, materials science, and AI) to solve complex problems.

What are the three primary cognitive stages of problem solving?

1. Problem Representation: Defining the starting state, recognizing symbols or rules, and visualizing the final objective.
2. Strategy Formation: Choosing a path forward, such as means-ends analysis or breaking tasks into sub-tasks.
3. Execution & Evaluation: Carrying out the planned steps and reviewing results to see if the goal was reached.

What are the four cyclical steps of strategy formation?

• Align: Make sure everyone and everything is working toward the same goal. • Automate: Use technology or systems to make the process easier or faster. • Act: Implement the chosen solution. • Adapt: Evaluate the result and modify the solution if needed.

What are the three organizational levels of strategy?

1. Corporate Level: Decides the overall direction and goals of the company.
2. Business Level: Decides how to compete and succeed in a specific market.
3. Functional Level: Decides how each department will carry out the plan in its daily work.

How did Don Norman define the Gulf of Execution and Gulf of Evaluation?

• Gulf of Execution asks: "How do I use this system?" (putting an action into practice). • Gulf of Evaluation asks: "What's the current system state?" (assessing whether the system action worked as intended).

What are the five stages of the practical problem-solving framework?

1. Problem Definition (find root cause, set clear goal, gather facts)
2. Generating Solutions (brainstorming, combining ideas)
3. Deciding the Course of Actions (evaluate pros and cons, costs, risks)
4. Implementing the Solution (step-by-step action plan, task assignment)
5. Evaluating the Solution (check if problem is gone, compare to goals)

How do algorithms and heuristics compare across solution certainty, speed, computational effort, and problem suitability?

• Algorithm: Step-by-step procedure; guarantees a solution; often slow; requires high computational effort; best for structured problems. • Heuristic: General strategy/mental shortcut; does not guarantee a solution; usually fast; requires low computational effort; best for complex problems.

What are the four core rules that define an algorithm?

1. Must be simple and clear.
2. Must have zero or more inputs.
3. Must have at least one output.
4. Must finish after a finite number of steps.

What is Means-End Analysis, and what are its steps?

Means-End Analysis is a heuristic designed to reduce the difference between the current state and the desired goal state. Its steps are: Current State → Goal State → Identify Differences → Reduce Differences → Repeat.

What is the Working Backward heuristic, and how does it apply to implant design?

Working Backward starts mentally from the desired outcome rather than the beginning. In engineering: Desired implant life ($20\,\text{years}$) → Required fatigue strength → Required material → Required geometry → Manufacturing process.

What problem-solving heuristic is illustrated here, and what major disadvantage does it have?

Hill Climbing (always choosing the action that appears to improve the current situation). Its main disadvantage is that it can become trapped in a local optimum instead of reaching the global optimum.

Which heuristics are most suitable for Topology Optimization, Material Selection, and Machine Design, and why?

• Topology Optimization: Hill Climbing, because the design is gradually improved to achieve better performance (lower weight, lower stress, higher stiffness). • Material Selection: Elimination, because many candidate materials exist and unsuitable options can be removed step by step. • Machine Design: Divide and Conquer, because a machine consists of several subsystems that can be designed separately and then integrated.

What is the formal definition of a problem, and what are its four key elements?

A problem is a situation in which there is a gap between the current state and a desired goal, and the path to achieving that goal is not immediately obvious. Key elements:

1. Current state: Where we are now.
2. Desired state: Where we want to be.
3. Obstacles: Factors preventing us from reaching the goal.
4. Need for action: A decision or solution is required.

How do problem, symptom, and root cause differ from one another?

• Problem: The undesirable condition that requires attention. • Symptom: What we observe (visible sign). • Root Cause: The fundamental underlying reason the problem occurs.

How do well-defined, ill-defined, structured, and unstructured problems differ?

• Well-Defined: The problem, goal, constraints, and required information are clearly specified. • Ill-Defined: The problem or goal is unclear, has multiple solutions, and requires assumptions and judgment. • Structured: Can be solved using a clear, established procedure, formula, or algorithm (e.g., $\sigma = F/A$). • Unstructured: Has no single predefined procedure; requires creativity, judgment, and trade-off decisions.

How are calculating beam stress, selecting a prosthetic material, and designing a wearable device classified across problem dimensions?

• Calculate stress in a beam under known load: Structured, Simple, Individual (known formula and inputs; one engineer can solve it). • Select suitable material for lightweight prosthetic: Unstructured, Complex, Organizational (several criteria must be considered). • Design a new wearable health-monitoring device: Unstructured, Complex, Team / Organizational (unclear requirements involving technical, user, cost, and safety factors).

What is the 5 Whys technique, who developed it, and what was the root cause in the CNC milling machine example?

The 5 Whys is a root cause analysis technique developed by Sakichi Toyoda for Toyota that repeatedly asks "Why?" to move past surface symptoms. In the CNC milling example (machine stopped → blown fuse → bearing locked up → lack of lubrication → pump not drawing oil → intake valve clogged with metal shavings), the root cause was the missing intake filter screen on the fluid reservoir.

What are the 6 Ms used in the Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram for manufacturing root cause analysis?

1. Manpower / People (training, skill, fatigue)
2. Machine / Equipment (tools, hardware wear)
3. Material (defective raw inputs, consumables)
4. Method (procedures, process controls)
5. Measurement (calibration, inspection metrics)
6. Mother Nature / Environment (temperature, humidity, noise)

What is the difference between a root cause and a contributing cause?

A root cause is an underlying condition whose correction prevents recurrence of the problem. A contributing cause is a factor that increased the severity or likelihood of the failure (e.g., motor overheating was contributed to by decreased fan performance, but the root cause was a maintenance procedure lacking periodic inspection).

What is Pareto Analysis, and how is it applied in the machine downtime case study?

Pareto Analysis is a prioritization heuristic based on the 80/20 rule ($80\%$ of effects come from $20\%$ of causes). In the case study of machine downtime causes (Equipment failure: 40; Lack of materials: 25; Operator errors: 15; Power interruptions: 10; Maintenance delays: 6; Other: 4), the company focuses first on equipment failure and lack of materials because they account for the largest proportion of downtime.