An Introduction to Human Factors and Patient Safety

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Key Points

An Introduction to Human Factors and Patient Safety Section 2: Introduction to Cognition Key Points

Please review the key points from this section:

  1. Conscious thought processes are flexible and allow us to consider 5 – 9 facts at a time; they are slow and effortful.
  2. Automatic thought processes are inflexible and highly practiced; they are fast because they are executed subconsciously.
  3. Experts are better at recognising patterns than beginners; but confirmation bias can cause experts to ignore information that does not conform to their expectations.
  4. Frequent violations can become more severe over time so that the whole culture of an organisation migrates, until an accident or adverse event occurs.
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