What's your story of Confirmation Bias from resilience training?

MG Peter Bosse — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:32:36 -0500

Confirmation Bias is when we have preconceived notions of the answer and those perceptions cause us to miss or ignore information that doesn't fit our idea of the way it should be. When I was a Company Commander I took my entire unit to NTC. We arrived late and I had to offload at the railhead and then meet at a Rally Point to move to the field. When we arrived at the Rally Point, I was greeted by a LTC who was to be our BN Cdr for the exercise. He insisted that I as the CO Cdr lead the convoy, now nearing darkness, about 12 miles into NTC. I suggested one of our senior NCO's who had arrived earlier on the advance party, had already reconned the site and new the route. The LTC would not hear it and he demanded that I lead. We set out with me in the lead vehicle along with my driver who had just arrived and some 4 hours later, after dismounting and walking several miles in the dark to knock on tents for guidance, we arrived safely. Unfortunately, our Soldiers had to pay the price in lost sleep as it was now close to midnight. This LTC had his mind set on his plan and would not hear alternatives that made more sense. He suffered from confirmation bias that CO Cdr's should lead, rather than the person who was most knowledgeable of the route. I learned that I had to be more prepared to deal with this type of nonsense in the future during my first Army exposure to the confirmation bias.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 20 at 2013 8:46 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 08:46:15 -0500

Sir,<div><br></div><div>Is the Army's resilience training its own example of confirmation bias? Does the Army (in this case) have a preconceived notion that executing a program will, in fact, result in changed behavior? </div><div><br></div><div>Yes, the research on resiliency is relevant and there's plenty to say that folks at every age can see improvement. But improving individual resilience isn't a one-size-fits-all effort. For those who have made it to adulthood without forming any resiliency through parental or school instruction, a lot more is required than the introductory efforts present in existing training. For those who have resiliency skills, the introductory efforts are a turn-off because they're so incredibly basic.</div><div><br></div><div>I understand an app is being developed for use (spearheaded perhaps by one of the MSDCs?) that provides resiliency tips and strategies in small bites. One example was that a Soldier arguing with his significant other could go to this app and learn conflict resolution skills in 3, 5, 15 minutes, depending on how long he wanted to participate. As briefed, the program was designed by senior leaders to fix behaviors they identified as problems, socialized with senior leaders of one of the AR's major commands, and supported by researchers at major universities already involved in the topic. </div><div><br></div><div>There was no discussion of whether the target audience desired such an option or would bother to use it or even how it would be marketed to saturate the target audience. We're going to fund it though -- because it's a good idea and will demonstrate "action," regardless of the likelihood it will achieve a desired end state.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>