Gary A. Klein

{{Short description|American psychologist and author}}

{{About|the decision making research psychologist|other people of the same name|Gary Klein (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}

{{Infobox person

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| name = Gary Klein

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|2|5|mf=y}}

| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. {{flagicon|USA}}

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| education = B.A. in Psychology, Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology

| occupation = Research Psychologist

| spouse = Helen Klein (deceased)

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Gary Klein (born February 5, 1944, in New York City, New York, U.S.) is a research psychologist famous for pioneering in the field of naturalistic decision making.{{cite web|title=Academy Sharing Knowledge (ASK) Talks with Gary Klein|url=http://askmagazine.nasa.gov/issues/20/interview/|publisher=NASA|accessdate=September 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526010258/http://askmagazine.nasa.gov/issues/20/interview/|archive-date=May 26, 2013|url-status=dead}} By studying experts such as firefighters in their natural environment, he discovered that laboratory models could not adequately describe decision making under time pressure and uncertainty. His recognition-primed decision (RPD) model has influenced changes in the ways the Marines and Army train their officers to make decisions.{{cite web|last=Breen|first=Bill|title=What's Your Intuition?|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/40456/whats-your-intuition|publisher=Fast Company|accessdate=September 6, 2012}} The concept of expertise has been central to the models he has developed, the research he has conducted, and the training and design efforts he has accomplished.

Klein received his B.A. in psychology from City College of New York (1964) and his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh (1969). He listed his main influences as Hubert Dreyfus, Adriaan de Groot, and Karl Duncker in an October 2013 interview with Bob Morris.{{cite web|last=Morris|first=Bob|title=Gary Klein: an interview by Bob Morris|date=October 11, 2013 |url=http://bobmorris.biz/gary-klein-an-interview-by-bob-morris|accessdate=November 14, 2013}}

Since 2009, Klein has been a Senior Scientist at MacroCognition LLC.{{cite web|title=About Us: Gary Klein, Ph.D|url=http://www.macrocognition.com/au_gary.html|publisher=MacroCognition|accessdate=September 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827045836/http://macrocognition.com/au_gary.html|archive-date=August 27, 2012|url-status=dead}}

He spent the first phase of his career in academia as an assistant professor of psychology at Oakland University (1970–1974). He also spent a few years as associate professor of psychology at Wilberforce University in Ohio.

The second phase was spent working for the government as a research psychologist for the U.S. Air Force (1974–1978). The Arab oil embargo of 1973 meant that pilots needed to do more of their training in simulators, and Klein began his investigations into the way people develop expertise.

The third phase began in 1978 when he founded his own R&D company, Klein Associates, to study a range of topics later described as the Naturalistic Decision Making framework.{{cite web|title=Naturalistic Decision Making|url=http://www.ise.ncsu.edu/nsf_itr/794B/papers/Klein_2008_HF_NDM.pdf|publisher=Human Factors|access-date=September 6, 2012|archive-date=March 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327162233/http://www.ise.ncsu.edu/nsf_itr/794B/papers/Klein_2008_HF_NDM.pdf|url-status=dead}} Klein Associates grew to 37 people by the time he sold it to Applied Research Associates (ARA) in 2005.

During this third phase, Dr. Klein developed a Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model in 1985 to describe how people actually make decisions in natural settings. This research was subsequently incorporated in Army doctrine for command and control.{{cite web |title=Recognition Primed Decision Model |url=https://www.theisrm.org/public-library/Ross,%20Klein%20(2004)%20The%20Recognition%20-%20Primed%20Decision%20Model.pdf |publisher=United States Army}} He presented a PreMortem method of risk assessment in 1998.{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Paul|title=Analyzing Failure Beforehand|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/business/media/22offline.html?_r=1|work=The New York Times|accessdate=September 6, 2012}} In 2007, he developed a naturalistic model of sensemaking, the Data/Frame model. In 2009, he presented a Management by Discovery account of how people plan when faced with ill-defined goals. He described a multi-path model of insight in 2011. He has led teams that developed several methods of cognitive task analysis for uncovering the tacit knowledge that goes into decision making and for studying cognition in complex settings, including the Critical Decision Method and the Knowledge Audit. He was one of the leaders of a team that redesigned the White House Situation Room.{{cite web|title=Gary Klein, Ph.D. Senior Scientist, MacroCognition LLC|url=http://www.noblis.org/NewsPublications/Pages/GaryKlein.aspx|publisher=Noblis|access-date=September 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120025458/http://www.noblis.org/NewsPublications/Pages/GaryKlein.aspx|archive-date=November 20, 2012|url-status=dead}} Dr. Klein and his colleagues have also developed the Artificial Intelligence Quotient (AIQ) toolkit, including the Cognitive Tutorial, to help people better manage specific AI systems they need to manage.

In 2015, Gary founded [https://www.shadowboxtraining.com/ ShadowBox LLC], a cognitive skills training company. The ShadowBox Training Method originated from a Master's thesis in 2008, conducted by since-retired fire battalion chief, Neil Hintze. Gary and Neil worked together to refine this method for training cognitive skill development.[https://a998242a-7d63-4ee6-870e-b4afd13cabce.filesusr.com/ugd/2360d8_f10a0dd34a20429a9e130284001b5fd5.pdf Klein, G., & Borders, J. (2016). The ShadowBox approach to cognitive skills training: An empirical evaluation. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 10(3), 268-280.] The goal of the ShadowBox method is to provide a flexible, scenario-based training technique, that allows trainees to see the world through the eyes of experts — without the experts having to be present. Klein and others report that ShadowBox training has been employed in the military, law enforcement, healthcare, social services, and petrochemical domains.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.444 |title=Shadow Box™: Flexible Training to Impart the Expert Mindset |year=2015 |last1=Borders |first1=Joseph |last2=Polander |first2=Noel |last3=Klein |first3=Gary |last4=Wright |first4=Corinne |journal=Procedia Manufacturing |volume=3 |pages=1574–1579 |doi-access=free }}

He is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. In 2008, he received the Jack A. Kraft Innovator Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.{{cite web|title=Human Factors and Ergonomics Fellow Profile|url=http://www.hfes.org/web/awards&fellows/fellowprofiles/profile_klein.pdf|publisher=HFES|accessdate=September 6, 2012|archive-date=March 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313130633/http://www.hfes.org/web/awards%26fellows/fellowprofiles/profile_klein.pdf|url-status=dead}}